2.  As tribal chairman of the Pechanga Band of
Luiseño Indians, Mark Macarro supports efforts
to keep Pechanga culture alive, and leads a
team of elected officials in upholding bylaws
and ordinances. Mark Macarro also serves on
the Pacific region board of governors for the
National Congress of American Indians (NCAI),
which recently announced information
concerning tribal efforts to end violence
against women.
On Dec. 3, 2014, Vice President Joe Biden
joined over 300 tribal leaders at the sixth
annual White House Tribal Nations Conference.

3.  A longtime supporter of women’s rights in regard to
violence and domestic abuse, Biden authored the original
Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) in 1994. The act
improved criminal justice response to violence against
women by holding rapists accountable and ensuring
victims received protection.
During the conference, discussions focused on initiatives
enacted in 2013 which included updates to the VAWA
that allow tribal governments to prosecute non-Indian
domestic offenders. The amendments were designed to
address occurrences of violence against women in Indian
Country and provide tribal governments with the right to
play a more direct role in bringing non-Indian offenders to
justice.

4.  When VAWA 2013 became law on March 7,
2014, the vice president urged tribal
governments to fully utilize their new rights to
prosecute these offenders.
In addition, Biden spoke of further initiatives to
protect native women from violence, such as
granting tribes in Alaska the same authority to
prosecute offenders. He also expressed interest
in expanding the current provision to allow
tribal government to prosecute sexual assaults
and other crimes. Currently, the VAWA 2013
only covers the prosecution of domestic
crimes.

5.  Vice President Biden called on Congress
to appropriate the VAWA 2013’s
authorized grants to implement the law.
The grants amount to a total of $25
million.