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      Having in mind the purposes set forth in the preamble to the Constitution of the National Congress of American Indians, and having in mind the various problems and conditions of life affecting our Indian people, we recommend the following program for the consideration of this convention. 

      We firmly believe that a national organization of Indians, if it is to be effective, must attempt to represent and speak for Indians before the Congress of the United States, before the legislatures of the individual states, before the Department of the Interior and other branches of the Government, and on similar public occasions. We realize that this type of activity will involve the organization in legislative work and that this may restrict the possibility of obtaining funds from private foundations, who by contributing to such purposes would lose certain tax exemption benefits. We still feel that such a program as we here propose is so vital that we cannot turn away from it because of the difficulty involve, but that instead we must find some way of meeting the difficulty and accomplish our purpose. 
  
       We contemplate that the activities of the National congress of American Indians will properly fall into two classifications: (1) those which are legislative, and (2) those which are devoted to educational, research, or welfare purposes.

I.  Under the first category, we propose: To maintain a legislative representative or agent with headquarters in Washington D. C. The function of this agent will be to present testimony before the committees of Congress or state legislatures in behalf of or in opposition to pending legislation; to prepare legislation, or to assist Indian tribes in the preparation of legislation, as occasion may require.

II.  In the second category, we propose:
 
     1. To establish a news bureau which will gather information on legislation and Indian Service policy development affecting the interests of Indians and Indian tribes. Make the information available to Indians through the vehicle of a monthly news letter or similar publication. The importance of keeping informed on legislation and Indian Service activities is an indispensable function of our organization.

      2. Section 12 of the Indian Reorganization Act opens the avenue for preferential employment of Indians in the Indian Service, but Indians somewhere along the line have encountered a detour sign. Many Indians have been employed in low grade positions, but too few have been given positions of responsibility or now occupy positions of policy making nature. One explanation of this may be the need for recruiting

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