Writing for a majority made up of conservative justices, Justice Brett Kavanaugh explained that “the Navajos contend that the treaty requires the United States to take affirmative steps to secure water for the Navajos – for example, by assessing the Tribe’s water needs, developing a plan to secure the needed water, and potentially building pipelines, pumps, wells, or other water infrastructure.”īut, Mr. The Monitor's View How truth bombs for Russians may end the war In 2003 the tribe sued the federal government, arguing it had failed to consider or protect the Navajo Nation’s water rights to the lower portion of the Colorado River. The second treaty established the reservation as the tribe’s “permanent home” – a promise the Navajo Nation says includes a sufficient supply of water. The facts of the case go back to treaties that the tribe and the federal government signed in 18. Lawyers for the Navajo Nation had characterized the tribe’s request as modest, saying they simply were seeking an assessment of the tribe’s water needs and a plan to meet them. The Biden administration had said that if the court were to come down in favor of the Navajo Nation, the federal government could face lawsuits from many other tribes. Colorado had argued that siding with the Navajo Nation would undermine existing agreements and disrupt the management of the river. States that draw water from the river – Arizona, Nevada, and Colorado – and water districts in California that are also involved in the case had urged the court to decide for them, which the justices did in a 5-4 ruling. The Supreme Court ruled against the Navajo Nation on Thursday in a dispute involving water from the drought-stricken Colorado River. “The fate of the nation’s enslaved people,” as one historical website puts it, “remained a topic too difficult for Congress to address.”That, too, fits our park ranger’s larger message – a message that’s resonating with me on the eve of Independence Day: We the people have an ongoing role today in putting into practice the ideals that sustain this nation. Instead, demands that the press be able to see and hear what happens were heeded.Not everything got resolved quickly or justly. Some lawmakers had hoped to do their business behind closed doors. Our ranger guide took us from the House chamber upstairs to where the early Senate met. Many Americans wanted George Washington to stay on. Instead, he insisted after two terms that it was time for him to head home, setting a precedent.The young government also set protocols here for things never mentioned in the Constitution. Congress met here, it became the place where the first peaceful transfer of power happened from one president to another, in 1797. But Congress Hall was where Americans began putting that new Constitution into practice.Without implementation, ideas are just words on paper.This red brick building looks innocuous next to its larger neighbor. Not a hand went up.Then the ranger explained her point: Independence Hall may look fancier and be the home of famous ideas. The park ranger posed a surprising question.Basically it was, do you think this is the most important building here on this site? My family had come to see Independence Hall in Philadelphia, the birthplace of the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution.
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