[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 33 (Friday, March 14, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Page S2333]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




[[Page S2333]]



           DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IDENTIFICATION AND REFERRAL ACT

 Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I am pleased to join with Senator 
Boxer as a cosponsor of the Domestic Violence Identification and 
Referral Act. With the passage of the Violence Against Women Act in the 
1994 crime bill, Congress addressed the need to educate law 
enforcement, judges, and prosecutors about how to deal with situations 
of domestic violence. However, in this important piece of legislation, 
Congress overlooked a major resource in the battle against domestic 
violence--our health care professionals. Doctors, nurses, and others in 
health professions are often the first to see the effects of battering 
and are often in the best position to stop the cycle of violence before 
it goes any further.
  While domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to women, many 
doctors, and nurses are unaware or unsure of the symptoms, treatment, 
and means of preventing domestic violence. In 1992, a Surgeon General's 
report cited a study showing 35 percent of the women who visit hospital 
emergency rooms were there because of ongoing abuse. Additionally, the 
study found that only 5 percent of the abused women were actually 
identified as such. A 1995 issue of the Journal of the American Medical 
Association [JAMA] determined that little had changed since the earlier 
study and that doctors still failed to identify women who were injured 
as a result of domestic violence.
  In a June 17, 1992, issue of the Journal of the American Medical 
Association Dr. Richard F. Jones III, the then-president of the 
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists [ACOG], related how 
for years he had missed the obvious signs of physical abuse in women 
patients. He had been asking the wrong questions and failed to elicit 
the true cause of their injuries. Only when he started asking these 
women directly if they were victims of physical abuse did the truth 
emerge.
  Similarly, according to an article in a November 1995 issue of 
American Medicine, 60 percent of those graduating from medical schools 
felt that an insufficient amount of attention within the medical school 
curriculum was given to the issue of family and domestic violence.
  Since Senator Boxer, Representative Morella, and I introduced the 
Domestic Violence Identification and Referral Act in 1992, the medical 
community has taken many steps to increase outreach and education on 
the issue of domestic violence. However, as these studies show, the 
fact is that when it comes to domestic violence, the bruises and 
abrasions get dressed, but the cause goes unaddressed. Doctors miss the 
signs of domestic violence early on and then often miss them again when 
they have become catastrophic.
  The Domestic Violence Identification and Referral Act provides 
incentives for medical schools to provide significant training in 
identifying, treating and referring victims of domestic violence. The 
legislation will give preference in awarding grants under the health 
professions education titles of the Public Health Services Act to 
schools that have incorporated training in domestic violence into their 
curriculum.
  The title VII and title VIII grant programs, singled out in the bill, 
are demonstration grants and makeup but a small part of the hundreds of 
millions of Federal dollars that go to medical schools for state-of-
the-art medical education. It seems to me to be self-evident that if we 
give medical schools this sort of funding, they should at least give 
some time to addressing the No. 1 cause of injury to women.
  In drafting this legislation we worked closely with doctors, nurses, 
medical schools, and domestic violence groups. The Association of 
American Medical Colleges, American College of Obstetricians and 
Gynecologists, the American Medical Women's Association, the National 
Coalition Against Domestic Violence, AYUDA, NOW Legal Defense Fund, 
American Nurses Association, National League For Nursing, Association 
of Reproductive Health Professionals, and the Family Violence 
Prevention Fund, among others, have voiced their support for this 
legislation.
  I thank the many groups that assisted in drafting this legislation 
and Senator Boxer for her leadership in this matter. I urge the 
Congress to pass this important piece of legislation this year.
 Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, Senator Wyden has been added as a 
cosponsor to S. 101, the Domestic Violence Identification and Referral 
Act.
  Senator Wyden is the original author of this legislation, of which I 
am proud to be the Senate sponsor. He wrote it while he was a member of 
the House of Representatives, and has been the driving force behind 
this very important legislation. I was honored in the 103d Congress, 
when he asked me to introduce the Senate companion version.
  Since Senator Wyden's election to the Senate last year, we have 
worked hand-in-hand on this legislation. I look forward to working 
together in the 105th Congress to finally bring this bill to 
passage.

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