[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 35 (Wednesday, March 5, 2003)]
[House]
[Page H1522]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        RESTORE CUTS MADE TO VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ACT PROGRAMS

  (Mr. ENGEL asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. ENGEL. Madam Speaker, I rise today to illustrate the great 
necessity for services to victims of domestic violence and sexual 
assault.
  According to the Department of Justice, every year in the United 
States, 4.9 million people are victimized by their intimate partners. 
In order to break free of violence, these victims seek assistance 
through the National Domestic Violence Hotline, local shelter programs, 
rape crisis centers and transitional housing programs.
  The Violence against Women Act of 2000, VAWA, authorized funding for 
these essential programs. In his State of the Union address, the 
President listed domestic violence services as important and worthy of 
Federal funding. Yet the President's 2004 budget cuts over $19 million 
from VAWA programs. This cut may seem minimal. However, for victims of 
domestic violence it could mean the literal difference between life and 
death.
  I stand before you today and ask that Congress restore the cuts made 
to the VAWA programs in the President's budget in order to preserve 
essential services to victims of domestic violence and their children. 
Without full funding for these programs, women's lives are literally in 
jeopardy.

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