Sen. Lisa Murkowski

House and Senate Repeal Alaska Exception (Section 910) of VAWA

Victoria Sweet

Now it’s off to the President for his signature or veto:

Senator Lisa Murkowski and Congressman Don Young today teamed up to make sure that Section 910 of the Violence Against Women Act was repealed. Through numerous conversations with their House and Senate colleagues, the two Alaska lawmakers succeeded in having the provision removed from the law.

In the final days of the 113th Congress, Representative Young worked directly with House leadership – including several interactions with Speaker John Boehner, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, and other senior House members – to secure expedited passage of the bill in one of the House’s final actions prior to adjourning.  Meanwhile, Senator Murkowski worked with her Senate colleagues to build support for the action, including a call across Capitol Hill before the vote to Majority Leader McCarthy, encouraging his consent for the move that officially took place after tonight’s final budget vote.

“Alaska tribes asked me to repeal Section 910 of VAWA, and I thank the Alaska Delegation for working with me on their behalf,” said Murkowski.  “But it doesn’t stop today; in the new Congress beginning next month, it will be imperative to ensure that our tribal courts in Alaska receive the funding they need to deliver the justice and protection the need and deserve – not only for training and capacity development, but also for operations.”

“Today I am pleased that the House of Representatives passed S. 1474, a bill which repeals Section 910 of the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 (VAWA).  In the many conversations I have had with Alaska Native leaders and families since the reauthorization of VAWA last year, I heard a consistent, clear, and powerful message: that Section 910 was an error and must be repealed,” said Congressman Young.  “I was proud to work with Lisa in these final moments to ensure that one of the final acts of the House of Representatives in the 113th Congress was to empower Alaska’s tribes and uplift Alaska Native women.”

Link to press release here.

Sens. Heitkamp and Murkowski Introduce Bill to Improve Lives of Indian Children

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the text of the press release (bill summary here):

U.S. Senators Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) today introduced a comprehensive plan to find solutions to the complex challenges facing Native American children throughout Indian Country.

The bipartisan legislation, Heitkamp’s first bill as a U.S. Senator, would create a national Commission on Native American Children to conduct an intensive study into issues facing Native children – such as high rates of poverty, staggering unemployment, child abuse, domestic violence, crime, substance abuse, and few economic opportunities – and make recommendations on how to make sure Native children are better taken care of and given the opportunities to thrive.   Heitkamp and Murkowski are both members of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs.

“We have all heard stories or seen first-hand the struggles that too many Native children and their families face from extreme poverty to child abuse to suicide.  Since I’ve been in public office, I’ve worked to address many of these challenges, and I’m proud my first bill as a U.S. Senator will take a serious look at finding solutions to better protect Native children and give them the opportunities they deserve,” said Heitkamp. “Tragically, for children in our nation’s tribal communities, the barriers to success are high and they are the most at-risk population in the country, facing serious disparities in safety, health, and education.

“We need to strive for a day when Native children no longer live in third-world conditions; when they don’t face the threat of abuse on a daily basis; when they receive the good health care and education to help them grow and succeed. However, we don’t just have a moral obligation to fix this, we have treaty and trust responsibilities to do so. The federal government pledged long ago to protect Native families and children. We haven’t lived up to that promise. But we can change that.”

“Last week at the Alaska Federation of Natives, a group of kids from Tanana speak up  with tremendous courage and express that they have had enough of violence, alcohol, drugs, and suicide in their community. Their call for us to take a pledge to protect our villages against suicide, is a call to action for all of us. I am proud to be the lead Republican co-sponsor of the Alyce Spotted Bear and Walter Soboleff Commission with Sen. Heitkamp,” said Murkowski.  “We must ensure our federal government upholds the trust responsibility, especially to our Native children, and this Commission will examine from the lens of justice, education, and healthcare how to improve the lives of our Nation’s native children.”

“It is also time we honor Dr. Walter Soboleff, our champion for cultural education in Alaska. Dr. Soboleff, lived a life committed to ensuring our public education system honored cultural values, and that our University system provided an option for students to learn cultural practices with the established of the Alaska Native Studies Department at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.”

The Alyce Spotted Bear and Walter Soboleff Commission on Native Children, named for the former Chairwoman of Mandan, Hidatsa & Arikara Nation in North Dakota, and Alaska Native Elder and statesman, respectively, is already being praised by a cross-section of individuals from North Dakota, Alaska and around the country. It has been lauded by former Chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs Byron Dorgan, the National Congress of American Indians and the National Indian Education Association (quotes endorsing the legislation are below).

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