[Senate Report 115-220]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 368
115th Congress } { Report
SENATE
2d Session } { 115-220
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TO AMEND THE VICTIMS OF CRIME ACT OF 1984 TO SECURE URGENT RESOURCES
VITAL TO INDIAN VICTIMS OF CRIME, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
_______
April 9, 2018.--Ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Hoeven, from the Committee on Indian Affairs, submitted the
following
R E P O R T
[To accompany S. 1870]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Indian Affairs, to which was referred the
bill (S. 1870) to amend the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 to
secure urgent resources vital to Indian victims of crime and
for other purposes, having considered the same, reports
favorably thereon without amendment and recommends the bill do
pass.
Purpose
The Securing Urgent Resources Vital to Indian Victim
Empowerment (SURVIVE) Act, S. 1870, will improve public safety
and strengthen victim resources in tribal communities by
amending the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 (VOCA) to create a
grant program within the U.S. Department of Justice's Office
for Victims of Crime (Office). The Director of the Office will
administer grants to eligible Indian tribes in order to provide
needed victims' assistance.
Background
Congress established the Crime Victims Fund (CVF) to
support services for victims of crime in 1984 with passage and
enactment of the VOCA. Administered by the Office, the CVF
provides funding to states, local governments, and other
entities through a system of specially designated formula and
discretionary grant programs.\1\
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\1\See generally, Lisa N. Sacco, Cong. Research Serv., R42672, The
Crime Victims Fund: Federal Support for Victims of Crime (2015).
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The CVF is budget neutral and funded by fines and penalties
from convicted federal offenders. For a nine year period after
VOCA enactment and beginning in Fiscal Year 2000, Congress
placed a cap on the annual amount that can be obligated towards
the following year's VOCA activities.\2\ The annual CVF funding
cap will increase from Fiscal Year 2017's $2.573 billion to
$4.436 billion dollars for Fiscal Year 2018.\3\
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\2\About OVC, Crime Victims Fund, Department of Justice, Office of
Justice Programs, Office for Victims of Crime. Found at: https://
ovc.gov/about/victimsfund.html.
\3\H.R. 1625, 115th Cong. (2018) (enacted).
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Under the current VOCA system, tribes can only access CVF
support through sub-grants or allocations received from the
state in which they are located. This sub-grant system results
in less than 1% of the annual CVF funding cap reaching Indian
tribes, leaving crime victims in Indian country substantially
underserved by the CVF. States that do award CVF sub-grants to
tribes often place significant restrictions on the types of
activities for which these funds may be used, which further
hinder Indian tribes in their ability to provide services to
victims of crime on their lands.
To address the issues of CVF resource access in Indian
country and limitations on tribal-design of victim service
programs for Native communities, Congress and the Department of
Justice sought to provide tribes with direct access to a
portion of funding provided to the CVF in a given fiscal year.
Most recently, the President's Budget Request for Fiscal Year
2017 requested a 5 percent set aside of the annual CVF funding
cap for Indian tribes. The Consolidated Appropriations Act,
2018 included a one-time 3 percent set aside within the annual
CVF funding cap for Indian tribes. While this funding
allocation supported by Congress and the Administration serves
as a first step to address tribal victim access to CVF
resources, Congress should provide a more permanent solution
that modifies the CVF state grant structure to better fit
Indian tribes several improvements to the authorized uses for
Indian tribes.
Summary of the Bill
The SURVIVE Act, S. 1870, will provide needed victim
assistance to Indian tribes by creating a 5 percent allocation
from the annual CVF funding cap and establishing a grant
program within the Office to distribute the 5 percent
allocation among tribal grantees. The bill utilizes this grant
program structure to provide more programmatic flexibility
specific to the victim resource needs of Indian tribes than
what is currently available under the state CVF grant program.
For Indian tribes applying for a grant created under the
SURVIVE Act, the Director of the Office would determine if the
application meets the program requirements and award grants
accordingly.
The grant program created by the SURVIVE Act parallels
existing federal VOCA regulations and guidance to provide
critical victim assistance, services, and infrastructure.
Authorized services and infrastructure under the SURVIVE Act
include, but are not limited to, domestic violence shelters;
medical care; counseling; legal assistance and services; and,
child and elder abuse programs. Providing flexibility in the
grant program will allow Indian tribes to build baseline
service delivery and improve access to such resources in areas
that greatly need culturally appropriate, community-specific
services.
The SURVIVE Act provides significant confidentiality and
privacy protections for victims of crime who seek and receive
services supported by the grant program. It will require all
grantees to submit annual reports to the Office, which is to
conduct regular monitoring and reviews of the grant program to
improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the grant program.
Negotiated rulemaking between Indian tribes and the U.S.
Department of Justice is also a feature of the SURVIVE Act that
will give Indian tribes the opportunity to provide input into
how the Office can more effectively and fully implement the
grant program.
Need for Legislation
Data show that Indians face a higher rate of violent
victimization than other population groups.\4\ Testimony
received by the Committee during the 114th Congress highlighted
the disparate rate of violent crime in Native communities and
noted the lack of victim services infrastructure on tribal
lands.\5\ Witnesses also linked lack of access to victim
services infrastructure to higher rates of re-victimization and
re-criminalization--linking these systemic failures to
increased recidivism, under-reporting of crimes, and life-long
mental and physical impacts for victims and their families.\6\
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\4\Criminal Victimization, 2016, U.S. Department of Justice, Office
of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics at page 22 (December
2017). Found at: https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/cv16.pdf; Violence
Against American Indian and Alaska Native Women and Men, Andre B.
Rosay, Ph.D., U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs,
National Institute of Justice (May 2016). Found at: https://
www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/249736.pdf.
\5\Addressing the Need for Victim Services in Indian Country:
Hearing before the S. Comm. on Indian Affairs, 114th Cong. (2015).
\6\Id.; also see Strengthening Alaska Native Families: Examining
Recidivism, Reentry, and Tribal Courts in Alaska: Hearing before the S.
Comm. on Indian Affairs, 114th Cong. (2015).
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Due to the tribal-specific issues with access to the
existing CVF structure discussed above, the higher rate of
victimization, and lack of existing infrastructure to provide
services to victims within tribal communities, legislation that
provides the resources needed for victims on Indian lands that
are currently not being assisted is strongly needed. The
SURVIVE Act would improve the mechanism for tribal access to
federal grants for crime victim assistance and ensure Indian
tribes have fair access to the CVF.
Legislative History
On September 27, 2017, Senator Hoeven introduced S. 1870.
Original cosponsors of S. 1870 include Senators Barrasso,
Cortez Masto, Daines, Heitkamp, McCain, Murkowski, and Tester.
Senators Udall and Murray joined the bill as cosponsors on
December 6, 2017, and January 9, 2018, respectively.
On October 25, 2017, the Committee held a legislative
hearing on S. 1870. At the October 25th hearing, officials from
the Departments of the Interior and Justice testified in favor
of the bill. The three remaining witnesses on the panel--Dave
Flute, Chairman, Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate of the Lake Traverse
Reservation; Joel Boyd, Colville Business Councilman,
Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation; and Carmen
O'Leary, Director, Native Women's Society of the Great Plains--
also testified in support of the bill.
On December 6, 2017, the Committee held a duly called
business meeting to consider S. 1870. At this business meeting,
the Committee ordered the bill to be reported favorably to the
Senate by voice vote.
Representative O'Halleran introduced H.R. 4608, a companion
to S. 1870, in the U.S. House of Representatives on December
11, 2017. Representatives Cole, Sinema, and Don Young joined as
original cosponsors. Representatives Moore, Grijalva, Issa,
Pallone, Norton, McCollum, Cramer, Pocan, Bergman, and Lujan
later joined as cosponsors. The bill was referred to the House
Committee on the Judiciary. On January 22, 2018, the House
Committee on the Judiciary referred H.R. 4608 to the
Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and
Investigations. No further action has been taken on the House
bill at this time.
114th Congress. In the 114th Congress, Senator Barrasso
introduced S. 1704, also called the SURVIVE Act. Similar to S.
1870, that bill, S. 1704, was cosponsored by Senators Daines,
Heitkamp, Hoeven, McCain, Moran, Murkowski, Schatz, Tester, and
Udall. No companion bill to S. 1704 was filed in the House of
Representatives during the 114th Congress.
On June 10, 2015, the Committee convened an oversight
hearing on Addressing the Need for Victim Services in Indian
Country. At this hearing, the Administration, tribal and state
officials, and a tribal court judge testified on the great need
for victim services in Indian country. The Committee also
received testimony in the 114th Congress on juvenile justice,
substance abuse and behavioral health, reentry and recidivism,
and tribal courts, also underscoring the need to provide victim
services in Indian country.\7\
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\7\See e.g., Id.; Examining the True Costs of Alcohol and Drug
Abuse in Native Communities: Hearing before the S. Comm. on Indian
Affairs, 114th Cong. (2015); Juvenile Justice in Indian Country:
Challenges and Promising Strategies: Hearing before the S. Comm. on
Indian Affairs, 114th Cong. (2015); Addressing the Harmful Effects of
Dangerous Drugs in Native Communities: Hearing before the S. Comm. on
Indian Affairs, 114th Cong. (2015).
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On December 3, 2015, the Committee held a duly called
business meeting to consider S. 1704. At this business meeting,
the Committee ordered S. 1704 to be reported with an amendment
in the nature of a substitute. Chairman Barrasso reported S.
1704 on December 3, 2015,\8\ and it was placed on the Senate
Legislative Calendar under general orders. No further action
was taken on S. 1704 during the 114th Congress.
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\8\S. Rept. 114-172.
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Section-by-Section Analysis
Section 1--Short title
This section states that the Act may be cited as the
``Securing Urgent Resources Vital to Indian Victim Empowerment
Act'' or ``SURVIVE Act.''
Section 2--Indian victims of crime
This section amends the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 (34
U.S.C. 20101 et seq.) to create a grant program for Indian
tribes within the Department of Justice's Office for Victims of
Crime (Office).
This section directs the Office to make grants to eligible
Indian tribes for a range of crime victim service activities.
Funds obtained through this program may be expended over a
period of five years and shall not be subject to matching
requirements. Any sums that are unobligated at the end of the
five-year period must be returned to the Office and made
available for Indian crime victim service activities in the
following fiscal year.
This section specifies that in order to be eligible to
access grants under this program, an Indian tribe must submit
in writing a detailed victim assistance proposal, according to
listed requirements. Any Indian tribe that receives a grant
under this program must also submit an annual report to the
Office describing the purpose for which grant funds were used.
This section provides explicit oversight and enforcement
authorities and duties to the Office, including requiring the
Office to engage in regular monitoring, reviews,
investigations, and audits. The Office must also ensure that
all grants are subject to performance measures and enforceable
agreements that allow for thorough program oversight. The
Director of the Office for Victims of Crime (Director) must
provide annual compliance reports on all grants awarded under
this program to appropriate committees of Congress.
This section provides significant confidentiality and
privacy protections for crime victims, including restrictions
on reporting and sharing personally identifying information of
crime victims.
This section specifies that grants awarded under this
program and related administrative costs shall be supported
with funds in the Crime Victims Fund (CVF). It amends Section
1402(d) of the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 (42 U.S.C.
10601(d)) to require 5% of the CVF funds made available for
obligation in a fiscal year to be available to the Director for
the Indian tribal grant program. The Office may not use more
than 4% of these funds for grant administration and technical
assistance costs.
The grant program will sunset after a period of ten years.
Section 3--Regulations regarding Indian tribes
This section provides that any rule, regulation, or
guidance promulgated before enactment shall have no force or
effect with respect to the Indian tribal grant program
established under this Act.
This section requires the Director to issue implementing
regulations through negotiated rulemaking, after consultation
with Indian tribes, no later than 1 year after this Act is
enacted.
This section requires the Director to consult with no less
than 2 Indian tribes from each Bureau of Indian Affairs region,
and that small, medium, and large land-based tribes are
represented during the negotiated rulemaking.
Cost and Budgetary Considerations
The following cost estimate, as provided by the
Congressional Budget Office, dated February 8, 2018, was
prepared for S. 1870:
U.S. Congress,
Congressional Budget Office,
Washington, DC, February 8, 2018.
Hon. John Hoeven,
Chairman, Committee on Indian Affairs,
U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 1870, the SURVIVE
Act.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Mark
Grabowicz.
Sincerely,
Keith Hall,
Director.
Enclosure.
S. 1870--Securing Urgent Resources Vital to Indian Victim Empowerment
Act
S. 1870 would establish a program within the Department of
Justice to make grants to Indian tribes to provide services to
crime victims, including medical care, counseling, and legal
services. For each of the 10 fiscal years after enactment, the
bill would set aside 5 percent of the amounts available in the
Crime Victims Fund for those grants (spending from that fund is
considered direct spending).
CBO projects that all balances and new deposits into the
Crime Victims Fund will be spent under current law (mostly for
existing grant programs); thus, enacting the bill would not
significantly affect outlays from the fund in any year from
2018 through 2027.
Because enacting the bill would affect direct spending,
pay-as-you-go procedures apply. However, CBO estimates that any
such effects would be insignificant in any year. Enacting the
bill would not affect revenues.
CBO estimates that enacting S. 1870 would not increase net
direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four
consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2028.
S. 1870 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Mark Grabowicz.
The estimate was approved by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy
Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.
Regulartory and Paperwork Impact Statement
Paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the Standing Rules of the
Senate requires each report accompanying a bill to evaluate the
regulatory and paperwork impact that would be incurred in
carrying out the bill. The Committee believes that S. 1870 will
have minimal impact on regulatory or paperwork requirements.
Executive Communications
The Committee has received no communications from the
Executive Branch regarding S. 1870.
Changes in Existing Law
In accordance with Committee Rules, subsection 12 of rule
XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate is waived. In the
opinion of the Committee, it is necessary to dispense with
subsection 12 of rule XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate
to expedite the business of the Senate.
[all]