[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 37 (Tuesday, March 20, 2001)]
[House]
[Page H994]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Roybal-Allard) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD. Mr. Speaker, I rise to join my colleagues in the 
women's caucus to add my strong support to the struggle against 
domestic violence.
  It is important for all Americans to understand we are all impacted 
by this violence, even if we are not directly victims. Domestic 
violence undermines the very foundation of our American society, the 
family. And it undermines our quality of life of all of us because in 
one way or another our society pays the price, through the increased 
homelessness, substance abuse, dependence on welfare, juvenile 
delinquency, and lower productivity in our workplaces that often 
results from domestic violence.
  These negative effects are documented by research which shows that 
domestic violence dramatically affects a woman's ability to work and 
support herself and her children. This often forces her to rely on 
welfare, or even worse, to return to her batterer for financial 
support.
  To help stop this cycle of violence, I will once again introduce the 
Battered Women's Employment Protection Act, which will help abused 
women retain their jobs and the financial independence necessary to 
escape a violent environment.
  This act achieves these goals by allowing employed victims of 
domestic violence, without penalty, access to reasonable time off from 
work in order to seek legal and medical assistance, make necessary 
court appearances, and attend to personal security.
  Further, to ensure that battered women can remain financially 
independent, it requires states to provide unemployment benefits to 
women who are forced to leave their work as a result of domestic 
violence.
  For women attempting to escape abuse, these safeguards are often a 
matter of life and death. Our society cannot afford to ignore this 
crisis of violence in so many of our families. Nor can we afford to 
continue paying the price of its ultimate consequences. I will continue 
to fight in the 107th Congress to get these provisions enacted into 
law, and I hope my colleagues and all Americans will join me.

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