[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 41 (Monday, April 11, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3408-S3409]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  NATIONAL CRIME VICTIMS' RIGHTS WEEK

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, yesterday marked the beginning of National 
Crime Victims' Rights Week. For a quarter of a century, we have set 
this week aside each year to renew our commitment to address the needs 
of victims and their families and to promote victims' rights.
  This year's commemoration comes at a critical juncture in the history 
of the victims' rights movement. Much has been achieved in the past 25 
years to provide victims with greater rights and assistance, but 
perhaps none so important as the passage of the Victims of Crime Act of 
1984, VOCA, and its establishment of a dedicated source of funds to 
support victims' services. The Crime Victims Fund provides critical 
funding that helps millions of victims of all types of crime every 
year. The future of the fund is in doubt, however, and 25 years of 
progress may be at risk due to the administration's proposal to rescind 
all amounts remaining in the fund at the end of fiscal year 2006--an 
estimated $1.267 billion. That would dry up the fund, leaving it with a 
balance of zero going into fiscal year 2007 to support vital victim 
services.
  Our new Attorney General, upon his confirmation, gave a speech to 
discuss his priorities for the Department of Justice. He stated, ``As 
we battle crime, we must also defend the rights of crime victims and 
assist them in their recovery.'' While I agree on the importance of 
this goal, rescinding the Crime Victims Fund is not the way to achieve 
it.
  The Crime Victims Fund is the Nation's premier vehicle for the 
support of victims' services. Nearly 90 percent of the fund is used to 
award State crime victim compensation and victim assistance formula 
grants. VOCA-funded victim assistance programs serve nearly 4 million 
crime victims each year, including victims of domestic violence, sexual 
assault, child abuse, elder abuse, and drunk driving, as well as 
survivors of homicide victims. VOCA-funded compensation programs have 
helped hundreds of thousands of victims of violent crime.
  The Crime Victims Fund also serves victims of Federal crimes. VOCA 
funding supports victim assistance services provided by U.S. Attorneys 
Offices and the FBI, as well as the Federal victim notification system. 
It is used for child abuse prevention and treatment grants, and it is 
also used to provide emergency relief to victims of terrorism and mass 
violence.
  Since fiscal year 2000, Congress has set a cap on annual fund 
obligations expressly for the purpose of ensuring ``that a stable level 
of funding will remain available for these programs in future years.'' 
The ``rainy day'' fund created by this spending cap has been used to 
make up the difference between annual deposits and distributions three 
times during the past six years.
  When Congress began considering caps on fund obligations, I proposed 
and Congress enacted an amendment to the Victims of Crime Act to 
clarify our intent to stabilize and preserve the fund for the benefit 
of victims. The amendment, now codified at section 10601(c) of title 
42, requires that ``. . . all sums deposited in the Fund in any fiscal 
year that are not made available for obligation by Congress in the 
subsequent fiscal year shall remain in the

[[Page S3409]]

Fund for obligation in future fiscal years, without fiscal year 
limitation.'' Thus, in both the authorization and the appropriations 
processes, Congress has clearly and emphatically stated its intent to 
maintain a stable source of federal support for essential victim 
services.
  Over the past 4 years, the Bush administration and this Republican 
Congress have squandered record surpluses and racked up $7.6 trillion 
in Federal debt as a result of reckless spending and budget-busting tax 
cuts. Now the Bush administration proposes to reduce the deficit by 
siphoning off resources that we set aside to assist victims of crime. 
In this regard, it bears emphasis that the Crime Victims Fund does not 
receive appropriated funding; deposits come from Federal criminal 
fines, forfeited bail bonds, penalties, and special assessments, not 
from the pockets of American taxpayers.
  Together with Senators Biden and Schumer, I wrote to President Bush 
on March 11, 2005, to urge him to reconsider and withdraw his proposal 
to rescind the Crime Victims Fund. We received no response to that 
letter.
  On March 17, 2005, I offered and the Senate approved by voice vote a 
budget resolution amendment intended to head off the administration's 
plans to raid the Crime Victims Fund. I was joined by Senators Kennedy, 
Mikulski, Feingold, Biden, Durbin, Obama and Dodd, and I thank them 
again for their support. As amended, the budget resolution passed by 
the Senate rejects the proposed rescission by assuming that all amounts 
that have been and will be deposited into the Crime Victims Fund, 
including all amounts to be deposited in fiscal year 2006 and 
thereafter, will remain in the fund for use as authorized by the 
Victims of Crime Act.
  In every State and every community across the country, the Crime 
Victims Fund plays an essential role in helping crime victims and their 
families meet critical expenses, recover from the horrific crimes they 
endured, and move forward with their lives. I ask unanimous consent to 
print in the Record a letter from a number of victims' organizations, 
representing the millions of Americans who become victims of crime 
every year. They wrote that rescinding the Crime Victims Fund at the 
end of fiscal year 2006 would create a ``disastrous'' situation for 
victim service providers and their clients.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                             National Crime Victim


                                 Organizations Contact Groups,

                                   Washington, DC, March 12, 2005.
     Hon. Daniel K. Akaka,
     Hart Senate Office Building,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Senator Akaka: We, the undersigned members of the 
     National Crime Victim Organizations Contact Group, represent 
     the millions of citizens that become victims of crime every 
     year in our nation and the agencies that provide supportive 
     services to them. The Crime Victims Fund provides crucial 
     support to thousands of nonprofit organizations and public 
     agencies who help millions of crime victims. We have joined 
     together to urge all members of Congress to oppose the 
     Administration's proposal to remove $1.2 billion from this 
     essential and life-saving fund.
       The Fund was created under the Victims of Crime Act in 1984 
     as a ``separate account'' meaning that the revenues in the 
     Fund are intended to be used solely for financial support of 
     victim services, primarily through State crime victim 
     compensation and State victim assistance formula grants. The 
     Fund comes from the collection of Federal criminal fines, 
     forfeitures and assessments; it does not depend on general 
     taxpayer appropriations. Since the Fund's inception, Congress 
     directed that all amounts deposited into the Fund would 
     remain available to support victim services ``without fiscal 
     year limitation.''
       Over 4,400 victim service agencies in every state and every 
     district depend upon VOCA funding for essential victim 
     services, such as emergency shelters, counseling, legal 
     advocacy, and assistance participating in the criminal 
     justice system. In FY 2003, 3.8 million crime victims 
     received VOCA-funded assistance, including victims of 
     domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse, elder abuse, 
     survivors of homicide victims and drunk driving crashes. 
     Hundreds of thousands of victims were provided financial 
     assistance through VOCA grants to State crime victim 
     compensation programs.
       Initially, the money collected every year was released to 
     states the following year. When collections grew to nearly $1 
     billion in fines in FY 1999, Congress placed a cap on the 
     amount that was distributed each year. Congress began 
     limiting annual Fund obligations expressly ``to ensure that a 
     stable level of funding will remain available for these 
     programs in future years'' (Conference Report 106-479).
       Capping annual Fund obligations created a Fund balance--a 
     ``rainy day'' fund consisting of amounts that otherwise would 
     have been used by States to support immediate victim 
     assistance needs. The Fund balance was used to make up the 
     difference between annual deposits and Congressional caps 
     three times over the past six years.
       Having recently recognized the 20th anniversary of this 
     successful and effective program, we were shocked to learn 
     that the Administration now proposes rescinding the entire 
     Fund at the end of FY 2006, including the amounts that 
     Congress promised and, in fact, needed to protect against 
     Fund fluctuations and to ensure the Fund's stability as well 
     as deposits made during FY 2006. More stable long-term 
     sources of funding are already required to maintain a 
     sufficient amount in the Fund. Rescinding the Fund will zero 
     out the Fund going into FY 2007 and unquestionably create a 
     disastrous situation for victim service providers and their 
     clients. The entire crime victims' field stands united in its 
     opposition to the proposed rescission.
       We ask Congress to reject the Administration's 
     recommendation to rescind the Fund and to work with us to 
     guarantee the Fund's future viability and support for victim 
     services.
           Sincerely,
       David Beatty, Contact Group Coordinator, Justice Solutions, 
     NPO.
       Jeanette Adkins, National Organization for Victim 
     Assistance.
       Marybeth Carter, National Alliance to End Sexual Violence.
       Nancy Chandler, National Children's Alliance.
       Steve Derene, National Association of VOCA Assistance 
     Administrators.
       Dan Eddy, National Association of Crime Victim Compensation 
     Boards.
       Wendy Hamilton, Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
       Mary Lou Leary, National Center for Victims of Crime.
       Dan Levey, National Organization for Parents of Murdered 
     Children.
       Jill Morris, National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
       Diane Moyer, Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape.
       Lynn Rosenthal, National Network to End Domestic Violence.

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, National Crime Victims' Rights Week is upon 
us. I urge my colleagues to honor our longstanding commitment to crime 
victims by working together to preserve the Crime Victims Fund.

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