[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 35 (Thursday, March 24, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: March 24, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
        THE KYL SEXUAL ASSAULT AMENDMENT TO H.R. 4092 INTRODUCED

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                              HON. JON KYL

                               of arizona

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 24, 1994

  Mr. KYL. Mr. Chairman, even though H.R. 4092, the proposed crime bill 
recently reported out of the Judiciary Committee, provides a beginning 
for reform of sexual violence laws. However, there are critical 
omissions in the bill which must be addressed. I am offering an 
amendment to this bill, currently awaiting a House rule, to effectively 
deal with the issue of sexual violence.
  My amendment will add provisions to H.R. 4092 to help combat sexual 
violence crimes and provide for equal protection in court for victims 
of these crimes. Most of the provisions of the amendment I have offered 
will come from H.R. 688, the Sexual Assault Prevention Act, introduced 
earlier in the year by Representative Susan Molinari and myself. H.R. 
688 is cosponsored by 112 House Members, both Democrats and 
Republicans.
  Specifically, my amendment will: provide for pretrial detention in 
serious sex offense cases; increase authorized penalties for repeat sex 
offenders, repeat child abusers and for drug distribution to pregnant 
women; increase sentencing guidelines for sex offenses; require HIV 
testing of defendants in Federal sex offense cases with disclosure of 
test results to the victim (test results may not be used against that 
defendant in State or Federal trials); authorize courts to enforce 
restitution orders by suspending Federal benefits, including grants, 
contracts, loans and licenses for offenders who refuse to comply with 
restitution obligations; protect the victim's right to an impartial 
jury by equalizing the number of peremptory challenges accorded to the 
defense and to the prosecution in feloney cases; allow for evidence of 
similar crimes in sex offense cases, including child molestation; make 
inadmissible evidence showing provocation or invitation by victim in 
sex offense cases; and, provide for the right of the victim to fair 
treatment in legal proceedings.

  Similar pretrial detention, Federal suspension of benefits and 
Federal Rules of Evidence provisions have been incorporated into the 
Senate-passed crime bill.
  The Federal Rules of Evidence provision of the amendment will go a 
long way toward helping to neutralize the psychological damage a rape 
victim often experiences going through the judicial process and will 
provide a model upon which states can base reforms of their own rules 
of evidence. My amendment would specifically broaden admissibility of 
evidence in Federal court to allow evidence showing the accused sex 
offender had committed offenses of the same type on other occasions and 
would make it more difficult to admit evidence of past conduct of the 
victim if it has nothing to do with the issue of consent to act that is 
the subject of the prosecution.
  In rape and child molestation cases, allowing the admission of 
evidence is critical to the integrity of the judicial process. In most 
rape cases, it is the word of the defendant against the word of the 
victim. If the defendant has committed similar acts in the past, the 
claims of the victim are more likely to be considered truthful if there 
is substantiation of other assaults.
  It is also common in rape and child molestation cases that the victim 
is too traumatized, intimidated, or humiliated to file a complaint and 
go through the full course of proceedings of a criminal prosecution. 
Nevertheless, the victims in such cases are often willing to bear the 
burden of testifying when they find out that the person who marred 
their lives has also victimized others.
  As the co-chair of the Republican study committee women's task force, 
I have held a number of hearings dealing with sexual violence. At those 
hearings, witnesses testified that the most important thing we can do 
to protect and empower our citizens from sexual and domestic violence 
is by restructuring our criminal justice system, including increasing 
penalties for offenders.

  Paul McNulty, former director of policy at the Department of Justice, 
said at one of the hearings, ``Given what we know about the recidivist 
nature of sex offenders, you might think that the criminal justice 
system does all that it can to keep them in prison. Unfortunately, 
nothing could be further from the truth. The majority of those who are 
arrested for rape are not sentenced to prison. Only 33 percent of all 
such arrestees go to prison. For those who are sent to prison, only a 
fraction of their sentences are actually served. It is, therefore, 
quite clear that the most effective way to prevent sexual assault is to 
punish violent criminals by removing them from the streets. That is why 
we strongly endorse H.R. 688. As Attorney General William Barr stated 
last year when discussing this bill, ``It brings criminals to justice 
and justice to victims.''
  For the millions of individuals who are victims of sexual violence 
every year, the Congress should take the opportunity to strengthen 
sexual violence laws by supporting my amendment. It is the only way we 
will begin to remove violent sex offenders from our streets and our 
communities and increase the rights of the victim.

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