Office of Tribal Justice Acting Director Daron Carreiro Delivers Opening Statement at the House Appropriation Committee's Hearing on Investigating the Crisis of Missing and[...]

Good afternoon, Chairman Simpson, Ranking Member Pingree and Members of the Subcommittee. My name is Daron Carreiro, I am currently serving as the Acting Director of the Justice Department's Office of Tribal Justice. Thank you for the invitation to speak with you today

I want to express the department's gratitude for the ongoing work of this committee to address issues like public safety and justice, Missing or Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP), health care and so many others that are at the core of our solemn responsibility to uphold federal trust and treaty obligations to Tribal Nations.

MMIP - in particular - is not an issue that can be addressed by a single agency, so the department is especially grateful for the partnerships that enable our work. These include partnerships with Tribal Nations, Congress, other federal agencies - including my colleagues sitting here today - state and local governments, as well as advocates like those appearing on the panel before this one.

Today, I want to highlight the department's recent progress and successes to address MMIP and other public safety issues, recognizing earlier comments about improvements that can be made and acknowledging that there is far more to be done.

First, I will highlight operational work from key components like the U.S. Attorneys' Offices, FBI and others. Second, I will describe some our recent grantmaking efforts to strengthen Tribal law enforcement and Tribal public safety and justice systems.

Starting with our own operational work, one of our key components are the U.S. Attorneys' Offices throughout the country, 51 of which have Indian country jurisdiction. These are the federal prosecutors responsible for prosecuting violent crime, sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse and other Indian country crimes.

Now, to briefly highlight some recent initiatives:

In June 2023, the department established its MMIP Regional Outreach Program. The program places five MMIP Regional Coordinators and five MMIP Assistant U.S. Attorneys in five designated regions across the United States. Their sole responsibility is to work on MMIP issues through three core areas: case work, outreach and training - and this year they've had successes in each area. They work closely with Tribal leaders and Tribal, state and local law enforcement, as well as with the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)'s Missing and Murdered Unit.

Our U.S. Attorneys' Offices also house Tribal Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys - Tribal SAUSAs. These are Tribal prosecutors - in other words, Tribal employees cross-designated in federal courts to collaborate more closely with federal prosecution efforts. They are also empowered to prosecute cases in either federal or Tribal court. Consistent with recommendations from the Not Invisible Act Commission, the department has sought to expand the designation of Tribal SAUSAs, encouraging U.S. Attorney's Offices to integrate them into regular operations and assisting Tribes to leverage Justice Department grant funding to fund Tribal SAUSA positions.

On the operational side, that is some of the recent work coming out of the U.S. Attorneys' Offices.

My written testimony submitted today contains greater detail about the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the U.S. Marshals Service, including efforts to surge agents and law enforcement resources into Indian Country.

I do want to highlight one initiative in particular - and that is the FBI's Operation Not Forgotten. For three months this summer, the FBI pulled resources from all over the country and surged them into Indian country through "Operation Not Forgotten" to focus on unresolved cases. It deployed 51 FBI personnel in support of this operation, including 47 agents. For the first time ever, this surge was a joint operation with the Department of the Interior's Missing and Murdered Unit.

In just three months, this surge tackled over 300 investigations, leading to over 40 arrests; 11 indictments; and the identification and recovery of nine child victims. In addition, over 400 victims and next-of-kin impacted by these cases were provided support by FBI victim service specialists.

That covers some of our recent and ongoing operational work.

I'm going to turn now to the important role that the Justice Department the plays in funding Tribal Nations' own law enforcement and public safety and justice programs. Whereas BIA is responsible for base funding for Tribes - covering basic law enforcement and justice operations - the Justice Department provides supplemental funding through grants, using three grant making offices in particular: (1) Office of Community Oriented Policing Services; (2) Office on Violence Against Women; (3) and the Office of Justice Programs.

Together these offices awarded $210 million to Tribes last month - that's nearly a quarter of a billion dollars for law enforcement officers, equipment, tribal courts, Tribal SAUSAs and victim services, including a new Healing and Response Team Initiative in direct response to recommendations of the Not Invisible Act Commission.

The department remains committed to improving the way we provide funding support to Tribal Nations. We continually meet with Tribes to receive input on our grantmaking processes. We make improvements every year based on that feedback. Currently, we are engaged in formal consultation with Tribal leaders on potential legislative changes that could help strengthen our grantmaking programs.

Chairman Simpson, Ranking Member Pingree and Members of the Subcommittee - thank you again for the opportunity to be here today. I look forward to answering any questions you may have.

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