WASHINGTON, Dec. 15 -- Sen. Ruben Gallego issued the following press release:
Bipartisan legislation to strengthen Tribal public safety led by Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), John Hoeven (R-ND), and Mike Rounds (R-SD) unanimously passed the Senate. The Bridging Agency Data Gaps & Ensuring Safety (BADGES) for Native Communities Act would support the recruitment and retention of Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) law enforcement officers, bolster federal missing persons resources, and give Tribes and states tools to combat the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW).
"Too often, cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women go unsolved because Tribal law enforcement lacks the staffing and resources ...