Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I rise today to discuss and bring awareness to the obligation that we have to never forget what is happening to way too many Native American women in this country. For too long, the disproportionate incidents of violence against Native American women have gone unnoticed, unreported, or underreported, and it is time to address this issue head-on. That is what I intend to do today and in the remaining days of my time in the Senate, until we actually get a bill passed. There is no official database or requirement for information collection regarding the number of missing and murdered Native women. In most cases, the only records of them are records that have been provided to us by the families and friends of the victims. It is critical that Congress push the U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI to work with Tribal communities to come up with culturally appropriate protocols for responding to cases of missing and murdered Native women. I would like to take this time to honor Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind, whose story has been told on the news in North Dakota and nationally and who has been on the forefront of my mind since introducing this bill. On August 19, Savanna, a 22-year-old member of the Spirit Lake Tribe, who was 8 months pregnant, went upstairs to her neighbor's apartment in Fargo, ND, after being invited to try on a dress for alterations. While she was there, what awaited her in that apartment were truly horrific acts of violence.…”