Savanna's Act and Not Invisible Act Clear the U.S. House of Representatives

Note: Information in this release was provided by the offices of Sen. Jon Tester and Rep. Greg Gianforte

Editor’s note: This version includes a comment sent by the office of Sen. Steve Daines.

A U.S. senator and U.S. representative praised the passage Monday of bills aimed at helping investigation of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women.

Following years of constant pressure since originally introducing the Savanna’s Act and the Not Invisible Act, U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, R-Mont., celebrated Monday the U.S. House passage of two of his bipartisan pieces of legislation that work to combat the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women by bolstering data collection and information sharing between tribes and law enforcement agencies and strengthening violent crime prevention efforts in Indian Country. 

“The passage of my bipartisan Savanna’s Act and Not Invisible Act through the House puts us one step closer to securing better tools for combating the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons in Indian Country,” said Tester. “This is big news for Montana tribes, MMIW advocates, and victims of violence who have worked tirelessly to get these pieces of legislation where they are today, and I’m proud to have helped shepherd these bills through Congress. I urge the president to sign these bills immediately so that Native American communities can use these resources as soon as humanly possible.”

Tester was one of the original sponsors of Savanna’s Act, re-introduced by Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Jan. 1, 2019.

He and Murkowski were the original co-sponsors of Not Invisible Act when Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-N.M., introduced that bill April 2, 2019.

U.S. Rep. Greg Gianforte, R-Mont., who was part of the bipartisan group that sponsored the House version of Savanna’s Act when Rep. Norma Torres, D-Calif, introduced that bill May 14, 2019,, also praised its unanimous passage.

“Montana faces a tragic crisis of missing and murdered indigenous women. They are our daughters and sisters, and they deserve justice,” Gianforte said. “Passage of Savanna’s Act brings us one step closer to ending this epidemic by upgrading critical data and improving communication among law enforcement. I look forward to President Trump signing our bipartisan bill into law.”

Gianforte is not running for re-election to the House and faces Democratic Lt. Gov. Mike Cooney and Libertarian Lyman Bishop in the governor’s race.

Sen. Steve Daines, who signed on as a sponsor to the Senate version of Savanna’s Act Feb. 7, 2019, also praised the passage.

“The Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women crisis in Montana is devastating and something I will continue working to combat every day,” Daines said. “I'm glad to see the House pass my legislation to support our tribal communities and provide resources to overcome this crisis. I look forward to President Trump signing this legislation into law.”

Daines faces Democratic Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, who cannot run for that office due to term limits, in the Senate election this fall.

Savanna’s Act is named in honor of Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind, who was murdered in North Dakota in August 2017.

Indigenous women and girls in Montana face murder rates that are 10 times higher than the national average, and, according to the National Institute of Justice, more than 80 percent of Native American women have experienced violence, and half have experienced it within the last year.

Savanna’s Act would improve information sharing between tribal and federal law enforcement agencies and increase data collection on cases involving missing or murdered Indigenous people. It requires:

• Law enforcement training on how to record victim tribal enrollment information in federal databases;

• The creation of standardized, regionally-appropriate guidelines for inter-jurisdictional cooperation on cases; and

• The attorney general to include data on missing and murdered Indigenous people in an annual report to Congress.

The Not Invisible Act:

• Requires the Department of Interior to designate a coordinator within the Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Justice Services to coordinate violent crime prevention efforts across federal agencies who must submit an annual report summarizing coordination activities and recommendations for improving federal coordination efforts; and

• Directs DOI and the Department of Justice to establish a commission composed of relevant federal agencies, tribal leaders, tribal law enforcement, mental health providers, survivors, and state and local law enforcement to develop recommendations on improving the federal response to MMIW, human trafficking, and violent crime in Indian Country.

As a member and former chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, Tester has led the charge in the fight against the MMIW crisis, pushing relentlessly to get both the Savanna’s Act and the Not Invisible Act signed into law. He originally introduced the Savanna’s Act in 2017, and the Not Invisible Act in 2019.

Gianforte introduced the House Savanna’s Act in 2019 with 20 Democratic and Republican lawmakers.

The measure unanimously passed the U.S. Senate in March.