[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 142 (Tuesday, October 4, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: October 4, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
            STOPPING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IN NORTHERN MICHIGAN

  (Mr. STUPAK asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. STUPAK. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to join with my colleagues in 
observing Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Having been a police 
officer for 12 years, I have seen way too much domestic violence, 
domestic violence that knows no boundaries, domestic violence that 
happens to poor women, it happens to rich women, it happens to women in 
the city, it happens to women in the country. Domestic violence is the 
leading cause of injury to women, causing more injuries than muggings, 
stranger rapes, and car accidents combined. For too long this country 
pretended that there was nothing we could do to stop the violence. But 
there is something we can all do.
  In my district, Mr. Speaker, there are many shelters that help out 
women, but I would like to mention two shelters: the Women's Resource 
Shelters in Traverse City, MI, and Marquette, MI. They have shelters to 
protect women fleeing abusive relationships. But they also provide 
crisis intervention and counseling services. In addition, they offer a 
men's program to help the men who batter, to help them to curtail their 
violent behavior at the time when they need some counseling. Violence 
prevention is another key aspect that must be stopped in domestic 
violence. The Women's Resource Centers teaches violence prevention 
programs in junior high schools in northern Michigan.
  Mr. Speaker, we can all stop this national tragedy.

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