Cantwell Secures Commitment from Department of Justice to Visit Washington State to Better Address Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Crisis

Statement

Today, at a Senate Committee on Indian Affairs (SCIA) hearing, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) secured a commitment from Allison Randall, the Principle Deputy Director of the Office on Violence Against Women at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to visit the State of Washington to hear from the impacted communities, work with law enforcement, and help end the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women.

"Washington state has one of the highest numbers of murdered and missing Indigenous women… We've identified this problem, we want to do something about it, we've put some resources on the table, but I think we're now finding that the resources are not enough," said Senator Cantwell.

Cantwell went on to ask Principle Deputy Director Randall if she would visit Washington state to better understand and address the crisis. To which Randall responded, "I would be honored to visit and sit with folks. The Department of Justice sees the need for really broad response to MMIP… It's also important that when we're talking about Tribal problems, that we are meeting them with Tribal solutions, and so consulting with the Tribes has got to be a really key part of making important and strategic decisions going forward."

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