SRES-200-119
Submitted in the Senate, considered, and agreed to without amendment and with a preamble by Unanimous Consent. (consideration: CR S2753; text: CR S2758)
Sponsored by Steve Daines (R-MT)
What it does
This resolution expresses the Senate's support for designating May 5, 2025, as the "National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls." It calls on Americans and interested groups to commemorate victims and show solidarity with their families. It also recommends that the Department of Justice's National Institute of Justice commission an updated study on the issue, noting that the most recent federal study was published in 2016.
Who benefits
American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian women and girls, and their families, who gain formal Senate recognition of the violence disproportionately affecting their communities. Tribal governments and advocacy organizations working on this issue, who may gain visibility and momentum for further legislative action. Researchers and law enforcement agencies that would benefit from an updated federal study with current data. Victims whose cases are undocumented in public records, who are explicitly named in the resolution.
Who is hurt
This is a commemorative, non-binding resolution with no direct regulatory or fiscal effect, so no group faces a direct material harm. Federal agencies such as the National Institute of Justice could face an increased workload if the recommended study is commissioned, though the resolution does not mandate or fund it. No group is directly disadvantaged by the resolution's passage.
Supporters argue
Supporters argue that the resolution shines a necessary light on a documented public safety crisis: CDC data shows homicide was the sixth-leading cause of death for Indigenous women and girls under 44, with murder rates more than 10 times the national average. They contend that formal Senate recognition — passed unanimously — signals bipartisan commitment to a historically underreported issue and may build political will for stronger legislative follow-through, including the recommended update to the now nine-year-old federal study.
Opponents argue
Opponents could argue that a non-binding resolution without appropriations or enforceable mandates does little to address the structural causes of violence against Indigenous women, such as jurisdictional gaps between tribal, state, and federal law enforcement that prior legislation like Savanna's Act (2020) has only partially addressed. They contend that symbolic designations may substitute for — rather than accelerate — the concrete funding and policy changes that tribal governments have identified as inadequate to meet basic victim service needs.