In a Tuesday House Budget Committee hearing on the Biden administration’s budget request for fiscal 2022, ranking member Dave Joyce (R-Ohio) said he was “encouraged” by Haaland’s announcement of a unit dedicated to missing and murdered indigenous people within the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Haaland praised Operation Lady Justice, the DOJ task force, and said it was initially budgeted at $1 million. The Missing and Murdered Unit, she testified, would have an increased budget of $6 million.
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Joyce also asked Haaland, the first Indigenous Cabinet secretary, for further details on what work the new unit would perform.
“There’s been a lot of engagement across the government — we felt that it was important for this unit to provide the leadership that it needs so everyone is moving in the same direction,” Haaland replied. “The new unit will improve coordination within and outside of the [Bureau of Indian Affairs] to make sure that we’re not missing anything.”