Committee Hearings Later This Week Investigate Utah National Monument Cuts, Ways to Address the Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women Crisis
Washington, D.C. – On Wednesday, March 13, the full Natural Resources Committee will meet for a hearing at 10:00 a.m. Eastern time titled Forgotten Voices: The Inadequate Review and Improper Alteration of Our National Monuments. On Thursday, March 14, the Subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples of the United States will meet at 10:00 a.m. Eastern time for a hearing titled Unmasking the Hidden Crisis of Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women (MMIW): Exploring Solutions to End the Cycle of Violence.
The Wednesday and Thursday hearings follow two previously noticed hearings happening this Tuesday.
The Wednesday hearing will be livestreamed at http://bit.ly/2CiifuG. The Thursday hearing will be livestreamed athttp://bit.ly/2HqPtex.
The Department of the Interior received more than 2.8 million public comments in response to its illegal decision to shrink Bears Ears National Monument and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument – with the overwhelming majority rejecting any changes. Witnesses at the Wednesday hearing will speak to the Trump administration’s failure to gather input from local communities and tribal governments or conduct any genuine review process. The hearing will also examine the motivations behind Trump’s executive order to shrink the sites.
American Indian and Alaska Native women have murder rates 10 times the national average, yet cases of missing and murdered women are often ignored due to a lack of comprehensive missing person data-collection to support their cases. Thursday’s hearing will be the first of its kind as witnesses share their experiences and highlight the tangible solutions needed to end the cycle of violence against Native women.
Thursday’s hearing is previewed in a new Natural Resources Committee video featuring Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), who chairs the Subcommittee, and Rep. Deb Haaland (D-N.M.), vice chair of the full Committee. The video is available at http://bit.ly/2u20gUI.
Full witness lists are available below. As with all hearings, both events are open to media and the public.
Full Committee Hearing
Hearing: Forgotten Voices: The Inadequate Review and Improper Alteration of Our National Monuments
When: Wednesday, March 13 at 10:00 a.m. Eastern time
Where: Longworth 1324
Livestream: http://bit.ly/2CiifuG
Witness List
Panel 1
Majority Witnesses
Mr. Ed Roberson
Utah State Director, Bureau of Land Management
The Honorable Tony Small
Vice Chairman, Ute Indian Tribe
The Honorable Carleton Bowekaty
Lieutenant Governor, Pueblo of Zuni
The Honorable Clark W. Tenakhongva
Vice Chairman, The Hopi Tribe
Minority Witness
Ms. Kathleen Clarke
Director, Public Lands Coordinating Office, State of Utah
Panel 2
Ms. Dana Waggoner
Owner, Escalante Outfitters
Ms. Nicole Croft
Executive Director, Grand Staircase Escalante Partners
Dr. P. David Polly
Immediate Past President, Society of Vertebrate Paleontology
Minority Witnesses
The Honorable Leland Pollock
Commission Chairperson, Garfield County, Utah
Ms. Suzette Morris
Member, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, White Mesa, Utah
Subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples of the United States
Hearing: Unmasking the Hidden Crisis of Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women (MMIW): Exploring Solutions to End the Cycle of Violence
When: Thursday, March 14, at 10:00 a.m. Eastern time
Where: Longworth 1324
Livestream: http://bit.ly/2HqPtex
Witness List
Majority Witnesses
Sarah Deer, Muscogee (Creek) Nation
International & Interdisciplinary Studies - Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies, School of Public Affairs & Administration
Professor, University of Kansas
Ruth Buffalo Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation
Representative, North Dakota House of Representatives
Deborah Parker, Tulalip/Yaqui
Board Member, National Indigenous Women Resource Center
Tami Jerue, Anvik Tribe
Alaska Native Women’s Resource Center
Minority Witnesses
To be announced
Press Contact
Adam Sarvana
(202) 225-6065 or (202) 578-6626 mobile
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