• FARGO, N.D. (AP) -- A high-ranking U.S. Department of Justice official making a trip to the Dakotas for a tribal nations meeting says the agency is making progress in improving safety on reservations.
• U.S. Associate Attorney General Tony West, the department's third-highest official, is scheduled to be in Bismarck Monday for the first public hearing of a 12-member task force that will examine the impact of exposure to violence on American Indian and Alaska Native children.
• West said he plans to take copious notes.
• "One of the reasons why it's important for me to go to Indian country periodically is to remind myself that people living there do not give up. And if they're not giving up, we're not giving up," he said.
• West pointed out recent steps such as the extension of the Violence Against Women Act and the granting of special criminal jurisdiction that allows perpetrators to be tried regardless of race. He also said many victims are now reporting crimes rather than staying silent.
• "People are feeling safer and having more confidence in criminal justice system to come forward and report them," West said. "That being said, there is a lot of work we have to do."
• The task force is the latest effort by the Justice Department to address violence on reservations, particularly against women and children. It is co-chaired by former North Dakota Sen. Byron Dorgan, a longtime advocate for Native American issues. His last piece of Legislation to pass Congress was the Tribal Law and Order Act.
• "This is a big issue. We've seen some evidence of it in North Dakota. The Spirit Lake Nation has had some very significant problems," Dorgan said. "There have been others as well."
• Federal prosecutors in North Dakota recently tried two cases involving the death of three children on Spirit Lake, which has been criticized for its ineffective child protection system. The federal Bureau of Indian Affairs, which took over control of the tribe's child social services more than a year ago, recently assigned seven agents to the reservation.
• "We take these allegations very, very seriously. U.S. Attorney (Timothy) Purdon is personally engaged in those cases," West said. "When it comes to ensuring there's justice in Indian country, that's a collective responsibility."

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