Remarks as Prepared for Attorney General Eric Holder at the Tribal Nations Listening Session

Remarks as Prepared for Attorney General Eric Holder at the Tribal Nations
Listening Session

ST. PAUL, Minn., Oct. 29 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following are remarks
as prepared for Attorney General Holder:

I'd like to thank all of you for taking the time and energy to participate in
this Listening Session. The perspectives and proposals you presented today
reflect your hard work and dedication. Those of us from the Department of
Justice have a lot to think about, and I'm grateful for that.

I'd like to extend special thanks to the tribal leaders and representatives
who traveled great distances and dedicated two days to this Listening Session.
I know how valuable your time is and I truly appreciate your willingness to
share it with us. I would also like to thank my colleagues from the Department
of Justice who are here today. And I'd like to single out Tracy Toulou,
Director of the Office on Tribal Justice, both for his hard work helping to
organize the Listening Session and for moderating our conversation today.
Thank you, Tracy.

I also want to thank our federal partners for their participation. I am
grateful that representatives from the Departments of Interior, Health and
Human Services, Education, and Housing and Urban Development could join us
here. It's critical that we work together across the federal government to
confront issues of public safety in Indian Country. We cannot retreat to our
respective agencies and work in isolation. Accordingly, you have my commitment
that the leadership of the Department of Justice will work with our
counterparts in other agencies to ensure that the proposals we discussed today
are considered at the highest levels. We must put the lives and the
livelihoods of tribal communities ahead of bureaucracy.

Our commitment to open, frank communication among our governments will not end
this evening. There will be additional opportunities for us to speak - and to
listen - to one another in the months and years ahead. But make no mistake:
the time has come for us to act, for us to develop enduring solutions to the
public safety challenges we face. Families and communities across Indian
Country are counting on us. Your proposals will guide us as we find the way
forward together. And as I said earlier today, this Justice Department's
policies will reflect the principles of tribal sovereignty and Indian
self-determination - today, tomorrow, and always.

In the short-term, we need to better coordinate federal efforts so that you
receive the resources you need as part of our trust obligation. But we also
need to look at long-term solutions and programs. You know best what policies
and enforcement strategies will work in your own tribal communities, but you
need the resources to implement them. We must learn from the lessons of the
past as we make decisions about how to allocate the resources we have now, and
the resources we will continue to fight for in the future.

Many of you here have worked over the past decade to maintain a dialogue with
the Department of Justice, and your contributions over the last two days have
been invaluable. This includes the Tribal Justice Advisory Group, the Section
904 Task Force on Violence Against Women in Indian Country, and the tribal law
enforcement experts who have been at the table with the Deputy and Associate
Attorneys General leading up to this event.

Will those representatives please stand now and be recognized?

I know that you have been working hard to help the Justice Department
understand and address the needs of tribal communities for a long time. We are
here today in large part because of your contributions, and I thank you. We in
the Department of Justice must continue to listen, and to learn, from our
partners in tribal governments. The following steps will, I think, strengthen
our existing relationship and make our dialogue even more productive.

First, to ensure that we continue the progress we made today, I am announcing
the creation of a Tribal Nations Leadership Council. The Council will meet
twice a year, and will help coordinate efforts between the Justice Department
and tribal governments. The members of the Leadership Council will be chosen
by the tribes. Specifically, one tribal leader will be selected by his or her
regional peers from each of the 12 regions identified by the Bureau of Indian
Affairs.

Second, to ensure that the Justice Department's senior officials continue to
develop first-hand experience with the challenges facing Indian Country, I am
announcing my intention to visit several tribal communities during the next
year and beyond. As I said earlier, this Listening Session is the beginning.
Our dialogue will not end when we leave here this evening, and your continued
input will be critical as we work together in the months and years ahead.

We know one thing already. Money alone cannot fix the public safety problems
in Indian Country. In many cases, the federal government hasn't done an
effective job with the money it's had. This is one reason why coordination
across the federal government will be so important.

But while money alone isn't the answer, adequate financial resources are a
critical part of a comprehensive solution. We are determined to fight for
additional funding for tribal justice initiatives - this year, next year, and
in the years to come. I'm pleased to announce that the Department's grant
components - the Community Oriented Policing Services Office, known as COPS,
the Office on Violence Against Women, and the Office of Justice Programs -
have distributed available funds from both our fiscal year 2009 accounts and
our Recovery Act dollars to provide almost $400 million to tribal communities
through more than 25 grant programs.

This funding means more than $29 million in funding to hire 87 new tribal law
enforcement officers, to purchase crime-fighting technology systems and basic
equipment, and to secure training and technical assistance.

This funding means almost $71 million to build the capacity to combat violent
crimes against Native women and to enhance victim safety and prevention
strategies for tribal governments and tribal nonprofit organizations.

This funding also means more than $295 million to support critical needs,
including resources to:

-- construct and renovate correction facilities and tribal courts;
-- create sex offender registries to protect children from predators;
-- address the impact of alcohol abuse and substance abuse on tribal
communities;
-- improve tribal juvenile-justice systems, including prevention and
mental
health services; and,

-- comprehensively address infrastructure needs to create safer
communities.

I don't have to tell you how significant this funding is. But alone, it isn't
enough. We must also consider using memoranda of understanding between federal
agencies where they could make a difference. And we must explore opportunities
for legislative solutions when we must.

We know, for example, that the Violence Against Women Act is scheduled to be
reauthorized next year. We have an opportunity not just to adapt the
legislation to match the needs of tribal communities, but also to ensure
increased funding to combat violence against women and children in tribal
communities.

We're working closely with Congress to pass the Tribal Law and Order Act. I
know that many of you are also working to ensure the passage of this important
legislation. The Justice Department fully supports the bill and we look
forward to the day that President Obama signs it into law.

With or without this legislation, we must act now to protect youth in Indian
Country. Violence against children doesn't just impact the child, or the
child's family. It devastates entire communities, because it leads to so many
other forms of violence. When children witness or experience violence in the
home, it affects how they feel, how they act, and how they learn. Without
intervention, children who are exposed to violence are at higher risk for
school failure, substance abuse, repeat victimization, and, perhaps most
tragically, committing violence later in their own lives.

As a father of three children, I recognize that change has to come from within
families as well. We all need to be role models for our children so that they
have the best chance of living in families and communities free from violence.
Let me be clear- there is no excuse, NONE, to allow violence to be a part of
our children's lives wherever they live. And no woman, wherever she lives,
should ever be a victim of violence. We must work together to eradicate these
twin plagues.

The public safety challenges we face in Indian Country will not be solved by a
single grant, or a single piece of legislation. There is no quick fix. We need
to continue listening to you and to your proposals. We need to continue
learning about the particular challenges you face in your communities and
about your ideas to address those challenges. In short, we need to keep
working together to identify solutions and to implement them.

We must be open to new ideas and new approaches. We must learn from each other
what has worked - and what has not. We must acknowledge the cultural diversity
among tribal communities and embrace the challenge of providing services that
are culturally and linguistically tailored. We must dare to think differently.

I am grateful that so many of you took the time to share your experiences and
your ideas with me. I - and my colleagues in the Justice Department - learned
a great deal from you today. As we prepare to conclude this Listening Session,
let us resolve to continue our communication, and our collaboration. The
immediate task is to transform proposals into policy, ideas into
implementation.

Although the challenges we face are daunting, do not doubt our capacity to
address them. Always remember that man made problems are susceptible to man
made solutions. And do not doubt our commitment to see this job done. Alone,
none of us can solve the public safety crisis occurring in our nation's tribal
communities. But if we work together, if we use every tool at our disposal and
refuse to back down or give up, if we are prepared to ask ourselves hard
questions and face difficult truths, we can make a real difference in the
lives of everyone. This is my aim. This is my pledge to you.

Thank you.

SOURCE U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs, +1-202-514-2007,
+1-202-514-1888