U.S. Senator Steve Daines today released the following statement after his bipartisan amendment to promote tribes' access to national criminal databases passed the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. This amendment, which supports tribes' participation in the Tribal Access Program (TAP), is part of his greater effort to reduce the number of native women and girls who go missing or are murdered.
"We must curb the tragic epidemic of native women and girls who go missing or are murdered and strengthen tribes' ability to keep their citizens safe," said Daines. "Sovereignty and security go hand in hand."
The bipartisan amendment was cosponsored by Senator Tina Smith (MN).
Daines is also a sponsor of the underlying bill, the Tribal Law and Order Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2017, which would enhance tribal justice and public safety in Indian communities. Following the vote on the Daines-Smith amendment, the committee unanimously passed the bill.
The vote culminated a full week of Daines' work to support Montana's Indian tribes.
Resolution Designating National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Native Women and Girls
On Monday, Sens. Daines led a bipartisan coalition of their colleagues in introducing a resolution to designate May 5 as the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Native Women and Girls.
The resolution honors the memory of Hanna Harris, a member of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe, who was murdered in July 2013. The resolution seeks to commemorate the lives of all missing and murdered American Indian and Alaska Native women and girls who have gone missing or been murdered.
The Senate unanimously passed Daines' similar resolution in 2017. On May 5, 2017, which would have been Hanna Harris' 25th birthday, Daines walked in the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women's Walk on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation with Hanna Harris' mother.
Daines also recently introduced the Mitigating the Methamphetamine Epidemic and Promoting Tribal Health Act, or the Mitigating METH Act, legislation to help combat the meth epidemic and strengthen public safety in Montana and within tribal communities.
Strengthening Tribal Education
On Wednesday, Daines met with representatives of Montana's tribes as part of the National Indian Education Association's Annual Hill Day.
The Senate recently passed Daines' resolution to designate the week beginning on February 11, 2018, as ""National Tribal Colleges and Universities Week."