[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 48 (Thursday, March 12, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1716-S1717]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                        Ashley Johnson-Barr Day

  Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, the Alaska State Senate yesterday 
passed a bill that would establish March 12, today, as Ashley Johnson-
Barr Day to be held each year.
  Ashley Johnson-Barr was a 10-year-old beautiful little girl in 
Kotzebue, AK. Ashley was probably one of those happy kids who loved 
purple; thus, I have a purple scarf and purple jacket today. She was 
one of those beautiful young children growing up in Kotzebue who would 
have gone on to have a good, productive life in an Inupiat community in 
the northwestern part of the State. But Ashley Johnson-Barr is 
remembered now because, at the age of 10 years old, she was brutally 
raped and murdered. She was literally taken from the kids' playground 
there in Kotzebue and taken to a location not too many miles outside 
the community.

[[Page S1717]]

  Her death, the tragedy around the circumstance of how she left this 
world, is one that is an open and raw and hurtful and horrific scar on 
Alaska and on the communities. It is a reminder that in my State--a 
place of extraordinary beauty, with beautiful people--there is a 
darkness that is very, very difficult to talk about. That darkness is 
reflected in the statistics that we see when it comes to sexual 
assault, domestic violence, and more brutal acts of murder inflicted, 
unfortunately, in a disproportionate way on our Native women and our 
Native children.
  Yesterday in the Senate, we passed two measures that I have been 
working on for a period of time. Savanna's Act is legislation that was 
initially brought about through the good work of my friend, the former 
Senator from North Dakota, Senator Heidi Heitkamp. Heidi and I worked 
on Savanna's Act for a period of time. It is designed to improve 
coordination among all levels of law enforcement; increase data 
collection and information sharing; and empower Tribal governments with 
access to necessary law enforcement databases in cases involving 
missing and murdered indigenous women and girls wherever they occur, 
whether they are in a small, remote village or in our population 
centers.
  Savanna's law was passed through the Senate in the last Congress and 
got stalled out in the House. So I took this back up, along with the 
help of my friend from the State of Nevada, Senator Cortez Masto. 
Working with her, we have now been successful in moving it through the 
Senate. It traveled with another measure--a bill that was sponsored by 
Senator Cortez Masto and cosponsored by me.
  The Not Invisible Act improves the engagement amongst law enforcement 
Tribal leaders, Federal partners, and service providers. We also 
designate an official to coordinate efforts across agencies in 
establishing a Tribal and Federal stakeholders' effort to make 
recommendations to the Department of the Interior Department of Justice 
on how we deal with this, how we combat this epidemic of disappearance, 
of homicide, violent crimes, and trafficking of Native Americans and 
Alaska Natives. This is something we have been trying to shine the 
spotlight on.
  We are making significant progress and headway in Alaska. Thanks to 
the efforts and the heart of Attorney General Barr, we have seen 
Federal funds come our way. We have seen commissions and a coordination 
among stakeholders that is truly unprecedented, but we have much, much, 
much work to do.
  On this day, when in Alaska, we are recognizing the very short life 
of a beautiful child, Ashley Johnson-Barr. I thank my colleagues for 
working with us on these matters--helping us move Savanna's Act and the 
Not Invisible Act--and working together to do more as we deal with 
those who are trafficked, those who are assaulted, and those who are 
violently murdered in their homes and in their hometowns. We have much 
work to do, but we have good coordination and good cooperation moving 
forward.
  With that, I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. BLUNT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.