President Trump Appoints New Member to Sen. Heitkamp’s Commission on Native Children

The commission was created to find strategies to help Native American Children overcome poverty, substance abuse and domestic violence

WASHINGTON, D.C. — North Dakota Senator Heidi Heitkamp says she wants Native American children to be given every opportunity to succeed, regardless of the odds stacked against them.

President Trump has appointed another member of the Commission on Native Children, which was created by Heitkamp’s bipartisan bill that became law last October.

The commission was created to find strategies to help Native American Children overcome poverty, substance abuse and domestic violence.

Heitkamp says statistics show the suicide rates for Native American and Alaskan children are more than twice the national average for teens and young adults.

“My first bill since coming to the U.S. Senate was to create a commission on the status of Native American children,” Sen. Heitkamp said. “Anyone who understands the statistics and the challenges of Native children know that we need to do something different.”

Senator Heitkamp also says tribal governments face obstacles trying to respond to the needs of Native children and federal agencies are lacking guidance about where to begin.