"Buffalo Dancer II" by George Rivera, an artist and former governor of the Pueblo of Pojoaque. The tribe hosted the 26th annual Four Corners Indian Country Conference on its homelands in New Mexico this week. Photo: Harvey Barrison

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Trump administration takes credit for increase in tribal safety grants

Thursday, September 20, 2018

The Trump administration is touting a tribal set-aside in the national Crime Victims Fund despite having little to do with it.

Tribes and key members of Congress have been seeking a fair share of the fund for Indian Country for years. Earlier this year, a 3 percent set-aside was included in the #Omnibus appropriations bill that became law even as President Donald Trump complained about it.

"I say to Congress: I will never sign another bill like this again. I’m not going to do it again," Trump said back in March. "Nobody read it."

Despite the grumbling, the Department of Justice is carrying out the Congressional mandate. For the first time ever, up to $133 million in grants are to be awarded to Indian Country before the end of the month, a senior official said.

"The awards are intended to help tribes develop, expand, and improve services to victims of crime by providing funding, programming and technical assistance," Jesse Panuccio, the acting associate attorney general at DOJ, said in a speech at the 26th annual Four Corners Indian Country Conference in New Mexico.

Principal Deputy Associate Attorney General Panuccio announced grant $$ awarded for public safety & victim’s services in Tribal communities pic.twitter.com/XUR67abwgl
— U.S. Attorney NM (@USAO_NM) September 19, 2018

But Panuccio also said the Trump administration was going "even further" than Congress. DOJ's fiscal year 2019 request includes a 5 percent set-aside for Indian Country from the Crime Victims Fund, he noted.

"This is just one of many ways that this administration is addressing the needs of tribal communities," Panuccio told conference attendees.

Panuccio didn't mention that tribes and a bipartisan group of lawmakers originally sought the 5 percent set-aside with S.1870, also known as the Securing Urgent Resources Vital to Indian Victim Empowerment Act, or the SURVIVE Act. Through bipartisan negotiations, Congress agreed to the 3 percent figure in the #Omnibus earlier this year.

The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs took testimony on the bill last October. Although a prominent U.S. Attorney, one who has since been selected as chair of the Native American Issues Subcommittee at DOJ, appeared at the hearing, the Trump administration was unable to offer a position on the matter, either for or against.

“Implementing the programs and services supported by this funding will have a lasting impact in Indian Country. As United States Attorney, I will uphold the federal trust responsibility to the federally recognized tribes in northeastern Oklahoma,” R. Trent Shores, a citizen of the Choctaw Nation who serves as the U.S. Attorney for Northern Oklahoma, said in a press release on Wednesday as DOJ announced $113 million in funding for tribes.

Seven N.E. Okla. tribes will receive $6.2 M in DOJ public safety grants- Cherokee Nation, Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma, Miami Tribe of Oklahoma, Muscogee (Creek) Nation, Osage Nation of Oklahoma, Quapaw Tribe of Oklahoma, and Wyandotte Nationhttps://t.co/QJMFwRFInN
— U.S. Attorney NDOK (@USAO_NDOK) September 19, 2018

The $113 million is being awarded through a program known as the Coordinated Tribal Assistance Solicitation. The initiative began during the Obama administration after tribes complained of the difficulty in securing funds from DOJ.

Rather than require tribes to apply separately for grants offered by sub-agencies and offices at the agency, CTAS streamlines the process. The effort started in fiscal year 2010 and continues in the Trump era.

"The Yurok Tribe in California received funds to build a multi-purpose justice center, complete with a courtroom, probation department, and other offices," Panuccio said of funding that went to the Yuroks.

"For years, the tribe—the largest in the state—had no holding area, and officials were forced to send adults and juveniles to hearings at off-reservation courts," Panuccio said. "The grant gave the tribe the resources they needed to construct a fully operational facility that now houses an array of judicial and administrative offices, including a cuff bench for in-custody defendants."

The Yurok Tribe's main administrative building in Klamath, California. Photo by Kevin Abourezk

This year's recipients of CTAS grants include the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, whose public safety and crime victims programs are receiving nearly $1.28 million, and the Quapaw Tribe, where $1.23 million will be used to protect Native women from violence and assist youth.

"These justice focused grants will strengthen priority areas for each of the tribal recipients," U.S. Attorney Shores said of Indian nations in his region.

When the additional grants from the Crime Victims Fund are awarded later this month, Indian Country will have seen $246 million to help them improve public safety in their communities.

"We are committed to reducing violent crime and improving public safety in tribal communities," Panuccio of DOJ said. "Justice demands it, the victims deserve it, and with cooperative efforts between federal, state, and tribal governments, we must deliver it."

The 26th annual Four Corners Indian Country Conference began on Tuesday, drawing federal prosecutors, tribal leaders, law enforcement and advocates from Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico. This year's theme is “Exploring the Power of our Work: Building our Capacity to Assist Victims and Strengthening our Own Ability to be Resilient."

The meeting is being hosted by the Pueblo of Pojoaque in northern New Mexico. It concludes on Thursday.

Office of the Inspector General Report

Review of the Department’s Tribal Law Enforcement Efforts Pursuant to the Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010, Evaluation and Inspections Division Report 18-01:
Full Report | Video | Podcast | Press Release

Government Accountability Office Reports

Action Needed to Identify the Number of Native American Victims Receiving Federally-funded Services (April 6, 2017)
Information on Cases in Indian Country or that Involved Native Americans (July 24, 2017)

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Report

Racial and Ethnic Differences in Homicides of Adult Women and the Role of Intimate Partner Violence — United States, 2003–2014 (July 21, 2017)