119-hres381

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 381 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

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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