Deb Haaland

Statistics show that 8 in 10 Indigenous women will be raped, stalked, or abused in the course of their lifetimes.

The U.S. Government has a trust responsibility to Indian tribes.

The Bridging Agency Data Gaps & Ensuring Safety Act addresses the gaps in national MMIW data by requiring BIA direct-service officers and FBI agents with jurisdiction in Indian Country to report missing persons cases to the NamUs database.

It is ironic that the FBI, when they first became an agency, one of the first big cases that they solved were the Osage murders in Oklahoma Indian Country.

The Violence Against Women Act was passed in the House in April of this year, and it has yet to see the light of day on the Senate side.

Will the information or notes collected from this listening session be made public?

BIA's Office of Justice Services (OJS) reports different data to both FBI and the National Institute of Justice's (NIJ) crime databases--violent crimes resulting in death get sent over to the FBI, while missing persons data are sent to NIJ.

Do you believe the FBI is making adequate effort to assist in coordinating, collecting data, and providing resources to Indian Country, for these Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women cases?

Senator Udall, who has been a great lead on this issue in New Mexico, cited 'poor coordination, limited data, and insufficient resources' as barriers to solving these cases during that hearing.

Has BIA considered proposing and/or supporting the establishment of a single database for MMIW cases?

the BLM has an obligation under The Federal Land Policy and Management Act FLPMA to 'give priority to the designation and protection of areas of critical environmental concern'

Acting Director Pendley, the BLM has an obligation under The Federal Land Policy and Management Act FLPMA to 'give priority to the designation and protection of areas of critical environmental concern.'

I am clarifying with this letter that no consultations were made for the BLM, specifically.

Thank you, Mr. Pendley, for being here. Thank you for your service as a Marine to our country.

Now that you know that it wasn't done properly, can you commit to making sure that it will be done properly?

Cultural resources are not just a matter of course; they represent a history and culture and are living connections to our past.

It is time for the Federal Government to start taking its commitments and obligations to tribal nations seriously.

I put more faith in the voices of the experts.

It is very clear that the energy part is what is important to you, and not the voices of the people.

Removing a civil servant from his area of expertise and putting him in a job where he's not needed... is a colossal waste of taxpayer dollars.

So, in your opinion, what will be the impact of that office no longer having anyone there, much less any scientific leadership that sounds badly needed for those people, those Americans living in Alaska?

Silencing civil servants, stifling science, squandering taxpayer money and spurning communities in the face of imminent danger have never made America great.

I urge you to encourage deployment of smart meters and other technologies which make our electric grid more responsive and capable of supporting distributed energy resources.

Alaska needs the help of a fully engaged federal government. Washington cannot turn its back.

This is a betrayal of the public trust.