{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.heitkamp.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=1a96b336-6f32-43a9-8a89-0acddde01d61", "Senate Appropriations Bill Recommends Creation of Heitkamps Commission on Native Children", "2014-08-26", "2014", "2014-08", "Democrat", "House", "ND", "Heidi Heitkamp", "H001069", "www.heitkamp.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C.  Building on the growing bipartisan support for her bill that would create a Commission on Native Children, U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp today announced that the U.S. Senates 2015 Interior Appropriations bill specifically recommends the federal government create the Commission to help improve the lives of Native American children.\r\nAt Heitkamps request, the bill specifically recommends the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) to form a Commission on Native children to improve coordination between federal agencies and better use existing resources to support Native kids. The goal of the Commission is to better help Native kids get access to education, health care, social services, and juvenile justice programs and support to help reduce high rates of poverty, suicide, and abuse. The appropriations bill for the U.S. Departments of the Interior, Environment, and related agencies provides funding for BIA.\r\nNative American families and children are far too often overlooked and the conversation needs to change, said Heitkamp. For decades, Ive been pushing to make a substantial difference in the lives of Native children and creating a Commission on Native Children, as my bill would do, would be another meaningful step toward recognizing the challenges they face and finding ways to help Native kids overcome them. We need to give all of our children every chance to succeed, including Native children. I will never stop fighting to stand up for Native families and children and I will keep working with those in our state and in Congress who are committed to doing the same.\r\nHeitkamps bill to create a Commission on Native Children, which she introduced with Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski from Alaska, currently has 34 bipartisan cosponsors and unanimously passed the Senate Indian Affairs Committee in May  the final step before the bill goes to the full Senate. In June, Republican Congressman Tom Cole from Oklahoma introduced Heitkamps bill in the U.S. House of Representatives.\r\nSince serving as North Dakotas Attorney General in the 1990s, Heitkamp has fought to stand up for Native children and families. When she introduced her Commission on Native Children bill in October 2013, Heitkampspoke on the Senate floor about the importance of this legislation to address some of the most pressing challenges for Native children. The bill has the strong support of all five tribes in North Dakota and many national Native American organizations.\r\nDuring a Senate Committee on Indian Affairs hearing on the bill in April, former U.S. Senator Byron L. Dorgan testified at the request of Heitkamp to discuss how her bill would make real changes to help improve the lives of Native American children. Dorgan is the former Chairman of the Committee, and the Founder and Chairman of the Center for Native American Youth at the Aspen Institute.\r\nHeitkamps bill, theAlyce Spotted Bear and Walter Soboleff Commission on Native Children, would conduct a comprehensive study on the programs, grants, and supports available for Native children, both at government agencies and on the ground in Native communities, with the goal of developing a sustainable system that delivers wrap-around services to Native children. Then, the 11 member Commission would issue a report to address a series of challenges currently facing Native children. A Native Children Subcommittee would also provide advice to the Commission. The Commissions report would address how to achieve better use of existing resources, increased coordination, measurable outcomes, stronger data, stronger private sector partnerships, and implementation of best practices.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.heitkamp.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=1a96b336-6f32-43a9-8a89-0acddde01d61"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9676311165094376, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}