IV 111th CONGRESS 1st Session H. RES. 735 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES September 10, 2009 Ms. Moore of Wisconsin (for herself, Mr. Ryan of Wisconsin, Mr. Kind, Ms. Baldwin, and Mr. Petri) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary RESOLUTION Commemorating the fourth annual Milwaukee Brides Walk and recognizing all Brides Walks held to protest against domestic violence.

Whereas the first Brides Walk was held in New York over 8 years ago in memory of Gladys Ricart, who was brutally murdered by an abusive ex-boyfriend on her wedding day as she was handing the floral bouquets to her bridesmaids; Whereas the first Brides Walk was started by Josie Ashton, a domestic violence advocate who put on her wedding dress and started a 1,600-mile march down the East Coast from New York; Whereas every year women across the world organize walks dressed as brides to not only remember Gladys Ricart, but to protest against domestic violence; Whereas domestic violence is the willful intimidation, assault, battery, sexual assault, or other abusive behavior perpetrated by an intimate partner against another, which includes women and men; Whereas 1 in 4 women will experience domestic violence during her lifetime; Whereas 1 in 5 women and 1 in 33 men have experienced an attempted or completed rape; Whereas on average, more than 3 women are murdered by their husbands or boyfriends in the United States every day; Whereas 1,247 women and 440 men were killed by an intimate partner in 2000; Whereas 30 percent of Americans say they know a woman who has been physically abused by her husband or boyfriend in the past year; Whereas roughly 300,000 to 400,000 men are treated violently by their wife or girlfriend; Whereas in Wisconsin in 2007, 37 individuals lost their lives at the hands of a current or former partner, or were present at the scene when domestic violence was occurring and lost their lives during the incident; Whereas in 2007, Wisconsin domestic abuse programs provided service to 28,655 women, 8,915 children, and 3,103 men; Whereas the Milwaukee Brides Walk was the first Brides Walk in the state of Wisconsin and took place on September 17, 2006, the second Brides Walk took place on September 16, 2007, and the third Brides Walk took place on September 14, 2008; and Whereas the purpose of the 2009 Milwaukee Brides Walk will be to honor the memory of deceased victims and promote awareness of domestic violence issues in the Latino community: Now, therefore, be it

That the House of Representatives commemorates the fourth annual Milwaukee Brides Walk and recognizes all Brides Walks held to protest against domestic violence, and honors the memories of all victims of domestic violence.