Senator Elizabeth Warren (center, in blue jacket), poses with members of the Wampanoag Tribe during her visit to the Wampanoag Health Unit on April 21. Pictured from left to right are: Medicine Man Earl (Soaring Eagle) Cash Jr.; Ann Marie Askew; tribe treasurer Gordon Harris; tribal councilwoman Yvonne Avant; Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Council chairman Cedric Cromwell; Chenoa Peters; Senator Warren; Pauline Peters; Winnie Johnson-Graham; Rita Consalvos; Cheryl Frye-Cromwell; and Brian Weeden.
Members of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe waited in the rotunda area inside the main entrance of the Wampanoag Government/Community Center building on Great Neck Road South on Saturday afternoon, April 21 for the arrival of Senator Elizabeth A. Warren.
The Senator’s car pulled up right on time at 3 PM. She shook the hands of the members who met her and was offered many hugs, as she greeted each person individually before being escorted to the Wampanoag Health Service Unit for a tour.
The purpose of Senator Warren’s visit was to tour the health service facility, and participate in a roundtable discussion (which was closed to media) on the Comprehensive Addiction Resources Emergency (CARE) Act which she and Representative Elijah E. Cummings (D-Maryland) introduced this week.
The opioid crisis which is devastating communities across the country has had a particularly severe impact on American Indians and Alaskan Natives, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CARE Act is modeled on the bipartisan Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Act of 1990, which provided significant new funding to help state and local governments combat the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
The CARE Act would invest $100 billion in federal funding over 10 years to fight the opioid epidemic, including a total of more than $800 million per year provided directly to tribal governments and organizations.
By KAREN B. HUNTER/ENTERPRISE
