[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>