[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 164 (Thursday, October 17, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1300]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 MISSING AND MURDERED INDIGENOUS WOMEN

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                           HON. DAN NEWHOUSE

                             of washington

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, October 16, 2019

  Mr. NEWHOUSE. Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record the following 
letter regarding the Special Order on Missing and Murdered Indigenous 
Women on October 17, 2019.

                                                        Nez Perce,


                                   Tribal Executive Committee,

                                   Lapwai, ID, September 18, 2019.
     Hon. Jerrold Nadler,
     Chairman, House Committee on the Judiciary,
     Washington, DC.
     Hon. Raul Grijalva,
     Chairman, House Committee on Natural Resources, Washington, 
         DC.
     Hon. Doug Collins,
     Ranking Member, House Committee on the Judiciary, Washington, 
         DC.
     Hon. Rob Bishop,
     Ranking Member, House Committee on Natural Resources, 
         Washington, DC.
       Dear Chairmen Nadler and Grijalva and Ranking Members 
     Collins and Bishop: As Congressman Newhouse stated in his 
     June 6 letter, Native American and Alaska Native women face a 
     murder rate ten times higher than the national average, with 
     84% experiencing some form of violence in their lifetime. 
     Still, the tools and resources to document and address this 
     issue are severely lacking in Indian Country due to outdated 
     databases and a lack of coordination between law enforcement 
     agencies. In addition to the Violence Against women 
     Reauthorization Act of 2019 (H.R. 1585), legislation such as 
     Savanna's Act (H.R. 2733), the Native Youth and Tribal 
     Officer Protection Act (H.R. 958), and the Bridging Agency 
     Data Gaps and Ensuring Safety for Native Communities Act 
     (H.R. 4289) are each distinctly designed to provide an array 
     of solutions to some of these unique problems.
       To fully understand the need for this type of legislation 
     and the federal resources and programs necessary to combat 
     violence against women and the resulting issues, it is 
     important to hear directly from communities to learn how 
     reservations, families, and law enforcement are impacted by 
     this crisis. The Nez Perce Tribe has suffered the loss of a 
     number of our tribal citizens as a result of violence. It is 
     for this reason, and because Washington State encompasses 
     some of the Tribe's treaty-reserved homelands, that the Nez 
     Perce Tribe supports Congressman Newhouse's request that 
     either one or both of your committees host field hearings in 
     the state of Washington to examine issues relating to missing 
     and murdered Indian women.
       Thank you for your consideration of this request.
           Sincerely,
                                               Shannon F. Wheeler,
     Chairman.

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