[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 4 (Friday, January 10, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S192-S193]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 UNBORN VICTIMS OF VIOLENCE ACT OF 2003

  Mr. DeWINE. Mr. President, I rise today to speak, once again, on 
behalf of unborn children. Unborn children are the silent victims of 
violent crimes. Today, along with my distinguished colleagues, Senator 
Graham of South Carolina, Senator Voinovich, Senator Brownback, Senator 
Ensign, Senator Enzi, Senator Inhofe, Senator Nickles, Senator 
Santorum, and Senator Fitzgerald, we will once again introduce the 
Unborn Victims of Violence Act, which would hold victims liable for 
conduct that injures or kills an unborn child by creating a separate 
Federal offense for unborn children. I thank my colleagues for their 
support in this effort. I want to recognize especially Senator Graham 
of South Carolina who championed this cause so successfully last year 
on the House side. He has worked tirelessly to see that the most 
vulnerable in our society are in fact protected.
  Mr. President, our bill, which is similar to the legislation that we 
sponsored in the 106th and 107th Congresses, would establish new 
criminal penalties for anybody injuring or killing a fetus while 
committing certain Federal offenses. Therefore, this bill would make 
the death or injury of an unborn child during the commission of certain 
existing Federal crimes a separate crime under Federal law and under 
the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
  Mr. President, 26 of our States already have criminalized the killing 
and injuring of unborn victims during a crime. Our bill, the Unborn 
Victims of Violence Act, simply acknowledges that violent acts against 
unborn babies are also criminal when the assailant is committing a 
Federal crime.
  We live in a violent world and, sadly, sometimes--perhaps more often 
than we realize--even unborn babies are the targets, intended or 
otherwise, of violent acts. Let me give some very disturbing examples.
  In 1996, airman Gregory Robbins and his family were stationed in my 
home State of Ohio at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton. At 
that time, Mrs. Robbins was more than 8 months pregnant with a daughter 
who they named Jasmine. On September 12, 1996, in a fit of rage, Airman 
Robbins wrapped his fist in a T-shirt and savagely beat his wife by 
striking her repeatedly about the head and the abdomen. Fortunately, 
Mrs. Robbins survived the violent assault. Tragically, her uterus 
ruptured during the attack, expelling the baby into her abdominal 
cavity, causing Jasmine's death.
  Air Force prosecutors sought to prosecute Airman Robbins for 
Jasmine's death, but found that neither the Uniform Code of Military 
Justice nor the Federal code makes criminal such an act which results 
in the death or injury of an unborn child. No Federal law covered that 
act. The only available Federal offense was for the simple assault on 
the mother. This was a case in which the only available Federal penalty 
simply did not fit the crime.
  Now, fortunately, Ohio had at the time, and still does, a fetal 
homicide act. So Federal prosecutors were able to bootstrap the Ohio 
fetal homicide law under the Federal law to convict Airman Robbins of 
Jasmine's death. Upon appeal, the Federal appeals court upheld the 
lower court's ruling.
  Mr. President, if it hadn't been for the Ohio law that was already in 
place, there would have been no opportunity for the Federal prosecutors 
to prosecute and punish Airman Robbins for the assault against baby 
Jasmine. That is one reason we need a Federal remedy to avoid having to 
bootstrap Federal laws to provide recourse when a violent act occurs 
during the commission of a Federal crime. If this had been a crime that 
occurred on a Federal enclave in a State that did not have a similar 
law--and there are 24 States that don't--there would have been no 
remedy, and there is no remedy today. Federal prosecutors have no 
remedy in those situations today. Our bill would rectify that.

  A Federal remedy will ensure that crime within Federal jurisdictions 
against unborn victims are, in fact, punished. Our bill also ensures 
that if certain Federal crimes are committed anywhere in the United 
States and they result in the death of a child, Federal prosecutors 
will be able to file charges.
  Let me give you another example of another tragedy. In August 1999, 
Shiwona Pace of Little Rock, AR, was days away from giving birth. She 
was thrilled about her pregnancy, but her boyfriend, Eric Bullock, did 
not share the joy and enthusiasm. In fact, Eric wanted the baby to die. 
So he hired three thugs to beat his girlfriend so badly that she lost 
the unborn child. According to Shiwona, who testified in a Senate 
Judiciary Committee hearing we held in Washington in February of 2000:

       I begged and pleaded for the life of my unborn child, but 
     they showed me no mercy. In fact, one of them told me, ``your 
     baby is dying tonight.'' I was choked, hit in the face with a 
     gun, slapped, punched, and kicked repeatedly in the stomach. 
     One of them even put a gun in my mouth and threatened to 
     shoot.

  Mr. President, in this particular case, this particular tragedy, just 
a few short weeks before this vicious attack, Arkansas had passed its 
fetal protection act. Under that Arkansas State law, Eric Bullock was 
convicted on February 9, 2001, of capital murder against Shiwona's 
unborn child and sentenced to life in prison without parole. He was 
also convicted of first degree battery for harm against Shiwona.
  In yet another example--this one in Columbus, OH--16-year-old Sean 
Steele was found guilty of two counts of murder for the death of his 
girlfriend, Barbara ``Bobbie'' Watkins, age 15, and her 22-week-old 
unborn child. He was convicted under Ohio's unborn victims law, which 
represented the first murder conviction in Franklin County, OH, in 
which the victim was a fetus.
  Another example: In the Oklahoma City and World Trade Center 
bombings, Federal prosecutors were able to charge the defendants with 
the murders of or injuries to the mothers, but not to their unborn 
babies. Again, Federal law currently fails to criminalize these violent 
acts. There are no Federal provisions of the unborn victims of Federal 
crimes.
  Our bill would make acts like these--acts of violence within Federal 
jurisdictions--Federal crimes. This is a very simple step that we can 
take, one that will have, I believe, a dramatic effect. It is something 
that we simply need to do.
  The fact is that it is just plain wrong that our Federal Government 
does absolutely nothing to criminalize violent acts against unborn 
children. We cannot allow criminals to get away with murder. We simply 
must close this loophole.
  As a civilized society, we must take a stand against violent crimes 
against children. We must close this loophole.
  We purposely drafted this legislation very narrowly. Because of that, 
our bill would not permit the prosecution for any abortion to which a 
woman consented. It would not permit the prosecution of a woman for any 
action, legal or unlegal, in regard to her unborn child. Our 
legislation would not permit the prosecution for harm caused to the 
mother or unborn child in the course of medical treatment. And finally, 
our bill would not allow for the

[[Page S193]]

imposition of the death penalty under this act.
  It is time we wrap the arms of justice around unborn children and 
protect them against criminal assailants. Everyone agrees that violent 
assailants of unborn babies are, in fact, criminals. When acts of 
violence against unborn victims fall within Federal jurisdiction, we 
must have a penalty. We have an obligation to our unborn children who 
cannot speak for themselves. The Senate must act.
  I strongly urge my colleagues to join in support of this legislation. 
I thank the Chair, and I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Hampshire is recognized.

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