Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women

Floor Speech

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Mrs. TORRES of California. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Newhouse for organizing this Special Order and for his leadership. I sincerely hope that this will serve as a call to action for all of us. Like the gentleman, I was very disappointed that we could not get Savanna's Act across the 115th Congress and signed into law.

Mr. Speaker, every single person in this country, no matter their gender or background, deserves to live in safety, and every single victim deserves justice. But for Native Americans, and especially Native American women, that has not been the case. Far from it.

There is a long history of violence against Native Americans and exploitation of Native American women. It is a history that we don't talk about nearly enough. That is why, last week, I introduced a bipartisan resolution to support the creation of a new Federal holiday, Indigenous Peoples' Day, on the day that is now called Columbus Day.

Across the Americas, too many indigenous people are still living with the legacy of colonialism and the violence that came with it. Taking one day a year to acknowledge that history and to acknowledge the many contributions of Native Americans to this great country, is the least that we can do, but it isn't enough.

As William Faulkner famously said: ``The past is never dead. It's not even past.''

And the reality is that today, Native American women are being killed and going missing at an alarming rate. Native American women are 10 times more likely to be killed than the national average, and that is shameful.

What is worse is that we do not even know how many Native American women have gone missing. Criminals prey on Native American women because they know that they can get away with this crime. So Congress must take action to address this crisis and that is why we are here today.

In April, the House passed the Violence Against Women Act, which would give Native American Tribes jurisdiction over crimes of violence against women. This is a significant step to solving the problem, but the Senate must act now to pass this critical legislation.

In May, I introduced Savanna's Act to honor Savanna LaFontaine- Greywind, a 22-year old pregnant member of the Spirit Lake Tribe who was tragically murdered in 2017.

I have worked with a group of Democrats and Republicans from both Chambers of Congress to make sure that we incorporate input from a wide range of stakeholders, including law enforcement.

This bipartisan bill would create a new set of guidelines for law enforcement responding to cases of missing and murdered indigenous women, and it would give incentives for law enforcement to implement those guidelines. It would also improve information-sharing and access to data so that we have a clearer picture of the scale of these horrific crimes.

This important legislation builds on a previous version of Savanna's Act, which already passed the Senate last year. It is awaiting action in the House Judiciary Committee, and I am confident that it will move forward soon.

Because of the efforts of Native American women across the country, we are close to passing Savanna's Act into law, but we cannot afford to continue waiting. More importantly, Native American women cannot afford it.

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