John Thune: “this appropriations bill, as all appropriations bills, comes down to a matter of priorities. We have a limited amount of…”

“this appropriations bill, as all appropriations bills, comes down to a matter of priorities. We have a limited amount of resources and we have to figure out where to put those limited resources to the most effective use for the taxpayers. My amendment is very simple. It takes $20 million from an authorized program that has problems with wasteful spending and it spends that $20 million instead to give Federal prosecutors badly needed additional funding to fight violent crime in Indian country. Violent crime has become a serious problem on reservations in South Dakota and elsewhere, and I am determined to put an end to it. If our tribal communities are to have a chance to be prosperous, they must first have strong public safety. A few weeks ago I cosponsored an amendment with Senator Dorgan to provide more law enforcement presence in Indian country. I strongly support this effort. The other part of the equation, though, is to ensure that those who have been arrested for violent crimes are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Because the Federal Government has a trust responsibility to the tribes, the task for prosecuting violent crimes in Indian country lies with our U.S. attorneys. However, our U.S. attorneys often cannot prosecute crimes because of a lack of resources.”