WASHINGTON-In mid-March, United States Senators Senate Committee on Indian Affairs (SCIA) Vice Chairman Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) unveiled the Tribal Medical Supplies Stockpile Access Act, legislation that would guarantee that the Indian Health Service (IHS), tribal health authorities, and urban Indian organizations have access to the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS), a federal repository of drugs and medical supplies that can be tapped if a public health emergency could exhaust local supplies.

Currently, IHS and tribal health authorities' access to the SNS is very...