II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 982 

To increase intergovernmental coordination to identify and combat violent 

crime within Indian lands and of Indians. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 2, 2019 

Ms. CORTEZ MASTO (for herself, Ms. MURKOWSKI, and Mr. TESTER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs 

A BILL 

To increase intergovernmental coordination to identify and 

combat violent crime within Indian lands and of Indians. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Not Invisible Act of 

5 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 

8 (1) the National Institute of Justice reports 

9 more than 80 percent of American Indian and Alas10 ka Native men and women have experienced violence 


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1 in their lifetimes and more than 34 percent have ex2 perienced violence in the last year; 

3 (2) the National Institute of Justice also esti4 mates that 56 percent of American Indian and Alas5 ka Native women experience sexual violence in their 

6 lifetimes; 

7 (3) murder is the third leading cause of death 

8 among American Indian and Alaska Native women; 

9 (4) populations that experience chronic unem10 ployment, homelessness, substance abuse, severe 

11 poverty, and high rates of sexual violence and other 

12 crimes are at a higher risk of trafficking; 

13 (5) American Indian and Alaska Native women 

14 and girls disproportionately experience the above 

15 risk factors; 

16 (6) historical trauma has increased the vulner17 ability of American Indians and Alaska Natives to 

18 trafficking and other forms of violent crime; 

19 (7) the Department of Justice has identified 

20 combating human trafficking as a priority; and 

21 (8) reliable data on the prevalence of missing 

22 Native people, murdered Native people, and human 

23 trafficking within Indian lands and of American In24 dians and Alaska Natives is not available. 


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1 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act— 

3 (1) the term ‘‘Committee’’ means the Depart4 ment of the Interior and the Department of Justice 

5 Joint Advisory Committee on Reducing Violent 

6 Crime Against Native People established under sec7 tion 5; 

8 (2) the term ‘‘human trafficking’’ means act or 

9 practice described in paragraph (9) or paragraph 

10 (10) of section 103 of the Trafficking Victims Pro11 tection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7102); 

12 (3) the term ‘‘Indian’’ means a member of an 

13 Indian tribe; and 

14 (4) the terms ‘‘Indian lands’’ and ‘‘Indian 

15 tribe’’ have the meanings given the terms in section 

16 3 of the Native American Business Development, 

17 Trade Promotion, and Tourism Act of 2000 (25 

18 U.S.C. 4302). 

19 SEC. 4. COORDINATOR OF FEDERAL EFFORTS TO COMBAT 

20 VIOLENCE AGAINST NATIVE PEOPLE. 

21 The Secretary of the Interior shall designate an offi22 cial within the Office of Justice Services in the Bureau 

23 of Indian Affairs who shall— 

24 (1) coordinate prevention efforts, grants, and 

25 programs across offices within the Bureau of Indian 

26 Affairs and with the Department of Justice related 


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1 to the murder of, trafficking of, and missing Indi2 ans, including the Office of Justice Programs, the 

3 Office on Violence Against Women, the Office of 

4 Community Oriented Policing Services, the Office of 

5 Tribal Justice, and other agencies of the Federal 

6 Government; 

7 (2) in coordinating efforts, take into account 

8 the unique challenges of combating crime, violence, 

9 and human trafficking faced by tribal communities, 

10 tribal law enforcement, Federal law enforcement, 

11 and State and local law enforcement; 

12 (3) work in cooperation with outside organiza13 tions with expertise in working with Indian tribes to 

14 provide victim centered and culturally relevant train15 ing to tribal law enforcement, Indian Health Service 

16 health care providers, tribal community members 

17 and businesses, on how to effectively identify, re18 spond to and report instances of violent crime within 

19 Indian lands and of Indians; and 

20 (4) report directly to the Secretary of the Inte21 rior. 


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1 SEC. 5. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE DEPARTMENT OF INTE2 RIOR AND THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE 

3 JOINT ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON REDUCING 

4 VIOLENT CRIME AGAINST NATIVE PEOPLE. 

5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 120 days after 

6 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the 

7 Interior, in coordination with the Attorney General, shall 

8 establish and appoint all members of an advisory com9 mittee on violent crime within Indian lands and of Indians. 

10 (b) MEMBERSHIP.— 

11 (1) COMPOSITION.—The Committee shall be 

12 composed of members whose diverse experience and 

13 backgrounds enable them to provide balanced points 

14 of view with regard to the duties of the Committee. 

15 (2) SELECTION.—The Secretary of the Interior, 

16 in coordination with the Attorney General, shall ap17 point the members to the Committee, including rep18 resentatives from— 

19 (A) tribal law enforcement; 

20 (B) the Office of Justice Services of the 

21 Bureau of Indian Affairs; 

22 (C) State and local law enforcement in 

23 close proximity to Indian lands, with a letter of 

24 recommendation from a local tribal chair or 

25 tribal law enforcement officer; 


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1 (D) the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s 

2 victim services division; 

3 (E) the Department of Justice’s Human 

4 Trafficking Prosecution Unit; 

5 (F) the Office of Native American Pro6 grams of the Department of Housing and 

7 Urban Development; 

8 (G) the Family Violence Prevention and 

9 Services Program of the Department of Health 

10 and Human Services; 

11 (H) a Federal public defender within In12 dian lands with a letter of recommendation 

13 from a local tribal chair or tribal law enforce14 ment officer; 

15 (I) a tribal judge with experience in cases 

16 related to missing persons, murder, trafficking, 

17 or related cases; 

18 (J) not fewer than 3 elected leaders of fed19 erally recognized Indian tribes, including 1 

20 elected leader from a federally recognized In21 dian tribe located in Alaska; 

22 (K) health care and mental health practi23 tioners and counselors and providers with expe24 rience in working with Indian survivors of traf25 ficking and sexual assault, with a letter of recVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:43 Apr 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S982.IS S982

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1 ommendation from a local tribal chair or tribal 

2 law enforcement officer; 

3 (L) Indian advocacy organizations whose 

4 primary clients are Indians, focused on violence 

5 against women and children specifically in In6 dian lands; 

7 (M) at least 1 Indian survivor of human 

8 trafficking; 

9 (N) at least 1 family member of a missing 

10 Indian person; 

11 (O) at least 1 family member of a mur12 dered Indian person; 

13 (P) the National Institute of Justice; and 

14 (Q) the Indian Health Service. 

15 (3) PERIODS OF APPOINTMENT.—Members 

16 shall be appointed for the life of the Committee. 

17 (4) VACANCIES.—A vacancy in the Committee 

18 shall be filled in the manner in which the original 

19 appointment was made and shall not affect the pow20 ers or duties of the Committee. 

21 (5) COMPENSATION.—Committee members shall 

22 serve without compensation. 

23 (6) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—The Secretary of the 

24 Interior, in coordination with the Attorney General, 

25 shall consider the provision of travel expenses, inVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:43 Apr 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S982.IS S982

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1 cluding per diem, to Committee members when ap2 propriate. 

3 (c) DUTIES.— 

4 (1) RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE DEPARTMENT

5 OF INTERIOR AND DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE.—Not 

6 later than 18 months after the date of enactment of 

7 this Act, the Committee shall make recommenda8 tions to the Secretary of the Interior and Attorney 

9 General on actions the departments can take to help 

10 combat violent crime against Indians and within In11 dian lands, including the development and imple12 mentation of— 

13 (A) successful strategies for identifying, re14 porting, and responding to instances of missing 

15 persons, murder, and human trafficking in In16 dian lands and of Indians; 

17 (B) recommendations for legislative and 

18 administrative changes necessary to use pro19 grams, properties, or other resources funded or 

20 operated by the Department of the Interior and 

21 Department of Justice to combat the crisis of 

22 missing and murdered Indian people and 

23 human trafficking in Indian lands and of Indi24 ans; 


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1 (C) recommendations for tracking and re2 porting data on instances of missing persons, 

3 murder, and human trafficking in Indian lands 

4 and of Indians; 

5 (D) recommendations for addressing staff 

6 shortages and open positions within relevant 

7 law enforcement agencies, including issues re8 lated to the hiring and retention of law enforce9 ment officers; and 

10 (E) recommendations for coordinating trib11 al, State, and Federal resources to increase 

12 prosecution of violent crime, including murder 

13 and human trafficking offenses and increase in14 formation sharing with tribal governments on 

15 violent crime investigations and prosecutions in 

16 Indian lands that were terminated or declined. 

17 (2) BEST PRACTICES AND RECOMMENDA18 TIONS.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Committee shall 

20 develop recommended best practices for Indian 

21 tribes and Federal, State, and local law enforce22 ment officials in close proximity to Indian lands 

23 to follow— 

24 (i) in combatting violent crime, includ25 ing missing persons, murder, and human 


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1 trafficking within Indian lands and of Indi2 ans; and 

3 (ii) to address any gaps in services for 

4 Indian victims of violent crime. 

5 (B) DEVELOPMENT.—The best practices 

6 shall be based on multidisciplinary and cul7 turally relevant research, evidence-based models 

8 and programs and should consider the societal, 

9 economic, and other factors that contribute to 

10 violent crime within Indian lands and of Indi11 ans. 

12 (C) CONTENT.—The best practices shall be 

13 user-friendly, culturally responsive in form and 

14 delivery, and include the following: 

15 (i) Sample training materials. 

16 (ii) Sample guidelines and rec17 ommendations, including— 

18 (I) strategies to collect, docu19 ment, and share information across 

20 systems and agencies; 

21 (II) strategies to help agencies 

22 better understand the types of violent 

23 crime, the prevalence of violent crime 

24 in Indian lands and of Indians, and 


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1 the degree of victim and family inter2 action with multiple systems; and 

3 (III) strategies to improve coordi4 nation between law enforcement, vic5 tim service providers, victim advo6 cates, and Indian communities to uti7 lize their positions and resources in 

8 educating critical stakeholder groups 

9 and assisting victims and families. 

10 (D) SECRETARIAL RESPONSE.—The Attor11 ney General and the Secretary of the Interior 

12 shall submit a written response to the rec13 ommendations developed by the Committee to— 

14 (i) the Committee; 

15 (ii) the Committee on the Judiciary of 

16 the Senate; 

17 (iii) the Committee on Indian Affairs 

18 of the Senate; 

19 (iv) the Committee on Natural Re20 sources of the House of Representatives; 

21 and 

22 (v) the Committee on the Judiciary of 

23 the House of Representatives. 

24 (d) REPORTS.—Not later than 2 years after the date 

25 of enactment of this Act, the Committee shall— 


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1 (1) submit a report on the action of the Com2 mittee described in subsection (c) that includes the 

3 responses of the Department of the Interior and the 

4 Department of Justice to the recommendations of 

5 the Committee to— 

6 (A) the Committee on Indian Affairs of the 

7 Senate; 

8 (B) the Committee on Natural Resources 

9 of the House of Representatives; 

10 (C) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 

11 Senate; and 

12 (D) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 

13 House of Representatives; and 

14 (2) make the report under paragraph (1) pub15 licly available both in a hard copy and online. 

16 (e) FACA EXEMPTION.—The Committee shall be ex17 empt from the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. 

18 App.). 

Æ 


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