[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 153 (Wednesday, November 3, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H11448]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  WOMEN BORN INTO A WORLD OF VIOLENCE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Kelly) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. KELLY. Mr. Speaker, during the 5 minutes that I deliver this 
speech, 33 new lives will begin, 17 males and 16 females. They enter a 
world on the brink of the 21st century and where possibilities are 
limitless.
  Of the 16 females born during this speech, at least two will be the 
victim of rape or attempted rape, one of whom will be violated before 
she reaches the age of 18, five will be the victim of abuse by an 
intimate partner, and one will be stalked. She will join the ranks of 
the 1 million women who have been stalked this year. This is the world 
that these new lives are being brought into.
  As a former rape crisis counselor, I know firsthand the devastation 
caused by this type of violence. I have been in the emergency room when 
a raped woman has come in to be treated. I have seen the fear, the 
shock in these victims who have been so horribly violated. In 1998, 
forcible rape ranked third for violent crimes reported to law 
enforcement officials, but that number may be grossly underestimated 
because, according to the Justice Department, only one-third of all 
rapes are reported to the authorities.
  Over the last 2 years, as I worked to develop stronger antistalking 
legislation, I have met with the victims of stalking and heard of the 
damage brought on their lives because of the constant threat from a 
stalker.
  My legislation, which was marked up earlier this week in the 
Committee on the Judiciary, expands and broadens the definition of 
stalking to include interstate commerce.

                              {time}  1915

  This would include e-mail, telephone, and other forms of interstate 
communications as a means of stalking. In addition, it also expands the 
definition of immediate family to include persons who regularly reside 
with the victim.
  During the hearing on this bill, one stalking victim testified about 
her experiences with cyberstalking. This woman was stalked by three 
people she had contacted a year earlier to answer an ad for a 
children's book newsgroup. They were located in New York and claimed to 
be a literary agency looking for new authors. She called them, sent her 
proposal, and was asked for money for a reading fee. However, real 
agents do not charge for reading, editing or other fees. Later, she 
learned from other on-line writers that this so-called agency was a 
well-known on-line problem. When writers who actually paid this agency 
money came to her for help, she contacted the New York attorney 
general, who opened an investigation. Her stalking came as a 
retaliation for her part in that investigation.
  Stalking comes in all forms. It is not only a physical crime; it is 
also a psychological crime. For this victim, the psychological 
harassment ranged from prank phone calls to libelous messages about her 
being posted on the Internet. Physical threats came, too, for the 
victim, her family, and her lawyer. In an attempt to end this 
harassment and protect themselves, this victim and her husband moved to 
another State. Once there, they took their name off public records and 
directories and they have an unlisted phone number. However, this, too, 
proved futile. The stalking has continued.
  Just today alone, approximately 2,750 women will join this tragic 
sorority of women who have been stalked. Stalking takes many forms. 
Unfortunately, in this age of technology it has the ability to take on 
a nameless and faceless electronic form, where the perpetrator has the 
ability to invade every aspect of life.
  I look forward to seeing this legislation come before the House. 
Violence against women happens in many ways, physical and mental, by 
strangers and intimates. In this, these crimes share a common bond. And 
please listen to this: as I leave the House floor this evening, at the 
end of my 5-minute speech here, one more woman will have been raped.
  It is my hope that as a governing body and as a society we will be 
able to address and work to eliminate these horrible acts of violence. 
In doing so, we will make this world a safer and a kinder place for 
those 33 new lives born these last 5 minutes.

                          ____________________