Sen. Murkowski recaps U.S. Attorney General Barr visit to Bethel to discuss public safety crisis
Attorney General William Barr and Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski visited the town of Bethel today to discuss the state’s issues with public safety. Earlier this week, the Attorney General participated in a round table discussion at the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium in Anchorage. On Friday, the Attorney General and Senator Murkowski had a sit down with tribal leadership talking about the current public safety situation and some of the proposed solutions.
“He listened, he saw, and I think he really felt firsthand what it means to be in a community that is not connected by road and has no law enforcement presence outside of a tribal police officer,“ Murkowski said. “We met the TPO’s. 19 years old. 20 years old. One had one month of training, one had two months of training. “ The Attorney General and Senator Murkowski also took a boat to the small village of Napaskiak. “We went through the public safety office, which had the holding cells,” Murkowski said. “In fairness, these are conditions that people in America would not tolerate. And this was a reality that he saw.”
Murkowski said that she and the Attorney General had good conversations about what the Justice Department might be able to do to help the situations these communities are facing. One of the potential solutions discussed were grant opportunities that are in place, that aren’t working as well as they should be. She mentioned specific set asides that would allow for more flexibility within these programs. “We’re not asking for all of the bells and whistles out in these remote areas, we’re asking for basic public safety needs to be met,” said Murkowski.
Senator Murkowski added that the Attorney General said multiple times that he is very willing to explore new proposals and new ideas to fix the issues these communities are facing. When asked if she and the Attorney General had discussed any politics relating to the Mueller Report or the President, Murkowski said their sole focus was on finding solutions to the public safety concerns, and did not discuss other politics of Washington. “In terms of where we go with the Mueller report, what may or may not come out of the house with impeachment, I think that remains to be seen.”
https://www.ktuu.com/content/news/US-Attorney-General-visits-Bethel-to-discuss-public-safety-problems-across-the-state-510700921.html
>>6651549 Photos of AG Barr during his trip to Alaska.
This post adds context to these pic's posted in the early morning hours.