Sisseton Wahpeton College on the Lake Traverse Reservation in Sisseton, South Dakota. Photo: Angela Smith

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Witness list for Senate Committee on Indian Affairs hearing on public safety measures

Tuesday, October 24, 2017

The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs is focusing on public safety at a legislative hearing on Wednesday.

Three bills are on the agenda. They follow:

• S.1870, the Securing Urgent Resources Vital to Indian Victim Empowerment Act, or SURVIVE Act. The bill mandates a tribal set-aside of 5 percent from the Crime Victims Fund at the Department of Justice. Existing data shows tribes receive less than 1 percent of the funds.
• S.1953, the Tribal Law and Order Reauthorization and Amendments Act. The bill updates the Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010 by addressing a wide range of public safety, justice and law enforcement programs. It also requires the Department of Justice to improve data collection on Native victims of human trafficking.
• S.1942, or Savanna's Act. The bill, which is named for Savanna Marie Greywind, a Spirit Lake Nation citizen who was kidnapped and killed in North Dakota, requires the Department of Justice to report annually on the numbers of missing and murdered Native women.

The hearing takes place immediately following a business meeting at 2:30pm Easter in Room 628 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building. The witness list follows:

The Honorable R. Trent Shores
U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Oklahoma
U.S. Department of Justice, Tulsa, OK

Mr. Bryan Rice
Director
Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior
Washington, DC

The Honorable Dave Flute
Chairman
Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate of the Lake Traverse Reservation
Agency Village, SD

The Honorable Joel Boyd
Colville Business Councilman
Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation
Nespelem, WA

Ms. Carmen O'Leary
Director
Native Women's Society of the Great Plains
Eagle Butte, SD