[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3921 Introduced in House (IH)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3921

 To provide grants for public information campaigns to educate racial 
    and ethnic minority communities and immigrant communities about 
                           domestic violence.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 27, 2005

  Ms. Solis (for herself, Mrs. Capito, and Mrs. Capps) introduced the 
  following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To provide grants for public information campaigns to educate racial 
    and ethnic minority communities and immigrant communities about 
                           domestic violence.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Domestic Violence Prevention, 
Education, and Awareness Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) Nearly one-third of American women report being 
        physically or sexually abused by a husband or boyfriend at some 
        point in their lives.
            (2) Family violence costs the nation between $5,000,000,000 
        and $10,000,000,000 each year in medical expenses, police and 
        court costs, shelters and foster care, sick leave, absenteeism, 
        and nonproductivity.
            (3) The United States is becoming increasingly 
        multicultural, and racial and ethnic minorities are expected to 
        constitute approximately 50 percent of the United States 
        population by 2050.
            (4) Two-thirds of female immigrants to the United States 
        originate from Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, and the 
        Middle East, and they migrate here to seek economic security, 
        reunify their families, or escape prosecution.
            (5) Racial and ethnic minority women and immigrant women 
        face unique challenges to reporting and getting help for 
        domestic violence.
            (6) Structural inequalities experienced by racial and 
        ethnic minority communities and immigrant communities, 
        including poverty and discrimination, may contribute to higher 
        rates of violence.
            (7) Problems of domestic violence are exacerbated for 
        immigrants when spouses control the immigration status of their 
        family members, and abusers use threats of refusal to file 
        immigration papers and threats to deport spouses and children 
        as powerful tools to prevent battered immigrant women from 
        seeking help, trapping battered immigrant women in violent 
        homes because of fear of deportation.
            (8) Many racial and ethnic minority women and immigrant 
        women face cultural barriers to reporting abuse or seeking help 
        for domestic violence, including but not limited to strong 
        religious beliefs that stress the importance of keeping family 
        intact, fear of dishonor, or a belief that negative events 
        occur regardless of attempts to prevent them.
            (9) Many racial and ethnic minority women and immigrant 
        women also face institutional barriers to reporting abuse or 
        seeking help for domestic violence, including but not limited 
        to restrictions on public assistance, limited access to 
        immigration relief, lack of translators or bilingual 
        professionals, little educational material in the woman's 
        native language, treatment programs that do not take into 
        account ethnic and cultural differences, prohibitive fee 
        structures, and inflexible or inconvenient hours of operation.

SEC. 3. GRANTS FOR PUBLIC INFORMATION CAMPAIGNS TO EDUCATE RACIAL AND 
              ETHNIC MINORITY COMMUNITIES AND IMMIGRANT COMMUNITIES 
              ABOUT DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.

    (a) In General.--From amounts made available to carry out this 
section, the Attorney General, acting through the Violence Against 
Women Office, shall make grants to public or private nonprofit 
entities, States, and Indian tribes and tribal organizations to carry 
out public information campaigns for the purpose of educating racial 
and ethnic minority communities and immigrant communities about 
domestic violence, including the effects of domestic violence, methods 
of preventing or reducing domestic violence, and services available to 
victims of domestic violence.
    (b) Use of Grant Amounts.--Grant amounts under this section may be 
used only to carry out public information campaigns for the purpose 
specified in subsection (a) and to provide staffing appropriate to 
carrying out the campaigns.
    (c) Elements of Campaigns.--Each public information campaign 
carried out under this section shall consist of one or more of the 
following elements:
            (1) Public service announcements.
            (2) Paid educational messages for print media.
            (3) Public transit advertising.
            (4) Electronic broadcast media.
            (5) Any other mode of conveying information that the 
        Attorney General determines to be appropriate.
    (d) Requirements for Grant.--The Attorney General may award a grant 
under this section to an applicant only if the Attorney General 
determines that--
            (1) the campaign will be carried out in consultation with 
        local domestic violence advocates or State domestic violence 
        coalitions;
            (2) the campaign is designed to be conducted in a 
        culturally sensitive manner using one or more culturally 
        appropriate languages;
            (3) the applicant has an adequate plan to test-market the 
        campaign with a relevant community or group in the relevant 
        geographic area, and will carry out that plan; and
            (4) the applicant will use effectiveness criteria in 
        carrying out the campaign and an evaluation component to 
        measure the effectiveness of the campaign.
    (e) Award Criteria.--In awarding grants under this section, the 
Attorney General shall consider the following criteria:
            (1) Whether the applicant has, or will be partnering with 
        an entity that has, a record of high quality campaigns of a 
        comparable type.
            (2) Whether the applicant has, or will be partnering with 
        an entity that has, a record of high quality campaigns that 
        educate the communities and groups at greatest risk of domestic 
        violence.
    (f) Application.--
            (1) In general.--To be eligible to receive a grant under 
        this section, a State or entity must submit to the Attorney 
        General an application that meets the requirements of paragraph 
        (2).
            (2) Requirements.--An application submitted under this 
        subsection shall be in such form, and submitted in such manner, 
        as the Attorney General may prescribe, and shall include the 
        following matters:
                    (A) A complete description of applicant's plan for 
                the proposed public information campaign.
                    (B) An identification of the specific communities 
                and groups to be educated by the campaign, and a 
                description of how the campaign will educate the 
                communities and groups at greatest risk of domestic 
                violence.
                    (C) The plans of the applicant with respect to 
                working with organizations that have expertise in 
                developing culturally appropriate informational 
                messages.
                    (D) A description of the geographic distribution of 
                the campaign.
                    (E) An identification of the media organizations 
                and other groups through which the campaign will be 
                carried out and any memorandum of understanding or 
                other agreement under which the campaign will be 
                carried out.
                    (F) A description of the nature, amount, 
                distribution, and timing of informational messages to 
                be used in the campaign.
                    (G) Such information and assurances as the Attorney 
                General may require to determine whether the 
                requirements specified in subsection (d) will be 
                satisfied, and whether the criteria specified in 
                subsection (e) apply.
                    (H) Such other information and assurances as the 
                Attorney General may require.
    (g) Definition.--For purposes of this section, the term ``State'' 
includes the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the 
Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and any other territory or 
possession of the United States.
    (h) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out this Act.
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