Maria Cantwell

Over the last few years, Congress has worked with Tribes to make their communities safer.

We want to make sure we are taking steps forward for best practices and then scaling it and having an understanding of what it is going to take to scale it.

If the State will not forgo taxing on tribal lands, then the tribe cannot economically impose its taxes.

Obviously we want to see continued progress made and coordination and working together.

Violent crime and the ability to prevent it remains one of the biggest issues facing Indian Country today, particularly for Native American women.

The Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 expanded sentencing authority for Tribes to allow them to prosecute non-Indian offenders in domestic violence.

I feel like we are a vast representation on the membership that is here right now on what the needs are for Indian Country and coordination.

The Tribal Law and Order Act increased sentencing authority for Tribes, particularly repeat offenders.

We must continue to work together to ensure that justice is served in Indian Country.

Not only are these statistics startling, they are unacceptable.

The idea that we are sitting here now almost six years after that, those hearings that you mentioned, still talking about putting in place rules to deal with the last line of defense, the failsafe in offshore drilling, is incredibly…

President Obama's Oil Spill Commission made fundamental commonsense recommendations, including Congressional action on improving safety for rigs.

I think the threat that we see coming at us, that these are not the two worst years we are going to see, that the worst is still yet to come.

I want to work with you and see what we can do to move forward.

We have a lot of work to do, and we need to work together to develop real solutions to the wildfire problem.

This is something that requires immediate action.

Yes. That's the dollar value of deals for U.S. companies being held up that could be moved forward.

But it is all about clean water, correct?

It took us decades of hard battles involving many stakeholders before we started mitigating the impacts on our main source of the environment and electricity.

I know that with any debate you have to start with scientific data that is available.

The Department of the Interior's Office of Surface Mining Reclamation Enforcement has worked hard on this rule for six years to update regulations that really should have been on the books for the last 32 years.

It is important to remember that, until the Senate reorganized its committee structure in 1977, this committee was actually known as the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs.

Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you for holding this important hearing.

So will you come up with an actionable plan on separating defense and civilian waste? That is what I am asking.

Well, I will look for it. I know you have done good work at the FAA, but part of the issue at Hanford has been somebody proposes some great idea, a new secretary comes along and then they realize later that doesn't work.