[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]

 
             VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ACT--JUST THE BEGINNING

  (Mrs. SCHROEDER asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Mrs. SCHROEDER. Mr. Speaker, at this time last year, 43 people in the 
State of Colorado died in domestic violence related incidents since 
January 1993. Here in D.C., and around the country, children are 
reacting to the slightest provocation with violence. Often children are 
in danger in their schools. They see violence on television, and in the 
movies. But nothing is more real than the violence in their homes.
  Almost one-fifth of all aggravated assaults reported to the police 
are aggravated assaults in the home. Violence will occur at least once 
in two-thirds of all marriages. We can only crack the culture of 
violence children grow up in if we address the violence in their homes. 
Domestic violence is a crime that has been ignored by police and 
prosecutors, and disregarded by judges. Between 22 and 35 percent of 
women who visit the emergency rooms are there because of symptoms 
related to on-going abuse. Violent homes are a breeding ground for 
abused children and later, if they receive no help, violent adults.
  The crime bill, which was signed into law last month, included the 
Violence Against Women Act, legislation designed to address domestic 
violence. A lot of us think of home as the safest of places, but for 
victims of domestic violence and their children, home is the most 
dangerous place of all. With the passage of the Violence Against Women 
Act, cities, judges, communities, and advocates now have the tools 
necessary to begin to change that.

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