FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 9, 2026
800 Gather at U.S. Capitol as Martin Luther King III, Tribal Leaders, Members of Congress and Preservation Advocates Defend Historic Places and Tribal Sovereignty
More than 100 Tribal Nations represented across rally and congressional meetings in opposition to Senate permitting legislation;
Senate votes to advance permitting legislation toward debate;
Just as Senate votes, President Trump holds press conference to say he will not approve wind projects, undermining Democratic Senate Sponsors’ key justification for pursuing the bill.
106 Strong Coalition vows to fight on.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Approximately 800 Americans gathered in the bright fall sun today on the West Front Lawn of the United States Capitol for “106 Strong: The Rally for History, Culture, and Sovereignty,” a demonstration of national unity in defense of historic places, Tribal sovereignty, and the public's right to participate in federal decisions affecting their communities.
Representatives of more than 100 Tribal Nations participated in the rally and related congressional meetings throughout the day. They joined civil rights leaders, architects, archaeologists, preservationists, historians, conservationists, and community advocates from across the country, including participants who traveled overnight by bus and others who journeyed thousands of miles from Alaska and Hawaii to attend.
The rally featured Martin Luther King III, Tribal leaders, and Members of Congress, including Representatives Melanie Stansbury, Jared Huffman, Adelita S. Grijalva, and Rashida Tlaib. Fourteen leaders of associations of architects, archaeologists, and preservationists, as well as cultural organizations also addressed the gathering. C-SPAN covered the full program.
Hours later, as night fell, the Senate voted to advance the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026 (BAAJA). An additional cloture votes remains in the Senate, before the bill moves to the House of Representatives for consideration.
The 106 Strong coalition, which now includes more than 1,200 Tribal Nations and organizations, opposes BAAJA, which, they say will “gut Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act and its protections for historic and cultural sites nationwide.”
At the same time that Democratic bill sponsor Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island was on the Senate floor arguing that the bill was a good deal because the Administration would ease up on its opposition to clean energy, including wind turbines off Rhode Island’s coast, President Trump stood in a press conference stating that now that the bill has been fully negotiated, he will not approve wind turbines, saying: “Wind turbines are a major loser.” The contradiction is sure to raise questions about the judgement of Whitehouse and the second Democratic sponsor, Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, in trusting Trump as a negotiating partner.
Greg Werkheiser, an attorney with Cultural Heritage Partners and a leader of the 106 Strong Coalition, reflected on the developments: “The President, in real time, made major fools of certain Democratic Senators, who have told Americans that sacrificing history and culture in this bill is necessary to win clean energy concessions from the President. How are those concessions working out for you right about now?”
Martin Luther King III: Historic Preservation Is a Matter of Human Dignity
Martin Luther King III, Chairman of the Drum Major Institute, connected the protection of historic places to the unfinished work of the civil rights movement.
“My father taught that nonviolence begins with recognizing the dignity of every human being. Part of recognizing that dignity is recognizing that every people has a history. Every community has stories worth telling. Every generation has places worth remembering,” King said.
Reflecting on Section 106's role in protecting the African Burial Ground in New York, the sites of Japanese incarceration in Idaho during World War II, and the Monacan Indian Nation's ancestral capital of Rassawek in Virginia, King emphasized that preservation and development are not opposing goals.
King also described the law's requirement that federal agencies listen to affected communities before proceeding with projects as “not a bureaucratic inconvenience. It is a democratic principle.”
Tribal Leaders Invoke Generations of Responsibility to Sacred Places
Chairman Leonard Forsman of the Suquamish Tribe, who also serves as President of the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians, invoked historical precedent, stating, “In 1855, shortly before signing the Treaty of Point Elliott, our ancestral leader Chief Seattle said that ‘Our dead never forget the beautiful world that gave them being’ and demanded the right to visit the graves of his ancestors,” Forsman said from the podium.
“Indian Tribes must be part of the Section 106 process to ensure that we can honor our duty to avoid, or at least minimize, impacts to our ancestors’ graves, archaeological sites, and cultural landscapes.” Forsman emphasized that responsible development and respect for Tribal sovereignty are compatible: “Permitting reform must support Tribal sovereignty and protect Tribal cultural heritage. These priorities are not mutually exclusive.”
The day's program opened with an invocation by Governor Raymond Aguilar Jr. of the Pueblo of Santo Domingo, on behalf of the All Pueblo Council of Governors. Other Tribal leaders participating in the program included Chairman Joey Sanchez of the All Pueblo Council of Governors, Governor Harry Antonio Jr. of the Pueblo of Laguna, Governor Christopher Moquino of the Pueblo of San Ildefonso, Chief Anne Richardson of the Rappahannock Tribe, and Council Member Conrad Jacket of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe.
Members of Congress and Architects Address the Proposed Changes
Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib warned in her prepared remarks that the legislation would weaken communities' ability to protect historic places before irreversible damage occurs.
“Once a historic building or a burial ground is destroyed and disturbed, there’s no taking it back. That damage can’t be undone,” Tlaib said. “Section 106 protects these sites before it’s too late.”
Yiselle Santos Rivera, President-elect of the American Institute of Architects, which represents more than 100,000 architects, emphasized that meaningful consultation helps produce better development outcomes. “Architects want to get projects built right. A clear process that respects history and gives communities a meaningful voice helps us do that,” Santos Rivera stated.
Speakers also included Mary Means, creator of the National Main Street Program; Charles A. Birnbaum, President and CEO of The Cultural Landscape Foundation; Torey Carter-Conneen, CEO of the American Society of Landscape Architects; Dr. Brian Daniels, President of the Archaeological Institute of America; Dr. Joy Banner of The Descendants Project; and Rebecca Miller of the DC Preservation League. A. Prince Albert III served as master of ceremonies.
A Coalition Built Around a Shared National Inheritance
Closing the rally, Greg Werkheiser reflected on why Americans had gathered to defend historic places amid so many other national challenges.
“Our history belongs to all of us. And all of us deserve a voice in its future,” Werkheiser said.
He described historic places as repositories of national wisdom—the essential ingredient to finding pathways through troubling times—and called on Americans to recognize their responsibility to future generations. “We are not merely the beneficiaries of history. We are its authors,” he said, concluding: “We came here to defend history. We leave here determined to make it.”
About Section 106 and the Legislation
For 60 years, Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act has required federal agencies to consider the effects of federal undertakings on historic properties and consult with Tribal Nations, preservation officials, and other appropriate parties before decisions are finalized.
The 106 Strong Coalition explains that BAAJA would devastate this framework by narrowing the projects and effects subject to review, eliminating opportunities for public participation and Tribal consultation, and restricting legal remedies even when agencies or developers break the law.
Supporters of the legislation argue that permitting reform is necessary to accelerate development of data center infrastructure, mining, oil, gas, and clean energy projects. Coalition members point out that the national average length of review of projects by State Historic Preservation Officers under Section 106 is only 16 days; that the real cause of delays is severe understaffing of federal regulatory agencies, which was exacerbated by DOGE reductions.
About 106 Strong
106 Strong is a national coalition of more than 1,200 Tribal Nations and organizations dedicated to defending Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act and the ability of communities to participate in decisions affecting historic and culturally significant places.
The coalition brings together Tribal Nations, preservation organizations, architects, archaeologists, museums, civil rights organizations, conservation groups, historians, and community advocates.
Website: www.106Strong.com
Media: Select photographs – to be supplemented.
Press Contact: Greg Werkheiser, greg@culturalheritagepartners.com