13 percent is NOT ACCEPTABLE. Congress has an absolute legal and moral duty to protect Us--and not at 13 percent.

I think the choice to have an abortion should ultimately be in the hands of the woman, of the individual, not the government.

We saw that through passage of VAWA 2022, which included the tribal title that we authored.

Sometimes it is easier to have somebody be that assistance in some community somewhere else in America where they have no idea they are speaking to people who have no way out of a village, there is no road, the weather is down, and no…

Following 477 is very important to us, and something that the Department fully supports.

We can't have DOJ over here not talking and intersecting with what Interior and HHS is.

This pilot project supplements the work that the State of Alaska is doing with regard to public safety.

If you are in that position, we would like to see the direction and some proposal before we go on the August break.

I am trying to make sure that as you are taking these initial steps, again, there is a sharing of information back and forth.

I cannot underscore enough how important this is for Department of Justice, Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Interior...

We need the commitment of our Federal partners, and in this area, I think we are making some progress.

I expect more Alaska tribes to take advantage of DOJ support this year.

I think Attorney General Garland seemed to agree with me, and I think that is why he directed the Office of Tribal Justice and the DOJ grant-making offices to figure out, let's figure out what all the options are here, including…

This Committee has been a great forum to both shed light on the need to improve public safety and justice in Native communities.

This all takes time, this is work. But know that there are so many of us that are really committed to keeping that momentum going.

I am trying to make sure that as you are taking these initial steps, again, there is a sharing of information back and forth.

I am honored to have worked with Native leaders in Alaska and across the Nation over multiple Congresses on these issues of public safety.

We are aware that DOJ recently transferred to DOI two discretionary grant programs as proposed by a tribe.