Congressman Kelly Armstrong Commends Efforts to Prevent and Solve Cases of Missing and Murdered Native Americans
Press Release
Today, Congressman Kelly Armstrong commended the Trump Administration's efforts to prevent and solve cases of missing and murdered Native Americans. The Presidential Task Force on Missing and Murdered American Indians and Alaska Natives, dubbed "Operation Lady Justice', released a report yesterday, detailing progress made in 2020 and future steps needed to combat this crisis in Indian Country, building off of efforts Congressman Armstrong has supported in Congress.
"Outdated databases and a lack of coordination between law enforcement agencies has made it difficult to combat the crisis of missing and murdered Native Americans. Every step we can take in bringing communities and resources together to solve this problem is a victory for all North Dakotans. I commend the Trump Administration and Congress for recognizing the need to solve this problem, and I will continue fighting for policies like Savanna's Act that help bring an end to these heartbreaking and devastating acts of violence against Native Americans," said Congressman Armstrong.
Congressman Armstrong was a cosponsor of Savanna's Act, which was named in honor of Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind, a 22-year-old member of North Dakota's Spirit Lake Tribe who was murdered in 2017. Savanna's Act was signed into law by President Trump on October 10th, 2020.
Native Americans are 2 ½ times as likely to experience violent crimes and 2 times more likely to experience rape or sexual assault crimes. Native American women are murdered at more than 10 times the national average, with more than 4 in 5 Native American women having experienced violence in their lifetime.
Some highlighted recommendations by the task force include:
Proposing legislation to authorize both DOJ databases in the area of missing person cases (NamUs and FBI CJIS NCIC Missing Persons file) to share information with each other.
Finding funding for programs to support Tribes in developing and providing continued support to their MMNA teams or task forces.
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