Washington
A spat between the congressman, whose district is home to the largest Native American tribe in Virginia, and the bill’s sponsor, outgoing Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D.-N.D., has played out publicly over the last week.
In a tweet, Heitkamp, who narrowly lost her bid for re-election, urged people to ask their representatives to pressure Goodlatte to clear the way for the bill, which the Senate passed unanimously earlier this month.
It stalled in the House because Goodlatte, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, declined to bring it up for a vote. House Republican leaders could directly bring Heitkamp’s measure to the floor, bypassing Goodlatte, but so far have declined to do so.
A spokeswoman for Goodlatte did not respond to a message seeking comment on Thursday.
But Goodlatte told The Roanoke Times he supports the intent of the bill but objects to a provision that would give preference to certain law enforcement agencies to apply for grants to try to reduce the number of missing and murdered Native women. The congressman, who did not seek re-election this year after 13 terms in office, said Heitkamp’s attempt to pressure him was “just ridiculous.”
The bill’s apparent demise comes days after another debacle for the Republican-led Congress on the issue of protecting abuse victims.
Last Friday, a deadlock over President Donald Trump’s border wall plunged the federal government into a partial shutdown, leading to the expiration of the Violence Against Women Act, the 1994 law that provides funding for programs that help victims of sexual assault, domestic abuse and stalking.
With the House adjourned until further notice, it appears unlikely that Heitkamp’s measure, known as Savanna’s Act, will receive a vote before the new session of Congress begins on Jan. 3. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, D-Alaska, has said she would reintroduce it then.
“It’s disappointing that one Republican member of Congress blocked Savanna’s Act from passing this year,” Heitkamp said in a statement. “But fortunately, Rep. Goodlatte won’t be around to block it in the new Congress.”
The offices of House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Thursday.
Heitkamp’s bill is named after Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind, a 22-year-old pregnant woman killed by a woman who wanted to abduct her baby.
It would direct the Department of Justice to boost data-collection efforts on crimes against Native Americans, expand tribal access to federal crime information databases, and establish guidelines for law enforcement in responding to cases of missing or murdered Native Americans.