Osage Forum

2010 Privacy Act for Osage Members

4/12/2010
During Government Operations Committee meeting, Raymond Red Corn wanted a couple of strikes in the bill that he believed was in direct conflict with the open Records Act. This is the very first time anyone in the Congress was concerned about a conflict with any Bill, if you look over some Acts (bills) you will see this for yourselves. Anyway, I was able to speak and I said:

That the people must have some privacy from any and all third party that has business with the Nation business, concerning the Health benefit plan to be specific. I told them that this Congress has never once protected the privacy or the members in any way and this is exactly what the people need and want and I incouraged them to act now and pass the bill. I reminded them that the BIA protected the peoples privacy and now that we are a Nation unto ourselves this protection is no longer valid and this is a concern of the Osage People across the U.S.. They need to show the people that we are a concern to this Nation, because they have not considered our value at all in any of their bills. Additionally, The Constitution demands this act and that all Acts (Bills) stand alone on their own merit and are not combined with other bills. Any and all bills have but one subject as stated in the Osage Nation Constitution.

I have not attended any more Gov. Op. meetings to this date 4/12/2010

Sandra,

I support Ms. Atterberry's bill, but I also believe some adjustments
need to be made so that the bill does not undermine the provisions of
the Open Records Act. As written, I believe ONCA 10-35 does undermine
it.

I agree we need a privacy act for the very reasons you mention. However,
we cannot pass a bill that would allow an elected official to invoke the
privacy act to cover any number of misdeeds he or she may have
committed. It is this concern I wish to address, and I have some
specific ideas in mind.

Thank you for writing, and please keep in touch with me on this issue.

Best regards,

Raymond

Raymond, I read Congress woman Atterberry bill ONCA 10-35 on privacy
and I believe this is one of the best pieces of legislation that has
come out of this Congress, in some time.
My reasons are simple - I see this as it is intended to protect the
Osage People as a whole and not just elected officials and employees of
the Nation.
I can not personally state that this came into consideration due to my
concerns of the privacy in the health benefit package, however, I
believe Mrs. Atterberry was thoughtful and pursued this issue of concern
from many of the Osage people. Please know I am not alone in the
concerns for our privacy, it is everybody concern these days, due to the
Identity thievery of today. You read it in the newspaper and hear it in
the news, it is a very real problem and I must applaud Mrs. Atterberrys
true concerns of the people.

So I am asking you to vote for this bill as written and to encourage
other members of this body to do the same.

I have in my procession the Osage Nation Executive privacy Policy and
Procedures, that I requested especially for this health card benefit.

I believe it is important for all Osage people to have the faith in our
government that they will protect our individual privacy and all
considerations and concerns.

Sandra Akins

From Raymond Red Corn #115 message, March 23,2010
The Privacy Act

This bill, ONCA 10-35, filed by Congresswoman Atterberry, seeks to protect the privacy of Osage citizens. The bill has two provisions that should be addressed, in my opinion.

First, the bill supercedes all other legislation with which it is in conflict. Second, its disclosure provisions may not be balanced with the Open Records Act. Any privacy act and the Open Records Act have to balance the right of the public to know what government is doing against the right of privacy that Osage citizens expect.

Here’s an example that may illustrate the point.

Let’s assume that an official in the Executive branch wishes to improperly compensate an employee working for the Nation, and manages to do so. The Privacy Act, as I understand it, may allow the Executive branch to legally refuse to release compensation information on the basis of personal privacy, whereas the Open Records Act allows such information to be made public, and therefore revealed.

It is exactly this type of situation that both laws must address while remaining consistent about where boundary lines are drawn between personal privacy and the public’s right to know.

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