[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 32 (Tuesday, March 14, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E353-E354]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    H.R. 3402, THE VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE 
                      REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2005

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JOHN CONYERS, JR.

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 14, 2006

  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, the following Extension of Remarks should 
have been included during the December 17, 2005 House debate of H.R. 
3402:

       I rise in support of this legislation, which reauthorizes 
     the Violence Against Women Act and the Department of Justice. 
     I first would like to commend Chairman Sensenbrenner for 
     reasserting the Judiciary Committee's jurisdiction over the 
     Department of Justice and its programs with this bill. I also 
     want to thank Senators Biden, Leahy, and Specter for working 
     with us on this legislation. We worked together to address 
     everyone's concerns and arrived at the compromise bill before 
     us today.


                       Violence Against Women Act

       An important piece of the bill is the reauthorization of 
     the Violence Against Women Act of 1994. This is the third 
     time we have worked on this bill, and each time we make 
     dramatic improvements by using new vehicles to tackle the 
     issue. Building on work from previous years, the Act 
     reauthorizes some of the current programs that have proven 
     enormously effective, including the STOP program--which 
     provides state formula grants that help fund collaboration 
     efforts between police and prosecutors and victim services 
     providers--and legal assistance for victims.
       One important aspect of this legislation is the new program 
     we created specifically tailored to address the needs of 
     communities of color. In the original VAWA, Congress intended 
     for all underserved communities to have a fair chance at 
     addressing these issues. However, all to often racial and 
     ethnic minorities are overlooked. In this legislation, 
     Congress has included language referencing culturally 
     specific communities in an attempt to respond to the needs of 
     racial and ethnic minorities. Inserting this language into 
     the bill is a monumental victory for communities of color.
       In Indian Country (especially in non-Public Law 280 
     States), non-Indian perpetrators of domestic violence and 
     sexual assault crimes against Indian victims cannot be 
     prosecuted by tribes or by states. Only the United States 
     has the jurisdiction to prosecute such perpetrators. 
     Unfortunately, the U.S. Department of Justice frequently 
     lacks the prosecutorial resources necessary to pursue 
     these cases. The Attorney General of the United States has 
     the authority, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 543, to cross-
     designate prosecuting attorneys appointed by the Tribal 
     Governments as Special Assistant United States Attorneys. 
     The Committee urges the Attorney General to close the 
     jurisdictional gap by cross-designating tribal prosecutors 
     as Special Assistant United States Attorneys for the 
     purpose of enforcing 18 U.S.C. 2261, 18 U.S.C. 2261A, 18 
     U.S.C. 2262, 18 U.S.C. 2265, 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(8), and 18 
     U.S.C. 922(g)(9). Any tribal prosecutors appointed as 
     Special Assistant United States Attorneys pursuant to this 
     process should undergo training on the federal crimes 
     enumerated above; such training should be developed and 
     offered in conjunction with experts on tribal law and 
     domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and 
     stalking. The progress of these cross-designations and 
     trainings should be a subject for review through the 
     consultation process described in Section 1002 of Title X 
     of this Act.
     Title VI--Section 605
       The intent of Congress in this section is to ensure that 
     Federal, State, tribal, territorial and local confidentiality 
     protections put into place to protect the safety of victims 
     of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and 
     stalking are not undercut by broad data collection programs.
       For the purposes of this section, Congress finds that any 
     data that meets the definition of ``personally identifying 
     information'' cannot be altered to become ``non-personally 
     identifying information'' simply by being altered 
     technologically for the purposes of limiting access to such 
     information.
       Any data that can be construed to fall under the definition 
     of ``personally identifying information'' shall remain 
     defined as such and shall be protected as mandated in this 
     section as long as a Homeless Management Information System 
     (HMIS) database is maintained.
       Congress notes that participation in an HMIS or other 
     database may be mandated for other non-victim service 
     provider grantees. Any victim service program prohibited from 
     participation in an HMIS or other shared database under this 
     statute may not be penalized for compliance with this 
     statute, either directly or indirectly through mechanisms 
     such as the withholding of incentives.
     Title VI--Sections 606 and 607
       Congress notes that employees or volunteers of victim 
     service providers who are signing certification documents 
     should be trained service providers. An employee or volunteer 
     serving solely in an administrative capacity is not 
     appropriate to sign a certification form.
       Congress notes that these sections should not be construed 
     to require public housing authorities to adopt a preference 
     for victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual 
     assault, or stalking. Public housing authorities are 
     encouraged to adopt such a preference, but that decision is 
     at the discretion of the public housing authority, consistent 
     with applicable law and regulation.
       Congress notes that the U.S. Department of Housing and 
     Urban Development (HUD) may want to issue guidance or 
     regulations to assist with the implementation of these 
     sections. Certain nonprofit organizations and other 
     government agencies that have expertise in domestic violence, 
     dating violence, sexual assault or stalking, or in housing 
     law and policy, can provide valuable guidance to HUD in 
     creating such guidance and regulations. HUD is directed to 
     work with such expert nonprofit organizations and government 
     agencies in drafting guidance, regulations, and any other 
     communication to local housing authorities and assisted 
     housing providers regarding these sections, including the 
     Public Housing Occupancy Guidebook, the Housing Choice 
     Voucher Program Guidebook, and any HUD-approved forms used 
     for certification as a qualifying victim under these 
     sections.
       Congress notes that under these sections, in order to show 
     an `actual and imminent threat,' a housing or subsidy 
     provider must demonstrate, using forms of evidence admissible 
     under current law, that the tenant's continued tenancy or 
     assistance directly and imminently causes a distinct harm 
     to the safety of the landlord, the subsidy or service 
     provider, other tenants, or those employed at or providing 
     service to the property, but not necessarily a specific 
     physical harm to the intended victim. Nothing in these 
     sections should be construed to negate any tenant's 
     responsibility to follow all terms and obligations of a 
     lease.
       Congress notes that bifurcation of a lease under these 
     sections allows a public housing agency, owner or manager to 
     terminate a person or person's rights and obligations under 
     the lease agreement while maintaining the rights and 
     obligations of other lease parties. Nothing in these sections 
     should be construed to obligate a public housing agency, 
     owner or manager to maintain or enter a lease agreement with 
     any individual who is not eligible for tenancy or assistance.
       The bill also goes a long way in helping immigrants 
     subjected to domestic violence to secure their right to stay 
     in the country and seek shelter from those who batter them by 
     expanding the class of victims who can seek immigration 
     status by self-petitioning through VAWA. For example, the 
     bill protects victims of child abuse from aging out by 
     allowing for victims to self petition up to the age of 25, 
     parents abused by U.S. citizen children by allowing them to 
     file for relief under VAWA, and victims with prima facie 
     cases as a VAWA self-petitioner, or for a T or U visa, from 
     removal or deportation. It also limits detention for victims 
     who have pending petitions or applications for relief.
       This legislation is crucial in our plight to combat 
     violence against women.


                   Justice Department Reauthorization

       In addition, the bill provides funding for the various 
     offices within the Department. In this regard, I would like 
     to note that it gives the Office of the Inspector General 
     over $70 million for its responsibilities. In the past few 
     years, the OIG has been diligent in overseeing the 
     Department's war on terrorism, issuing reports on 9/11 
     detainees and pushing the Department to change how its 
     procedures for handling terrorism suspects.
       The bill reauthorizes the COPS office. We all know that 
     this Clinton Administration program has been increasingly 
     vital in crime prevention and crime solving. That is why COPS 
     has received the praise of the Fraternal Order of Police, the 
     largest law enforcement organization in the country. Local

[[Page E354]]

     policing also is the backbone in our war on terrorism, as 
     community officers are more likely to know the witnesses and 
     more likely to be trusted by community residents who have 
     information about potential attacks. This bill provides over 
     $1 billion per year for this program.
       The bill also includes language offered by Rep. Adam Schiff 
     to require the Attorney General to report to Congress on the 
     number of persons detained on suspicion of terrorism. This is 
     important because the Department has thwarted congressional 
     and judicial efforts to obtain justification for terrorism 
     detainees. The Department's Office of the Inspector General 
     found that the Department and its components had abused 
     terrorism suspects, pushing them into walls, leaving them in 
     legal limbo, and depriving them of access to family or 
     counsel. With these reports, Congress can better determine 
     whether the Department is overstepping its bounds again.
       Finally, I am pleased the Chairman agreed with me that we 
     needed to amend the emergency sessions authority for federal 
     courts. Just a few months ago, we authorized federal courts 
     to change locations in situations of natural disasters or 
     other emergencies that make their courthouses unusable. This 
     bill now ensures that, in those situations, indigent 
     defendants will be provided with transportation and 
     subsistence costs for the new location so that they will not 
     be left to fend for themselves in disaster.

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