[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 982 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 982

   To increase intergovernmental coordination to identify and combat 
           violent crime within Indian lands and of Indians.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 2, 2019

     Ms. Cortez Masto (for herself, Ms. Murkowski, and Mr. Tester) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
                      Committee on Indian Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To increase intergovernmental coordination to identify and combat 
           violent crime within Indian lands and of Indians.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Not Invisible Act of 2019''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) the National Institute of Justice reports more than 80 
        percent of American Indian and Alaska Native men and women have 
        experienced violence in their lifetimes and more than 34 
        percent have experienced violence in the last year;
            (2) the National Institute of Justice also estimates that 
        56 percent of American Indian and Alaska Native women 
        experience sexual violence in their lifetimes;
            (3) murder is the third leading cause of death among 
        American Indian and Alaska Native women;
            (4) populations that experience chronic unemployment, 
        homelessness, substance abuse, severe poverty, and high rates 
        of sexual violence and other crimes are at a higher risk of 
        trafficking;
            (5) American Indian and Alaska Native women and girls 
        disproportionately experience the above risk factors;
            (6) historical trauma has increased the vulnerability of 
        American Indians and Alaska Natives to trafficking and other 
        forms of violent crime;
            (7) the Department of Justice has identified combating 
        human trafficking as a priority; and
            (8) reliable data on the prevalence of missing Native 
        people, murdered Native people, and human trafficking within 
        Indian lands and of American Indians and Alaska Natives is not 
        available.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act--
            (1) the term ``Committee'' means the Department of the 
        Interior and the Department of Justice Joint Advisory Committee 
        on Reducing Violent Crime Against Native People established 
        under section 5;
            (2) the term ``human trafficking'' means act or practice 
        described in paragraph (9) or paragraph (10) of section 103 of 
        the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 
        7102);
            (3) the term ``Indian'' means a member of an Indian tribe; 
        and
            (4) the terms ``Indian lands'' and ``Indian tribe'' have 
        the meanings given the terms in section 3 of the Native 
        American Business Development, Trade Promotion, and Tourism Act 
        of 2000 (25 U.S.C. 4302).

SEC. 4. COORDINATOR OF FEDERAL EFFORTS TO COMBAT VIOLENCE AGAINST 
              NATIVE PEOPLE.

    The Secretary of the Interior shall designate an official within 
the Office of Justice Services in the Bureau of Indian Affairs who 
shall--
            (1) coordinate prevention efforts, grants, and programs 
        across offices within the Bureau of Indian Affairs and with the 
        Department of Justice related to the murder of, trafficking of, 
        and missing Indians, including the Office of Justice Programs, 
        the Office on Violence Against Women, the Office of Community 
        Oriented Policing Services, the Office of Tribal Justice, and 
        other agencies of the Federal Government;
            (2) in coordinating efforts, take into account the unique 
        challenges of combating crime, violence, and human trafficking 
        faced by tribal communities, tribal law enforcement, Federal 
        law enforcement, and State and local law enforcement;
            (3) work in cooperation with outside organizations with 
        expertise in working with Indian tribes to provide victim 
        centered and culturally relevant training to tribal law 
        enforcement, Indian Health Service health care providers, 
        tribal community members and businesses, on how to effectively 
        identify, respond to and report instances of violent crime 
        within Indian lands and of Indians; and
            (4) report directly to the Secretary of the Interior.

SEC. 5. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR AND THE DEPARTMENT 
              OF JUSTICE JOINT ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON REDUCING VIOLENT 
              CRIME AGAINST NATIVE PEOPLE.

    (a) Establishment.--Not later than 120 days after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior, in coordination 
with the Attorney General, shall establish and appoint all members of 
an advisory committee on violent crime within Indian lands and of 
Indians.
    (b) Membership.--
            (1) Composition.--The Committee shall be composed of 
        members whose diverse experience and backgrounds enable them to 
        provide balanced points of view with regard to the duties of 
        the Committee.
            (2) Selection.--The Secretary of the Interior, in 
        coordination with the Attorney General, shall appoint the 
        members to the Committee, including representatives from--
                    (A) tribal law enforcement;
                    (B) the Office of Justice Services of the Bureau of 
                Indian Affairs;
                    (C) State and local law enforcement in close 
                proximity to Indian lands, with a letter of 
                recommendation from a local tribal chair or tribal law 
                enforcement officer;
                    (D) the Federal Bureau of Investigation's victim 
                services division;
                    (E) the Department of Justice's Human Trafficking 
                Prosecution Unit;
                    (F) the Office of Native American Programs of the 
                Department of Housing and Urban Development;
                    (G) the Family Violence Prevention and Services 
                Program of the Department of Health and Human Services;
                    (H) a Federal public defender within Indian lands 
                with a letter of recommendation from a local tribal 
                chair or tribal law enforcement officer;
                    (I) a tribal judge with experience in cases related 
                to missing persons, murder, trafficking, or related 
                cases;
                    (J) not fewer than 3 elected leaders of federally 
                recognized Indian tribes, including 1 elected leader 
                from a federally recognized Indian tribe located in 
                Alaska;
                    (K) health care and mental health practitioners and 
                counselors and providers with experience in working 
                with Indian survivors of trafficking and sexual 
                assault, with a letter of recommendation from a local 
                tribal chair or tribal law enforcement officer;
                    (L) Indian advocacy organizations whose primary 
                clients are Indians, focused on violence against women 
                and children specifically in Indian lands;
                    (M) at least 1 Indian survivor of human 
                trafficking;
                    (N) at least 1 family member of a missing Indian 
                person;
                    (O) at least 1 family member of a murdered Indian 
                person;
                    (P) the National Institute of Justice; and
                    (Q) the Indian Health Service.
            (3) Periods of appointment.--Members shall be appointed for 
        the life of the Committee.
            (4) Vacancies.--A vacancy in the Committee shall be filled 
        in the manner in which the original appointment was made and 
        shall not affect the powers or duties of the Committee.
            (5) Compensation.--Committee members shall serve without 
        compensation.
            (6) Travel expenses.--The Secretary of the Interior, in 
        coordination with the Attorney General, shall consider the 
        provision of travel expenses, including per diem, to Committee 
        members when appropriate.
    (c) Duties.--
            (1) Recommendations for the department of interior and 
        department of justice.--Not later than 18 months after the date 
        of enactment of this Act, the Committee shall make 
        recommendations to the Secretary of the Interior and Attorney 
        General on actions the departments can take to help combat 
        violent crime against Indians and within Indian lands, 
        including the development and implementation of--
                    (A) successful strategies for identifying, 
                reporting, and responding to instances of missing 
                persons, murder, and human trafficking in Indian lands 
                and of Indians;
                    (B) recommendations for legislative and 
                administrative changes necessary to use programs, 
                properties, or other resources funded or operated by 
                the Department of the Interior and Department of 
                Justice to combat the crisis of missing and murdered 
                Indian people and human trafficking in Indian lands and 
                of Indians;
                    (C) recommendations for tracking and reporting data 
                on instances of missing persons, murder, and human 
                trafficking in Indian lands and of Indians;
                    (D) recommendations for addressing staff shortages 
                and open positions within relevant law enforcement 
                agencies, including issues related to the hiring and 
                retention of law enforcement officers; and
                    (E) recommendations for coordinating tribal, State, 
                and Federal resources to increase prosecution of 
                violent crime, including murder and human trafficking 
                offenses and increase information sharing with tribal 
                governments on violent crime investigations and 
                prosecutions in Indian lands that were terminated or 
                declined.
            (2) Best practices and recommendations.--
                    (A) In general.--The Committee shall develop 
                recommended best practices for Indian tribes and 
                Federal, State, and local law enforcement officials in 
                close proximity to Indian lands to follow--
                            (i) in combatting violent crime, including 
                        missing persons, murder, and human trafficking 
                        within Indian lands and of Indians; and
                            (ii) to address any gaps in services for 
                        Indian victims of violent crime.
                    (B) Development.--The best practices shall be based 
                on multidisciplinary and culturally relevant research, 
                evidence-based models and programs and should consider 
                the societal, economic, and other factors that 
                contribute to violent crime within Indian lands and of 
                Indians.
                    (C) Content.--The best practices shall be user-
                friendly, culturally responsive in form and delivery, 
                and include the following:
                            (i) Sample training materials.
                            (ii) Sample guidelines and recommendations, 
                        including--
                                    (I) strategies to collect, 
                                document, and share information across 
                                systems and agencies;
                                    (II) strategies to help agencies 
                                better understand the types of violent 
                                crime, the prevalence of violent crime 
                                in Indian lands and of Indians, and the 
                                degree of victim and family interaction 
                                with multiple systems; and
                                    (III) strategies to improve 
                                coordination between law enforcement, 
                                victim service providers, victim 
                                advocates, and Indian communities to 
                                utilize their positions and resources 
                                in educating critical stakeholder 
                                groups and assisting victims and 
                                families.
                    (D) Secretarial response.--The Attorney General and 
                the Secretary of the Interior shall submit a written 
                response to the recommendations developed by the 
                Committee to--
                            (i) the Committee;
                            (ii) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 
                        Senate;
                            (iii) the Committee on Indian Affairs of 
                        the Senate;
                            (iv) the Committee on Natural Resources of 
                        the House of Representatives; and
                            (v) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 
                        House of Representatives.
    (d) Reports.--Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of 
this Act, the Committee shall--
            (1) submit a report on the action of the Committee 
        described in subsection (c) that includes the responses of the 
        Department of the Interior and the Department of Justice to the 
        recommendations of the Committee to--
                    (A) the Committee on Indian Affairs of the Senate;
                    (B) the Committee on Natural Resources of the House 
                of Representatives;
                    (C) the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate; 
                and
                    (D) the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of 
                Representatives; and
            (2) make the report under paragraph (1) publicly available 
        both in a hard copy and online.
    (e) FACA Exemption.--The Committee shall be exempt from the Federal 
Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.).
                                 <all>