Studying the Missing and Murdered Indian Crisis Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2029 To direct the Comptroller General of the United States to submit a report on the response of law enforcement agencies to reports of missing or murdered Indians. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 2, 2019 Mr. GALLEGO (for himself, Ms. HAALAND, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. COLE, Mr. COOK, and Ms. DAVIDS of Kansas) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Natural Resources, for a period to be subsequently deter- mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To direct the Comptroller General of the United States to submit a report on the response of law enforcement agencies to reports of missing or murdered Indians. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Studying the Missing 4 and Murdered Indian Crisis Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:07 Apr 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2029.IH H2029 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2029 IH (1) COVERED DATABASE.—The term ‘‘covered 1 database’’ means— 2 (A) the database of the National Crime In- 3 formation Center; 4 (B) the Combined DNA Index System; 5 (C) the Next Generation Identification 6 System; and 7 (D) any other database or system of a law 8 enforcement agency under which a report of a 9 missing or murdered Indian may be submitted, 10 including— 11 (i) the Violent Criminal Apprehension 12 Program; or 13 (ii) the National Missing and Uniden- 14 tified Persons System. 15 (2) INDIAN.—The term ‘‘Indian’’ has the mean- 16 ing given the term in section 4 of the Indian Self- 17 Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 18 U.S.C. 5304). 19 (3) INDIAN COUNTRY.—The term ‘‘Indian coun- 20 try’’ has the meaning given the term in section 1151 21 of title 18, United States Code. 22 (4) LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY.—The term 23 ‘‘law enforcement agency’’ means a Federal, State, 24 local, or Tribal law enforcement agency. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:07 Apr 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2029.IH H2029 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2029 IH (5) MISSING OR MURDERED INDIAN.—The term 1 ‘‘missing or murdered Indian’’ means any Indian 2 who is— 3 (A) reported missing in Indian country or 4 any other location; or 5 (B) murdered in Indian country or any 6 other location. 7 (6) NOTIFICATION SYSTEM.—The term ‘‘notifi- 8 cation system’’ means— 9 (A) the Criminal Justice Information Net- 10 work; 11 (B) the AMBER Alert communications 12 network established under subtitle A of title III 13 of the PROTECT Act (34 U.S.C. 20501 et 14 seq.); and 15 (C) any other system or public notification 16 system that relates to a report of a missing or 17 murdered Indian, including any State, local, or 18 Tribal notification system. 19 SEC. 3. REPORT. 20 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 21 of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 22 shall submit to the Committee on Indian Affairs of the 23 Senate and the Committee on Natural Resources of the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:07 Apr 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2029.IH H2029 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2029 IH House of Representatives a comprehensive report that in- 1 cludes— 2 (1) a review of— 3 (A) each law enforcement agency that has 4 jurisdiction over missing or murdered Indians 5 and the basis for that jurisdiction; 6 (B) the response procedures, with respect 7 to a report of a missing or murdered Indian, 8 of— 9 (i) the Federal Bureau of Investiga- 10 tion; 11 (ii) the Bureau of Indian Affairs; and 12 (iii) any other Federal law enforce- 13 ment agency responsible for responding to 14 or investigating a report of a missing or 15 murdered Indian; 16 (C) each covered database and notification 17 system; 18 (D) Federal interagency cooperation and 19 notification policies and procedures related to 20 missing or murdered Indians; 21 (E) the requirements of each Federal law 22 enforcement agency relating to notifying State, 23 local, or Tribal law enforcement agencies after 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:07 Apr 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2029.IH H2029 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2029 IH the Federal law enforcement agency receives a 1 report of a missing or murdered Indian; and 2 (F) the public notification requirements of 3 law enforcement agencies relating to missing or 4 murdered Indians; 5 (2) recommendations and best practices relating 6 to improving cooperation between and response poli- 7 cies of law enforcement agencies relating to missing 8 and murdered Indians; and 9 (3) recommendations relating to— 10 (A) improving how— 11 (i) covered databases address in- 12 stances of missing or murdered Indians, 13 including by improving access to, inte- 14 grating, and improving the sharing of in- 15 formation between covered databases; and 16 (ii) notification systems address in- 17 stances of missing or murdered Indians, 18 including by improving access to, inte- 19 grating, and improving the sharing of in- 20 formation between notification systems; 21 (B) social, educational, economic, and any 22 other factor that may contribute to an Indian 23 becoming a missing or murdered Indian; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:07 Apr 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2029.IH H2029 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2029 IH (C) legislation to reduce the likelihood that 1 an Indian may become a missing or murdered 2 Indian. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:07 Apr 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2029.IH H2029 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS