WASHINGTON – The nation’s top legislator who is pushing for an out-loud apology to Native Americans is offering political cover to President Barack Obama during a contentious election year.

Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., said in an interview that political games shouldn’t be played with something as important as a Native American apology, but he senses the White House may be facing pressure, as it does not want to appear weak or overly politically correct.

“I am concerned about people doing political calculations in the White House, looking at it that way,” Brownback said regarding an apology resolution Obama quietly signed Dec. 19 – to no fanfare.

“My hope is that they would look at this, noting it has been a bipartisan issue. They could use me and others to shield themselves on it. They don’t have to take all the responsibility themselves. I do think there’s strength in the nature of this being bipartisan for them to use that. I just think there is so much good that could come out of this.”

Brownback had been pushing for an apology since 2004 after collaborating with former Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, a citizen of the Northern Cheyenne Nation. The Senate passed his congressional resolution in October, and then the president signed it into law as part of a defense appropriation bill just before Christmas.

The resolution apologizes “on behalf of the people of the United States to all Native peoples for the many instances of violence, maltreatment and neglect inflicted on Native peoples by citizens of the United States.” It also “urges the president to acknowledge the wrongs of the United States against Indian tribes in the history of the United States in order to bring healing to this land.”

Many Native Americans find it odd that Obama chose to sign the resolution, yet the White House has made no mention of the president making an apology, nor was there even an effort to tell Native Americans, or the general public, about the resolution.

“What kind of an apology is it when they don’t tell the people they are apologizing to?” asked Robert T. Coulter, executive director of the Indian Law Resource Center.

For the apology to have real meaning, Brownback said it should be said out loud by the president.

“To me, it starts the reconciliation process,” said the senator, who is retiring from Congress this year to run for governor of his state.

“It doesn’t finish anything, it doesn’t conclude anything – but it hopefully starts a process of reconciliation in the country where there will be thought and remembrance, reconciling.

“That’s what apologies have done in other areas, whether it’s the Japanese internment, other international ones. It really brings into the public consciousness that something happened that was deeply troubling and wrong.”

Brownback said he and his allies are pulling together a coalition to urge the Obama administration to issue an apology in a “formal, dignified manner” in front of an audience of Native American leaders.

“That is important and significant to say something happened here that is dreadfully wrong, and we own up to it.”

White House spokesman Shin Inouye said earlier in January that there were “no updates” on how Obama might proceed.

Later, the White House did not respond to requests for comment on Brownback’s offer of political cover.

To tribes and Indian citizens who don’t think an apology is important, Brownback explained his rationale: “To me, if somebody does you wrong, you may still work with them, but you might always have a suspicion. If he owns up to it and asks for forgiveness, it changes the dynamics of the relationship. You’re still going to watch him closely, but you might have the chance at building a new relationship. That’s what tribes should take out of this.”