[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 52 (Wednesday, May 1, 2002)]
[House]
[Page H1772]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            MAKE EVERY MONTH SEXUAL ASSAULT AWARENESS MONTH

  (Ms. SCHAKOWSKY asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, the month of April, which was Sexual 
Assault Awareness Month, has come to an end. However, I propose that we 
make every month sexual assault awareness month until there is no 
longer a woman in this world who fears being raped or assaulted.
  We are devoting extensive resources to ending terror around the 
world, while at the same time 1 in 6 women continue to be terrorized by 
sexual assaults in their lifetime. Sadly, this is not new or shocking 
news as each year the statistics change very little.
  It is time to take a stand. It is time that we make ending violence 
against women a national priority. It is time that we devote the same 
amount of resources to ending a form of violence that terrorizes over 
half the population of this globe as we provide to the war on 
terrorism.
  We can do something about it today. There will be a motion to 
instruct today introduced by the gentlewoman from Colorado (Ms. 
DeGette) which will instruct conferees to agree that we should 
strengthen the Violence Against Women Office and make it independent 
within the Department of Justice. This will make sure that we put the 
kind of attention and resources that we need to stop violence against 
women.

                          ____________________