[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 99 (Tuesday, July 8, 2003)]
[House]
[Page H6275]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   INTRODUCING RESOLUTION TO BRING GREAT AWARENESS OF THE PROBLEM OF 
                                STALKING

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the order of the House of 
January 7, 2003, the gentlewoman from New Mexico (Mrs. Wilson) is 
recognized during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. WILSON of New Mexico. Mr. Speaker, Peggy Klinke was a 
constituent of mine from Albuquerque, New Mexico. She was murdered in 
January of this year by a former boyfriend who was obsessed with her 
and stalked her for almost 2 years. Today I will be introducing a 
resolution to this House to bring greater awareness of the problem of 
stalking in America and the things that we need to do to protect its 
victims. It is my pleasure that Debbie Riddle and Mark Spark are here 
today. Debbie was Peggy's sister and Mark was her boyfriend. I wanted 
to thank them for joining me here today in the House.
  More than 1 million women a year and almost 400,000 men are stalked 
annually. Those numbers are staggering. One in 12 women and one in 45 
men in their lifetime will be stalked. Yet the problem continues to go 
mostly unrecognized and not responded to properly. The bill that I am 
introducing would make January Stalking Awareness Month in honor of 
Peggy in the month that she died.
  The first step in addressing any problem is to understand that 
problem and make sure that other people do, because until people 
understand it, you cannot mobilize the will for change. We need model 
laws and to make sure those model laws are implemented in every State 
in this country. We need to identify the best practices for dealing 
with stalkers, practical things proven to work in the field that can be 
used by victims and also by law enforcement to make sure victims are 
safer. We need to better train our police and our district attorneys so 
that they know what tools they have at their disposal when they are 
dealing with a stalker. And we need better cross-jurisdictional 
communication.
  Eleven percent of stalking victims move to get away from their 
stalker. As soon as they do, you have got two police departments, two 
district attorneys and two judicial systems supposedly working together 
but often not communicating about the victim and the stalker. No one 
should have to live in fear without protection and without hope. I 
believe that this resolution is the first step to getting better 
protection for the victims of stalkers.
  I ask the House to rapidly consider the resolution and pass it from 
this House.

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