More than $130 million is expected to be made available to tribes to help Native American and Alaska Native crime victims. Advocates say those victims have long been largely left out of a federal funding program.
The appropriation for tribes is tucked into the $1.3 trillion federal spending measure that Congress passed last week. The bill has increases in funding for several Native American programs and services, including some that not long ago faced the prospect of drastic funding cutbacks.
Juana Majel Dixon is the co-chair of a National Congress of American Indians task force on addressing violence against women. She says that for nearly two decades, she and others have asked Congress to set aside money for victim services in Indian Country under the Victims of Crime Act fund.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
