{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://newhouse.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/newhouse-leads-resolution-designate-national-day-awareness-missing-and", "Newhouse Leads Resolution to Designate National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Native Women and Girls", "2022-05-05", "2022", "2022-05", "Republican", "House", "WA", "Dan Newhouse", "N000189", "newhouse.house.gov", "newhouse", "https://newhouse.house.gov/media-center/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) released the following statement in advance of introducing a resolution to designate May 5, 2022 as the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Native Women and Girls. He was joined by Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA-05), Adam Smith (WA-09), Kelly Armstrong, (ND-AL), Tom Cole (OK-04), Kim Schrier (WA-08), David Joyce (OH-14), Derek Kilmer (WA-06), Markwayne Mullin (OK-02), Dusty Johnson (SD-AL), Maria Elvira Salazar (FL-27), Pete Stauber (MN-08), Matt Rosendale (MT-AL), Chris Stewart (UT-02), Jay Obernolte (CA-08), Cliff Bentz (OR-02), and Stephanie Bice (OK-05).\n\nThe resolution demonstrates the lawmakers\u2019 solidarity with the families and loved ones of missing and murdered indigenous women, and it calls on the people of the United States to commemorate the lives of American Indian and Alaska Native women whose cases are documented and undocumented in public records and the media.\n\n\u201cWhile Native Americans make up 2% of our state\u2019s population, Native Women account for 7% of our state\u2019s reported missing women. Those statistics are unacceptable, and despite these sad and staggering numbers in our community, the closest Cold Case Task Force Office is currently located in Billings, Montana,\u201d said Rep. Newhouse. \u201cEstablishing a Cold Case Task Force Office in Yakima is imperative if we want to keep moving forward in addressing this crisis. We must continue to take up the banner for those who no longer are able to. They deserve answers, and I will continue working to deliver them.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s vital to raise awareness on this ongoing and heartbreaking crisis,\u201d said Rep. Bice. \u201cI stand in solidarity with the families of the victims and will never forget the innocent lives lost. I\u2019m grateful that my colleague, Congressman Dan Newhouse, introduced this critical legislation.\u201d\n\n\u201cToo many women in America find themselves living in fear of becoming a victim of violence and predatory behavior. This is especially true in Washington State, where Native American women are murdered or go missing at the second-highest rate in the country,\u201d said Rep. Rodgers. \u201cThis is a statistic we should be doing everything in our power to change for the tribes in our Eastern Washington community. I\u2019m proud to help lead this resolution to stand with the families of every victim and reaffirm our commitment to ending this nationwide crisis before another innocent life is lost.\u201d\n\n\u201cFor far too long, Native women and children have been disproportionately targeted by dangerous predators in Indian Country. By bringing awareness to this tragic crisis, we continue to elevate the need for solutions to protect this vulnerable population,\u201d said Rep. Cole, Co-Chair of the Congressional Native American Caucus and Member of the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma. \u201cAs a longtime supporter and advocate for additional resources to combat violence in Indian Country, I am proud to join my colleagues in once again introducing this important resolution that highlights this need.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe silent crisis of missing and murdered indigenous women is wreaking havoc on our families and our communities,\u201d said Rep. Mullin. \u201cAs a member of Cherokee Nation, I am committed to doing all I can in Congress to work towards a solution. Our priority must be to ensure the safety and well-being of native women and children, and for all parties to work together to end this violence. Thank you to my colleagues for joining me in this effort and committing to building safer communities for native women in Indian Country.\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019m proud to stand in solidarity with the families of missing and murdered indigenous women and help give a voice to those whose stories have not been heard,\u201d said Rep. Dave Joyce, a Vice Chair of the Native American Caucus. \u201cAs someone who spent 25 years as a prosecutor, I know how important it is to have safe communities and am committed to taking the actions necessary to protect our Native American communities from these terrible crimes. We can and must do better to deliver justice for all victims of senseless violence.\u201d\n\n\"American Indian and Alaska Native women face disproportionate rates of violence with four in five women having experienced some form of violence in their lifetime,\u201d said Rep. Schrier. \u201cBy designating May 5th as National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Native Women and Girls, we hope to increase awareness of these serious disparities and call greater attention to the work that still needs to be done. I'm honored to partner with Representative Newhouse to raise awareness on this important issue.\u201d\n\n\u201cThere is a crisis of violence against Native American women and girls,\u201d said Rep. Armstrong. \u201cIt is critically important to raise awareness and help bring an end to these heartbreaking acts of violence against Native Americans.\u201d\n\n\u201cAs a former law enforcement officer, I know that our Native American communities face disproportionately high rates of violence, including in my home state of Minnesota,\u201d said Rep. Stauber. \u201cI co-sponsored this resolution to raise awareness of the heartbreaking crisis of high rates of missing and murdered indigenous women, and to recognize the additional work needed to keep them safe.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is a harrowing reality that Native American women can face murder rates at more than 10 times the national average in some communities and are more than twice as likely to experience violence than any other demographic,\u201d said Rep. Obernolte. \u201cI am proud to cosponsor this resolution which designates May 5th as the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Native Women and Girls to commemorate the lives of those lost to violence and increase recognition of this crisis nationwide.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe shockingly high number of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls represents an urgent crisis in Washington State and across the country, and tragically, this crisis has gone underreported and unsolved, said Rep. Smith. I\u2019m proud to be an original co-sponsor of this resolution to designate May 5th as the \u2018National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Native Women and Girls.\u2019 Today, we remember Hanna Harris, a member of the Northern Cheyenne tribe who went missing on July 4, 2013, and who would have turned 30 years old on this day, and we honor all the other Indigenous people who have been senselessly ripped from their communities. It is my hope that this resolution raises awareness of this terrible reality, and that this day continues to serve as a catalyst for the work that must be done to address violence affecting Indigenous communities across the country. I am grateful to the Urban Indian Health Institute, a division of the Seattle Indian Health Board in my district, for their leadership on data and research regarding missing and murdered Indigenous women. My office will continue to work in partnership with the Seattle Indian Health Board as they continue their lifesaving work in our community.\u201d\n\n\u201cOf the 105 missing persons in South Dakota right now \u2013 73 of them are Native American. This is extremely disproportional and deserves more attention,\u201d said Rep. Johnson. \u201cI hope our resolution shines a light on the tragedy of the missing and murdered native women who have not received the justice they deserve.\u201d\n\nClick here for the full text of the resolution.\n\nBackground:\n\nYesterday, on May 4, 2022, Rep. Newhouse hosted a tribal law enforcement roundtable and MMIW listening session with Department of Interior (DOI) Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, Bryan Newland, to allow tribal members to tell their stories and share the issues that they face with Assistant Secretary Newland directly and highlight the urgent need to establish a missing and murdered unit in Central Washington.\n\nIn May 2021, Rep. Newhouse introduced a resolution to designate May 5, 2021, as the National Day of Awareness for MMIW.\n\nIn March 2021, Rep. Newhouse called on the Biden Administration to prioritize addressing the MMIW crisis and renewed his 2020 call for a Cold Case Task Force Office in Yakima, Washington.\n\nIn October 2020, President Trump signed two historic pieces of legislation \u2013 Savanna\u2019s Act and the Not Invisible Act \u2013 into law. Rep. Newhouse introduced Savanna\u2019s Act and strongly supported the Not Invisible Act to address the crisis of missing and murdered indigenous women (MMIW).", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T02:29:07Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://newhouse.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/newhouse-leads-resolution-designate-national-day-awareness-missing-and"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.4088950119912624, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}