In a sick twist of irony, telescopes on Mt. Graham have eliminated an
AIDS-HIV study that was intended to benefit Native Peoples' efforts to
prevent the spread of AIDS-HIV. This is the latest blow by the University
of Arizona to Indigenous peoples religious freedoms, health and well
being. Below is the text of Rep. Jim Kolbe's Amendment to the House
Interior Appropriations Bill as reported in the Congressional Record -
House, December 12, 1995 (p. 14309).
"Amendment No. 178: Deletes Senate language requiring the Indian Health
Service to prepare a report on HIV-AIDS prevention needs, and insert in
lieu thereof a provision which allows the construction of a third
telescope on Mount Graham, in the Coronado National Forest, Arizona, to
proceed under the terms of the Arizona-Idaho Conservation Act of 1988."
This rider was attached to the Interior Appropriations Bill and has the
effect of exempting the University of Arizona's Observatory Project from
all U.S. environmental and cultural protection laws. Fortunately,
President Clinton vetoed this bill yet the rider is still attached to it
and the University of Arizona's administration and congressional
representatives are determined to see it enacted into law. Please call
and demand that the University of Arizona's Mt. Graham rider be dropped
and the Indian Health Service HIV-AIDS prevention study be restored.
Chairman - Ralph Regula (R-OH) 202-225-3876
202-225-3059 (fax)
University of Arizona President Manuel Pacheco
520-621-5511