President Trump Signs Savanna’s Act to Help Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women

Savanna's Act, a bill designed to help law enforcement better investigate an epidemic of missing and murdered indigenous women, was signed into law by President Trump last week.

4th District Rep. Dan Newhouse was part of a bi-partisan group of legislators that introduced the bill in the House.

"This legislation aims to provide a sense of hope to the loved ones of these women by developing guidelines and best practices to tribes and law enforcement agencies across the country. It will enhance reporting and record keeping of crimes against indigenous women and by improving communication between law enforcement and the families of these victims."

He says the crisis will no longer go unnoticed.

Washington Senator Maria Cantwell helped introduce the bill in the Senate.

"Indigenous women deserve to have the same rights and same protections under the law but they need to have people who are tracking these heinous crimes that are happening because they are the victims of these crimes at much higher rates than the general population."

She says there has to be better protocols, statistics and tools to help law enforcement to investigate these cases and that Savanna's Act will do that.