The U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs will conduct a hearing on growing levels of gang violence in Indian Country at 2:00 PM, Thursday, November 19. The session will take place in Room 628 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

Please note, the new start time of the hearing, due to expected votes on the Senate floor -- 2:00 PM. The business meeting, which was to include action on two Indian health related bills -- S. 1635, the Indian Youth Suicide Prevention Act of 2009, and S. 1790, the Indian Health Care Improvement Act.  S. 1635 – has been postponed and will be rescheduled.

The 2:00 PM oversight hearing will examine increases in drug and gang activity on Indian lands. Drug smuggling and gang activity are symptoms of the crisis of violent crime on many Indian reservations where crime rates exceed ten times the national average and produced an epidemic of domestic and sexual violence against American Indian and Alaska Native women.

Details follow:

WHO: U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, Senator Byron Dorgan, Chairman; Senator John Barrasso (R-WY), Vice Chairman, and other members of the committee.