[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 52 (Tuesday, March 21, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S4210]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


      PRESIDENT CLINTON IMPLEMENTS THE VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ACT

  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, earlier today, President Clinton took a 
major step toward effective implementation of the new Violence Against 
Women Act, which was enacted as part of the omnibus crime control law 
last year.
  President Clinton established a new Violence Against Women Office at 
the Department of Justice, and appointed former Iowa Attorney General 
Bonnie Campbell as Director of the Office. Ms. Campbell was the first 
woman to hold the office of attorney general in Iowa, and in that 
capacity, authored one of the Nation's first antistalking laws.
  President Clinton also announced $26 million in State grants and a 
toll-free domestic violence hotline. I was proud to be a strong 
supporter of the act and to be the Senate sponsor of the hotline.
  I commend the President for taking this important step in the fight 
to end violent crimes against women. The rates of violent crimes 
committed against women continue to rise. Nationwide a woman is beaten 
every 15 seconds. Three to four million women a year are victims of 
family violence. In Massachusetts last year, a woman was murdered every 
16 days, and in this year alone, 17 women have been murdered as a 
result of domestic violence.
  It is clear that far more needs to be done to stop this violence. One 
of the most effective measures is to improve our methods of law 
enforcement and do more to prosecute and convict the perpetrators of 
these crimes.
  The Violence Against Women Act provides $1.6 billion over the next 6 
years to combat such violence. Included in those funds are grants to 
States to train and hire more police and prosecutors for domestic 
violence or sexual assault units, open new crisis centers for victims, 
hire advocates and crisis counselors, and improve lighting for unsafe 
streets and parks.
  These grants are a critical part of a comprehensive new effort to 
combat violence against women. Police need better training, so that 
they will make arrests when the situation warrants. Prosecutors need 
better training in how to work with victims, using victims' advocates 
when possible. Judges need to understand that domestic violence and 
other attacks against women are serious crimes. Often, when women are 
abused or beaten, the police, prosecutors, and judges fail to take the 
crimes seriously enough. As a result, many women are reluctant to call 
the police or seek help in other ways. These grants will help States 
address these problems.
  This new law is the first comprehensive Federal effort to deal with 
violence against women. It protects the rights of victims. It makes it 
a Federal offense to cross State lines to abuse a fleeing spouse or 
partner. It gives victims of violent crime or sexual abuse the right to 
speak at the sentencing hearings of their assailants. It prohibits 
those facing a restraining order on domestic abuse from possessing a 
firearm.
  I am particularly gratified by the restoration of the national, toll-
free domestic violence hotline, which will be administered by the 
Department of Health and Human Services. Before the hotline was shut 
down for lack of funds in 1992, it averaged over 180 calls a day, or 
65,000 calls a year, during the 5 years it was in operation. The 
hotline is a lifeline for women in danger. The nationwide system will 
enable any woman in trouble to call an 800 number and be advised by a 
trained counselor on what to do immediately and where to go for help in 
her area.
  I commend President Clinton for his leadership in implementing this 
law, and I look forward to working with the administration to continue 
to fight to end the tragedy of violence against women.


                          ____________________