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law, Cole said, would expand the number of cases that could be prosecuted in tribal courts, rather than waiting for them to go through the federal system.
• "It is being argued today. It is being debated today," Cole told students. "This is something we are very much in favor of and we are pushing forward."
• The legislation, though, may have a different look than what Cole has envisioned. Two Republican senators were working on an alternative that would eliminate several Democratic provisions, including one giving tribal officials more authority in cases of abuse of American Indian women by non-tribal members.
• Cole was not available for comment after the program.
• The 2.2 million-acre Standing Rock reservation straddles the North and South Dakota border. The Standing Rock school, located in Fort Yates, has about 250 stu

dents in grades seven through 12.
• Jeremy Silva, a Standing Rock senior, asked Cole during a question-and-answer session about statistics showing that crimes rates are 2.5 times higher on reservations than elsewhere, and that only 50 percent of the cases are actually prosecuted.
• Cole said the number of prosecutions isn't always a good measure on how much the Justice Department is fighting crime. He said many cases aren't publicized