[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 57 (Wednesday, April 9, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5061-S5062]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. LEAHY (for himself, Mr. Kennedy, and Mr. Biden):
  S. 826. A bill to amend the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 to 
provide for transitional housing assistance grants for child victims of 
domestic violence; to the Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce legislation that 
will provide much-needed grants for transitional housing services to 
victims of domestic violence who are brave enough to leave an abusive 
situation and seek a new life of safety and freedom. I am pleased that 
Senators Kennedy and Biden join me as original cosponsors of this 
important legislation.
  I witnessed the devastating effects of domestic violence early in my 
career as the Vermont State's Attorney for Chittenden County. Today, 
more than 50 percent of homeless individuals are women and children 
fleeing domestic violence. More than half the cities surveyed by the 
U.S. Conference of Mayors in 2000 cited domestic violence as a primary 
cause of homelessness. The women and children who leave their abusers 
tend to have few, if any, funds with which they can support themselves. 
Shelters offer short-term assistance, but are overcrowded and unable to 
provide the support needed. Transitional housing allows women to bridge 
the gap between leaving a domestic violence situation and becoming 
fully self-sufficient, but such assistance is limited because there is 
currently no Federal funding for transitional housing specifically for 
those victims.
  If we truly seek an end to domestic violence, then transitional 
housing must be available to all those fleeing domestic abuse. The 
stable, sustainable home base for women and their children found in 
transitional housing allows women the opportunities to learn new job 
skills, participate in educational programs, work full-time jobs, and 
search for adequate child care in order to gain self-sufficiency. 
Without such resources, many women eventually return to situations 
where they are abused and even killed. This cycle of domestic abuse 
must end, and transitional housing assistance is one of the tools we 
can use to end it.
  A transitional housing grant program was last authorized for only one 
year as part of the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act 
in 2000. This program would have been administered through the 
Department of Health and Human Services and provided $25 million in 
fiscal year 2001. Unfortunately, funds were never appropriated for the 
program, and the authorization has now expired.
  The grant program established in the bill I introduce today with 
Senators Kennedy and Biden would establish a new Department of Justice 
grant program that authorizes the Attorney General, acting in 
consultation with the Director of the Violence Against Women Office of 
the Department of Justice, in consultation with the Secretary of 
Housing and Urban Development and the Secretary of Health and Human 
Services. This program would have the benefit of a wide range of 
expertise in the three departments, and has enormous potential to 
improve people's lives. It would authorize $30 million in DOJ 
transitional housing grants for each of the fiscal years 2004 through 
2008.
  This new grant program administered through DOJ will make a big 
impact in many areas of the country where availability of affordable 
housing is at an all-time low. There are many dedicated people working 
to provide victims of domestic violence with resources, such as Rose 
Pulliam of the Vermont Network Against Domestic Violence and Sexual 
Assault, but they can not work alone. We should all be concerned with 
providing victims of domestic violence a safe place to gain the skills 
and stability needed to make the transition to independence. This is an 
important component of reducing and preventing crimes that take place 
in domestic situations, ranging from assault and child abuse to 
homicide, and helping the victims of these crimes.
  I am please that our bill will be included in the conference report 
on the PROTECT Act, S. 151. I thank the conferees for including in the 
conference agreement this language for a grant program that will supply 
to victims fleeing domestic violence situations tangible means by which 
they may move on with their lives.
  I ask unanimous consent that a section by section analysis of this 
bill be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the additional materials were ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

 A Bill To Amend the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 To Provide for 
 Transitional Housing Assistance Grants for Child Victims of Domestic 
                 Violence--Section-by-Section Analysis


section 1. transitional housing assistance grants for child victims of 
            domestic violence, stalking, or sexual assault.

       This section amends Subtitle B of the Violence Against 
     Women Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C. 13701 note; 108 Stat. 1925) to 
     include a new Chapter 11--Transitional Housing Assistance 
     Grants for Child Victims of Domestic Violence, Stalking, or 
     Sexual Assault.
       Subsection (a) of this section authorizes the Attorney 
     General, acting in consultation with the Director of Violence 
     Against Women Office of the Department of Justice, in 
     consultation with the Secretary of Housing and Urban 
     Development and the Secretary of Health and Human Services, 
     to award grants to organizations, States, units of local 
     government, and Indian tribes to carry out programs to 
     provide assistance to minors, adults, and their dependents 
     who are homeless or in need of transitional housing or 
     related assistance as a result of fleeing a situation of 
     domestic violence, and for whom emergency shelter services or 
     other crisis intervention services are unavailable or 
     insufficient.
       Subsection (b) provides that the grants awarded may be used 
     for programs that provide short-term housing assistance, 
     which includes rental or utilities payments assistance and 
     assistance with related expenses such as payment of security 
     deposits and other costs incidental to relocation to 
     transitional housing for minors, adults and their dependents. 
     Grants will also be available for support services designed 
     to help those fleeing a situation of domestic violence to 
     locate and secure permanent housing, as well as integrate 
     into a community by providing with services, such as 
     transportation, counseling, child care services, case 
     management, employment counseling, and other assistance.
       Subsection (c) states that a minor, an adult, or a 
     dependent who receives assistance under this section may 
     receive that assistance for not more than 18 months. The 
     recipient of a grant under this section may waive the time 
     restriction for not more than an additional 6 month period 
     with respect to any minor, adult, or dependent, so long as he 
     or she has made a good-faith effort to acquire permanent 
     housing; and has been unable to acquire permanent housing.
       Subsection (d) specifies the application process for 
     transitional housing grants. Each

[[Page S5062]]

     eligible entity desiring such grants shall submit an 
     application to the Attorney General at such time, in such 
     manner, and accompanied by such information as the Attorney 
     General may reasonably require. Each application shall 
     describe the activities for which assistance under this 
     section is sought; and provide such additional assurances as 
     the Attorney General determines to be essential to ensure 
     compliance with the requirements of the grant program.
       Subsection (e) states that a recipient of a Justice 
     Department transitional housing grant must annually prepare 
     and submit to the Attorney General a report describing the 
     number of minors, adults, and dependents assisted, and the 
     types of housing assistance and support services provided.
       Subsection (f) provides that the Attorney General, with the 
     Director of the Violence Against Women Office, must also 
     annually prepare and submit to the Committee on the Judiciary 
     of the House of Representatives and the Committee on the 
     Judiciary of the Senate a report that contains a compilation 
     of the information contained in the report submitted by grant 
     recipients. Copies of this report will also be transmitted to 
     the Office of Community Planning and Development at the 
     United States Department of Housing and Urban Development and 
     the Office of Women's Health at the United States Department 
     of Health and Human Services.
       Subsection (g) authorizes that there be appropriated to 
     carry out the Department of Justice transitional housing 
     grant program $30,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2004 
     through 2008. Of the amount made available to carry out this 
     section in any fiscal year, not more than 3 percent may be 
     used by the Attorney General for salaries and administrative 
     expenses. States, together with the grantees within the State 
     (other than Indian tribes), shall be allocated in each fiscal 
     year, not less than 0.75 percent of the total amount 
     appropriated in the fiscal year for grants for transitional 
     housing. The United States Virgin Islands, American Samoa, 
     Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands shall each be 
     allocated not less than 0.25 percent of the total amount 
     appropriated in the fiscal year for grants pursuant to this 
     section.
                                 ______