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[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E629]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
IN MEMORY OF BRADLEY H. PATTERSON, JR.
______
HON. TOM COLE
of oklahoma
in the house of representatives
Monday, July 13, 2020
Mr. COLE. Madam Speaker, I rise today to give my respects to Brad
Patterson, who recently passed away after many decades of dedicated
service to our country.
Graduating with a master's degree in 1943 from the University of
Chicago, Brad served in the State Department and then as Deputy
Counselor to the Cabinet under President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Brad was
also the first Executive Director of the Peace Corps under President
John F. Kennedy.
After a stint with the Treasury Department, the National War College
and the National Advisory Council on the Selective Service, Brad
returned to the White House, this time serving as Executive Assistant
to Leonard Garment under President Richard M. Nixon.
Most Americans would be proud to have had such a distinguished career
and bountiful life.
As an enrolled member of the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma, I hold
Brad in especially high regard for his role in advising President Nixon
and helping to shape the federal policy of Indian self-determination.
On July 8, 2020, we celebrate the 50th anniversary of President Nixon's
Special Message to Congress on Indian Affairs and not coincidentally,
the most important and successful federal policy regarding Native
people the United States has ever had. It is also the 50th anniversary
of the restoration of its sacred Blue Lake to the Taos Pueblo, which
was the symbolic centerpiece of the Nixon message.
As Special Assistant to the President for Domestic Affairs, Brad and
his colleagues--Leonard Garment, Bobbie Kilberg, Lee Huebner, and
others--worked with Nixon's chief domestic policy adviser, John
Ehrlichman, to develop and propose to the President what was then a
radical new shift in federal Indian policy.
America was in flux in the late 1960s with an unpopular ground war in
southeast Asia, a growing civil rights movement, and a nascent
ecological awareness beginning.
In 1970, this new policy that Brad played a key role in shaping
looked back at the devastation earlier policies had caused to tribal
communities and sought a new paradigm based on strong tribal
governments and vibrant tribal economies.
Brad also worked to restore fishing rights to the Yakima Nation,
helped pass the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, and was
instrumental in resolving the American Indian Movement's occupation of
the Bureau of Indian Affairs' office in Washington, D.C.
For five decades, Nixon's policy has continued to help Indian tribes
make enormous strides in terms of governance and economic growth. As we
approach the 50th anniversary of that policy, let us look at Brad
Patterson's life and work to inspire us as we make our way through
these dark and troubled times.
____________________
