Washington, D.C.(Press Release) – On Friday, two provisions led by U.S. Representative Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) in the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) were signed into law. The provisions would create a congressional charter for the National American Indian Veterans (NAIV) organization and ban the use of LOGINK, a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) state-controlled shipping platform, at U.S. ports.

“Securing these provisions will protect our imports and exports from the CCP’s spying eyes and ensure our Native American veterans get long-overdue recognition they deserve,” said Johnson. “After years of hard work and team effort, I’m glad to see more success for South Dakota.”

“Signing the NDAA into law is important for our country in so many ways and strengthens our military. This bill includes a provision the NAIV has been working on for many years: a provision to grant NAIV a federal charter.  On behalf of all of our Native veterans, I want to thank Congressman Dusty Johnson and all the supporters of this section that means so much to the Native men and women who have honorably served for more than 200 years,” said Don Loudner, National Commander, National American Indian Veterans.

LOGINK Background:

LOGINK is used at more than 20 ports worldwide and stores unrivaled data and visibility into global shipping container flows. It’s estimated the CCP and its state-controlled shipping platform have contact with at least half of the global shipping container flows. If LOGINK gained access to U.S. carriers and ports, the CCP would be at an extreme competitive advantage, allowing them to underbid foreign competitors and further increase dependency on Chinese markets.

In March, Johnson introduced legislation to ban LOGINK. Read the full amendment text here.

National American Indian Veterans Congressional Charter Background:

Congress grants charters to recognize patriotic and national organizations that operate solely for charitable, literary, educational, scientific or civil improvement purposes. Headquartered in South Dakota on the Cheyenne River Reservation, the NAIV is a nonprofit organization dedicated to advocating for tribal veterans nationwide. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, there are more than 140,000 Native American veterans in the United States. While congressional charters have been granted to Italian-American, Polish-American and Catholic-American veterans groups, as of today, no Native American veterans’ organization has received one, yet Native Americans serve in our military at five times the national average.

Originally established in 2004, today the NAIV serves the needs of Native American veterans in all 50 states. NAIV was formed as a result of a request by former Senators Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii), Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) and Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-Colo.) during a Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee hearing in 2004.

Johnson’s NAIV amendment was introduced in May. U.S. Senators John Thune (R-S.D.) and Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) introduced companion legislation in the Senate. Read the full amendment text here.