Senate Passes Legislation Designating National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Native Women
U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) applauded Senate passage of a resolution designating May 5 as the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Native Women. U.S. Senator Steve Daines (R-MT) introduced the resolution, with Senator Murkowski as a cosponsor. Though legislative efforts, Senator Murkowski has continued her push to address the issue of missing, murdered, and trafficked Indigenous women, including calling upon federal agencies to work together to help put an end to the epidemic.
“I’ve personally heard so many stories of women being dismissed or not taken seriously because they are Native American. It tears at my heart to know that a woman’s story, or a family’s story, would be discounted because she is a Native American woman. We have to change that. We cannot let the statistics that have just been allowed to accumulate for far too long to remain statistics. Every single one of these women was her own person, with her own life story, but also a member of a community, and someone’s daughter, wife, mother, or sister. When women are murdered or abducted, when women are trafficked, when individuals are left as missing, discarded, or discounted, there is an injustice being done, and we cannot let that continue. By raising awareness of this epidemic with this resolution, by giving these women their faces, names, and by telling their stories, we are shining a light on the problem and giving hope.” said Senator Murkowski. “I am pushing to advance my legislation that paves the way for greater collaboration and data collection between federal agencies, law enforcement, and elected tribal officials to not only understand the extent of the issues, but in developing methods to end these horrible crimes.”
In April, Senator Murkowski and Senator Cortez Masto (D-NV) introduced the Not Invisible Act, legislation aimed at addressing the crisis of missing, murdered, and trafficked Native people by engaging law enforcement, tribal leaders, federal partners, and service providers and improving coordination across federal agencies. Separately, in January, Senators Murkowski and Cortez Masto reintroduced the Savanna’s Act, a bill to combat the epidemic of murdered and missing Native women and girls by improving the federal government's response to addressing the crisis.
