[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 269 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 269

  Recognizing and supporting the goals and ideals of National Sexual 
                Assault Awareness and Prevention Month.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 6, 2017

      Mr. Reed (for himself, Ms. Speier, Mr. Brendan F. Boyle of 
Pennsylvania, Ms. Slaughter, Mr. Foster, Mrs. Napolitano, Ms. Clark of 
Massachusetts, Mr. Ryan of Ohio, Ms. Norton, Mr. Yarmuth, Ms. McCollum, 
Mr. Meehan, Mrs. Beatty, Mr. Soto, Mr. Khanna, Mr. Costa, Mr. Cook, Mr. 
  Cohen, Ms. Jayapal, Mr. McEachin, Ms. Rosen, Mr. Poe of Texas, Ms. 
Eshoo, Mr. Ted Lieu of California, Mr. Pocan, Mr. Grijalva, Ms. Jackson 
  Lee, Mr. Gallagher, Mr. Swalwell of California, Mr. Blumenauer, Mr. 
 Cardenas, Mr. Moulton, Ms. Jenkins of Kansas, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, 
  Mr. Cicilline, Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney of New York, Ms. Brownley of 
 California, Mr. Kind, Mr. Rush, Mr. Pearce, Mr. Lipinski, Mr. Raskin, 
  Mrs. Mimi Walters of California, Mrs. Demings, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. 
 Costello of Pennsylvania, Mr. Keating, Mr. Katko, Mr. Joyce of Ohio, 
  Mr. Faso, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Mr. Peters, Mr. Coffman, and Ms. 
Kuster of New Hampshire) submitted the following resolution; which was 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
  Recognizing and supporting the goals and ideals of National Sexual 
                Assault Awareness and Prevention Month.

Whereas on average, an individual is sexually assaulted in the United States 
        every 98 seconds, according to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National 
        Network;
Whereas on average, there are 321,500 rapes and sexual assaults each year in the 
        United States, according to the Department of Justice;
Whereas according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 1 in 
        5 women (or 18.3 percent) and 1 in 71 men (or 1.4 percent) surveyed in 
        the United States in 2010 experienced a rape or attempted rape at some 
        time in their lives;
Whereas sexual violence affects many individuals who serve the United States, 
        and the RAND Corporation estimates that approximately 20,300 members of 
        the United States Armed Forces experienced sexual assault in fiscal year 
        2014;
Whereas children and young adults are at significant risk of sexual assault, up 
        to 44 percent of sexual assault victims are under 18 years of age, and 
        the majority of sexual assault victims are under 30 years of age;
Whereas sexual assault affects women, men, and children of all racial, social, 
        religious, age, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups in the United States;
Whereas sexual violence may take many forms, including acquaintance, stranger, 
        spousal, and gang rape, incest, child sexual abuse, commercial sex 
        trafficking, sexual harassment, and stalking;
Whereas in addition to the immediate physical and emotional costs of sexual 
        assault, sexual assault has numerous adverse consequences, which can 
        include post-traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse, major 
        depression, homelessness, eating disorders, and suicide, according to 
        the National Alliance to End Sexual Violence;
Whereas many sexual assaults are not reported to law enforcement agencies and 
        many States have restrictive criminal statutes of limitations, which 
        enables many rapists to evade punishment for their crimes;
Whereas approximately 70 percent of sexual crimes are committed by individuals 
        who are known to the victim;
Whereas sexual assault survivors suffer emotional scars long after the physical 
        scars have healed;
Whereas DNA technology has enabled perpetrators to be identified and prosecuted 
        in many rape cases;
Whereas prosecution can lead to the incarceration of rapists and prevent those 
        individuals from committing additional crimes;
Whereas national, State, territorial, and tribal coalitions, community-based 
        rape crisis centers, and other organizations across the United States 
        are committed to--

    (1) serving survivors of sexual violence;

    (2) eliminating sexual violence through prevention and education; and

    (3) increasing public awareness of sexual violence and the prevalence 
of sexual violence;

Whereas according to the National Alliance to End Sexual Violence, 53 percent of 
        rape crisis centers have a waiting list for counseling services and rely 
        on Federal, State and local funding sources to provide services to 
        survivors and prevention activities in their communities;
Whereas student survivors in K-12 and postsecondary education need access to 
        accommodations and support and schools have a responsibility to respond 
        to and prevent sexual violence;
Whereas important partnerships have been formed among criminal and juvenile 
        justice agencies, health professionals, public health workers, 
        educators, first responders, and victim service providers;
Whereas thousands of volunteers and staff at rape crisis centers, State 
        coalitions against sexual assault, and nonprofit organizations across 
        the United States play an important role in making crisis hotlines and 
        other services available to survivors of sexual assault;
Whereas free, confidential help is available to all victims and survivors of 
        sexual assault through--

    (1) the National Sexual Assault Hotline (800-656-HOPE and 
online.rainn.org); and

    (2) more than 1,000 sexual assault service providers across the United 
States;

Whereas the DoD Safe Helpline, Safe HelpRoom, and Safe Helpline mobile app each 
        provide support and help to members of the Department of Defense 
        community--

    (1) by telephone at 877-995-5247; and

    (2) online at SafeHelpline.org;

Whereas individual and collective efforts reflect the dream of the people of the 
        United States--

    (1) for individuals and organizations to actively work to prevent all 
forms of sexual violence; and

    (2) for no sexual assault victim to be unserved or feel that there is 
no path to justice; and

Whereas April 2017, is recognized as ``National Sexual Assault Awareness and 
        Prevention Month'': Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That--
            (1) it is the sense of the House of Representatives that--
                    (A) National Sexual Assault Awareness and 
                Prevention Month provides a special opportunity to 
                educate the people of the United States about sexual 
                violence and to encourage sexual assault prevention 
                programs, improve the treatment of and services to 
                survivors of sexual assault, and the prosecution of 
                perpetrators;
                    (B) it is appropriate to properly acknowledge 
                survivors of sexual assault and to commend the 
                volunteers and professionals who assist those survivors 
                in their efforts to heal;
                    (C) national and community organizations and 
                private sector supporters should be recognized and 
                applauded for their work in promoting awareness about 
                sexual assault, providing information and treatment to 
                survivors of sexual assault, and increasing the number 
                of successful prosecutions of perpetrators of sexual 
                assault; and
                    (D) public safety, law enforcement, and health 
                professionals should be recognized and applauded for 
                their hard work and innovative strategies to ensure 
                perpetrators of sexual assault are held accountable; 
                and
            (2) the House of Representatives supports the goals and 
        ideals of National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention 
        Month.
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