releases: https://www.heitkamp.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=2f3e6951-b019-4a55-8bda-73e3ac456bf0
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
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| https://www.heitkamp.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=2f3e6951-b019-4a55-8bda-73e3ac456bf0 | Heitkamp Presses FBI Director for Permanent Solutions and Resources to Combat Crime in Indian Country | 2015-10-09 | 2015 | 2015-10 | Democrat | House | ND | Heidi Heitkamp | H001069 | www.heitkamp.senate.gov | legacy | WASHINGTON, D.C. U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp pressed U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director James B. Comey on the need for more permanent federal action and involvement in Indian Country to help combat increases in crime and substance abuse that afflict Native American communities in North Dakota and across the country at particularly high rates. During a U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs hearing, on which Heitkamp helps lead a subcommittee, Heitkamp said the challenges faced by tribal communities who lack the resources necessary to combat the epidemic of crime, addiction, and exploitation are exacerbated by recent population increases. The population increase has similarly increased human and drug trafficking in the state. Permanent FBI offices on tribal reservations which Heitkamp has long championed would aide these communities in combating these crimes. Watch Heitkamps exchange with FBI Director James B. Comey here: There is no place in the United States where you have more responsibility than in Indian Country where too often traffickers can go invisible and undetected, without fear of prosecution because jurisdictionally its no mans land and there is no cop on the beat, said Heitkamp. In my part of the world, the FBI is failing to meet the challenge of protecting Native American people. When I brought former White House Drug Czar to North Dakota to hear firsthand from Native American leaders about the challenges they face in dealing with the devastation of drug cartels, a Native American woman said to him, we are an endangered species. So I am begging for help from the FBI to support Native communities. As North Dakotas former Attorney General, Heitkamp has worked to bring broader attention to the need for a permanent law enforcement presence across Indian Country. Since joining the Senate, she has continued to call for a permanent FBI office in western North Dakota and Indian Country. She pressed the head of the FBI to open an FBI office in Williston, which it did earlier this year, and then reinforced the need for permanent FBI officers in Indian Country. In April, she joined U.S. Marshals in North Dakota as they did sex offender compliance checks on MHA Nation to reinforce the importance of federal law enforcement in Indian Country. And she brought the current and former drug czars to North Dakota to discuss drug crime and trafficking throughout the state, including in Indian Country. Additionally, in multiple conversations and meetings with former Attorney General Eric Holder and now-Attorney General Loretta Lynch prior to her confirmation, Heitkamp worked to reinforce the need for permanent FBI officers in Indian Country and spoke about the ways to promote this lasting partnership on the ground. Through her Strong & Safe Communities Initiative, which she launched in September 2014, Heitkamp has worked to address the emerging challenges in North Dakota as a result of the states population boom, including crime and trafficking issues in Indian Country. ### | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |