0001|                       HOUSE JOINT MEMORIAL 80
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0002|     43RD LEGISLATURE - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - SECOND SESSION, 1998
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0003|                            INTRODUCED BY
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0004|                           NICK L. SALAZAR
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0005|     
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0006|                                   
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0007|     
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0008|              FOR THE INDIAN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
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0009|     
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0010|                           A JOINT MEMORIAL
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0011|     REQUESTING CONGRESS TO CONTINUE ANNUAL OPERATIONAL FUNDING FOR
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0012|     THE INSTITUTE OF AMERICAN INDIAN ARTS.
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0013|     
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0014|          WHEREAS, the institute of American Indian arts was
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0015|     chartered by congress in 1962 as a bureau of Indian affairs
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0016|     school for the purpose of studying, promoting the practice of
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0017|     and ensuring continuity of the artistic and cultural
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0018|     traditions of American Indians and Alaska natives; and
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0019|          WHEREAS, in 1988, the institute of American Indian arts
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0020|     became an independent, federally chartered, nonprofit
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0021|     institution; and
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0022|          WHEREAS, the state of New Mexico recognizes that having
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0023|     the institute of American Indian arts located in Santa Fe is
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0024|     beneficial to the state, to the Native American population of
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0025|     the state and to the art community in New Mexico; and
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0001|          WHEREAS, the institute is unique to the western
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0002|     hemisphere, having drawn students from nearly all of the five
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0003|     hundred forty-seven recognized Indian tribes in the country
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0004|     during its thirty-six years of teaching; and
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0005|          WHEREAS, this is the most critical period of the
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0006|     institute's history, since it has suffered a forty-seven
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0007|     percent budget cut in federal support over the past three
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0008|     years; and 
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0009|          WHEREAS, from its earliest days, Santa Fe has been a hub
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0010|     of commercial activity centered around the Native American
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0011|     population; and
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0012|          WHEREAS, today many artists who participate in the Santa
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0013|     Fe Indian art community are graduates of the institute of
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0014|     American Indian Arts contributing substantially to Santa Fe's
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0015|     status as the second largest arts market in the country; and
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0016|          WHEREAS, the economic importance of Indian art in Santa
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0017|     Fe is expressed by the negative outcry raised each time there
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0018|     is mention of moving the Indian market from the immediate
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0019|     Santa Fe area; and  
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0020|          WHEREAS, due to its federally chartered status, the
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0021|     institute of American Indian arts is seeking appropriations
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0022|     from congress to continue the school's annual operations;
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0023|          NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE
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0024|     STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the New Mexico congressional
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0025|     delegation and the president of the United States be requested
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0001|     to support the full operational funding of the institute of
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0002|     American Indian arts and to continue funding the operations of
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0003|     the institute through federal appropriations into the next
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0004|     century; and
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0005|          BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that congress and the president be
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0006|     requested to consider providing capital funding to the
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0007|     institute of American Indian arts so that its new campus can
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0008|     be completed by the year 2000; and
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0009|          BE IF FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
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0010|     transmitted to the president of the United States, the New
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0011|     Mexico congressional delegation and to the board of trustees
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0012|     of the institute of American Indian arts.
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0013|                              
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