Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives to recognize the crisis of violence against Native women.

IV 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. RES. 278 Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives to recognize the crisis of violence against Native women. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 1, 2019 Ms. MOORE (for herself, Ms. HAALAND, Ms. DAVIDS of Kansas, Mr. YOUNG, Mr. GRIJALVA, and Mr. COLE) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources RESOLUTION Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives to recognize the crisis of violence against Native women. Whereas according to a study commissioned by the Depart- ment of Justice, in some Tribal communities, American Indian women face murder rates that are more than 10 times the national average; Whereas according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, homicide was the third-leading cause of death among American Indian and Alaska Native women be- tween 10 and 24 years of age and the fifth-leading cause of death for American Indian and Alaska Native women between 25 and 34 years of age; Whereas Native women face some of the highest levels of vio- lence of any group, but there is little data that exists on VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:57 Apr 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR278.IH HR278 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HRES 278 IH the number of missing American Indian and Alaska Na- tive women in the United States; Whereas American Indians and Alaska Natives are 2.5 times more likely to experience violent crimes and at least 2 times more likely to experience rape or sexual assault crimes than people who are not American Indians or Alaska Natives; Whereas 96 percent of female and 89 percent of male Amer- ican Indian and Alaska Native victims report being vic- timized by a non-Indian; Whereas according to a 2010 Government Accountability Of- fice report, the Offices of the United States Attorneys de- clined to prosecute nearly 52 percent of violent crimes that occur in Indian country; Whereas Indian Tribes report that children are usually in- volved in domestic violence and dating violence incidents that occur on Indian lands, either as witnesses or as vic- tims themselves; Whereas the Indian Law and Order Commission issued a re- port entitled ‘‘A Roadmap for Making Native America Safer’’, which recommends the restoration of the inherent authority of Tribal courts; and Whereas Tribal communities should be able to protect them- selves from dating violence, domestic violence, and child violence, and from violence committed against members of the Tribal justice system: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the House of Representatives ex- 1 presses the sense of the House to recognize the crisis of 2 violence against Native women. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:57 Apr 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\HR278.IH HR278 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS