I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4485 
To direct the Attorney General to review, revise, and develop law enforcement 
and justice protocols appropriate to address missing and murdered Indi-
ans, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 29, 2017 
Mrs. TORRES (for herself, Mr. COLE, Mrs. RADEWAGEN, Ms. HANABUSA, Ms. 
MOORE, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. GRIJALVA, and Mr. KHANNA) 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 determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 
of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee con-
cerned 
A BILL 
To direct the Attorney General to review, revise, and develop 
law enforcement and justice protocols appropriate to ad-
dress missing and murdered Indians, and for other pur-
poses. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as ‘‘Savanna’s Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
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(1) On some reservations, Indian women are 
murdered at more than 10 times the national aver-
age. 
(2) American Indians and Alaska Natives are 
2.5 times as likely to experience violent crimes—and 
at least 2 times more likely to experience rape or 
sexual assault crimes—compared to all other races. 
(3) More than 4 in 5 American Indian and 
Alaska Native women, or 84.3 percent, have experi-
enced violence in their lifetime. 
(4) According to the Centers for Disease Con-
trol and Prevention, homicide is the third leading 
cause of death among American Indian and Alaska 
Native women between 10 and 24 years of age and 
the fifth leading cause of death for American Indian 
and Alaska Native women between 25 and 34 years 
of age. 
(5) According to a 2010 Government Account-
ability Office report, United States Attorneys de-
clined to prosecute nearly 52 percent of violent 
crimes that occur in Indian country. 
(6) Investigation into cases of missing and mur-
dered Indian women is made difficult for tribal law 
enforcement agencies due to a lack of resources, 
such as— 
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(A) necessary training, equipment, or 
funding; 
(B) a lack of interagency cooperation; and 
(C) a lack of appropriate laws in place. 
(7) The complicated jurisdictional scheme that 
exists in Indian country— 
(A) has a significant negative impact on 
the ability to provide public safety to Indian 
communities; 
(B) has been increasingly exploited by 
criminals; and 
(C) requires a high degree of commitment 
and cooperation among tribal, Federal, and 
State law enforcement officials. 
(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are— 
(1) to clarify the responsibilities of Federal, 
State, tribal, and local governments with respect to 
responding to cases of missing and murdered Indi-
ans; 
(2) to increase coordination and communication 
among Federal, State, tribal, and local law enforce-
ment agencies; 
(3) to empower tribal governments with the re-
sources and information necessary to effectively re-
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spond to cases of missing and murdered Indians; 
and 
(4) to increase the collection of data related to 
missing and murdered Indian women and the shar-
ing of information among Federal, State, and tribal 
officials responsible for responding to and inves-
tigating cases of missing and murdered Indians. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) FEDERAL DATABASES.—The term ‘‘Federal 
databases’’ means— 
(A) the National Crime Information Center 
database; 
(B) the Combined DNA Index System; 
(C) the Integrated Automated Fingerprint 
Identification System; 
(D) the Violent Criminal Apprehension 
Program; 
(E) the National Missing and Unidentified 
Persons System; and 
(F) other Federal databases relevant to re-
sponding to cases of missing and murdered In-
dians. 
(2) INDIAN.—The term ‘‘Indian’’ means a 
member of an Indian Tribe. 
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(3) INDIAN COUNTRY.—The term ‘‘Indian coun-
try’’ has the meaning given the term in section 1151 
of title 18, United States Code. 
(4) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 
has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the 
Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 
Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 
(5) LAW
ENFORCEMENT
AGENCY.—The term 
‘‘law enforcement agency’’ means a Tribal, Federal, 
State, or local law enforcement agency. 
SEC. 4. IMPROVING TRIBAL ACCESS TO FEDERAL CRIME 
INFORMATION DATABASES. 
(a) TRIBAL ENROLLMENT INFORMATION.—Not later 
than 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Attorney General shall update the online data entry for-
mat for Federal databases to include a new data field for 
users to input the victim’s Tribal enrollment information 
or affiliation, as appropriate. 
(b) CONSULTATION.— 
(1) INITIAL
CONSULTATION.—Not later than 
120 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Attorney General, in cooperation with the Secretary 
of the Interior, shall complete a formal consultation 
with Indian Tribes on how to further improve tribal 
data relevance and access to Federal databases, 
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which shall also inform the development of law en-
forcement and justice protocols under section 5(a). 
(2) ANNUAL
CONSULTATION.—Section 903(b) 
of the Violence Against Women and Department of 
Justice Reauthorization Act of 2005 (34 U.S.C. 
20126) is amended— 
(A) by striking paragraph (2) and insert-
ing the following: 
‘‘(2) enhancing the safety of Indian women 
from domestic violence, dating violence, sexual as-
sault, homicide, stalking, and sex trafficking;’’; 
(B) in paragraph (3), by striking the pe-
riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(4) improving access to local, regional, State, 
and Federal crime information databases and crimi-
nal justice information systems.’’. 
(c) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 
of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall pre-
pare and submit a report to the Committee on Indian Af-
fairs and the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate 
and the Committee on Natural Resources and the Com-
mittee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives 
that includes— 
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(1) the results of the formal consultation de-
scribed in subsection (b)(1); 
(2) a description of the outstanding barriers In-
dian Tribes face in acquiring full access to Federal 
databases and related national crime information 
systems; and 
(3) the plan of action of the Department of 
Justice to— 
(A) implement suggestions received from 
Indian Tribes through the consultation process; 
and 
(B) resolve the outstanding barriers de-
scribed under paragraph (2). 
SEC. 5. STANDARDIZED PROTOCOLS FOR RESPONDING TO 
CASES OF MISSING AND MURDERED INDIANS. 
(a) STANDARDIZED PROTOCOLS FOR MISSING AND 
MURDERED INDIANS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 
the consultation process described in section 4(b)(1), 
the Attorney General, in cooperation with the Sec-
retary of the Interior and in consultation with In-
dian Tribes, shall— 
(A) review existing (as of the date of the 
review) law enforcement and justice protocols 
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appropriate to missing and murdered Indians; 
and 
(B) recommend such existing protocols, re-
vise such existing protocols, or develop new pro-
tocols, as necessary, to establish protocols to 
serve as guidelines for law enforcement agencies 
with respect to missing and murdered Indians. 
(2) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Attorney Gen-
eral shall make the protocols under paragraph (1) 
publicly available and shall distribute them to law 
enforcement agencies. 
(b) REQUIREMENTS.—The standardized protocols 
under subsection (a) shall include the following: 
(1) Guidance on inter-jurisdictional cooperation 
among law enforcement agencies at the Tribal, Fed-
eral, State, and local levels. 
(2) Standards on the collection, reporting, and 
analysis of data and information on missing persons 
and unidentified human remains appropriate to Indi-
ans, including standards on entering information to 
Federal databases on missing persons within a cer-
tain timeframe after receiving the missing persons 
report. 
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(3) Guidance on improving law enforcement re-
sponse rates and follow-up to cases of missing and 
murdered Indians. 
(4) Methods to ensure access to victim services 
for Indian victims and their families. 
(c) DIRECTIONS TO UNITED STATES ATTORNEYS.— 
(1) DIRECTIONS.—Not later than 240 days 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney 
General shall direct United States attorneys with ju-
risdiction to prosecute crimes in Indian country 
under sections 1152 and 1153 of title 18, United 
States Code, to develop written standard protocols to 
investigate cases of missing and murdered Indians 
that— 
(A) are guided by the standardized proto-
cols under subsection (a); 
(B) are developed in consultation with In-
dian Tribes and other Federal partners, includ-
ing— 
(i) the Federal Bureau of Investiga-
tion; 
(ii) the Department of the Interior; 
(iii) the Bureau of Indian Affairs; and 
(iv) the Indian Health Service; 
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(C) detail specific responsibilities of each 
Federal partner; and 
(D) shall be implemented not later than 60 
days after the direction is issued. 
(2) ADDITIONAL DIRECTIONS.—Not later than 
240 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Attorney General shall direct United States attor-
neys with jurisdiction to prosecute crimes in Indian 
Country from an authority other than section 1152 
or 1153 of title 18, United States Code, to discuss 
the Federal response to cases of missing and mur-
dered Indians with their Tribal partners and Federal 
partners as appropriate during annual consultations. 
(d) TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The 
Attorney General shall provide Indian Tribes and law en-
forcement agencies with training and technical assistance 
relating to the development and implementation of the law 
enforcement and justice protocols of the Indian Tribes and 
agencies, respectively, in accordance with the standardized 
protocols under subsection (a). 
(e) COMPLIANCE.—Not later than 18 months after 
the date of enactment of this Act, Federal law enforce-
ment agencies with jurisdiction to investigate and pros-
ecute crimes relating to missing and murdered Indians 
shall modify the law enforcement and justice protocols of 
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the agency to satisfactorily comply with the standardized 
protocols under subsection (a). 
SEC. 6. ANNUAL REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 
(a) Beginning in the first fiscal year after the date 
of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the At-
torney General and the Secretary of the Interior shall 
jointly prepare and submit a report, 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 Representa-
tives, that— 
(1) includes known statistics on missing and 
murdered Indian women in the United States; 
(2) provides recommendations regarding how to 
improve data collection on missing and murdered In-
dian women; and 
(3) includes information relevant to the imple-
mentation of the standardized protocols developed 
under section 5(a). 
Æ 
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