[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 75 (Thursday, May 5, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2364-S2365]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 SENATE RESOLUTION 620--DESIGNATING MAY 5, 2022, AS THE ``NATIONAL DAY 
     OF AWARENESS FOR MISSING AND MURDERED NATIVE WOMEN AND GIRLS''

  Mr. DAINES (for himself, Mr. Tester, Mr. Hoeven, Mr. Moran, Mr. 
Schatz, Ms. Smith, Ms. Cortez Masto, Mr. Lujan, Ms. Murkowski, Mr. 
Cramer, Ms. Cantwell, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Rounds, Ms. Hirono, and Mr. 
Grassley) submitted the following resolution; which was considered and 
agreed to:

                              S. Res. 620

       Whereas American Indians and Alaska Natives are 2.5 times 
     more likely to experience violent crimes and at least 2 times 
     more likely to experience rape or sexual assault crimes 
     compared to any other group of people in the United States;
       Whereas, according to a study commissioned by the 
     Department of Justice, in some Tribal communities, American 
     Indian women face murder rates that are more than 10 times 
     the national average murder rate;
       Whereas, according to the most recently available data from 
     the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2017, 
     homicide was the sixth leading cause of death for American 
     Indian and Alaska Native females between 1 and 44 years of 
     age;
       Whereas the Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women 
     released reports finding that 64 percent of trafficking 
     survivors in Hawaii identified as being Native Hawaiian;
       Whereas little data exists on the number of missing 
     American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian women in 
     the United States;
       Whereas, on July 5, 2013, Hanna Harris, a member of the 
     Northern Cheyenne Tribe, was reported missing by her family 
     in Lame Deer, Montana;
       Whereas the body of Hanna Harris was found 5 days after she 
     went missing;
       Whereas Hanna Harris was determined to have been raped and 
     murdered, and the individuals accused of committing those 
     crimes were convicted;
       Whereas the case of Hanna Harris is an example of many 
     similar cases; and
       Whereas Hanna Harris was born on May 5, 1992: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) designates May 5, 2022, as the ``National Day of 
     Awareness for Missing and Murdered Native Women and Girls''; 
     and
       (2) calls on the people of the United States and interested 
     groups--
       (A) to commemorate the lives of missing and murdered 
     American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian women 
     whose cases are documented and undocumented in public records 
     and the media; and
       (B) to demonstrate solidarity with the families of victims 
     in light of those tragedies.
  Ms. CORTEZ MASTO. Mr. President, on February 3 of this year, at 4 in 
the morning, outside of Reno, callers told police that there was a car 
on fire on the shoulder of the interstate. Inside, officers found the 
body of a 23-year-old woman named Anna Marie Scott. She had been 
murdered by an unknown assailant.
  This is Anna--as you can see, a beautiful, beautiful young girl. She 
was a beloved daughter and a sister and a devoted mother of two young 
children. She was also a member of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe. And 
she joins a long and tragic list of Native women who have gone missing 
or been murdered, leaving families desperately waiting for answers.
  Families like Anna's will tell you one of the worst things about a 
tragedy like this is that they never had a chance to say goodbye to 
their loved one. Another is knowing that decade after decade, the 
United States has not done enough to protect Native women, leaving 
families all over Indian Country searching for answers.
  A National Institutes of Justice study found that an unbelievable 84 
percent of Native women experience violence in their lifetimes, along 
with 81 percent of men. It also reported that Native women are almost 
twice as likely as White women to have been the target of violence in 
the past year. These numbers confirm what Native communities have known 
for years: Native people are vulnerable, and they can be taken from 
their families at any time.
  In 2020, I secured passage of two bipartisan bills with Senator 
Murkowski, who we all know is a tireless advocate for Native 
communities, to finally create a national strategy to address the 
crisis of missing, murdered, and trafficked Indigenous women and girls. 
The Not Invisible Act instructs the Bureau of Indian Affairs to 
coordinate Federal efforts to address the epidemic of violence in 
Native American communities.
  It also mandates a commission made up of Tribal, State, and local law 
enforcement, service providers, representatives of Federal Agencies, 
Tribal leaders, and survivors and family members.
  The other piece of legislation, Savanna's Act, which we passed, 
requires the creation of guidelines for law enforcement on how best to 
keep Native women safe, and it improves reporting of violent crimes 
against Native people and strengthens vital access to Federal crime 
databases.
  These two laws create powerful tools that will help curb violence 
against Native people. But they cannot fulfill that mission if they are 
not implemented by the executive branch. And to date, the 
administration has missed too many deadlines mandated by statute for 
putting the legislation into effect. That is why this week, I sent a 
letter, with Senators Tester and Murkowski, to the administration 
urging them to implement key provisions of our bipartisan bills.
  Now, I am thrilled to share that, today, Secretary Haaland announced 
the members of the Not Invisible Commission, which now can begin its 
work. This is excellent news, and I appreciate this and other important 
steps the administration has taken to address the problem.
  But there is still more we need to be doing to implement the policies 
Congress has passed that will make a difference on the ground for so 
many families. That includes issuing Federal

[[Page S2365]]

guidelines to help local law enforcement with best practices to protect 
Native communities and implementing the data collection needed to 
address the crisis. The work must continue because families continue to 
wait.
  Just as I call on this administration to do more, I am committed to 
doing more myself. My office is working to reintroduce legislation that 
I cosponsored with Senators Udall, Tester, and Murkowski last Congress 
to improve coordination and data-sharing between Tribal and Federal law 
enforcement.
  My congressional colleagues and I have, this year, once again 
introduced a resolution recognizing May 5 as a day of awareness for the 
crisis of missing and murdered Native women and girls. But let's be 
clear: A day of awareness is for those who don't know about the 
problem. Indigenous families in Nevada and across the country are only 
too conscious of the risks their sisters, brothers, cousins, and 
children face. And they are looking to Congress and to this 
administration for concrete progress in the long way for justice.
  I will keep fighting for that justice and for Anna. But I am here to 
say to our Congress and administration, let's not have any more Annas. 
Let's do the right thing for these families and individuals.

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