Zinke Leads Bipartisan Group of Members Demanding Answers why Biden Administration Failed to Allocate $19M in Appropriated Funds to Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) Yesterday, Montana Congressman Ryan Zinke led a bipartisan group of colleagues including Democrat Rep. Mary Peltola (AK-01) and Republican Reps. Harriet Hageman (WY-01), Juan Ciscomani (AZ-6), and Western Caucus Chairman Dan Newhouse (WA-4) in sending a letter to Department of the Interior (DOI) Secretary Deb Haaland demanding answers as to why the Department failed to obligate nearly $19 million in appropriated funding to address the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. Of the $30 million appropriated for FY23 to assist Tribal Law Enforcement Departments on cold case investigations focused on MMIW, only $6 million had been disbursed to law enforcement and an additional $5 million was spent on administrative “startup” costs.

“Indian Country deserves better than the lip service and inaction given to them by Secretary Haaland and President Biden,” said Congressman Zinke. “One of the final projects I worked on as Secretary was standing up Operation Lady Justice, a first of its kind joint task force to address the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. The Biden Administration has used it as a political prop to get good press, and rather than allocating the money appropriated by Congress to address the crisis and get the resources in the hands of investigators and law enforcement, the funds have gone unused. The Biden Administration may have forgotten these women and girls but we have not. We demand answers. Now.”

“Indigenous communities in Arizona and across the United States deserve to feel safe and supported. I am proud to join this bipartisan effort urging the DOI to direct important funds to tribal law enforcement offices as soon as possible so they can work to bring missing persons home.” said Congressman Ciscomani.

“For decades, our native communities have suffered and mourned over the thousands of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP) whose criminal investigations have never been closed,” said Congresswomen Hageman. “In FY 2023 Congress appropriated millions of dollars to assist tribal law enforcement in bringing these families closure, yet to date nearly $19 million has not been distributed, and little of the money that has been expended has gone directly to the tribal law enforcement agencies that spearhead these investigations. As the Indian and Insular Affairs subcommittee chair, I urge Secretary Harland to immediately begin providing these funds to help our tribal families receive closure and ensure justice is served.”

On the DOI’s website, Haaland is quoted saying, “The Missing and Murdered Indigenous peoples crisis is centuries in the making and will take a focused effort and time to unravel the many threads that contribute to the alarming rates of these cases. But I believe we are at an inflection point. We have a President and a government that is prioritizing this. And we can’t turn back."

However, the almost $19 million unused funds that could go toward the 4,200 missing and murdered cases that have gone unsolved according to the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) website, that also falls under Haaland’s jurisdiction. The Biden/Haaland Administration’s decision to only use a fraction of the money brings into question why the administration is using MMIW as a talking point, but has lacked any substantive effort to help the heavily-impacted demographic. 

Rep. Zinke has been on the forefront of raising awareness and dedicating federal resources to the MMIW crisis. In 2015, he introduced a resolution declaring May 5^th as MMIW Day. Then, as Secretary, Zinke established the Task Force on MMIW known as Operation Lady Justice which sought to address the MMIW crisis throughout the country by opening cold cases involving Native Americans to bring justice and closure to families of the missing.

Full letter text below:

I am writing to you with a concern that money appropriated from the FY 2023 Appropriations to

the Department of Interior, Bureau of lndian Affairs (BIA), Office of Justice Service (OJS) for

Tribal Law Enforcement to assist with Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP)

investigations is not being funded appropriately.

In FY 2023, Congress increased and appropriated $30 million to assist Tribal Law Enforcement

Departments on cold case investigations, needed equipment, and additional officers to assist with

this crisis. In the past couple of years since receiving this MMIP funding, to date, only $6 million

has been expended, leaving close to $19 million unobligated. It is imperative that this funding

reach those tribal law enforcement departments with the greatest need so they can effectively

investigate these unsolved crimes by utilizing software platforms focusing on data linking ability

which will provide a comprehensive view of missing persons identities and their whereabout in

real time.

According to the National Crime Information Center, in 2016, there were 5,712 reports of

missing American Indian and Alaska Native women and girls, through the US Department of

Justice's federal missing persons database. In 2021, a report by the U.S. Department of Interior’s

OJS indicated that approximately 1,500 American Indian and Alaska Native missing persons

have been entered into the National Crime Info1mation Center (NCIC) throughout the U.S, and

approximately 2,700 cases of Murder and Nonnegligent Homicide Offense have also been

reported to the Federal Government's Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program. In total, BIA

estimates there are 4,200 missing and murdered cases that have gone unsolved. Both reports

highlight that MMIP numbers are still staggering for Native people.

Tribal law enforcement are the first responders and often are the lead investigators on missing

person cases, not the BIA or the FBI. Accordingly, Tribal law enforcement should be receiving

most of this funding to hire additional tribal investigators to address these types of cases and to

purchase equipment needed at the local level to aid in these investigations. Currently, the MMIP

funding is only being expended for staff and equipment for the BIA OJS, leaving Tribes and

Tribal law enforcement without any additional resources at the local level to aid them in

investigating or searching for missing persons. Only funding BIA staff in offices hundreds of

miles away from some reservations is not effectively combatting this crisis and is

counterintuitive and was not Congress's intent.

I encourage you to immediately expedite the disbursement of all remaining funds to include

tribal law enforcement programs in the execution of this funding as soon as possible.

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