[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 195 (Tuesday, December 11, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7400-S7405]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
TRIBUTE TO HEIDI HEITKAMP
Mr. HOEVEN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to be recognized
for comments on behalf of my friend from North Dakota.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection.
Mr. HOEVEN. Mr. President, I rise today to speak on behalf of Senator
Heitkamp and to thank her for her service on behalf of the people of
North Dakota, as well as the people of this great Nation.
We have served together for the past 6 years, not only in the Senate
but also on the Agriculture Committee, the Indian Affairs Committee,
and the Homeland Security Committee.
We have been able to work together on a variety of issues important
to our home State, and we have been able to make progress on behalf of
the people of North Dakota, as well as the country.
Ag is still North Dakota's top industry. As members of the Ag
Committee, we have had the opportunity to craft good, long-term foreign
policy that will make a difference not only for hard-working farmers
and ranchers in North Dakota but across the Nation. In fact, we have
just released the conference report with our Ag Committee leadership,
Senator Roberts and Senator Stabenow. I commend them for their hard
work as well.
Good farm policy benefits every American, every day with the highest
quality, lowest cost food supply in the world. Certainly, as a fellow
``aggie,'' Senator Heitkamp understands that.
I think it is really important that we continue to point out that a
good farm bill isn't just about farmers and ranchers. As I said, the
highest quality, lowest cost food supply in the world, thanks to our
farmers and ranchers, benefits every single American every single day.
I know Senator Heitkamp will continue to work, along with our entire
delegation, to get the farm bill approved by the end of this year so we
can provide certainty and security for our great producers.
As chairman of the Indian Affairs Committee, I have appreciated
Senator Heitkamp's commitment to help empower our Tribal communities
and to improve the quality of life in Indian Country. Senator Heitkamp
has been an advocate for Native communities. She was able to pass
bipartisan legislation to establish a commission on Native children.
Additionally, the Senate recently approved Senator Heitkamp's Savanna's
Act, which is legislation to bring greater awareness regarding tragic
cases of missing and murdered Native American women.
She has helped to bring awareness to these issues. We will have a
hearing on the issue this week as well. We appreciate her insight and
work as a member of our committee.
These are just a few examples of the issues that we have worked on
together to advance. While we may be on opposite sides of the political
aisle, there is one thing we have always agreed on--that it is an
honor--an incredible honor--to serve the great State of North Dakota.
In closing, I want to wish Senator Heitkamp the best going forward
and to thank her again for her service on behalf of North Dakota--a
place that we are both blessed to call home.
Thank you.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Minnesota.
Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I also rise to honor my Senator next
door and my great colleague Senator Heitkamp.
As you could see from her beautiful remarks, she is a person of true
courage and strength and a friend to so many. We saw this strength when
she was running for Governor while battling breast cancer. We saw it
when she stood up for the people of North Dakota as their attorney
general, and we see that courage every single day in the U.S. Senate,
as she fights for the people of her State and the values that have
defined her as a public servant.
She is simply one of the best and one of a kind. Going forward, I
hope that people will listen to the speech that she just gave about
those seven generations, because that is service.
Heidi has always been true to herself and as mavericky as her red
hair. When I walk into a room filled with dark suits and I see that red
hair in the middle of it, I know where to go and exactly what I will
find. There is her joy and her optimism, so much of it coming from
growing up in a family of seven kids. There is her sense of humor,
which I love, even when it is mixed with some serious trash talk, even
when it is directed at my State next door. There is that friendship,
which I treasure above all else. There is the example she sets of what
one person can accomplish when you combine so much heart and fierce
determination.
We saw it with the human trafficking legislation that she talked
about today. We saw it with her work on energy. We saw it with her work
for her farmers. Thanks to leaders like Heidi, we are making progress
on so many issues.
I will never forget the trip that I got to take to Mexico with
Senator Heitkamp and Cindy McCain on human trafficking. One of the most
memorable moments was when we visited a shelter of girls who had seen
unspeakable tragedy. We met a little girl named Paloma. That means
``dove'' in Spanish. That girl, unlike the other
[[Page S7401]]
ones, didn't say a word. All she did was cry. That is all she did. It
made me think of what a refugee once said. She said that what she had
seen in her life would make ``stones cry.''
I saw the tears going down Heidi's face as that girl was just sitting
there crying. Heidi just doesn't watch that happen. She comes back, and
she takes those tears and puts them into action. That girl had no
voice. Heidi was her voice. She has done that time and again.
As she mentioned, everywhere you go in North Dakota, you practically
meet a member of her family, and somehow they all look the same.
There is also her wonderful husband Darwin, whom I adore. One of my
favorite Darwin stories was the time when we took the first all-women
Senators trip to Africa, and Heidi and I were sitting next to each
other with some people out in the countryside, with the elders. On one
side were all the women, with the women Senators, and on the other side
were all the men. I turned to Heidi--because all of the elders were
wearing these incredible hats and outfits--and I said: Who is the guy
at the end with the baseball cap?
She said: That is Darwin.
There he was. He was always there, always there for her.
So that is Heidi.
I will end with one story from that trip; that is, when we were in a
hut in the middle of nowhere, and there was a woman who lived there, a
widow, with her kids. We went into that hut, these women Senators, and
started asking that woman who was so proud of everything she had done--
all that was in this hut was one solar panel that she got for her work
and one thing on the wall, which was a chart that showed all of the
huts. It showed her with a star in the middle, and it showed how she
had helped to make sure they had good hygiene and if they got baby
care, as she was in charge of that.
One of us asked this woman, who we had learned had walked every day,
an hour and a half each day, to get water: What is your biggest
challenge?
This woman looked at these Senators and looked at this Senator with
red hair from America and said: I have no challenges. I am a leader.
That is Heidi Heitkamp. She is a leader. Whatever challenges she has
overcome in her life--health, representing a State that isn't always
easy when you look at it politically for a Democrat, the challenges she
had bucking our own party, taking things on--every single moment, she
overcame those challenges because Heidi Heitkamp is a leader.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maine.
Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, as I listened to Senator Heitkamp's
farewell remarks to us today, I could not help but think of the fact
that she used her final speech on the Senate floor not just to talk
about her accomplishments, of which there are many, but to inspire us.
It was a call to action. It was a call to the better angels of
ourselves to work together in the interests of our country.
Maine and North Dakota are separated by a great distance, but the
people of our two States have in common the qualities of hard work, of
respect for tradition, balanced by a spirit of innovation and a belief
in personal responsibility, always tempered by compassion.
During her years in the Senate, Heidi Heitkamp has demonstrated those
qualities time and again. She is passionate, as we heard today; she is
energetic, as we have seen in her work; and she is a committed public
servant who has worked so diligently for her State and for our country.
Senator Heitkamp has a remarkable record of public service. As her
State's attorney general, she fought to protect the people of North
Dakota against drug dealers, to defend seniors against abusive scams,
and to keep sexual predators off the streets.
Senator Heitkamp has continued those causes, that fight as a Member
of the U.S. Senate. Among the many issues on which we have worked
together, Senator Heitkamp's determined leadership on efforts to
support victims of human trafficking and to prevent youth homelessness
stand out. She and I led the charge to increase Federal funding for the
Runaway and Homeless Youth Act and the McKinney-Vento Education for
Homeless Children and Youth Program.
She has also been such a strong advocate for children, as you all
heard today. She has worked to help teenagers who find themselves
without a permanent home or on the street.
I was proud to stand with her in helping to forge the bipartisan path
forward on the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act, which became law
and includes Senator Heitkamp's provision to give safe harbor to
victims of human trafficking. She has also shed light on the role
healthcare providers can play in identifying and protecting the victims
of human trafficking by authoring the Stop, Observe, Ask, and Respond
to Health and Wellness Act--the SOAR Act--on which I was proud to be
her lead Republican.
Senator Heitkamp has been such a valued leader in strengthening our
agriculture. In fact, the chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee
was just talking about the absolutely vital role she has played working
with both the chairman and the ranking member. She knows that when we
strengthen agriculture, we sustain our rural communities.
The Next Generation in Agriculture Act that she authored and I
cosponsored will ensure that new farmers and ranchers have the support
and guidance they need.
It has been so rewarding to work with Senator Heitkamp on so many
bipartisan issues, such as improving school nutrition, increasing
access to healthcare in underserved areas, and expanding mental health
services for our rural vets. She was also instrumental in the success
of the Common Sense Coalition in preventing a lengthy government
shutdown earlier this year.
Senator Heitkamp has been an effective and courageous colleague, but
most of all, she has been a dear friend. Our friendship transcends
party lines and is rooted in mutual respect and trust.
To my friend, I say thank you for your service to our country and
thank you so much for your friendship. I am so grateful that we served
together, and I wish you all the best.
Thank you.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Montana.
Mr. TESTER. Mr. President, I want to talk for just a few minutes
about Senator Heidi Heitkamp, but first I want to start by talking a
little bit about why North Dakota is so important to me.
My grandfather and grandmother lived in Argusville, in West Fargo,
and moved to the place where I farm in about 1910, so I have always had
a kinship with North Dakota.
Before I came to this body--even before I got into the State
legislature--I always looked at North Dakota with envy because they had
two U.S. Senators by the names of Byron Dorgan and Kent Conrad. I
thought they were incredibly effective people, and when I got to this
body, I found out that in fact they were. Byron used to talk about
Rosie the Riveter and trade and Kent used to talk about the budget.
Then there was this lady by the name of Heidi Heitkamp, who decided
to run when Kent hung up his cleats. I remember sitting in caucus as
the campaign unfolded in 2012. As a candidate, especially in a tough
State like North Dakota is or a tough State like Montana is, you always
worry about different issues as they are coming down the pike and how
you were going to deal with them and how you were going to message
them. Healthcare was a big deal in the 2012 election. I saw one of the
ads Heidi had offered up. She didn't step away from the issue. She laid
into the issue. That was a sign of what was to come when she got into
this body.
I remember the night she got elected and, as she pointed out, she
wasn't supposed to get elected, but she did because she is a special
person and a special candidate. I remember driving home the next
morning, and I called Kent Conrad. I said: Congratulations. He said:
You are going to love Heidi Heitkamp. She is an incredible person. I
remember he also said: What you are going to love about her the most is
that she is normal. In this body, that says a lot--because Heidi
Heitkamp is normal. She is somebody who sees the world as it is. She
sees rural America as it is. She has leaned into every issue. They have
been well documented
[[Page S7402]]
here today. She has been incredibly effective in this body, but most
importantly--and most of what this body is going to have to compensate
for when she goes--every issue she brought up today revolves around
rural America.
Not many people live in rural America anymore. We have all moved to
the coast or we have moved to the bigger cities. She is right; Fargo is
the big city. In Montana, people have moved from the rural areas to the
big cities like Great Falls and Billings and Missoula. Those people and
their challenges in those rural areas are real. Heidi Heitkamp brought
those challenges to the floor, brought them to committee every single
day. I can't tell you how much I appreciate that, being a child of
rural America.
So as we move forward, as Heidi has given her last speech on the
Senate floor and laid out the challenges we need to take up in this
Senate--and the challenges she laid out are real and they will not get
solved by one party or the other, they will only get solved, as she
knows, by working together. I will say this. You have been an
incredible friend, an incredible ally, somebody who is normal, and I
wish you Godspeed moving ahead. I am sure we haven't heard the last of
Heidi Heitkamp.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Kansas.
Mr. ROBERTS. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Montana for his
comments and those of Senator Klobuchar, as well as my distinguished
colleague and friend from Maine.
Normal; maybe ``supernormal'' would be a better term. Every time
Heidi Heitkamp came into our committee room--I had the privilege and
the honor of being the chairman of the sometimes powerful Senate
Agriculture Committee, along with my distinguished ranking member,
Senator Stabenow, whom I will yield to in just a moment. Every time she
came into the committee room, it might be a little bit late, but it was
like a ray of sunshine came in and a ray of commitment.
Heidi, thank you for that speech. Thank you for those marching
orders, if you will. This marine will cease parade rest and come to
attention and do the best I can following your example.
I want to say something to Heidi's staff. I don't know if the Senate
cameras will do this--they obviously have me on there--but it would be
a good idea to pan these young people over there.
Senator Frank Carlson, a long time ago--one of my mentors, my first
boss from Kansas--said there are no self-made men or women in public
office. It is your friends who make you what you are. I relate to that,
saying friends, people, staff. We all think we have the best staff on
the Hill, and if we don't think that, something is wrong. You have had
the privilege of working for a lady who has great admiration from both
sides of the aisle, who has accomplished so much. This time is so
special for you, and thank you for what you have done for Heidi. Thank
you for getting her prepared, ready. You didn't have to do too much
because she does that on her own, but during this special time, see if
you can take this step and then the next step in your life--and it
prepares you for that next step--and shine. Represent Heidi well.
Represent yourself well.
I think you have had a rare privilege to work for somebody like Heidi
Heitkamp. She has been a good friend to me and a good friend to so many
here.
We aren't going to miss you because you are going to be back in some
capacity--maybe taking time off from what you are doing in your home
State of North Dakota. Everybody who knows you knows you are going to
be back in public service in some capacity.
I think I will stop right there and yield to my distinguished
colleague, the ranking member of the Senate Agriculture Committee,
Senator Stabenow.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Michigan.
Ms. STABENOW. Mr. President, today I rise to pay tribute to someone
who has made a really big impression from the day she set foot in the
Senate.
It might be her infectious laugh; I dare you not to smile when you
hear it. It might be her hugs, which I know many of my colleagues on
both sides of the aisle will miss. Or it might be her ever-present iced
coffee, no matter how cold it is outside. I might be biased, but I
think it is the hair.
Saying goodbye to Senator Heidi Heitkamp is hard for many of us,
especially the members of the Senate Redhead Caucus. After all, we are
losing a third of our membership.
In all seriousness, I will miss Heidi, and I know I am not alone. I
have had the chance to get to know her from the very beginning, back
when she was first running for the Senate. I campaigned with her in
North Dakota, and the thing that really struck me was her passion for
the people of her State and for agriculture.
We have had the opportunity to work closely together during our time
on the Agriculture Committee and especially as members of the farm bill
conference committee. I can tell you that Heidi has been instrumental
in getting this deal done and in making sure that North Dakota's
farmers and ranchers are well-represented.
Thanks to Heidi, we have taken huge steps forward in trade with Cuba;
it is her language in the farm bill.
She wasn't afraid to go her own way in order to stand up for North
Dakota. Even when we didn't agree on issues like conservation
easements, Heidi fought for her farmers and got it done.
I would like to think her passion comes from her red hair, but in
reality, I think it is her oversized heart. Whether she was listening
to the struggles of women farmers during our women's agriculture CODEL
in Africa, or shining a light on the epidemic of missing and murdered
Native American women, or sharing her own story of surviving breast
cancer and the need to protect people with preexisting conditions, in a
city where spreadsheets rule, Heidi threw her heart into this job, and
her State and our Nation are better for it.
Heidi, thank you for your friendship, your leadership, and for
putting your whole heart into fighting for North Dakota.
I join my great friend Senator Roberts, first of all, in indicating
what a huge difference you have made on the Agriculture Committee. From
the day you walked in, you hit the ground running and have made an
incredible difference.
As you were talking today about some parts--and we could go through
every single chapter--you made a difference. The Tribal provisions are
in there. But you mentioned Cuba, and this is very historic. It took
work on the Senate floor to be able to move it through. It took work
for us in the conference committee. It is because of you that it is in
there and opportunities for farmers are in there.
I also greatly appreciate that when we had differences--like
conservation and easements--you pushed hard and were successful in
getting changes for North Dakota that needed to happen. It was you who
did that. Others took credit, but you did that.
When I think about our traveling together to Africa and think about
the impact you have had on women and children--whether it is Native
women and children, whether it was what we were doing overseas, whether
it was what you have done every day for all of our children--I am so
grateful.
Most importantly, I am grateful for your friendship. I am going to
miss you greatly. I wish you Godspeed while you determine the future. I
know it will be bright, and hopefully in some way we will all be
benefiting from it.
God bless you.
Mr. ROBERTS. I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Hampshire.
Ms. HASSAN. Mr. President, I rise to join my colleagues in honoring
and paying tribute to my friend and mentor, Senator Heidi Heitkamp.
I am particularly and profoundly grateful for both her trailblazing
work mentoring women who want to run for public office and her
remarkable ability to get things done across party lines in the Senate.
For years, Senator Heitkamp has been at the forefront of mentoring
other women and encouraging them to enter public service, recognizing
that balanced representation is vital to our country's success. In
fact, Heidi Heitkamp and I first met through a program that she helped
start to encourage and prepare women to run for
[[Page S7403]]
office--to do more than just tell us it was possible but to help us
understand that there were ways to prepare for it, to run in our own
way, to be our own people. She helped demonstrate that even though you
may experience setbacks--including her own setback battling breast
cancer--you still have what it takes to serve your communities and to
make a difference. I am incredibly grateful for those lessons, I am
incredibly grateful for her efforts because they have helped inspire
women all across the country.
All the issues that Heidi just talked about in her farewell speech--
there are now armies of current and future public servants who will
take those issues and challenges as their own because she has helped
prepare them to do that.
Then there is Senator Heitkamp's work in the Senate. During the time
we served together in the Senate, I have been so impressed by Senator
Heitkamp's ability to stand up for her priorities and her values, while
also working with anybody else here willing to step up to get results,
particularly on issues such as fighting for rural communities, standing
up for our country's veterans, strengthening our Nation's healthcare
system, and, yes, reminding our colleagues that there is a northern
border that needs to be secured and attended to.
Serving together on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
Committee, I saw firsthand her capacity to be constructive and to find
compromise. In doing so, she earned the respect and trust of her
colleagues, while also building a record of bipartisan
accomplishments--accomplishments we all know last because of their very
bipartisanship.
Above all, Senator Heitkamp was relentless in fighting for what she
believed. Just ask any of the witnesses who testified before her on the
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
It has been truly an honor to serve with Senator Heitkamp, and all of
us need to continue to work to emulate her example--the example that
she has set of listening to others and being productive, her commitment
and her recognition of the importance of getting things done while
always doing the right thing for the people we serve.
Senator Heidi Heitkamp's voice in this Chamber will be sorely missed,
but I also know that she will keep fighting to make a difference and
that she will continue to do just that.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Mexico.
Mr. UDALL. Mr. President, I think all of us here watching Senator
Heitkamp today give her farewell address were tremendously moved. I
come away, first of all, with, this is a person of character, a person
we have served with who cares about doing the right thing, a person who
cares deeply about the issues that are before this august body and
someone we will miss very much.
By the evidence of the Republicans who turned out to listen here on
the floor--and I am sure many others were listening in their offices--I
think they may miss her more than Democrats because she worked with
them so much. She cared about reaching across the aisle. She wasn't
worried that it was going to hurt her back home because she was going
to be solving problems.
One of the things I think of when I think of Heidi Heitkamp is that I
have known Heidi--she is my friend. She reminds me: Don't call me your
oldest friend in the Senate. But she is my longest standing friend. I
go back to the early 1990s with Heidi, when we were attorneys general
together from two small States--New Mexico and North Dakota--and we
have been very, very good friends since then.
Heidi is a leader of principle. She wants to do the right thing, no
matter what. That is pretty special in this institution we are in. She
wants to do what is right by North Dakota and do what is right by our
country. She always follows her conscience, and she gives the citizens
of her State and this great country her very best judgment. That is
really the spirit of a true public servant--to do what is right and let
the chips fall where they may. A couple issues we have had recently are
good examples, and I will talk about one back when we were attorneys
general together.
The Kavanaugh vote was a big vote for the Senate. I think it was
probably a tough vote for Heidi, but I think she came to it with the
idea that she was going to do the right thing. She had the courage to
stand up for victims--victims of sexual assault, victims of sexual
harassment, all of the permutations of that. I know that for the better
part of her career--whether she was an attorney general, whether she
was a U.S. Senator, or whether she was working in other capacities both
in and out of government--she was always working for victims. I think
one of the things that helped Heidi understand that so well was that
her mother was sexually assaulted as a teenager. Knowing that--Heidi
learned from that. She learned about the prevalence of it, that it was
out there and it was deep and it was hidden in a lot of ways. So I saw
early on, as a State attorney general, that she was a champion--a real
champion--for victims.
Shifting from the example I just gave with the vote on the Supreme
Court, another example of her persistence to do what is right--nobody
had ever taken on the tobacco industry, this huge industry. People
talked a little bit and would say: It is so bad that people are
addicted to smoking. But the attorneys general of our country in the
1990s filed a lawsuit against the tobacco companies because they were
targeting our children. We found research that showed tobacco companies
knew that if you get young people addicted at a very young age, they
are going to smoke for life. For them, it was all a profit motive. If
you get a young person addicted, you know you are going to have a
smoker for life; you know you will have somebody who is going to buy
cigarettes for life. We knew that.
She was one of the leaders in the attorneys general's effort to bring
this horrible, horrible scourge under control. We filed our lawsuit.
The tobacco companies saw what was coming. We did our discovery. They
didn't want this case in court--there was no way. They were going to
lose big. So we had what was the biggest civil settlement in the
history of the country. After we knew we were going to have a
settlement, the smaller States knew we had to have a tough negotiator
to represent us because we were afraid that larger States--California,
New York, and others--would get more of the money than we would. We all
felt we had participated equally. So whom did we select? We selected
Heidi Heitkamp to be our negotiator, and, boy, did she do a good job
for the smaller States.
Just to remind everybody, this year, $34 million from that settlement
flows to the State of North Dakota. It was settled several decades ago,
but the money is still coming in to do prevention, to help out with
tobacco addiction, and to do what is really important there.
The other quality I want to mention--and I know we are going over in
terms of where we are supposed to be in our caucuses--there is a
remarkable trait--and we saw this today, with everyone who turned out,
and our staff knows this--Heidi Heitkamp is one of the most well-liked
U.S. Senators by both sides of the aisle. She was so well-liked that
President Trump--convinced he needed somebody in his Cabinet who was
well-liked and respected--recruited Heidi Heitkamp to be his Secretary
of Agriculture. I really think what the President was doing cozying up
to her was trying to make friends in the Senate. He figured that if he
got her, she was going to make a real difference, and he was hoping
that her popularity would rub off on him.
I will never forget when President Trump invited her up on the stage
at one of his political rallies in September of 2017. He invited her up
to the stage and said:
Everybody's saying, ``What's she doing up here?'' But I'll
tell you what: Good woman.
``Good woman.'' Do you know what I say? No, Mr. President. She is a
great woman. She is a great woman.
I could go on forever, but I just want to comment--and Heidi
commented about her commitment to Native communities, to Native women
and to Native children. She worked as a State attorney general, she
worked in the Senate, and she worked in other elected offices on this.
She didn't give up. She is working in the Senate until the very end to
make sure we get Savanna's Act passed, which is going to protect
missing and indigenous women.
We have already passed it through the Senate Indian Affairs
Committee,
[[Page S7404]]
and she is intent on making sure it gets passed this session, and I am
going to work with her on that. She has worked on VAWA reauthorization.
Heidi has always broadcast the core principles in our relations with
Native communities--Tribal sovereignty, Tribal consultation, strong
government-to-government relations--and she has always tried to make
sure Senators who don't have Native communities understand the
situation we are facing.
My friendship with Heidi has made me a better public servant and a
better person. Before we came here to serve, we had already known each
other for many years--since the 1990's when we both served as State
attorneys general. At that time, there was only a handful of women
serving as their State's attorney general. Heidi herself was a
trailblazer, serving as North Dakota's first female Attorney General.
It was then I saw the first of the innumerable examples of her
commitment to serving the people of North Dakota and the public
interest.
A number of attorneys general, including Heidi and I, initiated
groundbreaking lawsuits against big tobacco. Those lawsuits were met
with skepticism. The disease and terrible health impacts caused by
tobacco products had cost States precious resources. The tobacco
companies were working to lure underage youth to buy their harmful
products through targeted advertising. Like so many other times in her
life, Heidi's work helped us beat some long odds.
Our lawsuits proved highly successful. North Dakota is still reaping
the benefits, having received a $34 million tobacco settlement from
those efforts just this year.
In the years since, I have seen Heidi continue her dedication to
public service and achieve great things, not least of which was 6 years
ago when she became North Dakota's first woman elected to the U.S.
Senate.
Although she has come far from her humble beginnings, she has never
forgotten her roots. She fights for the working people of North Dakota
and across the Nation.
While Heidi is highly accomplished, she remains plain spoken,
straight shooting, and down to earth.
I have been privileged to serve with Heidi on the Senate Committee on
Indian Affairs--a committee she knew from the get-go that she wanted to
be on. She came to Washington ready to fight for Native communities in
North Dakota, to make sure they weren't being left behind.
She is a fierce defender of tribal sovereignty and demands that the
federal government meet its treaty and trust responsibilities and
engage in meaningful consultation with tribes when Federal action
impacts tribal interests.
Heidi has worked tirelessly on behalf of North Dakota's five tribes
and all of Indian country.
Just like when she was attorney general, I have seen her laser-
focused on protecting and empowering those most in need of a champion--
like children and domestic violence survivors.
The very first bill Heidi introduced was to tackle the systemic
problems facing Native children by establishing a National Commission.
With more than one in three Native American children living in
poverty, suicide rates 2.5 times higher than the national average, and
one of the lowest high school graduation rates in the country, she knew
we must do more--much more--for our Native youth. It was no surprise to
me that she got that bill passed in short order before the end of her
first Congress.
For decades, Heidi has been on the frontlines of protecting victims
of domestic violence. As attorneys general, we worked to implement the
Violence Against Women Act after it first got passed in 1994.
We continued the fight together here in the Senate. In fact, one of
the first things we worked on was to help pass the 2013 VAWA
reauthorization. That reauthorization was hard fought. We wanted to
protect key provisions that restored tribal jurisdiction to domestic
violence crimes committed by non-Indians on reservations. Those cases
were falling through the cracks.
At the time, opponents claimed that tribes didn't have the resources
or expertise to enforce the Act. Thanks to the tireless work of Heidi
and many of my colleagues on the Indian Affairs Committee, the
provisions remained in the bill, and President Obama signed it into law
in March 2013.
Five years later, we know for a fact that those opponents were wrong.
According to a report this year from the National Congress of American
Indians, since VAWA of 2013 was enacted, 18 tribes have once again
begun exercising jurisdiction over domestic violence crimes. NCAI is
collaborating with 50 other tribes to develop best practices. There
have been 143 arrests of 128 non-Indian abusers, with 74 convictions.
Heidi has always prided herself on working across the aisle to get
things done--whether she is tackling domestic violence or working to
improve public safety.
She partnered with my good friend John McCain to make sure that
Indian Country is part of the AMBER Alert child abduction warning
system. That bill was signed into law last April.
Just last week, the full Senate unanimously passed one of Heidi's
bills--Savanna's Act. Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind--a member of the
Spirit Lake tribe, 22 years old, and 8 months pregnant--was brutally
murdered in Fargo last year. The sad truth is, reportedly more than 80
percent of Native women will experience violence in their lifetime.
Heidi is determined to do something about that.
Her bill would improve law enforcement tracking of and response to
the growing crisis of missing and murdered indigenous women. Heidi has
been an incredible voice combatting this crisis--working to make sure
these women are not invisible. I have been touched by her commitment to
this fight.
I am inspired by Heidi's work for Indian Country and am committed to
carrying on her work so that tribes in North Dakota and across Indian
Country know that. Even if one of their strongest defenders is moving
on to the next chapter, her mission will not be lost.
The list of all Heidi's accomplishments is as long as her heart is
big. She has worked for the people of North Dakota for decades. She has
been an independent voice in the Senate, not tied to party or ideology
but committed to doing what is right for the people of her State. She
will always roll up her sleeves and work with all sides to solve
problems. She will always fight for the little guy.
On a personal note, she is one of the most loyal friends anyone could
ask for.
She never shied away from the hard votes--approaching every single
one with conscience and courage. I admire Heidi for her conviction.
All of us here will miss Heidi tremendously. I know that her work is
not done--not even close. Like so many here, I look forward to her next
challenge and to seeing what more she accomplishes for her State and
the Nation and the countless lives she is sure to touch.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alaska.
Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to complete my
remarks.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. President, I want to echo what my colleague from
New Mexico said about our friend and colleague Senator Heitkamp. I can
say that everything he just said--there is strong bipartisan agreement
on that front. I want to emphasize a couple of points he mentioned
about Senator Heitkamp. Certainly, she is one of the most well-liked
Senators, optimistic and upbeat.
As Senator Udall just mentioned, I think there is a certain element
in the Senate--whether you are a Democrat or a Republican, if you are a
former attorney general, you come to this job with a little bit of the
same viewpoint, the same experiences.
I want to emphasize what Senator Heitkamp mentioned in her remarks
and Senator Udall mentioned in his remarks, which is her strong
dedication to two issues that I think really matter--certainly, they
matter to my constituents, and they matter to most Americans--and that
is her relentless advocacy and fight with regard to combating the big
problem we have in America with sexual assault and domestic violence--
it is a very big, difficult problem in my State, and I know it is a
problem in many other States--
[[Page S7405]]
and her commitment to the Native peoples of our country.
One example is a bill that Senator Heitkamp and I worked on together
called the POWER Act. The whole focus is to get more legal
representation for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault.
When we were working on this bill together, she was obviously a huge
advocate, but she came back to me and said: We need to make this
especially focused on the Native communities. That was her idea. That
was in the bill. The bill was passed in the Congress and signed into
law 2 months ago. I have no doubt that bill, for which she was the
strongest advocate, is going to make lives better for women throughout
our country who have gone through horrible experiences, particularly in
the Native communities, whether in North Dakota or Alaska or New
Mexico, and that was because of her hard work.
So I want to echo what so many others have said. In those areas and
so many others, it has been my honor to serve with Senator Heitkamp. I
know she is going to continue to serve her community, State, and
country in important ways. My best to her.
I yield the floor.
____________________