Lisa Murkowski

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

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

We are trying to build some efficiencies, but that efficiency is going to come when we leverage the resources of everybody.

The efficiencies that are created, we have seen them in play.

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…

One of the things that we know is that programs that may work in one department are models that we should be looking to.

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 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…

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

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

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

We were able to follow up with funding, and the next year appropriated $10 million for tribal courts in P.L. 280 States.

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

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

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

Thanks to VAWA 2022, tribes can prosecute more crimes of domestic violence as well as sexual violence, stalking, sex trafficking, and more.

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

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

One of the things that we see is a great disparity. I'm talking about rural, but so many of our rural communities are predominantly Alaska native.

The dental health aid therapist program, the DHAT program, is something that we put in place in Alaska.

One of the things that we see is a great disparity. I'm talking about rural, but so many of our rural communities are predominantly Alaska native.

I grew up in a part of the state where if you needed to go to the dentist, you got in an airplane or you got on a ferry.

The dental health aid therapist program, the DHAT program, is something that we put in place in Alaska.

There is about a $1.5 billion in deferred maintenance issue for over 200 bulk fuel farms throughout rural Alaska.

We need some help with your teams to identify how we can address a problem.