[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 163 (Tuesday, September 21, 2021)]
[House]
[Pages H4561-H4562]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           10TH ANNIVERSARY OF RUTHIE KINDNESS' DISAPPEARANCE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Washington (Mr. Newhouse) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. NEWHOUSE. Madam Speaker, I rise today to bring attention to a 
citizen of the great State of Washington, to share her story and to, 
once again, urge my colleagues to make it a priority for this Congress 
to end the crisis of missing and murdered indigenous women.
  Ruthie Kindness, a native woman of the city of Parkland, turned 31 
just last month. Unfortunately, for her family and her loved ones, they 
spent her birthday just as they have over the last 10 years, without 
Ruthie, with no idea where she is, or even if she is alive.
  Ruthie disappeared on February 7, 2011. For over a decade, her family 
has gone without answers, and little progress has been made in the 
investigation.
  Ruthie's story is unacceptably commonplace for our tribal 
communities. She is one of nearly 6,000 women, Madam Speaker, that we 
know of who have been a victim of this crisis.
  Native American and Alaska Native women face a murder rate that is 10 
times higher than the national average. Many of their cases go 
unresolved for years or even decades, as with Ruthie's case.
  We made critically important strides in addressing the crisis when 
President Trump signed Savannah's Act and the Not Invisible Act into 
law just last year. But Ruthie and the thousands of women whose cases 
remain unresolved underscore that our work here is not yet finished.
  The life of Ruthie Kindness matters. Her family's grief matters. The 
hole left in her community by her disappearance, that matters. Finding 
answers for them, delivering justice for Ruthie, and ending this threat 
for indigenous women once and for all, that matters.
  I call on each and every Member of this body to join me in renewing 
our commitment to our Native communities, and to delivering a lasting 
solution to protect these women from the disproportionate rates of 
violence that they suffer.
  If anyone has any information about Ruthie's disappearance, please 
call the

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Auburn Police Department at (253) 931-3080. Together, we can deliver 
justice for Ruthie and for the thousands of indigenous women who have 
been victims to this crisis.

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