II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1942 

To direct the Attorney General to review, revise, and develop law enforcement 

and justice protocols appropriate to address missing and murdered Indians, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 5, 2017 

Ms. HEITKAMP (for herself, Mr. TESTER, Mr. FRANKEN, Mr. HEINRICH, Mr. 

MERKLEY, and Ms. WARREN) introduced the following bill; which was 

read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs 

A BILL 

To direct the Attorney General to review, revise, and develop 

law enforcement and justice protocols appropriate to address missing and murdered Indians, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Savanna’s Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 

6 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) On some reservations, Indian women are 

2 murdered at more than 10 times the national aver3 age. 

4 (2) American Indians and Alaska Natives are 

5 2.5 times as likely to experience violent crimes—and 

6 at least 2 times more likely to experience rape or 

7 sexual assault crimes—compared to all other races. 

8 (3) More than 4 in 5 American Indian and 

9 Alaska Native women, or 84.3 percent, have experi10 enced violence in their lifetime. 

11 (4) According to the Centers for Disease Con12 trol and Prevention, homicide is the third leading 

13 cause of death among American Indian and Alaska 

14 Native women between 10 and 24 years of age and 

15 the fifth leading cause of death for American Indian 

16 and Alaska Native women between 25 and 34 years 

17 of age. 

18 (5) According to a 2010 Government Account19 ability Office report, United States Attorneys de20 clined to prosecute nearly 52 percent of violent 

21 crimes that occur in Indian country. 

22 (6) Investigation into cases of missing and mur23 dered Indian women is made difficult for Tribal law 

24 enforcement agencies due to a lack of resources, 

25 such as— 


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1 (A) necessary training, equipment, or 

2 funding; 

3 (B) a lack of interagency cooperation; and 

4 (C) a lack of appropriate laws in place. 

5 (7) The complicated jurisdictional scheme that 

6 exists in Indian country— 

7 (A) has a significant negative impact on 

8 the ability to provide public safety to Indian 

9 communities; 

10 (B) has been increasingly exploited by 

11 criminals; and 

12 (C) requires a high degree of commitment 

13 and cooperation among Tribal, Federal, and 

14 State law enforcement officials. 

15 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are— 

16 (1) to clarify the responsibilities of Federal, 

17 State, Tribal, and local governments with respect to 

18 responding to cases of missing and murdered Indi19 ans; 

20 (2) to increase coordination and communication 

21 among Federal, State, Tribal, and local law enforce22 ment agencies; 

23 (3) to empower Tribal governments with the re24 sources and information necessary to effectively reVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:41 Oct 12, 2017 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1942.IS S1942

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1 spond to cases of missing and murdered Indians; 

2 and 

3 (4) to increase the collection of data related to 

4 missing and murdered Indian women and the shar5 ing of information among Federal, State, and Tribal 

6 officials responsible for responding to and inves7 tigating cases of missing and murdered Indians. 

8 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

9 In this Act: 

10 (1) FEDERAL DATABASES.—The term ‘‘Federal 

11 databases’’ means— 

12 (A) the National Crime Information Center 

13 database; 

14 (B) the Combined DNA Index System; 

15 (C) the Integrated Automated Fingerprint 

16 Identification System; 

17 (D) the Violent Criminal Apprehension 

18 Program; 

19 (E) the National Missing and Unidentified 

20 Persons System; and 

21 (F) other Federal databases relevant to re22 sponding to cases of missing and murdered In23 dians. 

24 (2) INDIAN.—The term ‘‘Indian’’ means a 

25 member of an Indian Tribe. 


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1 (3) INDIAN COUNTRY.—The term ‘‘Indian coun2 try’’ has the meaning given the term in section 1151 

3 of title 18, United States Code. 

4 (4) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 

5 has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the 

6 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 

7 Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 

8 (5) LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY.—The term 

9 ‘‘law enforcement agency’’ means a Tribal, Federal, 

10 State, or local law enforcement agency. 

11 SEC. 4. IMPROVING TRIBAL ACCESS TO FEDERAL CRIME 

12 INFORMATION DATABASES. 

13 (a) TRIBAL ENROLLMENT INFORMATION.—Not later 

14 than 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

15 Attorney General shall update the online data entry for16 mat for Federal databases to include a new data field for 

17 users to input the victim’s Tribal enrollment information 

18 or affiliation, as appropriate. 

19 (b) CONSULTATION.— 

20 (1) INITIAL CONSULTATION.—Not later than 

21 120 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

22 Attorney General, in cooperation with the Secretary 

23 of the Interior, shall complete a formal consultation 

24 with Indian Tribes on how to further improve Tribal 

25 data relevance and access to Federal databases, 


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1 which shall also inform the development of law en2 forcement and justice protocols under section 5(a). 

3 (2) ANNUAL CONSULTATION.—Section 903(b) 

4 of the Violence Against Women and Department of 

5 Justice Reauthorization Act of 2005 (34 U.S.C. 

6 20126) is amended— 

7 (A) by striking paragraph (2) and insert8 ing the following: 

9 ‘‘(2) enhancing the safety of Indian women 

10 from domestic violence, dating violence, sexual as11 sault, homicide, stalking, and sex trafficking;’’; 

12 (B) in paragraph (3), by striking the pe13 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

14 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(4) improving access to local, regional, State, 

16 and Federal crime information databases and crimi17 nal justice information systems.’’. 

18 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

19 of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall pre20 pare and submit a report to the Committee on Indian Af21 fairs and the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate 

22 and the Committee on Natural Resources and the Com23 mittee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives 

24 that includes— 


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1 (1) the results of the formal consultation de2 scribed in subsection (b)(1); 

3 (2) a description of the outstanding barriers In4 dian Tribes face in acquiring full access to Federal 

5 databases and related national crime information 

6 systems; and 

7 (3) the plan of action of the Department of 

8 Justice to— 

9 (A) implement suggestions received from 

10 Indian Tribes through the consultation process; 

11 and 

12 (B) resolve the outstanding barriers de13 scribed under paragraph (2). 

14 SEC. 5. STANDARDIZED PROTOCOLS FOR RESPONDING TO 

15 CASES OF MISSING AND MURDERED INDIANS. 

16 (a) STANDARDIZED PROTOCOLS FOR MISSING AND

17 MURDERED INDIANS.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 

19 the consultation process described in section 4(b)(1), 

20 the Attorney General, in cooperation with the Sec21 retary of the Interior and in consultation with In22 dian Tribes, shall— 

23 (A) review existing (as of the date of the 

24 review) law enforcement and justice protocols 


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1 appropriate to missing and murdered Indians; 

2 and 

3 (B) recommend such existing protocols, re4 vise such existing protocols, or develop new pro5 tocols, as necessary, to establish protocols to 

6 serve as guidelines for law enforcement agencies 

7 with respect to missing and murdered Indians. 

8 (2) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Attorney Gen9 eral shall make the protocols under paragraph (1) 

10 publicly available and shall distribute them to law 

11 enforcement agencies. 

12 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—The standardized protocols 

13 under subsection (a) shall include the following: 

14 (1) Guidance on inter-jurisdictional cooperation 

15 among law enforcement agencies at the Tribal, Fed16 eral, State, and local levels. 

17 (2) Standards on the collection, reporting, and 

18 analysis of data and information on missing persons 

19 and unidentified human remains appropriate to Indi20 ans, including standards on entering information to 

21 Federal databases on missing persons within a cer22 tain timeframe after receiving the missing persons 

23 report. 


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1 (3) Guidance on improving law enforcement re2 sponse rates and follow-up to cases of missing and 

3 murdered Indians. 

4 (4) Methods to ensure access to victim services 

5 for Indian victims and their families. 

6 (c) DIRECTIONS TO UNITED STATES ATTORNEYS.— 

7 (1) DIRECTIONS.—Not later than 240 days 

8 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney 

9 General shall direct United States attorneys with ju10 risdiction to prosecute crimes in Indian country 

11 under sections 1152 and 1153 of title 18, United 

12 States Code, to develop written standard protocols to 

13 investigate cases of missing and murdered Indians 

14 that— 

15 (A) are guided by the standardized proto16 cols under subsection (a); 

17 (B) are developed in consultation with In18 dian Tribes and other Federal partners, includ19 ing— 

20 (i) the Federal Bureau of Investiga21 tion; 

22 (ii) the Department of the Interior; 

23 (iii) the Bureau of Indian Affairs; and 

24 (iv) the Indian Health Service; 


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1 (C) detail specific responsibilities of each 

2 Federal partner; and 

3 (D) shall be implemented not later than 60 

4 days after the direction is issued. 

5 (2) ADDITIONAL DIRECTIONS.—Not later than 

6 240 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

7 Attorney General shall direct United States attor8 neys with jurisdiction to prosecute crimes in Indian 

9 Country from an authority other than section 1152 

10 or 1153 of title 18, United States Code, to discuss 

11 the Federal response to cases of missing and mur12 dered Indians with their Tribal partners and Federal 

13 partners as appropriate during annual consultations. 

14 (d) TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The 

15 Attorney General shall provide Indian Tribes and law en16 forcement agencies with training and technical assistance 

17 relating to the development and implementation of the law 

18 enforcement and justice protocols of the Indian Tribes and 

19 agencies, respectively, in accordance with the standardized 

20 protocols under subsection (a). 

21 (e) COMPLIANCE.—Not later than 18 months after 

22 the date of enactment of this Act, Federal law enforce23 ment agencies with jurisdiction to investigate and pros24 ecute crimes relating to missing and murdered Indians 

25 shall modify the law enforcement and justice protocols of 


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1 the agency to satisfactorily comply with the standardized 

2 protocols under subsection (a). 

3 SEC. 6. ANNUAL REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 

4 (a) Beginning in the first fiscal year after the date 

5 of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the At6 torney General and the Secretary of the Interior shall 

7 jointly prepare and submit a report, to the Committee on 

8 Indian Affairs and the Committee on the Judiciary of the 

9 Senate and the Committee on Natural Resources and the 

10 Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representa11 tives, that— 

12 (1) includes known statistics on missing and 

13 murdered Indian women in the United States; 

14 (2) provides recommendations regarding how to 

15 improve data collection on missing and murdered In16 dian women; and 

17 (3) includes information relevant to the imple18 mentation of the standardized protocols developed 

19 under section 5(a). 

Æ 


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