Good
morning! It is truly a pleasure to be here. You didn't have to twist my arm
too much to get me back to Las Vegas.
One of the things I love best about Las Vegas is the way that different cultures
and traditions are incorporated into the city's buildings and attractions. Back
in Washington, there is also a new theme building, dedicated solely to the culture
and traditions of Native Americans. In September, Native Americans from across
the country came together to celebrate the grand opening of the National Museum
of the American Indian. This magnificent new museum provides a place for all
Americans to come and learn about the history, hardships, accomplishments, culture,
and spirituality of Native Americans. It will stand as a lasting monument to
the incredible contributions Native Americans have made throughout our nation's
history. ***
Today, I want to give you a brief overview of the FBI's role in Indian Country
and tell you what we are doing both now and in the future to improve the safety
and security of your nations.
The FBI has federal law enforcement responsibility on more than 200 Indian
Reservations. We also provide forensic and investigative services to law
enforcement officials on those reservations we do not cover. As you all know,
the September 11 attacks made it necessary for the FBI to shift many agents
out of drug investigations and other criminal programs to pursue counterterrorism
investigations. But one area we have not cut back on is Indian Country. In
fact, we have expanded.
Over 100 Special Agents are currently working full-time in support of Indian
Country investigative matters. In 2004, those agents initiated nearly 1,900
cases. A new Safe Trails Task Force is planned for Minnesota next year. We
added a Victim Specialist to our Reno Resident Agency. The Indian Gaming
Working group is up and running nationwide. And the joint Indian Country
Training Initiative has 25 training events scheduled for next year.
We in the FBI remain committed to working with you to protect Indian Country.
First and foremost, we are committed to preventing and investigating crime.
One of our most important joint efforts is the Safe Trails Task Forces, which
bring federal, state, local and tribal resources together to combat violent
crime, drugs, and corruption. We have a total of 12 Safe Trails Task Forces
nationwide. They have made a real difference in investigating crime and keeping
Native American communities safe. And as I mentioned, another Safe Trails
Task Force will be coming to Minnesota in 2005.
In addition to gathering evidence during investigations, the FBI Laboratory's
Indian Country Task Force is devoted solely to processing evidence from Indian
Country cases. Tribes can now submit evidence directly to our lab, and the
task force has reduced the processing time for DNA evidence from nearly a
year to under 60 days.
Second, we are committed to assisting victims of crime. Twenty-five percent
of our entire cadre of victim specialists, some of whom are Native Americans,
are assigned exclusively to Indian Country. They provide a wide range of
services, including transporting child victims to interviews and critical
services, finding emergency shelter for victims of domestic violence, and
helping families of homicide victims. The FBI also partners with the Indian
Police Academy to offer training clinics in forensic child interviewing.
I am thrilled to
tell you that later this month, in partnership with the Tohono O'odham
Nation and the Southern Arizona Children's Advocacy Center,
we will officially open a new child forensic interviewing center in Sells,
Arizona, called "The Tohono O'odham Reservation Children's House," or
TORCH. Another Child Interviewing Center will be opening on the Rosebud Reservation
in South Dakota in early November. These centers provide a place for child
victims to feel secure while being interviewed by law enforcement and victim
specialists, and give them a safe place to start their recovery process.
Third, we are committed to combating criminal activity at Indian gaming
establishments. Today, there are more than 360 such gaming facilities around
the country. They bring in total revenues of nearly 17 billion dollars. That
is more than Las Vegas and Atlantic City combined. The upside of this phenomenal
growth is an economic boon to many Native American tribes; the downside is
the increased potential for criminal activity.
To confront this threat, last year, the FBI established the Indian Gaming Working
Group, an interagency group that identifies and directs resources to address
the most pressing Indian gaming violations. The group includes officials from
the FBI, the Department of the Interior, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the
National Indian Gaming Commission, and the Internal Revenue Service, among
others. Numerous investigations have been initiated as a result of their efforts,
and the Indian Gaming Working Group provides funding and personnel assistance
to these cases. We are working together with you to ensure the integrity of
gaming as a source of revenue and to keep casinos crime-free.
Fourth, we are committed to providing high-quality training to tribal law enforcement.
We coordinate closely with the Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Law Enforcement
Services and the Indian Police Academy in New Mexico. Since 1997, we have trained
over 4,000 Indian Country law enforcement officers and support personnel. We
also train doctors and social workers, in an effort to help create a highly
professional workforce ready to handle everything from homicides to child sexual
abuse to gang violence. In 2004, we offered training in homicide investigations,
sexual assault, crime scene processing, officer survival, gaming, interview
and interrogation, and crisis management, to name a few. We recognize that
each of your communities faces different and ever-changing threats. I encourage
you to work with your local FBI field office or the Indian Country Unit to
identify your specific training needs.
***
Our combined efforts to train officers, investigate crime, assist victims,
and bring perpetrators to justice are paying off. Two years ago, for example,
our Billings, Montana office received information that a former Air Force
officer had abused a nine-year-old girl. In executing a search warrant,
FBI and BIA
agents discovered child pornography on the suspect's computer – some
of which had been manufactured by the suspect. We arrested Jeffrey Speelman,
and he pled guilty to sexual abuse and the possession of child pornography.
In January he was sentenced to over 60 years in federal prison.
Let me give you a prime example of a very sensitive, and very successful,
joint investigation among the FBI, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, tribal law
enforcement,
and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, spanning nearly 30 years. Many of
you may be familiar with the case of Anna Mae Aquash, who was murdered on
the Pine
Ridge Reservation in South Dakota in 1975. In the early 1970s, Aquash became
involved with the American Indian Movement. She quickly gained stature and
access to the highest levels of leadership within the organization, but also
gained enemies who mistrusted her motives. In fact, members Arlo Looking
Cloud, John Graham, and Theda Clarke falsely suspected her of being an informant.
They took her to a remote location on the Pine Ridge Reservation and executed
her.
In March 2003, Arlo Looking Cloud and John Graham were indicted on charges
of first degree murder by a federal grand jury. Looking Cloud was arrested
in Denver a week later. He was sentenced in April 2004 to life in prison.
John Graham, also charged with first degree murder, awaits extradition from
Canada,
which will hopefully take place later this year. Anna Mae Aquash's daughter,
Debbie Maloney, who is now a Constable with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police,
was finally able to bring her mother's remains back to her home reservation
in Canada for burial.
***
Just as partnerships will continue to be critical in protecting Indian
Country from violence and injustice, partnerships will also continue
to be vital
to protecting our country from crime and terrorism. I once heard a Native
American
proverb that says, "I have seen that in any great undertaking it is not
enough for man to depend simply on himself." That sums it up – in
an age when criminal and terrorist threats are increasingly complex and interconnected,
no agency, no department, no country can succeed alone.
The September 11th attacks on our homeland made it painfully clear that
law enforcement and intelligence agencies could no longer afford to work
separately
or hold onto their own information. Before September 11th, we did not have
the seamless coordination that is crucial to defending our country and
our fellow citizens.
Today, we do have that cooperation. It is unprecedented, and it is powerful.
Together, we have made tremendous progress, but our work is not yet finished.
Terrorist attacks around the world are deadly reminders that terrorists
are still determined to attack Americans, whether overseas or within our
borders. All American communities have been turned into the front lines.
Today's threats do not stop at the borders of your reservations. We all worry
about terrorists attempting to cross into the United States through Indian
Country, or that the same open borders used by illegal aliens in search of
work could also serve as access points for terrorists.
While other agencies take the lead on border security, the FBI still has
a responsibility to include tribes in our homeland security efforts. To
that
end, the FBI participates on the Federal Agency Advisory Panel of the Tribal
Border Security Project, which was spearheaded by you, the members of the National
Native American Law Enforcement Association, as well as the National Congress
of American Indians. Together, we are working to develop interoperable communications
and equipment among tribal law enforcement agencies, the Border Patrol, and
other federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies. And it isn't just
agents from the Indian Country Unit that serve on the panel – the FBI
also has representatives whose primary focus is on alien smuggling and other
border security issues.
Today's criminals
and terrorists operate at every level and we must continue to fight back
at every level. The FBI will continue to develop our strategic
partnerships with law enforcement agencies across the world – but also
here, with tribal police departments, the BIA, the Indian Health Service,
the National Congress of American Indians, and all of you. By working together,
we can have a tremendous impact on the safety and security of our homeland.
The men and women of the FBI are proud to be your partners. I am honored
to have had the opportunity to talk to you today. And if any of you are
interested
in working more closely with us – or coming to work for us – please
give us a call! May God bless all of you.
###