[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 381 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 381
Expressing support for the designation of May 5, 2025, as the
``National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women
and Girls''.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 5, 2025
Mr. Newhouse (for himself, Ms. Leger Fernandez, Mr. Cole, Mr. Huffman,
Mr. Johnson of South Dakota, Mr. Case, Ms. Salazar, Mr. Stanton, Mrs.
Bice, Ms. Bonamici, Mr. Smith of Nebraska, Ms. Pingree, Mr. Pocan, and
Ms. Schrier) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to
the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on
the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the
Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall
within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Expressing support for the designation of May 5, 2025, as the
``National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women
and Girls''.
Whereas, according to a 2016 study commissioned by the Department of Justice's
(DOJ) National Institute of Justice (NIJ), more than 4 in 5 (84.3
percent) American Indian and Alaska Native women experienced violence in
their lifetime, with 56.1 percent being a result of sexual violence and
55 percent being from intimate partner violence;
Whereas, according to 2017 data, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
found homicide was the sixth-leading cause of death for American Indian
and Alaska Native women and girls under 44 years of age, with murder
rates more than 10 times the national average;
Whereas approximately 1,500 American Indian and Alaska Native missing persons
have been entered into the National Crime Information Center index
throughout the United States, and approximately 2,700 cases of murder
and nonnegligent homicide offenses have been reported to the Federal
Government's Uniform Crime Reporting Program;
Whereas, according to a 2020 joint study completed by the State of Hawai'i and
the Hawai'i State Commission on the Status of Women, 64 percent of human
trafficking victims in Hawai'i identified as at least part Native
Hawaiian;
Whereas the current local, State, and Federal funding available in Indian
country is inadequate to address the basic, emergency, and long-term
service needs of victims and negatively impacts Tribal governments'
ability to distribute lifesaving resources;
Whereas, in 2019, Operation Lady Justice was launched through Executive Order
13898 which established the Task Force on Missing and Murdered American
Indians and Alaska Natives aimed at mitigating the missing and murdered
Indigenous women (MMIW) crisis by improving the investigatory and
prosecutorial capabilities of Federal justice agencies and generating
new guidelines for data sharing and law enforcement responses;
Whereas, in 2020, Savanna's Act (Public Law 116-165) and the Not Invisible Act
(Public Law 116-166) were signed into law, which initiated a joint
commission between the Department of the Interior (DOI) and DOJ to
combat violent crime within Tribal communities and develop new law
enforcement protocols when investigating MMIW;
Whereas, in 2021, DOI created a Missing and Murdered Unit within its Bureau of
Indian Affairs' Office of Justice Services to expand cross-departmental
and interagency collaboration for the purposes of investigating cases of
missing and murdered Indigenous people at the request of Tribal
leadership;
Whereas, in 2022, DOI fulfilled a provision in the Not Invisible Act requiring
the establishment of the Not Invisible Act Commission by filling
membership with law enforcement, Tribal leaders, Federal partners,
service providers, family members of MMIW, and survivors and held their
first meeting;
Whereas, in 2023, the Not Invisible Act Commission submitted recommendations to
the DOJ, DOI, and Congress to address the epidemic of missing persons
and the murder and trafficking of American Indian and Alaska Native
peoples;
Whereas, in response to the commission's recommendations, DOJ highlighted the
MMIW regional outreach program to aid the U.S. Attorney's Offices to
update Savanna's Act guidelines to provide further training and
technical assistance to State agencies and provide uniformity in
guidelines across jurisdictions;
Whereas, despite progress that has been made, in 2024, 5,614 Indigenous Women
and Girls were reported missing. Of these 5,614 reports, 4,179 victims
were under the age of 18. At the end of 2024, there were 628 active
missing person records;
Whereas, research data shows that national averages hide the extremely high
rates of murder against Indigenous women and girls present in some
counties comprised primarily of tribal land; and
Whereas, in previous years, May 5 has been designated as the day of remembrance
for ``Missing and Murdered Native Women and Girls'' in honor of the
birth date of Hanna Harris, a member of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe, who
was murdered after being reported missing by her family in Lame Deer,
Montana: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) expresses support for the designation of a ``National
Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and
Girls'';
(2) calls on the people of the United States and interested
groups to--
(A) commemorate the lives of missing and murdered
Indigenous women and girls whose cases are documented
and undocumented in public records and the media; and
(B) demonstrate solidarity with the families of
victims in light of those tragedies;
(3) recommends that the Department of Justice's National
Institute of Justice commission a new study with focused data
on missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls to ensure
up-to-date statistics are made public regarding the current
state of the missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls
crisis given 9 years have passed since their 2016 study was
published; and
(4) recognizes that, despite the positive efforts made,
there is more work to be done to address this nationwide
crisis.
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