[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 193 (Monday, December 17, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S15790-S15791]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      NATIONAL TEEN DATING VIOLENCE AWARENESS AND PREVENTION WEEK

  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 541, S. Res. 
388.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 388) designating the week of February 
     4 through February 8, 2008, as ``National Teen Dating 
     Violence Awareness and Prevention Week.''

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution.
  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution 
be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be 
laid upon the table, and that any statements relating to the resolution 
be printed in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The resolution (S. Res. 388) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                              S. Res. 388

       Whereas 1 in 3 female teenagers in a dating relationship 
     has feared for her physical safety;
       Whereas 1 in 2 teenagers in a serious relationship has 
     compromised personal beliefs to please a partner;
       Whereas 1 in 5 teenagers in a serious relationship reports 
     having been hit, slapped, or pushed by a partner;
       Whereas 27 percent of teenagers have been in dating 
     relationships in which their partners called them names or 
     put them down;
       Whereas 29 percent of girls who have been in a relationship 
     said that they have been pressured to have sex or to engage 
     in sexual activities that they did not want;
       Whereas technologies such as cell phones and the Internet 
     have made dating abuse both more pervasive and more hidden;
       Whereas 30 percent of teenagers who have been in a dating 
     relationship say that they have been text-messaged between 10 
     and 30 times per hour by a partner seeking to find out where 
     they are, what they are doing, or who they are with;
       Whereas 72 percent of teenagers who reported they'd been 
     checked up on by a boyfriend or girlfriend 10 times per hour 
     by email or text messaging did not tell their parents;

[[Page S15791]]

       Whereas parents are largely unaware of the cell phone and 
     Internet harassment experienced by teenagers;
       Whereas Native American women experience higher rates of 
     interpersonal violence than any other population group;
       Whereas violent relationships in adolescence can have 
     serious ramifications for victims, putting them at higher 
     risk for substance abuse, eating disorders, risky sexual 
     behavior, suicide, and adult revictimization;
       Whereas the severity of violence among intimate partners 
     has been shown to be greater in cases where the pattern of 
     violence has been established in adolescence; and
       Whereas the establishment of National Teen Dating Violence 
     Awareness and Prevention Week will benefit schools, 
     communities, and families regardless of socio-economic 
     status, race, or sex: Now, therefore be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) designates the week of February 4 through February 8, 
     2008, as ``National Teen Dating Violence Awareness and 
     Prevention Week''; and
       (2) calls upon the people of the United States, high 
     schools, law enforcement, State and local officials, and 
     interested groups to observe National Teen Dating Violence 
     Awareness and Prevention Week with appropriate programs and 
     activities that promote awareness and prevention of the crime 
     of teen dating violence in their communities.

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