 He serves as Vice Chairman of the Native American Caucus, where he has worked on a bipartisan basis to protect the inherent sovereignty of tribal governments and promote the needs of Indian Country.As a senior member of the House Resources Committee — the committee with jurisdiction over all matters regarding the relations of the United States with American Indians and Alaska Natives — he has been a defender of the sovereign status of Indian Tribal governments as independent from the United States.He also serves as a co-chairman of the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues along with Congressman Ed Royce (previously Joe Knollenberg and Mark Kirk) and was instrumental in garnering the support of 127 members (30%) of the U.S. House of Representatives for the Armenian Caucus.