I feel very strongly, as I said in my opening comments, that we need to further empower tribal governments to address these criminal law enforcement problems.

I strongly support this provision. And yes, there are legitimate due process concerns.

For far too long, violent crime and drug distribution and severe understaffing have plagued Indian Country.

I want to commend the Chairman. He and I are going to work together in a bipartisan way.

According to the BIA's 2008 crime report, the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming had a crime rate that was three and a half times the national average.

The same report indicates that an additional 22 law enforcement officers are needed to meet the community's needs.

We must ensure that tribal governments have the tools they need to keep their communities safe.

Well, I appreciate your comments, specifically about the sweetheart deals and the earmarks.

I do not know if you wanted to comment a little on that.

We do need a short-term strategy. We need a long-term strategy. The question is, how are we going to pay for it?

I would like to ask for your cooperation to have the Good Neighbor Forestry Act added to our agenda as soon as possible.

It's important that we work on natural resource policy in this committee.

Good Neighbor legislation has languished in this committee since 2007, and it is time, now, that we hold a hearing.

I have significant concerns with upkeep and with backlog of projects that need to be done.

I'm not sure that we're really doing that.

We still have the need for a robust construction program.

I'm delighted to see that this has been included because management of the pass and of the East entrance to Yellowstone have both been very important to the local communities.

We need to act in a quick way, as well as a cooperative way so that Indian Country does not get left behind.

We must do more than simply reauthorize a troubled, inefficient system.

I think it would be really the answer for the future.

There is significant support, of course, for reauthorizing the Indian Health Care Improvement Act.

This is a very important hearing, as the health care debate continues nationwide.

What we really need is a needs assessment to get an accurate picture of what the population looks like.

We are doing better for the severely injured in Iraq across a system of 8,000 miles than we are in rural Nebraska.

I expect a significant amount of work is going to be done this summer.