U.S. SENATE — U.S. Senator Steve Daines today introduced a resolution designating May 5, 2019 as a National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Native Women and Girls.
“What’s happening in Indian Country must be addressed and brought to the national stage,” Daines said. “We must work together to stop the crisis of missing and murdered Native women and girls. I will continue to strongly voice their stories so that we may commemorate their lives, raise awareness of this issue, and help put an end to this horrible tragedy.”
Daines will headline the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women’s March in Billings, Montana tomorrow, April 5th.
To read the full resolution, click HERE.
Background:
On February 7th, 2019, Daines cosponsored legislation that would commission a federal study on missing and murdered indigenous people.
On January 23rd, 2019, Daines requested a Montana field hearing on Missing and Murdered Native American persons before the U.S. Senate Indian Affairs Committee.
On December 10th, 2018, Daines secured a U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs hearing on Missing and Murdered Persons in Washington D.C.
On October 22nd, 2018, Daines introduced bipartisan legislation to expand tribes’ access to national crime databases, the U.S. Departments of Justice and the Interior announced today that they are expanding the Tribal Access Program for National Crime Information (TAP) to an additional 25 tribes
On April 19, 2018, Daines led a bipartisan group of senators in sending a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions in response to a Department of Justice Inspector General report, urging the department of Justice to uphold its responsibilities to Indian tribes and implement the recommendations outlined in that report as quickly as possible.
On April 13, 2018, Daines’ bill to help relocate children who go missing through AMBER Alert systems became law.
On February 14, 2018, Daines sponsored and supported the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs’ passage of the Tribal Law and Order Reauthorization and Amendments Act, which included Daines’ bipartisan legislation to promote tribes’ access to national criminal databases.
In February 2018, Daines led a bipartisan coalition of his colleagues in introducing a resolution to designate May 5 as the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Native Women and Girls.
On December 21, 2017, Daines introduced bipartisan legislation, the Mitigating the Methamphetamine Epidemic and Promoting Tribal Health Act, or the Mitigating METH Act, to combat methamphetamine use across Montana and strengthen Indian tribes’ ability to fight this epidemic.
On December 6, 2017, Daines’ bipartisan legislation, the Securing Urgent Resources Vital to Indian Victim Empowerment (SURVIVE) Act, passed the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. This bill strengthens services for victims of crime in Indian country.
On May 5th, 2017 Senator Daines introduced and secured U.S. Senate unanimous passage of a resolution to honor the memory of Hanna Harris, a member of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe who was murdered in July 2013.
On May 4, 2017, Daines spoke on the floor of the U.S. Senate to mark the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Native Women and Girls.
In the spring of 2017, Daines spoke at the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center briefing. The organization is based out of Billings, Montana.
In 2017, Daines introduced and secured U.S. Senate unanimous passage of a resolution recognizing May 5th as the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Native Women and Girls. The resolution honors the memory of Hanna Harris, a member of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe who was murdered in July 2013.
In April 2016, Daines led an amendment to the Commerce, Justice, and Science appropriations bill to set–aside five percent of the Crime Victims Fund for Indian tribes
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