S. 982 

One Hundred Sixteenth Congress 

of the 

United States of America 

AT THE SECOND SESSION 

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Friday, 

the third day of January, two thousand and twenty 

An Act 

To increase intergovernmental coordination to identify and combat violent crime 

within Indian lands and of Indians. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 

the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Not Invisible Act of 2019’’. 

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

In this Act— 

(1) the term ‘‘Commission’’ means the Department of the 

Interior and the Department of Justice Joint Commission on 

Reducing Violent Crime Against Indians under section 4; 

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

described in paragraph (9) or paragraph (10) of section 103 

of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 

7102); 

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

(4) the terms ‘‘Indian lands’’ and ‘‘Indian tribe’’ have the 

meanings given the terms in section 3 of the Native American 

Business Development, Trade Promotion, and Tourism Act of 

2000 (25 U.S.C. 4302); and 

(5) the terms ‘‘urban centers’’ and ‘‘urban Indian organization’’ have the meanings given the terms in section 4 of the 

Indian Health Care Improvement Act (25 U.S.C. 1603). 

SEC. 3. COORDINATOR OF FEDERAL EFFORTS TO COMBAT VIOLENCE 

AGAINST NATIVE PEOPLE. 

(a) COORDINATOR DESIGNATION.—The Secretary of the Interior 

shall designate an official within the Office of Justice Services 

in the Bureau of Indian Affairs who shall— 

(1) coordinate prevention efforts, grants, and programs 

related to the murder of, trafficking of, and missing Indians 

across Federal agencies, including— 

(A) the Bureau of Indian Affairs; and 

(B) the Department of Justice, including— 

(i) the Office of Justice Programs; 

(ii) the Office on Violence Against Women; 

(iii) the Office of Community Oriented Policing 

Services; 

(iv) the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and 

(v) the Office of Tribal Justice; 

(2) ensure prevention efforts, grants, and programs of Federal agencies related to the murder of, trafficking of, and 
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missing Indians consider the unique challenges of combating 

crime, violence, and human trafficking of Indians and on Indian 

lands faced by Tribal communities, urban centers, the Bureau 

of Indian Affairs, Tribal law enforcement, Federal law enforcement, and State and local law enforcement; 

(3) work in cooperation with outside organizations with 

expertise in working with Indian tribes and Indian Tribes to 

provide victim centered and culturally relevant training to 

tribal law enforcement, Indian Health Service health care providers, urban Indian organizations, Tribal community members 

and businesses, on how to effectively identify, respond to and 

report instances of missing persons, murder, and trafficking 

within Indian lands and of Indians; and 

(4) report directly to the Secretary of the Interior. 

(b) REPORT.—The official designated in subsection (a) shall 

submit to the Committee on Indian Affairs and the Committee 

on the Judiciary of the Senate and the Committee on Natural 

Resources and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of 

Representatives a report to provide information on Federal coordination efforts accomplished over the previous year that includes— 

(1) a summary of all coordination activities undertaken 

in compliance with this section; 

(2) a summary of all trainings completed under subsection 

(a)(3); and 

(3) recommendations for improving coordination across Federal agencies and of relevant Federal programs. 

SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR AND 

THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE JOINT COMMISSION ON 

REDUCING VIOLENT CRIME AGAINST INDIANS. 

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

of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior, in coordination with the Attorney General, shall establish and appoint all 

members of a joint commission on violent crime on Indian lands 

and against Indians. 

(b) MEMBERSHIP.— 

(1) COMPOSITION.— 

(A) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall be composed 

of members who represent diverse experiences and backgrounds that provide balanced points of view with regard 

to the duties of the Commission. 

(B) DIVERSITY.—To the greatest extent practicable, the 

Secretary of the Interior shall ensure the Commission 

includes Tribal representatives from diverse geographic 

areas and of diverse sizes. 

(2) APPOINTMENT.—The Secretary of the Interior, in 

coordination with the Attorney General, shall appoint the members to the Commission, including representatives from— 

(A) tribal law enforcement; 

(B) the Office of Justice Services of the Bureau of 

Indian Affairs; 

(C) State and local law enforcement in close proximity 

to Indian lands, with a letter of recommendation from 

a local Indian Tribe; 

(D) the Victim Services Division of the Federal Bureau 

of Investigation; 
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(E) the Department of Justice’s Human Trafficking 

Prosecution Unit; 

(F) the Office of Violence Against Women of the Department of Justice; 

(G) the Office of Victims of Crime of the Department 

of Justice; 

(H) a United States attorney’s office with experience 

in cases related to missing persons, murder, or trafficking 

of Indians or on Indian land; 

(I) the Administration for Native Americans of the 

Office of the Administration for Children & Families of 

the Department of Health and Human Services; 

(J) the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services 

Administration of the Department of Health and Human 

Services; 

(K) a Tribal judge with experience in cases related 

to missing persons, murder, or trafficking; 

(L) not fewer than 3 Indian Tribes from diverse 

geographic areas, including 1 Indian tribe located in 

Alaska, selected from nominations submitted by the Indian 

Tribe; 

(M) not fewer than 2 health care and mental health 

practitioners and counselors and providers with experience 

in working with Indian survivors of trafficking and sexual 

assault, with a letter of recommendation from a local tribal 

chair or tribal law enforcement officer; 

(N) not fewer than 3 national, regional, or urban Indian 

organizations focused on violence against women and children on Indian lands or against Indians; 

(O) at least 2 Indian survivors of human trafficking; 

(P) at least 2 family members of missing Indian people; 

(Q) at least 2 family members of murdered Indian 

people; 

(R) the National Institute of Justice; and 

(S) the Indian Health Service. 

(3) PERIODS OF APPOINTMENT.—Members shall be appointed 

for the duration of the Commission. 

(4) VACANCIES.—A vacancy in the Commission shall be 

filled in the manner in which the original appointment was 

made and shall not affect the powers or duties of the Commission. 

(5) COMPENSATION.—Commission members shall serve 

without compensation. 

(6) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—The Secretary of the Interior, in 

coordination with the Attorney General, shall consider the 

provision of travel expenses, including per diem, to Commission 

members when appropriate. 

(c) DUTIES.— 

(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission may hold such hearings, 

meet and act at times and places, take such testimony, and 

receive such evidence as the Commission considers to be advisable to carry out the duties of the Commission under this 

section. 

(2) RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR

AND DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE.— 

(A) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall develop recommendations to the Secretary of the Interior and Attorney 
S. 982—4 

General on actions the Federal Government can take to 

help combat violent crime against Indians and within 

Indian lands, including the development and implementation of recommendations for— 

(i) identifying, reporting, and responding to 

instances of missing persons, murder, and human trafficking on Indian lands and of Indians; 

(ii) legislative and administrative changes necessary to use programs, properties, or other resources 

funded or operated by the Department of the Interior 

and Department of Justice to combat the crisis of 

missing or murdered Indians and human trafficking 

on Indian lands and of Indians; 

(iii) tracking and reporting data on instances of 

missing persons, murder, and human trafficking on 

Indian lands and of Indians; 

(iv) addressing staff shortages and open positions 

within relevant law enforcement agencies, including 

issues related to the hiring and retention of law 

enforcement officers; 

(v) coordinating tribal, State, and Federal 

resources to increase prosecution of murder and human 

trafficking offenses on Indian lands and of Indians; 

and 

(vi) increasing information sharing with tribal 

governments on violent crime investigations and 

prosecutions in Indian lands that were terminated or 

declined. 

(B) SUBMISSION.—Not later than 18 months after the 

enactment of this Act, the Commission shall make publicly 

available and submit all recommendations developed under 

this paragraph to— 

(i) the Secretary of the Interior; 

(ii) the Attorney General; 

(iii) the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate; 

(iv) the Committee on Indian Affairs of the Senate; 

(v) the Committee on Natural Resources of the 

House of Representatives; and 

(vi) the Committee on the Judiciary of the House 

of Representatives. 

(C) SECRETARIAL RESPONSE.—Not later than 90 days 

after the date on which the Secretary of the Interior and 

the Attorney General receive the recommendations under 

paragraph (2), the Secretary and the Attorney General 

shall each make publicly available and submit a written 

response to the recommendations to— 

(i) the Commission; 

(ii) the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate; 

(iii) the Committee on Indian Affairs of the Senate; 

(iv) the Committee on Natural Resources of the 

House of Representatives; and 

(v) the Committee on the Judiciary of the House 

of Representatives. 

(d) FACA EXEMPTION.—The Commission shall be exempt from 

the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.). 
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(e) SUNSET.—The Commission shall terminate on the date that 

is 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act. 

Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.