[House Report 116-509]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
116th Congress } { Rept. 116-509
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2d Session } { Part 1
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NOT INVISIBLE ACT OF 2020
_______
September 16, 2020.--Ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Nadler, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the
following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 2438]
The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the
bill (H.R. 2438) to increase intergovernmental coordination to
identify and combat violent crime within Indian lands and of
Indians, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon
with an amendment and recommends that the bill as amended do
pass.
CONTENTS
Page
Purpose and Summary.............................................. 4
Background and Need for the Legislation.......................... 5
Hearings......................................................... 6
Committee Consideration.......................................... 7
Committee Votes.................................................. 7
Committee Oversight Findings..................................... 7
New Budget Authority and Tax Expenditures and Congressional
Budget Office Cost Estimate.................................... 7
Duplication of Federal Programs.................................. 7
Performance Goals and Objectives................................. 7
Advisory on Earmarks............................................. 7
Section-by-Section Analysis...................................... 8
Committee Correspondence......................................... 10
The amendment is as follows:
Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the
following:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Not Invisible Act of 2020''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act--
(1) the term ``Commission'' means the Department of the
Interior and the Department of Justice Joint Commission on
Reducing Violent Crime Against Indians under section 4;
(2) the term ``human trafficking'' means act or practice
described in paragraph (9) or paragraph (10) of section 103 of
the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C.
7102);
(3) the term ``Indian'' means a member of an Indian tribe;
(4) the terms ``Indian lands'' and ``Indian tribe'' have the
meanings given the terms in section 3 of the Native American
Business Development, Trade Promotion, and Tourism Act of 2000
(25 U.S.C. 4302); and
(5) the terms ``urban centers'' and ``urban Indian
organization'' have the meanings given the terms in section 4
of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act (25 U.S.C. 1603).
SEC. 3. COORDINATOR OF FEDERAL EFFORTS TO COMBAT VIOLENCE AGAINST
NATIVE PEOPLE.
(a) Coordinator Designation.--The Secretary of the Interior shall
designate an official within the Office of Justice Services in the
Bureau of Indian Affairs who shall--
(1) coordinate prevention efforts, grants, and programs
related to the murder of, trafficking of, and missing Indians
across Federal agencies, including--
(A) the Bureau of Indian Affairs; and
(B) the Department of Justice, including--
(i) the Office of Justice Programs;
(ii) the Office on Violence Against Women;
(iii) the Office of Community Oriented
Policing Services;
(iv) the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and
(v) the Office of Tribal Justice;
(2) ensure prevention efforts, grants, and programs of
Federal agencies related to the murder of, trafficking of, and
missing Indians consider the unique challenges of combating
crime, violence, and human trafficking of Indians and on Indian
lands faced by Tribal communities, urban centers, the Bureau of
Indian Affairs, Tribal law enforcement, Federal law
enforcement, and State and local law enforcement;
(3) work in cooperation with outside organizations with
expertise in working with Indian tribes and Indian Tribes to
provide victim centered and culturally relevant training to
tribal law enforcement, Indian Health Service health care
providers, urban Indian organizations, Tribal community members
and businesses, on how to effectively identify, respond to and
report instances of missing persons, murder, and trafficking
within Indian lands and of Indians; and
(4) report directly to the Secretary of the Interior.
(b) Report.--The official designated in subsection (a) shall submit
to the Committee on Indian Affairs and the Committee on the Judiciary
of the Senate and the Committee on Natural Resources and the Committee
on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives a report to provide
information on Federal coordination efforts accomplished over the
previous year that includes--
(1) a summary of all coordination activities undertaken in
compliance with this section;
(2) a summary of all trainings completed under subsection
(a)(3); and
(3) recommendations for improving coordination across Federal
agencies and of relevant Federal programs.
SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR AND THE DEPARTMENT
OF JUSTICE JOINT COMMISSION ON REDUCING VIOLENT
CRIME AGAINST INDIANS.
(a) Establishment.--Not later than 120 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior, in coordination
with the Attorney General, shall establish and appoint all members of a
joint commission on violent crime on Indian lands and against Indians.
(b) Membership.--
(1) Composition.--
(A) In general.--The Commission shall be composed of
members who represent diverse experiences and
backgrounds that provide balanced points of view with
regard to the duties of the Commission.
(B) Diversity.--To the greatest extent practicable,
the Secretary of the Interior shall ensure the
Commission includes Tribal representatives from diverse
geographic areas and of diverse sizes.
(2) Appointment.--The Secretary of the Interior, in
coordination with the Attorney General, shall appoint the
members to the Commission, including representatives from--
(A) tribal law enforcement;
(B) the Office of Justice Services of the Bureau of
Indian Affairs;
(C) State and local law enforcement in close
proximity to Indian lands, with a letter of
recommendation from a local Indian Tribe;
(D) the Victim Services Division of the Federal
Bureau of Investigation;
(E) the Department of Justice's Human Trafficking
Prosecution Unit;
(F) the Office of Violence Against Women of the
Department of Justice;
(G) the Office of Victims of Crime of the Department
of Justice;
(H) a United States attorney's office with experience
in cases related to missing persons, murder, or
trafficking of Indians or on Indian land;
(I) the Administration for Native Americans of the
Office of the Administration for Children & Families of
the Department of Health and Human Services;
(J) the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration of the Department of Health and Human
Services;
(K) a Tribal judge with experience in cases related
to missing persons, murder, or trafficking;
(L) not fewer than 3 Indian Tribes from diverse
geographic areas, including 1 Indian tribe located in
Alaska, selected from nominations submitted by the
Indian Tribe;
(M) not fewer than 2 health care and mental health
practitioners and counselors and providers with
experience in working with Indian survivors of
trafficking and sexual assault, with a letter of
recommendation from a local tribal chair or tribal law
enforcement officer;
(N) not fewer than 3 national, regional, or urban
Indian organizations focused on violence against women
and children on Indian lands or against Indians;
(O) at least 2 Indian survivors of human trafficking;
(P) at least 2 family members of missing Indian
people;
(Q) at least 2 family members of murdered Indian
people;
(R) the National Institute of Justice; and
(S) the Indian Health Service.
(3) Periods of appointment.--Members shall be appointed for
the duration of the Commission.
(4) Vacancies.--A vacancy in the Commission shall be filled
in the manner in which the original appointment was made and
shall not affect the powers or duties of the Commission.
(5) Compensation.--Commission members shall serve without
compensation.
(6) Travel expenses.--The Secretary of the Interior, in
coordination with the Attorney General, shall consider the
provision of travel expenses, including per diem, to Commission
members when appropriate.
(c) Duties.--
(1) In general.--The Commission may hold such hearings, meet
and act at times and places, take such testimony, and receive
such evidence as the Commission considers to be advisable to
carry out the duties of the Commission under this section.
(2) Recommendations for the department of interior and
department of justice.--
(A) In general.--The Commission shall develop
recommendations to the Secretary of the Interior and
Attorney General on actions the Federal Government can
take to help combat violent crime against Indians and
within Indian lands, including the development and
implementation of recommendations for--
(i) identifying, reporting, and responding to
instances of missing persons, murder, and human
trafficking on Indian lands and of Indians;
(ii) legislative and administrative changes
necessary to use programs, properties, or other
resources funded or operated by the Department
of the Interior and Department of Justice to
combat the crisis of missing or murdered
Indians and human trafficking on Indian lands
and of Indians;
(iii) tracking and reporting data on
instances of missing persons, murder, and human
trafficking on Indian lands and of Indians;
(iv) addressing staff shortages and open
positions within relevant law enforcement
agencies, including issues related to the
hiring and retention of law enforcement
officers;
(v) coordinating tribal, State, and Federal
resources to increase prosecution of murder and
human trafficking offenses on Indian lands and
of Indians; and
(vi) increasing information sharing with
tribal governments on violent crime
investigations and prosecutions in Indian lands
that were terminated or declined.
(B) Submission.--Not later than 18 months after the
enactment of this Act, the Commission shall make
publicly available and submit all recommendations
developed under this paragraph to--
(i) the Secretary of the Interior;
(ii) the Attorney General;
(iii) the Committee on the Judiciary of the
Senate;
(iv) the Committee on Indian Affairs of the
Senate;
(v) the Committee on Natural Resources of the
House of Representatives; and
(vi) the Committee on the Judiciary of the
House of Representatives.
(C) Secretarial response.--Not later than 90 days
after the date on which the Secretary of the Interior
and the Attorney General receive the recommendations
under paragraph (2), the Secretary and the Attorney
General shall each make publicly available and submit a
written response to the recommendations to--
(i) the Commission;
(ii) the Committee on the Judiciary of the
Senate;
(iii) the Committee on Indian Affairs of the
Senate;
(iv) the Committee on Natural Resources of
the House of Representatives; and
(v) the Committee on the Judiciary of the
House of Representatives.
(d) Faca Exemption.--The Commission shall be exempt from the Federal
Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.).
(e) Sunset.--The Commission shall terminate on the date that is 2
years after the date of enactment of this Act.
Purpose and Summary
H.R. 2438, the ``Not Invisible Act of 2020,'' would address
the crisis of violence and sexual violence committed against
American Indian and Alaska Native men and women in two concrete
ways--by directing the appointment, within the Bureau of Indian
Affairs (BIA), of a coordinator of federal efforts to combat
violence against Native people and by establishing, within the
Department of the Interior (DOI) and the Department of Justice
(DOJ), a Joint Commission on Reducing Violent Crime Against
Indians.
The Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute (ANS) for H.R.
2438 would direct the Secretary of the Interior to designate an
official within the Office of Justice Services of the BIA to
coordinate prevention efforts, grants, and programs relating to
murder of, trafficking of, and missing Native Americans, across
various federal agencies. The coordinator, who would report to
the Secretary of the Interior, would be directed to take into
consideration the unique challenges faced by Tribal communities
and to work in cooperation with outside organizations to train
Tribal law enforcement, Indian Health Service (IHS) providers,
and other Tribal community members on identifying, responding
to, and reporting on cases of missing persons, murder, and
human trafficking. The coordinator would report to Congress
annually on these efforts and on recommendations for improving
coordination.
The ANS would also direct the establishment of a Joint
Commission on Reducing Violent Crimes Against Indians, within
120 days after enactment and for a two-year period of duration.
The Commission, to be appointed by the Secretary of the
Interior in coordination with the Attorney General, would be
composed of members representing several prosecutorial
agencies, law enforcement, Tribal leaders, relevant Federal
departments, service providers, family members, and survivors.
The Commission would be tasked with preparing recommendations,
not later than 18 months after enactment of the Act, on actions
DOI and DOJ can take to help combat violent crime against
American Indians and within Indian lands, including the
development and implementation of strategies for identifying,
reporting, and responding to instances of missing persons,
murder, and human trafficking on Indian lands and of American
Indians; tracking and reporting relevant data; and increasing
prosecution of murder and human trafficking offenses on Indian
lands and of Indians.
Background and Need for the Legislation
For decades, Native American and Alaska Native communities
have struggled with high rates of assault, abduction, and
murder of women.\1\ Community advocates describe the crisis as
a legacy of generations of government policies of forced
removal, land seizures and violence inflicted on Native
peoples.\2\ Advocates also argue that killings and
disappearances have been disregarded by law enforcement and
have gotten lost in bureaucratic gaps concerning which local or
federal agencies should investigate.\3\
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\1\Glenna Stumblingbear-Riddle, Standing With Our Sisters: MMIWG2S,
American Psychological Association Communique, Nov. 2018.
\2\Jack Healey, In Indian Country, a Crisis of Missing Women. And a
New One When They're Found, N.Y. Times, Dec. 25, 2019.
\3\Id.
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A 2016 study by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ)
found that more than four in five American Indian and Alaska
Native women (84.3 percent) have experienced violence in their
lifetime, including 56.1 percent who have experienced sexual
violence.4 In the year leading up to the study, 39.8 percent of
American Indian and Alaska Native women had experienced
violence, including 14.\4\ percent who had experienced sexual
violence.\5\ Overall, more than 1.5 million American Indian and
Alaska Native women have experienced violence in their
lifetime.\6\
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\4\Andre B. Rosay, Violence Against American Indian and Alaska
Native Women and Men, 277 Nat'l Instit. Just. J. at 39 (2016).
\5\Id. at 40.
\6\Id. at 39.
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The NIJ study also found that American Indian and Alaska
Native men, too, have high victimization rates. More than four
in five American Indian and Alaska Native men (81.6 percent)
have experienced violence in their lifetime.\7\ And, overall,
more than 1.4 million American Indian and Alaska Native men
have experienced violence in their lifetime.\8\
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\7\Id. at 40.
\8\Id.
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An NIJ-funded study from 2008 found that the rates of
violence on reservations are much higher than the national
average.\9\ However, according to the Urban Indian Health
Institute, no research has been done on the rates of such
violence among American Indian and Alaska Native women living
in urban areas despite the fact that approximately 71 percent
of American Indian and Alaska Natives live in urban areas.\10\
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\9\See generally Ronet Bachman, et al., Violence Against American
Indian and Alaska Native Women and the Criminal Justice Response: What
Is Known, Aug. 2008, https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/
223691.pdf.
\10\Urban Indian Health Institute, Missing and Murdered Indigenous
Women & Girls, at 2, Sep. 2018 (citing T. Norris et al., The American
Indian and Alaska Native Population: 2010, U.S. Census Bureau, https://
www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-10.pdf).
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Moreover, reports indicate that there is no reliable count
of how many Native women go missing or are killed each
year.\11\ Researchers have found that women are often
misclassified as Hispanic or Asian or other racial categories
on missing-person forms and that thousands have been left off a
federal missing-persons database.\12\ Indeed, in a 2018 report,
the Urban Indian Health Institute noted that, in 2016, there
were 5,712 reports of missing American Indian and Alaska Native
women and girls recorded by the National Crime Information
Center, yet, during the same period, DOJ's federal missing
persons database, known as NamUs only logged 116 cases.\13\
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\11\Jack Healey, In Indian Country, a Crisis of Missing Women. And
A New One When They're Found, N.Y. Times, Dec. 25, 2019.
\12\Id.
\13\Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women & Girls, at 2.
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In September 2017, the Government Accountability Office
(GAO) released a report titled ``Human Trafficking:
Investigations in Indian Country or Involving Native Americans
and Actions Needed to Better Report on Victims Served.''\14\
GAO surveyed tribal and major city law enforcement agencies and
victim service providers on human trafficking investigations,
victim services, and barriers to identifying and serving Native
victims.\15\ Twenty-seven of the 132 tribal law enforcement
agencies that responded to the survey reported initiating
investigations involving human trafficking from 2014 to 2016
and six of 61 major city law enforcement agencies reported
initiating human trafficking investigations that involved at
least one Native victim during the same time period.\16\ Survey
respondents identified lack of training on identifying and
responding appropriately to victims, victim shame and
reluctance to come forward, and lack of service provider
resources as barriers to investigating cases and serving
victims.\17\
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\14\Government Accountability Office, Human Trafficking: Action
Needed to Identify the Number of Native American Victims Receiving
Federally-Funded Services (2017) (GAO 17 235).
\15\See id. GAO Highlights.
\16\Id.
\17\Id. at 12-13.
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In November 2019, President Trump signed an executive order
creating a task force on missing and murdered American Indians
and Alaska Natives, to improve cooperation among law
enforcement agencies and address problems with basic data
collection.\18\ The task force was meant to bring together
various federal agencies, including the Federal Bureau of
Investigation, the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs of
the DOI, and the Commissioner of the Administration for Native
Americans of the Department of Health and Human Services
(HHS).\19\ Notably, the task force does not include Tribal
leaders or survivors in its membership and has a focus on rural
reservations, thus overlooking the large numbers of Native
people in cities who become targets of violence.\20\ Among
other things, H.R. 2438 seeks to address these omissions.
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\18\See White House, Executive Order on Establishing the Task Force
on Missing and Murdered American Indians and Alaska Natives, Nov. 26,
2019.
\19\Id.
\20\See id.
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Hearings
On July 16, 2019, the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and
Homeland Security held a hearing titled, ``Women and Girls in
the Criminal Justice System,'' which helped develop the
substance of the Not Invisible Act of 2020.
Committee Consideration
On March 11, 2020, the Committee met in open session and
ordered the bill, H.R. 2438, favorably reported as an amendment
in the nature of a substitute, by voice vote, a quorum being
present.
Committee Votes
No record votes occurred during the Committee's
consideration of H.R. 2438.
Committee Oversight Findings
In compliance with clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules
of the House of Representatives, the Committee advises that the
findings and recommendations of the Committee, based on
oversight activities under clause 2(b)(1) of rule X of the
Rules of the House of Representatives, are incorporated in the
descriptive portions of this report.
New Budget Authority and Tax Expenditures and Congressional Budget
Office Cost Estimate
With respect to the requirements of clause 3(c)(2) of rule
XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and section
308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 and with respect
to requirements of clause (3)(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules
of the House of Representatives and section 402 of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee has requested
but not received a cost estimate for this bill from the
Director of Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The Committee
has requested but not received from the Director of the CBO a
statement as to whether this bill contains any new budget
authority, spending authority, credit authority, or an increase
or decrease in revenues or tax expenditures.
Duplication of Federal Programs
No provision of H.R. 2438 establishes or reauthorizes a
program of the Federal government known to be duplicative of
another federal program, a program that was included in any
report from the Government Accountability Office to Congress
pursuant to section 21 of Public Law 111 139, or a program
related to a program identified in the most recent Catalog of
Federal Domestic Assistance.
Performance Goals and Objectives
The Committee states that pursuant to clause 3(c)(4) of
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, H.R.
2438 would ensure better coordination among federal agencies to
combat violence against Native people, including establishing a
Joint Commission on Reducing Violent Crime Against Indians.
Advisory on Earmarks
In accordance with clause 9 of rule XXI of the Rules of the
House of Representatives, H.R. 2438 does not contain any
congressional earmarks, limited tax benefits, or limited tariff
benefits as defined in clause 9(d), 9(e), or 9(f) of rule XXI.
Section by Section Analysis
The following discussion describes the bill as reported by
the Committee.
Section 1. Short title. Section 1 sets forth the short
title of the bill as the ``Not Invisible Act of 2020.''
Sec. 2. Definitions. Section 2 includes relevant
definitions.
Sec. 3. Coordinator of Federal efforts to combat violence
against native people. Section 3 would direct the Secretary of
the Interior to designate an official within the Office of
Justice Services of the BIA to: (1) coordinate prevention
efforts, grants, and programs across Federal agencies related
to the murder, trafficking of, and missing Indians; (2) take
into account the unique challenges faced by Tribal communities,
urban centers, the BIA, Tribal law enforcement, Federal law
enforcement, and State and local law enforcement, in combatting
crime, violence, and human trafficking of Indians and on Indian
lands; (3) work in cooperation with outside organizations with
expertise in working with Indian tribes to provide victim-
centered and culturally-relevant training to Tribal law
enforcement, IHS health care providers, urban Indian
organizations, and Tribal community members and businesses, on
how to identify, respond to, and report instances of missing
persons, murder, and trafficking within Indian lands and of
Indians. The Coordinator would report directly to the Secretary
of the Interior and submit an annual report regarding the
coordination efforts accomplished and trainings completed
during the previous year as well make recommendations for
improving coordination across Federal agencies and relevant
programs.
Sec. 4. Establishment of the Department of Interior and the
Department of Justice joint commission on reducing violent
crime against indians
Section 4(a) would direct the Secretary of the Interior, in
coordination with the Attorney General, to establish a joint
commission on violent crime on Indian lands and against
Indians.
Section 4(b) would direct that the Commission be composed
of members ``whose diverse experiences and backgrounds enable
them to provide balanced points of view with regard to the
duties of the Commission'' and, ``to the greatest extent
practicable,'' include Tribal representatives from diverse
geographic areas and of diverse sizes. The Commission would
include representatives from several Federal law enforcement
and prosecutorial agencies, including the Office on Violence
Against Women and the Office of Victims of Crime in DOJ;
representatives from other Federal departments, such as Housing
and Urban Development, HHS, and HIS; Tribal representatives,
including from Tribal law enforcement; representatives from
national, regional, or urban Indian organizations; and
survivors of human trafficking, family members of missing
Indian people, and family members of murdered Indian people.
Commission members would be appointed for the life of the
Commission and would serve without compensation.
Duties of the Commission, as set forth in Section 4(c)(2),
would include submitting recommendations, not later than 18
months after enactment of the Act, to the Secretary of the
Interior and the Attorney General, and to relevant Committees
of the House and Senate, to be made publicly available. The
Commission would be directed to make recommendations on:
actions the Federal Government can take to help combat violent
crime against Indians and within Indian lands, including the
development and implementation of strategies for identifying,
reporting, and responding to instances of missing persons,
murder, and human trafficking on Indian lands and of Indians;
legislative and administrative changes to combat the crisis;
tracking and reporting data; addressing staff shortages and
open positions in critical law enforcement positions;
coordinating Tribal, State, and Federal resources to increase
prosecution of murder and human trafficking offenses on Indian
lands; and strategies for information sharing with Tribal
governments regarding termination and declination of
prosecutions. The Attorney General and the Secretary of the
Interior would be directed to submit a publicly available
written response to the Commission's recommendations, not later
than 90 days after receipt of the Commission's recommendations.
Section 4(d) directs that the Commission be exempt from the
Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA).
Section 4(e) terminates the Commission two years after the
date of enactment of the Act.
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]