116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 982 

AN ACT 

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, 
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

3 2019’’. 

4 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

5 In this Act— 

6 (1) the term ‘‘Commission’’ means the Depart7 ment of the Interior and the Department of Justice 

8 Joint Commission on Reducing Violent Crime 

9 Against Indians under section 4; 

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

11 practice described in paragraph (9) or paragraph 

12 (10) of section 103 of the Trafficking Victims Pro13 tection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7102); 

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

15 Indian tribe; 

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

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

18 3 of the Native American Business Development, 

19 Trade Promotion, and Tourism Act of 2000 (25 

20 U.S.C. 4302); and 

21 (5) the terms ‘‘urban centers’’ and ‘‘urban In22 dian organization’’ have the meanings given the 

23 terms in section 4 of the Indian Health Care Im24 provement Act (25 U.S.C. 1603). 
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1 SEC. 3. COORDINATOR OF FEDERAL EFFORTS TO COMBAT 

2 VIOLENCE AGAINST NATIVE PEOPLE. 

3 (a) COORDINATOR DESIGNATION.—The Secretary of 

4 the Interior shall designate an official within the Office 

5 of Justice Services in the Bureau of Indian Affairs who 

6 shall— 

7 (1) coordinate prevention efforts, grants, and 

8 programs related to the murder of, trafficking of, 

9 and missing Indians across Federal agencies, includ10 ing— 

11 (A) the Bureau of Indian Affairs; and 

12 (B) the Department of Justice, includ13 ing— 

14 (i) the Office of Justice Programs; 

15 (ii) the Office on Violence Against 

16 Women; 

17 (iii) the Office of Community Oriented 

18 Policing Services; 

19 (iv) the Federal Bureau of Investiga20 tion; and 

21 (v) the Office of Tribal Justice; 

22 (2) ensure prevention efforts, grants, and pro23 grams of Federal agencies related to the murder of, 

24 trafficking of, and missing Indians consider the 

25 unique challenges of combating crime, violence, and 

26 human trafficking of Indians and on Indian lands 
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1 faced by Tribal communities, urban centers, the Bu2 reau of Indian Affairs, Tribal law enforcement, Fed3 eral law enforcement, and State and local law en4 forcement; 

5 (3) work in cooperation with outside organiza6 tions with expertise in working with Indian tribes 

7 and Indian Tribes to provide victim centered and 

8 culturally relevant training to tribal law enforce9 ment, Indian Health Service health care providers, 

10 urban Indian organizations, Tribal community mem11 bers and businesses, on how to effectively identify, 

12 respond to and report instances of missing persons, 

13 murder, and trafficking within Indian lands and of 

14 Indians; and 

15 (4) report directly to the Secretary of the Inte16 rior. 

17 (b) REPORT.—The official designated in subsection 

18 (a) shall submit to the Committee on Indian Affairs and 

19 the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and the 

20 Committee on Natural Resources and the Committee on 

21 the Judiciary of the House of Representatives a report to 

22 provide information on Federal coordination efforts ac23 complished over the previous year that includes— 

24 (1) a summary of all coordination activities un25 dertaken in compliance with this section; 
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1 (2) a summary of all trainings completed under 

2 subsection (a)(3); and 

3 (3) recommendations for improving coordina4 tion across Federal agencies and of relevant Federal 

5 programs. 

6 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE DEPARTMENT OF INTE7 RIOR AND THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE 

8 JOINT COMMISSION ON REDUCING VIOLENT 

9 CRIME AGAINST INDIANS. 

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

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

12 Interior, in coordination with the Attorney General, shall 

13 establish and appoint all members of a joint commission 

14 on violent crime on Indian lands and against Indians. 

15 (b) MEMBERSHIP.— 

16 (1) COMPOSITION.— 

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall 

18 be composed of members who represent diverse 

19 experiences and backgrounds that provide bal20 anced points of view with regard to the duties 

21 of the Commission. 

22 (B) DIVERSITY.—To the greatest extent 

23 practicable, the Secretary of the Interior shall 

24 ensure the Commission includes Tribal rep-
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1 resentatives from diverse geographic areas and 

2 of diverse sizes. 

3 (2) APPOINTMENT.—The Secretary of the Inte4 rior, in coordination with the Attorney General, shall 

5 appoint the members to the Commission, including 

6 representatives from— 

7 (A) tribal law enforcement; 

8 (B) the Office of Justice Services of the 

9 Bureau of Indian Affairs; 

10 (C) State and local law enforcement in 

11 close proximity to Indian lands, with a letter of 

12 recommendation from a local Indian Tribe; 

13 (D) the Victim Services Division of the 

14 Federal Bureau of Investigation; 

15 (E) the Department of Justice’s Human 

16 Trafficking Prosecution Unit; 

17 (F) the Office of Violence Against Women 

18 of the Department of Justice; 

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

20 Department of Justice; 

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

22 experience in cases related to missing persons, 

23 murder, or trafficking of Indians or on Indian 

24 land; 
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1 (I) the Administration for Native Ameri2 cans of the Office of the Administration for 

3 Children & Families of the Department of 

4 Health and Human Services; 

5 (J) the Substance Abuse and Mental 

6 Health Services Administration of the Depart7 ment of Health and Human Services; 

8 (K) a Tribal judge with experience in cases 

9 related to missing persons, murder, or traf10 ficking; 

11 (L) not fewer than 3 Indian Tribes from 

12 diverse geographic areas, including 1 Indian 

13 tribe located in Alaska, selected from nomina14 tions submitted by the Indian Tribe; 

15 (M) not fewer than 2 health care and men16 tal health practitioners and counselors and pro17 viders with experience in working with Indian 

18 survivors of trafficking and sexual assault, with 

19 a letter of recommendation from a local tribal 

20 chair or tribal law enforcement officer; 

21 (N) not fewer than 3 national, regional, or 

22 urban Indian organizations focused on violence 

23 against women and children on Indian lands or 

24 against Indians; 
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1 (O) at least 2 Indian survivors of human 

2 trafficking; 

3 (P) at least 2 family members of missing 

4 Indian people; 

5 (Q) at least 2 family members of murdered 

6 Indian people; 

7 (R) the National Institute of Justice; and 

8 (S) the Indian Health Service. 

9 (3) PERIODS OF APPOINTMENT.—Members 

10 shall be appointed for the duration of the Commis11 sion. 

12 (4) VACANCIES.—A vacancy in the Commission 

13 shall be filled in the manner in which the original 

14 appointment was made and shall not affect the pow15 ers or duties of the Commission. 

16 (5) COMPENSATION.—Commission members 

17 shall serve without compensation. 

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

19 Interior, in coordination with the Attorney General, 

20 shall consider the provision of travel expenses, in21 cluding per diem, to Commission members when ap22 propriate. 

23 (c) DUTIES.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission may hold 

25 such hearings, meet and act at times and places, 
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1 take such testimony, and receive such evidence as 

2 the Commission considers to be advisable to carry 

3 out the duties of the Commission under this section. 

4 (2) RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE DEPARTMENT

5 OF INTERIOR AND DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall 

7 develop recommendations to the Secretary of 

8 the Interior and Attorney General on actions 

9 the Federal Government can take to help com10 bat violent crime against Indians and within In11 dian lands, including the development and im12 plementation of recommendations for— 

13 (i) identifying, reporting, and re14 sponding to instances of missing persons, 

15 murder, and human trafficking on Indian 

16 lands and of Indians; 

17 (ii) legislative and administrative 

18 changes necessary to use programs, prop19 erties, or other resources funded or oper20 ated by the Department of the Interior and 

21 Department of Justice to combat the crisis 

22 of missing or murdered Indians and 

23 human trafficking on Indian lands and of 

24 Indians; 
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1 (iii) tracking and reporting data on 

2 instances of missing persons, murder, and 

3 human trafficking on Indian lands and of 

4 Indians; 

5 (iv) addressing staff shortages and 

6 open positions within relevant law enforce7 ment agencies, including issues related to 

8 the hiring and retention of law enforce9 ment officers; 

10 (v) coordinating tribal, State, and 

11 Federal resources to increase prosecution 

12 of murder and human trafficking offenses 

13 on Indian lands and of Indians; and 

14 (vi) increasing information sharing 

15 with tribal governments on violent crime 

16 investigations and prosecutions in Indian 

17 lands that were terminated or declined. 

18 (B) SUBMISSION.—Not later than 18 

19 months after the enactment of this Act, the 

20 Commission shall make publicly available and 

21 submit all recommendations developed under 

22 this paragraph to— 

23 (i) the Secretary of the Interior; 

24 (ii) the Attorney General; 
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1 (iii) the Committee on the Judiciary 

2 of the Senate; 

3 (iv) the Committee on Indian Affairs 

4 of the Senate; 

5 (v) the Committee on Natural Re6 sources of the House of Representatives; 

7 and 

8 (vi) the Committee on the Judiciary of 

9 the House of Representatives. 

10 (C) SECRETARIAL RESPONSE.—Not later 

11 than 90 days after the date on which the Sec12 retary of the Interior and the Attorney General 

13 receive the recommendations under paragraph 

14 (2), the Secretary and the Attorney General 

15 shall each make publicly available and submit a 

16 written response to the recommendations to— 

17 (i) the Commission; 

18 (ii) the Committee on the Judiciary of 

19 the Senate; 

20 (iii) the Committee on Indian Affairs 

21 of the Senate; 

22 (iv) the Committee on Natural Re23 sources of the House of Representatives; 

24 and 
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1 (v) the Committee on the Judiciary of 

2 the House of Representatives. 

3 (d) FACA EXEMPTION.—The Commission shall be 

4 exempt from the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 

5 U.S.C. App.). 

6 (e) SUNSET.—The Commission shall terminate on 

7 the date that is 2 years after the date of enactment of 

8 this Act. 

Passed the Senate March 11, 2020. 

Attest: 

Secretary. 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 982 

AN ACT 

To increase intergovernmental coordination to idenand of Indians. tify and combat violent crime within Indian lands