Column: Congress must act to end crisis facing Native communities

Washington’s 4th Congressional District is home to two sovereign tribes, the Yakama Nation in the south and the Colville Tribes in the north. I am proud to represent these strong Native communities in Congress, but there is a crisis affecting not only the Yakama and the Colville but tribes across the nation: missing and murdered indigenous women.

Indigenous women throughout the country face a murder rate ten times higher than the national average, and I have seen firsthand how these injustices affect local communities. There are currently over 100 open cases of missing and murdered indigenous women in Washington state, with 31 open cases on or near the Yakama Nation reservation. This number is alarming, but the truth is: We don’t have accurate data to truly understand the breadth of this problem.

Due to a lack of shared information, data, and reporting, there is no real way to know exactly how many Native American women have gone missing or whose fate hangs in the balance of an unsolved murder case. The complicated jurisdiction between federal, tribal, and local law enforcement causes serious problems throughout many investigations, and far too many tribal law enforcement agencies lack resources and access to information that would help solve and close these cases.

I have been inspired by the advocacy and efforts to bring attention to missing and murdered indigenous women in Central Washington, and I have vowed to exercise my position in Congress to help deliver justice for these women. This is absolutely an issue we must address on a national level, but so far, the Legislative Branch has failed to act.

Just last week, I hosted a Special Order on the House floor with several of my colleagues from both sides of the aisle. Members from different districts across the country echoed the concerns of Central Washington’s tribes and Native communities: Congress must pay attention to this devastating crisis and do our part – listen, then legislate.

I have invited the House Judiciary and Natural Resources Committees to host a field hearing on the Yakama Nation to hear directly from the communities who are directly affected and discuss real solutions to provide relief to the tribes and law enforcement agencies who are dealing with this crisis every day. My invitation was echoed by several local tribes, advocacy groups, and women’s organizations; the Committees have yet to respond.

I have worked with my colleagues to introduce strong, bipartisan legislation to improve collaboration between law enforcement agencies and empower them to seriously work toward solving many of these unsolved cases. Two of the bills I introduced, Savanna’s Act and the BADGES for Native Communities Act, would improve the reporting, record-keeping, and communication of open cases and ensure tribes have the resources they need to investigate missing persons or murders. Unfortunately, House leadership has failed to bring either of these bills up at Committee.

It is easy to focus on the heartbreaking statistics facing Native communities across the country, but these missing and murdered indigenous women are more than just numbers. They are mothers, daughters, sisters, aunts, neighbors, and friends.

This is not an issue we can ignore, and Congress must act to provide answers to their families and loved ones. I will continue to bring attention to the Native communities who are suffering, and I will continue working to deliver justice to the missing and murdered indigenous women in our state and our country.