VAWA Technical Amendment Act of 2022

Mr. President, I rise to discuss bipartisan legislation that I have introduced with Senator Lujan which would grant a Federal charter to the National American Indian Veterans, Incorporated, known as NAIV.

The NAIV was chartered in 2004, with headquarters located on the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal Reservation in South Dakota. The NAIV was originally established as the result of a request by former Senators Akaka, Inouye, and Nighthorse Campbell during a Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee in 2004.

At that time, no Native American veterans organization had ever received a congressional charter. Sadly, that remains the case today, nearly 20 years later. But that omission would be fixed by this legislation.

The NAIV is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that operates solely for charitable, literary, educational, scientific, patriotic, and civil improvement purposes. It provides a voice to

Native American veterans whose unique needs are not always represented adequately by other organizations.

Native Americans are the highest serving race per capita in the U.S. Armed Forces, often serving at a rate five times over the national average, and have served with distinction in every U.S. conflict over the last 200 years. They also have some of the highest concentration of women servicemembers. According to a 2020 VA statistics report, there are over 140,000 Native American veterans across the Nation today. Discussions with Tribal leaders would indicate that this number is most likely an undercount and the true number likely approaches 200,000.

The NAIV serves the interests and needs of Native veterans in all 50 States. It conducts activities in collaboration with its national leadership and its 14 regional offices. Tribes rotate to host regional and State NAIV meetings. This is all done in a decentralized manner, respecting the independence and sovereignty of all Tribal nations.

NAIV often has been the only national Native American veterans organization invited to testify before Congress on issues facing Native veterans nationwide. NAIV works to make sure that our Native American veterans receive the benefits, compensation, and resources that they have earned. Among its activities, NAIV provided critical support for construction of an American Indian Veterans Memorial at the Riverside National Cemetery in California.

In addition, COVID-19 had a significant impact on Tribal reservations, and the NAIV secured over 5 million masks, thousands of gallons of hand sanitizer, and personal protective equipment to respond to the pandemic. It distributed these critical resources to over 375 Tribes in 30 States at no cost to our veterans or their Tribes.

NAIV also serves on the Disaster Response and Recovery Working Group of the FCC Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee and has been a tireless advocate of providing broadband access to Tribal communities throughout the Nation.

Last week, we celebrated Veterans Day, an opportunity to honor our veterans for their service. Also, last week, we finally saw the dedication of the National Native American Veterans Memorial on the National Mall here in DC. While the Native American Veterans Memorial actually opened in 2020, due to COVID, the dedication did not occur until this year.

I believe we have the opportunity today to address another overdue recognition of our Native American veterans by finally approving the Federal charter for the National American Indian Veterans, Incorporated, to recognize all the work the organization does on behalf of our Native American veterans.

Mr. President, notwithstanding rule XXII, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be discharged from further consideration of S. 1725 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration; further, that the bill be considered read a third time and passed, and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. President, I wanted to say how pleased I am to finally see this bill pass the U.S. Senate. I want to underscore, again, the situation of recognizing the important work done by the NAIV to benefit our Native American veterans.

I particularly want to recognize the work done by Mr. Don Loudner of Mitchell, SD, who has led the NAIV since its inception in 2004. Don has served as an Army officer and is a combat veteran of the Korean war. He served with my father in the National Guard in South Dakota, as well. He also served in the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Census Bureau and has spent decades supporting our Native American veterans. I want to thank

him for his 70 years of service to our Nation.

I would also like to thank Senator Hirono for the open communication that we have received in coordinating and successfully passing these pieces of legislation.

I yield the floor.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 7) to make a technical amendment to the Violence Against Women Act of 1994, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on S. 7.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 7, which would amend the Violence Against Women Act to ensure that Native Hawaiian women can access the benefits and support included in the critical Violence Against Women Act.

According to the National Institute of Justice, more than 1.5 million American Indian and Alaska Native women have experienced violence in their lifetime, while women in these communities experience significantly higher levels of sexual violence and stalking.

Since its introduction in 1994, the Violence Against Women Act has provided billions of dollars of grant funding to address the needs of those who have survived domestic violence, sexual assault, sex trafficking, dating violence, and other crimes against women.

One of VAWA's major grant programs, the Services, Training, Officers, and Prosecutors grants, commonly known as STOP grants, provides funding for eligible Native organizations to help combat sexual violence and support victims and survivors. However, due to an error in drafting language, which was first made known to Congress and the Department of Justice in 2016, Native Hawaiian organizations have been unable to access this funding to serve Native Hawaiian victims and survivors.

Specifically, Native Hawaiian organizations are able to apply for STOP grant funding, but they cannot use those funds to actually serve the Native Hawaiian community. As a result of this drafting oversight, Native Hawaiian women are denied access to these critical resources, which are meant to encourage the development and improvement of effective victim advocacy and services in cases involving violent crimes against women and to strengthen services to victims.

S. 7 would amend the act to include specific references to Native Hawaiians and Native Hawaiian communities and organizations. This simple fix would make certain that all victims and survivors of domestic and sexual violence, including Native Hawaiian women, are able to access the services and support they need to rebuild their lives.

I thank Senator Mazie Hirono for introducing this modest but important legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support the bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, for nearly three decades, the Violence Against Women Act has provided critical funding to organizations that support victims and survivors of gender-based violence. However, Native Hawaiian women, who experience disproportionately high levels of sexual violence, have been excluded from accessing these much-needed resources.

S. 7 would allow Native Hawaiian victims and survivors to receive the support they need and would allow Native Hawaiian organizations to increase their efforts to combat sexual violence.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 7., the ``VAWA Technical Amendment Act of 2022,'' that would ensure Native Hawaiian victims and survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, sex trafficking, and other such crimes have access to vital VAWA resources.

When the Violence Against Women Act first became law in 1994, it represented an historic shift in the federal government's role in combating violent crimes committed against

women. Due to the importance of the legislation and its resulting success, VAWA was reauthorized on an overwhelming bipartisan basis in 2000, 2005, and 2013.

As we negotiated the most recent reauthorization, I was adamant that Congress acknowledge the cries of the multitude of voiceless native women. That we should do more to improve coordination and communication between law enforcement agencies, empower tribal governments with resources, and improve the way we collect data about missing and murdered native women.

And although each piece of VAWA is critical to support and protect victims of violence, I thought it necessary to pay special attention to the plight of tribal women, who suffer extraordinarily high rates of victimization.

That is why we must pass the ``VAWA Technical Amendment Act of 2022''--to make sure that Native Hawaiian victims and survivors are supported and protected.

The VAWA Reauthorization--which made its way to the President's desk this year--made several improvements to the Services, Training, Officers, and Prosecutors (STOP) grant program.

The STOP grant program was established to assist state, territorial, local, and Tribal governments in responding to violent crimes against women, including the crimes of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking, as well as the appropriate treatment of victims.

The grants have long been used to develop effective strategies to assist victims and survivors through nonprofit, community organizations.

Eligibility for the grants was expanded under the reauthorization for individuals and grantees, and the authorized uses of grants under the expansion now include supportive services for American Indian victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking.

Unfortunately, due to a drafting error, Native Hawaiian organizations have been unable to access STOP grant funds for the benefit of Native Hawaiian women, thereby denying an entire community of victims and survivors restorative, stabilizing care. This is a serious problem with an uncomplicated solution.

S. 7 would amend relevant statutory provisions to make sure Native Hawaiian organizations can render aid to their communities using STOP grant funding.

As has always been true, the Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization is comprehensive and inclusive legislation that responds to the many varied and changing needs of diverse victims and survivors across the country by making meaningful improvements. This bill exemplifies that sentiment.

I applaud Senator Mazie Hirono for spearheading this bill to ensure that no victim or survivor is denied access to VAWA's life-saving resources, and I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support it.

Mr. Speaker, l rise today in support of S.7, the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) Technical Amendment Act of 2022. This bill will ensure the full inclusion of Native Hawaiians, the indigenous peoples of our country whose origins lie in Hawaii, in the Services, Training, Officers and Prosecutors (STOP) Grants for Tribal Coalitions program under VAWA.

Violence against indigenous women has reached crisis levels on tribal lands and in Alaska Native villages. In Hawaii, gender-based violence against Native Hawaiians is also at a breaking point.

Much like their American Indian and Alaska Native counterparts elsewhere, Native Hawaiians face substantially higher rates of intimate partner violence, family violence, sexual assault and sex trafficking than any other racial or ethnic group in Hawaii. According to most available data from the Officer of Hawaiian Affairs, 67 to 77 percent of sex trafficking victims in Hawaii are Native Hawaiian women and girls, and 37 percent of reported child sex trafficking cases in Hawaii involve Native Hawaiians. They are also disproportionately represented across the many forms of sexual violence.

To address these issues within Native Hawaiian communities, we must develop and implement community-driven, culturally relevant and intergenerational approaches for supporting Native Hawaiian women. Unfortunately, because of a drafting error in the 2013 VAWA reauthorization bill, Native Hawaiian domestic violence victims have been excluded from VAWA STOP Grants, which deliver just such programs, and thus effectively deprived of vital services and support. While tribal coalitions and Native Hawaiian Organizations are eligible for STOP Grant funding, both tribal coalitions and Native Hawaiian Organizations are limited to only serving American Indians and Alaska Natives, not Native Hawaiians. This must be corrected.

The VAWA Technical Amendment Act simply adds Native Hawaiians as eligible for VAWA-related services from Native nonprofit grantees. Any Native Hawaiian Organization interested and eligible to provide critical domestic violence and sexual assault services to Native Hawaiian survivors must be given the opportunity to do so. This technical correction will allow this to happen, ensuring that Native Hawaiian Organizations can serve Native Hawaiians in need of these critical services.

More work lies ahead for our federal government to address and eliminate the ongoing violence against indigenous women in our country, and I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues on these efforts to support all Native survivors of domestic and sexual violence.

Mahalo.

Mr. President, reserving the right to object--Senator Rounds, I do not object to the substance of your bill. As a member of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, I am very much in favor of the contributions made to our country by Native Americans and certainly the Native American veterans. However, for a long time, I have been trying to get a very simple technical fix to the Violence Against Women Act that would allow Native Hawaiian organizations to serve Native Hawaiian women.

As we all know, VAWA provides support to survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, sex trafficking, dating violence, and stalking. Tragically, Native women across the country--that would be Alaskan Natives, Native Hawaiians, American Indian women--experience disproportionately higher levels of sexual violence, which is why VAWA includes STOP grants to provide funding for eligible Native organizations, nonprofits, including Native Hawaiian organizations, to serve Native women.

However, in spite of the fact that Native Hawaiian women are represented among the disproportionately high number of survivors of gender-based violence and sex trafficking, and despite the fact that Native Hawaiian organizations are eligible for these grants, because of a drafting oversight, these Native Hawaiian organizations eligible for these grants cannot serve the Native Hawaiian community.

It would likely shock many of my colleagues to learn about the gender-based violence and sex trafficking numbers in Hawaii and of sex trafficking survivors in Hawaii. Over 70 percent are Native Hawaiian women and girls. But yet, Native Hawaiian organizations cannot actually serve Native Hawaiian women through these grants.

By passing this simple technical fix, we can ensure that Native Hawaiian women can access the benefits and support included in the critical Violence Against Women Act.

I am very glad that my colleague from Hawaii is presiding as we have this debate.

So now I would ask if the Senator would modify his request so that immediately following the disposition of S. 1725, the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. 7, which was introduced earlier today; further, that the bill be considered read a third time and passed, and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate?

Mr. President, I would just like to commend my colleague for his work with the Native American veterans and for working with me to pass S. 7, which is a very necessary bill for Native Hawaiian women. Aloha.