For Immediate Release
Feb. 19, 2020
Media Contact: Elizabeth (Liz) Gray
O: (918) 549-2453
C: (918) 758-8106
egray@muscogeenation.com
MCN Department provides transport to Lobby Day at state capitol
Rally in support of MMIP legislation
OKLAHOMA CITY — The Muscogee (Creek) Nation Transit Department provided a charter bus for citizens to join advocacy groups to support state legislation that would address human trafficking and Missing and Murdered Indigenous People Feb. 17 at the State Capitol Building in Oklahoma City.
The rally coincided with the Cheyenne & Arapaho Tribes Recognition and Legislative Lobby Day hosted inside of the Capitol building on the Second Floor Rotunda.
Three state House Bills related to MMIP were the primary focus. Attendees were encouraged to “hit the ground” and lobby legislators to gain legs for the bills’ passage.
HB 2847, sponsored by Reps. Daniel Pae, Logan Phillips and Senator Michael Brooks, would create a Red Alert system similar to the Amber Alert and Silver Alert system already in place. The new system would send out a notification anytime an Indigenous person goes missing in Oklahoma.
HB 2848, sponsored by Pae and Brooks would require CLEET certification training of law enforcement on the subject of MMIP and cultural sensitivity.
HB 3345, known as Ida’s Law, named after Cheyenne & Arapaho member Ida Beard who has been missing since 2015. The bill was introduced by Rep. Mickey Dollens and would establish a position that specializes in coordinating communication and any jurisdictional issues when an Indigenous person goes missing, to ensure their information is placed into the national database within 72 hours of a missing person report.
There is a little under two weeks left for these pieces of legislation to be addressed.
To contact your state legislator to discuss any of the above bills, visit: www.oklegislature.gov/FindMyLegislature.aspx.
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