Heidi Heitkamp

Our producers have been tremendously patient... But that patience is wearing thin.

I believe that we need to have the same kind of reaction and the same kind of response in terms of dollars, as Senator Hoeven has said.

This is about the very real economic consequences of what's happening in farm country.

We need to offer a timeframe, and so I am curious to anyone who can tell me when we will actually get an answer to small community banks on regulatory relief.

I really care about small community banks. They are the lifeblood, the capital lifeblood for the many, many people in the great State of North Dakota.

What started out to be too big to fail has become for many of these community banks too small to succeed.

We do not have a financially literate population, especially among youth.

I am disturbed a little bit by that answer, that it is not the primary way, because we can deal with student loan debt.

I think we need to have a broader understanding, because way too often here, we think that the only people who are concerned about these issues in the U.S. Congress or the Federal Government or a Federal agency...

We need to make sure it is as transparent as what it can.

I think it is important to understand those barriers, whether they are home ownership or whether they are--whatever it is that creates a unique situation in terms of dealing individually with Indian people and recovery.

It is heartbreaking to see those same tools not being particularly effective in Indian Country.

As Senator Heitkamp noted, many tribal governments use our gaming operations as both a gathering place for the community and a place to teach visitors about our history and culture.

I think it is important to point out that where you look at casinos in Las Vegas, they are regulated by the State, maybe a little bit of control by Las Vegas.

The casino itself has become a cultural center, a place of kind of understanding culture.

Indian gaming is a vital part of many tribal economies.

It is about listening. And actually, understanding that we are moving toward a tribal self-determination policy.

I think given how difficult it is right now to get something changed in statute, we need to continue to push for accommodation in the implementation process that we have.

That adds for administrative delays and red tape that we have been bogged down with.

I know how passionately, from our tribal governments and obviously, I think every one of the tribes in North Dakota is in the top 40.

I want to follow up a little bit on the appraisal issue, because I think from what the Deputy Secretary said, it is appraisals that have been a challenge.

What a better way to encourage self-determination than to allow tribes to manage their own affairs.

I think it is critically important that we continue to put the pressure on DOI.

It is complicated, because a lot of what we need to do in order to reduce flaring, what we need to do in order to move product depends on having access to the surface.

I think it is important that we don't simply hit a hurdle of an absentee landowner and then back away from that process.