Western Bands of the Shoshone Nation of Indians letter to U.S. House, opposing H.R. 2699
Principal Man Ian Zabarte
Western Bands of the Shoshone Nation of Indians
P.O. Box 46301, Las Vegas, NV 89114
October 1, 2019
Committee on Energy and Commerce
2125 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
For the Record: HR 2699 Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 2019.
Dear Members of Congress,
The Western Bands of the Shoshone Nation of Indians are an intervenor in licensing of the proposed Yucca Mountain high-level nuclear waste repository before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Atomic Safety Licensing Board Panel Docket 63-001. The Department of Energy has failed to prove ownership of the proposed Yucca Mountain site title to which is vested in the Western Bands of the Shoshone Nation of Indians. Shoshone title remains unextinguished and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission does not adjudicate title. We strongly oppose amendment to the Nuclear Waste Policy Act that does not conform to the law of the land, the Treaty of Ruby Valley controlling, and will assert ownership of Yucca Mountain if licensing resumes.
We have prepared additional legal contention(s) for the resumption of licensing that include “cultural triage” a systematic process to dismantle the living lifeways of the Shoshone people at Yucca Mountain. The DOE created and employed “cultural triage” in 1990[1] as part of the Yucca Mountain cultural resource studies in a culture of secrecy that demonstrates intent to violate the Genocide Convention Implementation Act of 1987. We seek enforcement through the Human Rights Enforcement Act of 2009 and intend to use the licensing proceedings to prosecute our case as an additional contention. We hope you agree that this is the best way to bring American abuse of Native Americans into focus with a broader audience concerned about nuclear waste.
Sincerely,
Principal Man Ian Zabarte
Western Bands of the Shoshone Nation of Indians
[1] Native American Cultural Resources Studies at Yucca Mountain 1990 prepared for Science Application International Corporation under contract number DE-AC08-87NV10576 (page 167).
October 1, 2019