President Biden signs Executive Order directing cabinet agencies to address ‘crisis of violence’ against Native Americans

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland. (photo c/o debforcongress.com)

The Tribal Nations Summit: A thoroughly decent, yet necessary, act by the Biden administration. Why, in the year 2021, are Native American communities still in such dire shape and neglected by the population at large? At least the White House is doing something to address them, but few Americans will notice or care and the media will not bring attention to it. -

(CNN) - President Joe Biden signed an executive order Monday directing federal agencies, including the departments of Justice, Interior and Homeland Security, to create a strategy addressing what the President called a "crisis of violence" against Native Americans. 

"Today, I'm directing federal officials to work with tribal nations on a strategy to improve public safety and advanced justice," Biden said at the White House's first-ever Tribal Leaders Summit. 

The President continued: "This builds on the work we did together on reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act in 2013, when we granted authority to tribes to exercise jurisdiction over non-Indian offenders who commit violence on tribal lands." 

"We're going to reauthorize that again, we're going to expand the jurisdiction to include other offenses like sex trafficking, sexual assault and child abuse," Biden said. 

First lady Jill Biden, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland -- the country's first Native American Cabinet Secretary -- Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, Attorney General Merrick Garland and Department of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas stood next to Biden as he signed the order. 

The order "tasks DOJ, Interior and Homeland Security to address and create a strategy in 240 days for specific law enforcement issues and to provide tribal nations with support in implementing tribally centered responses as well," to combat violence against Native communities, an administration official said Sunday. The Department of Health and Human Services will also be charged with developing plans for violence prevention and victim support. (Read more)

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