Executive Calendar

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. HOEVEN. Mr. President, I rise to join my colleagues from Iowa, Texas, and Alaska in calling for the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, or VAWA. VAWA was foundational to addressing domestic violence and sexual assault and supporting survivors in their recovery.

VAWA expired earlier this year, and it is critical that the services and tools offered through the law are reauthorized so we can continue to help and empower survivors. Additionally, it is important that we make it known that crimes of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking are not tolerated.

Senator Ernst will be introducing this legislation, which I am cosponsoring, to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act. This bill includes key Tribal provisions, such as expanding Tribal criminal jurisdiction and upholding Tribal sovereignty while amending the 2013 VAWA, and providing increased funding for Indian Tribes to address violence committed against Indians on their lands.

A Department of Justice report found that more than four in five American Indian and Alaska Native women experience violence in their lifetime, and Native women are significantly more likely to experience cases of stalking and physical violence by an intimate partner.

Under Senator Ernst's VAWA bill, Indian Tribes will be allowed to train more lawyers and Tribal court judges, further strengthening the Tribal criminal justice system; have access to increased data and reporting on the subject of missing and murdered Indians; and will require the Department of Justice to issue annual reports to Congress in order to thoroughly track the progress of the special criminal jurisdiction and better determine trends of violence committed on Indian lands.

The Committee on Indian Affairs has held hearings on violence against Indians and missing and murdered Native Americans. As chairman of the committee, I introduced legislation that would increase resources to Indian victims of crime. The Senate majority VAWA includes my SURVIVE Act, which would provide Indian Tribes with a 5-percent Tribal set aside of the Crime Victims Fund. Prior to our work on this initiative, Tribes were accessing less than 1 percent of this important funding. As a member of the Appropriations Committee, I have included a Tribal set- aside in the three previous fiscal years of criminal justice science packages, which underscores the importance of passing authorizing language, such as my SURVIVE Act.

This VAWA bill also includes Savanna's Act, a bill I am cosponsoring, named for Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind, a pregnant woman from the Spirit Lake Nation in my home State who went missing and was found murdered 8 days later. Savanna's tragic death did not go unnoticed and has helped to raise awareness about missing and murdered Native American women. Savanna's Act will help to address cases of missing or murdered Indians by directing the Attorney General to review, revise, and develop law enforcement and criminal justice guidelines; improving access to Federal criminal databases; holding Tribal consultations with Indian Tribes, Tribal Organizations, and Urban Indian Organizations when the Department of Justice develops and implements guidelines; requiring training and technical assistance to Indian Tribes participating in the guidelines implementation process; and mandating data collection and reporting by the Department of Justice.

The Senate majority VAWA includes these important Tribal bills, and I am proud to be a cosponsor of Senator Ernst's bill. There are many great provisions in this VAWA bill, and I hope my colleagues on the other side of the aisle will give it serious consideration. We must act to reauthorize VAWA in order to help support survivors and provide them with the assistance they need to recover. Reauthorizing VAWA also sends the important message that crimes of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking are not tolerated in this country, and that we will continue to support survivors.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source