Cortez Masto pushes bill supporting tribal law enforcement and missing persons [Video]

WASHINGTON (Gray DC) – This Sunday is National Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples Awareness Day. The issue is one that Biden Administration officials say goes back centuries. It also something Congress is working to address.

This week, the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs heard testimony from tribal leaders and law enforcement officials about the issues of missing indigenous women and the lack of resources needed to properly investigate their disappearances.

“Tribal nation governments are the only sovereigns in this country that cannot fully prosecute and imprison all of the criminals jeopardizing safety in our own territories,” said Mark Macarro, President of the National Congress of American Indians.

According to the National Crime Information Center, in 2016, there were nearly 6,000 missing American Indian and Alaska Native women and girls. However, less than two percent of the cases were logged into the national database. The Bureau of Indian Affairs said the …