Legislation

NCAI Statement on VAWA

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Violence Against Women Act Passes Senate with Increased Bipartisan Support for Tribal Provisions

Recent Senate votes on VAWA indicate clear support for constitutionality of local tribal authority

Washington, DC – In a 78–22 vote today, the Senate passed the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) with a net gain of ten votes since last year’s vote on the comprehensive S.1925 VAWA reauthorization. Now with support of more than three-quarters of the Senate, the VAWA legislation heads to the House of Representatives and includes Title IX; the constitutionally sound tribal jurisdiction provisions authorizing tribal governments to prosecute non-Indian defendants involved in intimate relationships with Native women and who assault these victims on tribal land. Current federal laws do not authorize tribal law enforcement or tribal courts to pursue any form of prosecution or justice against these perpetrators.

The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) is calling the recent votes on VAWA, including today’s bipartisan vote, a clear indication of agreement that the tribal provisions are constitutional, and equally as important, that a final VAWA must provide local tribal authorities the ability to pursue justice for Native women and protect local communities. On Monday the Senate defeated the constitutionality question by striking down an amendment offered by Senator Tom Coburn (OK) to strip the tribal provisions entirely from the bill.

“Today’s passage of the Violence Against Women Act in the Senate, and previous votes to defeat harmful amendments to the bill, sends a clear message to the House that a strong VAWA bill with the tribal provisions must be passed immediately. There is no reason for further delay. This is violence that cuts deep into the hearts of our community. Addressing violence against any women, including Native women, is a priority of all Americans, and the safety of both Native and non-Native communities should not be marginalized,” said Jefferson Keel, President of NCAI, from NCAI’s offices in Washington, DC.

“We look forward to members from both parties coming together to deliver real policy solutions that solve a problem, that if left unaddressed, would leave Native women and local communities in peril. Nothing could be more unimaginable or reprehensible,” Keel concluded.

The legislation heads to the House of Representatives now and while progress on the bill stalled last year, NCAI and its partners remain optimistic and encouraged that a strong VAWA Reauthorization with the tribal provisions will be passed.

“Women and men – Native and non-Native, Senators and Representatives from all backgrounds, and tribal leaders from across Indian Country have all spoken that these injustices must not continue. We intend to keep speaking from our heart and with the law by our side until a comprehensive VAWA is passed. And with the tribal provisions included,” added Juana Majel-Dixon, 1st Vice President of NCAI and the Co-chair of the organization’s Task Force on Violence Against Women. “We are thankful that there are strong leaders in both the House and Senate that have stood for the protections of Native women, regardless of party politics. Native women and our surrounding communities need justice not more obstructions to it – the only obstacle standing in the way is politics.”

Findings show that 34% of American Indian and Alaska Native women will be raped in their lifetimes* and 39% of American Indian and Alaska Native women will be subjected to violence by an intimate partner in their lifetimes**. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 46% of people living on reservations in 2010 were non-Natives (single race) and 59% of American Indian women in 2010 were married to non-Native men***.

The NCAI Task Force on Violence Against Women was established in 2000 and has been working for thirteen years to protect the lives of Native American women and create more secure tribal communities.

* Tjaden, P., & Thoennes, N. (2000). Findings from the National Violence against Women Survey.
** Centers for Disease Control. (2008). Adverse health conditions and health risk behaviors associated with intimate partner violence.
***US Census Bureau, Census 2010.

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Senate Approves VAWA Reauthorization 78-22

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here.

Official roll call.

Navajo’s press release:

Senate Approves Domestic Violence Bill
Tribal Provisions Remain InTact

WASHINGTON—The Senate today passed the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act in a broad, bipartisan vote of 78-22. The bill reauthorizes the Act for the next five years.

The bill keeps language intact that provides added protections to Native American women from domestic violence crimes on tribal lands, and would allow tribes to prosecute non-Indians in narrow circumstances where they commit acts of domestic violence against Indians or violate domestic violence related protection orders. Defendants would need to have ties to the tribe, and prosecuting tribal courts would have to guarantee certain rights for defendants.

Voting in favor of S 47, were the following members from the Navajo Nation congressional delegation: Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., Tom Udall, D-N.M., and Martin Heinrich, D-N.M. Voting no on the bill included Republican Sens. Orin Hatch and Mike Lee from Utah.

The Senate adopted an amendment to the bill, S-47, by Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., that would extend through 2017 the Trafficking Victims Protection Act. The amendment would expand law enforcement grants for prosecuting trafficking crimes and criminalize confiscating passports or other immigration documents.

On Monday, the Senate rejected an amendment introduced by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., stripping the tribal provisions, which give tribes more authority over non-Indian domestic violence offenders. The Senate rejected a similar proposal last week introduced by Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa.

Tribal provisions will remain a contentious issue as House lawmakers introduce their own version of the domestic violence bill.

Vote on final passage of S. 47, VAWA to begin soon

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

C-Span2.

Senate Committee on Indian Affairs Release on VAWA Tribal Provisions Vote

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Senate Votes Down Amendment to Remove Tribal Provisions from Violence Against Women Act

 ***VIDEO AVAILABLE***

In Senate floor speech, Sen. Cantwell urged colleagues to reject amendment that would have cut protections for Tribal victims

Cantwell: ‘This is about the life and death of women who need a better system to prosecute those who are committing serious crimes against them’

 WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today on the Senate floor, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, urged her Senate colleagues to reject an amendment to the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 (S.47) that would have stripped critical protections for Tribal women. The amendment was defeated by a vote of 31-59 this evening.

The amendment would have removed the vast majority of Section 904 of the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act, which ensures that non-Indian defendants in Tribal court are afforded due process in a manner consistent with state and federal courts. This includes the right to effective assistance of counsel, the right to a trial by an impartial jury, as well as all other Constitutional rights.

“This isn’t about politics. This isn’t about a debate on what is a good way to win votes somewhere in America,” Cantwell said in a floor speech prior to the vote. “This is about the life and death of women who need a better system to help prosecute those who are committing serious crimes against them.”

Watch a video of Senator Cantwell’s floor speech here.

Last week Senator Cantwell spoke on the Senate floor about a similar amendment that would overturn Tribal jurisdiction and limit the ability of Tribal courts to punish non-Indian domestic violence offenders who assault Indian women.

Cantwell is an original co-sponsor of the bill introduced by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) on January 22, 2013. Since the first VAWA bill passed in 1994, domestic violence has decreased by 53 percent. The reauthorization bill includes critical improvements to extend domestic violence protections to individuals, including women in Tribal communities, who are currently not protected. An estimated 40 percent of Native women experience domestic violence in their lifetimes. Eighty percent of perpetrators of these crimes are non-Indian, and under current law, are not likely to be prosecuted by Tribal governments.

Previous reauthorizations of VAWA have been approved in a timely fashion with overwhelming support. Last Congress, a similar Senate version of the VAWA reauthorization bill passed the Senate by a bipartisan vote of 68-31, but ultimately stalled in the House. S. 47 has 60 co-sponsors and is expected to head to the Senate floor for final passage tomorrow.

Cantwell has been a consistent champion for the reauthorization of VAWA. In December, she joined six of her female Democratic Senate colleagues to call for House passage of VAWA before Congress adjourned for the year. In April 2012, she joined Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) at the King County Sheriff’s office to highlight the benefits of the bill to local law enforcement.

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Amendment 13 VAWA Vote

Matthew L.M. Fletcher
Here. Senator Barrasso, Vice Chair of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, among the R’s voting to strip tribal jurisdiction provision.

News Profile of VAWA Reauthorization with Comments from Umatilla

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here. Also includes mention of a law review article by Brent Leonhard, which we posted about here.

VAWA Bill Set for Vote on Monday, NCAI Press Release

Victoria Sweet

The official NCAI Press Release Here.

Senator Coburn has filed an amendment to strip the tribal provisions from VAWA. Here

Letter from NCAI Task Force co-chairs expressing opposition to amendments like the Coburn Amendment Here

Excerpt from the letter:

The NCAI Task Force on Violence Against Women is extremely concerned that misunderstandings of the political status of Indian tribes and the internal workings of the tribal court system are causing confusion on how this provision will work on the ground. Indian tribes are not a racial class, they are a political body – so the question is not whether non-Indians are subject to Indian court – the question is whether tribal governments, political entities, have the necessary jurisdiction to provide their citizens with the

public safety protections every government has the inherent duty to provide.

Amendments which place more funding in the hands of federal authorities will not address this immediate local need. We believe strongly that local government is the best government for addressing public safety concerns. For example, an amendment is being offered today which would require that tribal governments petition a U.S. District Court for an “appropriately tailored protection order excluding any persons from areas within the Indian country of the tribe.” This level of procedure for an intimately local issue is not practical and will do little to improve matters on Indian reservations. Tribal courts are the appropriate venue to issue such protection orders.

NCAI Release in Support of Senate Version of VAWA

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

NCAI Reiterates Support for Senate Version of Violence Against Women Act;
Letter to Leahy and Crapo Calls for No Harmful Amendments to S.47

NCAI Policy Research Center Releases Brief on Violence Against Women Statistics

Washington, DC – In a letter sent to Senators Leahy and Crapo this morning, the National Congress of American Indians’ (NCAI) Taskforce on Violence Against Women expressed strong opposition to any harmful amendments offered to the Senate legislation to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). In the letter to the Senate co-authors of the legislation, NCAI expressed unified opposition to amendments to VAWA that would strip tribal jurisdiction provisions or alter the current language in S. 47 in a harmful manner.

The letter sent by NCAI Task Force co-chairs Juana Majel Dixon (Pauma Band of Mission Indians, CA) and Terri Henry (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, NC) can be downloaded here, and highlights examples of amendments which the organization opposes:

“Amendments which place more funding in the hands of federal authorities will not address…local need. We believe strongly that local government is the best government for addressing public safety concerns. For example, an amendment is being offered today which would require that tribal governments petition a U.S. District Court for an ‘appropriately tailored protection order excluding any persons from areas within the Indian country of the tribe.’ This level of procedure for an intimately local issue is not practical and will do little to improve matters on Indian reservations. Tribal courts are the appropriate venue to issue such protection orders.

Also, tribal courts and authorities are the appropriate triers of fact for domestic violence matters conducted on Indian reservations. The federal system has proven ineffective in many respects, but none as detrimental to the backbone of a community as the area of domestic violence against Native women. Further many tribal courts operate in much the same manner as state courts, albeit with smaller dockets and lesser degrees of crime as their sister governments: state and federal courts. Also, all tribal courts are bound by the Indian Civil Rights Act, which, as amended, guarantees all of the constitutional rights non-Native defendants have in state courts.”

Additionally, NCAI’s Policy Research Center released today a new Policy Insight Brief titled, Statistics on Violence Against Native Women. The brief aims to provide detail on previously reported statistics and original sources of data used often in policy discussions, specifically focusing on the context in which the disproportional violence against Native women happens. The brief synthesizes data and provides context for critical tribal provisions of S. 47:

“From what we know about the high rates of intimate partner violence against Native women, about the fact that assaults against Native women tend to take place at private residences, about the reports from Native women of perceived perpetrator race, and about the high rates of interracial marriage and unmarried partners of Native women, it is clear that violence against Native women tends to be perpetrated by non-Native men.”

FEMA Director Statement on Disaster Relief and Tribal Governments

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here.

An excerpt; okay, maybe the whole thing:

WASHINGTON – Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Craig Fugate released the below statement following the President’s signing of the Sandy Recovery Improvement Act of 2013, which includes a provision to amend the Stafford Act allowing Tribes direct access to federal disaster relief.

“FEMA has strong, long-standing relationships with Tribal governments, and they are essential members of the emergency management team. We commend the efforts of Members of Congress, Tribal leadership and their organizations, the Department of Homeland Security, and the President who have made this change a reality. This legislative change to the Stafford Act will provide federally recognized Tribal governments the option to choose whether to make a request directly to the President for an emergency or major disaster declaration, or to receive assistance, as they do presently, through a declaration for a State. This amendment to the Stafford Act follows on the President’s commitments to Indian Country, strengthens the government to government relationship between FEMA and federally recognized Tribes, and will enhance the way FEMA supports Tribal communities before, during, and after disasters.”

Fully implementing this historic provision will require consultation with Tribes and other stakeholders, particularly as FEMA develops the administrative and programmatic requirements and procedures necessary to execute the law. FEMA will provide interim guidance in the coming weeks explaining how and when Tribal governments may seek declarations, while more comprehensive consultations and administrative procedures are undertaken.

Navajo Nation Press Release on Disaster Relief Bill Approval

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here. Our post with the bill text is here. The press release text:

Bipartisan Disaster Relief Bill Approved

 Tribes To Be Treated Like States, Navajo President Encouraged

WASHINGTON—In a 62-36 vote, the Senate last night approved HR 152, a $50.5 billion package aimed at providing relief and assisting the recovery of communities that were devastated by last October’s Hurricane Sandy.

Included in the measure are provisions that change federal disaster laws to treat tribes as state, rather than local governments.

Having actively encouraged the changes since early last year through meetings and letters with congressional and administration officials and staff, Navajo Nation President Ben Shelly expressed his thanks to Congress for this bold affirmation of tribal sovereignty.

“The Navajo Nation has had a distinct government since before the United States gained its independence from a colonial power. The United States is committed by law and treaty to the self-governance of the Navajo Nation, and working with us on a government-to-government basis. The passage of this bill is a welcoming sign of the blossoming recognition nationally of the sovereignty of the Navajo Nation as a co-equal government within the United States. I appreciate the bipartisan team in Congress that approved this bill, and the bold leadership of the Obama Administration and FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate in endorsing the proposal”.

After the president signs the bill into law, FEMA will hold consultations on the successful implementation of the measure in the coming months.