[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 65 (Friday, April 7, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E815]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                         STOP THE WAR ON WOMEN

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                          HON. GERRY E. STUDDS

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 6, 1995
  Mr. STUDDS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commend the Clothesline 
Project.
  Five years ago, after several Cape Codders had been assaulted by 
people they loved and trusted, they aired their dirty laundry.
  These women gathered in 1990 to create the Clothesline Project--a 
clothesline of 31 individually-crafted T-shirts bearing witness to 
violence each of them had experienced.
  After the initial showing of the Clothesline at a Take Back the Night 
Rally in Hyannis, MA, it grew quickly and grimly. A year later, I was 
proud to welcome the line, which then had over 1,000 shirts, to Capitol 
Hill. The display has now grown internationally to 35,000 shirts--a 
sign that, while we are finally beginning to come to terms with these 
physical and psychological scars, this is a tragedy of enormous 
proportions.
  These numbers are devastating, yet the work of the Clothesline 
Project ensures that the suffering of women and their families serves 
as a healing process for the abused and as an educating tool for our 
communities. Through this medium, nationally, public awareness of 
domestic violence has grown since the Clothesline Project last came to 
Washington.
  In 1994, Congress enacted the Violence Against Women Act as part of 
the omnibus crime bill. This legislation combined stricter penalties 
for domestic violence crimes with funding for programs to combat 
violence against women. While harsh sentences and new financial 
resources comprise a new commitment on the part of Congress to combat 
this war on women, they are obviously not enough to stop the bloodshed. 
This is why the Clothesline Project is so critical.
  While I hope for a day when we will no longer need T-shirts to heal 
the abused, I applaud the success of the Clothesline Project at helping 
raise public awareness about the tragedy of domestic violence.


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