[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 15 (Tuesday, February 2, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H440-H442]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1515
                   NATIONAL STALKING AWARENESS MONTH

  Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and 
agree to the resolution (H. Res. 960) expressing support for 
designation of January 2010 as ``National Stalking Awareness Month'' to 
raise awareness and encourage prevention of stalking.
  The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
  The text of the resolution is as follows:

                              H. Res. 960

       Whereas in a 1-year period, an estimated 3,400,000 people 
     in the United States reported being stalked, and 75 percent 
     of victims are stalked by someone who is not a stranger;
       Whereas 81 percent of women, who are stalked by an intimate 
     partner, are also physically assaulted by that partner, and 
     76 percent of women, who are killed by an intimate partner, 
     were also stalked by that intimate partner;
       Whereas 11 percent reported having been stalked for more 
     than 5 years and one-fourth of victims reported having been 
     stalked almost every day;
       Whereas 1 in 4 victims reported that stalkers had used 
     technology, such as e-mail or instant messaging, to follow 
     and harass them, and 1 in 13 said stalkers had used 
     electronic devices to intrude on their lives;
       Whereas stalking victims are forced to take drastic 
     measures to protect themselves, such as changing jobs, 
     obtaining protection orders, relocating, and changing their 
     identities;
       Whereas 1 in 7 victims moved in an effort to escape their 
     stalker;
       Whereas approximately 130,000 victims reported having been 
     fired or asked to leave their job because of the stalking, 
     and about 1 in 8 lost time from work because they feared for 
     their safety or were taking steps, such as seeking a 
     restraining order, to protect themselves;
       Whereas less than half of victims report stalking to police 
     and only 7 percent contacted a victim service provider, 
     shelter, or hotline;
       Whereas stalking is a crime that cuts across race, age, 
     culture, gender, sexual orientation, physical and mental 
     ability, and economic status;
       Whereas stalking is a crime under Federal law and under the 
     laws of all 50 States, the United States Territories, the 
     District of Columbia, and the Uniform Code of Military 
     Justice;
       Whereas there are national organizations, local victim 
     service organizations, prosecutors' offices, and law 
     enforcement agencies that stand ready to assist stalking 
     victims and who are working diligently to craft competent, 
     thorough, and innovative responses to stalking;
       Whereas there is a need to enhance the criminal justice 
     system's response to stalking and stalking victims, including 
     aggressive investigation and prosecution, and increase the 
     availability of victim services across the country tailored 
     to meet the needs of stalking victims;
       Whereas, 2010 marks 10 years in which the Stalking Resource 
     Center has increased national awareness of stalking and 
     enhanced local responses to stalking victims through training 
     over 35,000 law enforcement, prosecutors, victim service 
     providers, and other community stakeholders, and provided 
     assistance to jurisdictions working to enhance their stalking 
     laws; and
       Whereas January 2010 would be an appropriate month to 
     designate as ``National Stalking Awareness Month'': Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
       (1) supports the designation of ``National Stalking 
     Awareness Month'' to educate the people of the United States 
     about stalking;
       (2) encourages the people of the United States to applaud 
     the efforts of the many victim service providers, law 
     enforcement, prosecutors, national and community 
     organizations, and private sector supporters for their 
     efforts in promoting awareness about stalking;
       (3) encourages policymakers, criminal justice officials, 
     victim service and social service agencies, colleges and 
     universities, nonprofits, and others to recognize the need to 
     increase awareness of stalking and the availability of 
     services for stalking victims; and
       (4) urges national and community organizations, businesses 
     in the private sector, and the media to promote awareness of 
     the crime of stalking through ``National Stalking Awareness 
     Month''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Georgia (Mr. Johnson) and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe) each will 
control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Georgia.


                             General Leave

  Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and 
include extraneous material on the resolution under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Georgia?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, H. Res. 960 expresses support for January 2010, being 
designated as ``National Stalking Awareness Month.'' Every year, Mr. 
Speaker,

[[Page H441]]

an estimated 3.4 million people are the victims of stalking. Stalking 
occurs through many different behaviors, such as unwanted phone calls, 
letters or emails, the victim being followed, or a stalker showing up 
at places without a legitimate reason. While these individual acts may 
not be criminal in and of themselves, collectively and repetitively 
these behaviors can cause a victim to fear for his or her safety.
  This crime of stalking can be extremely dangerous. The fear and 
mental anguish that stalking causes can leave a victim's life in 
shambles. Anxiety, insomnia, or severe depression is much more 
prevalent among stalking victims than within the general population. 
This is especially the case if the stalking involves being followed or 
having one's property destroyed.
  Over 12 percent of employed stalking victims report losing time from 
work as a result of their victimization, and more than half lose 5 days 
of work or more. In fact, many stalking victims have been forced to 
relocate their residences, and they often need psychological 
counseling. Stalking is often a precursor to physical attacks on a 
victim. This is why stalking is a crime in all 50 States and in the 
District of Columbia and is a crime under Federal law as well. Over 75 
percent of women murdered by an intimate partner had been stalked by 
that partner before being killed. Victims are increasingly vulnerable 
to the crime of stalking, with advances in technology giving stalkers 
more access to the victims' personal information.
  I would like to thank my Judiciary Committee colleague, the gentleman 
from Texas (Mr. Poe), for introducing this bipartisan resolution; and I 
urge my colleagues to join me in supporting House Resolution 960.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. POE of Texas. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I'm proud to be the sponsor of this legislation. 
Stalking is described as repeated harassment or threatening behavior 
toward somebody else. The stalker can be a stranger or someone the 
victim knows very well--an ex-partner, a family member. Laws vary from 
State to State, but stalking is usually considered under the law to be 
any unwanted contact between the stalker and the victim, that he or she 
either directly or indirectly communicates a threat or places fear in 
the victim. Some examples include, but are not limited to, unwanted 
phone calls; letters; emails; instant messages; following the victim; 
showing up at the location where the victim is without any reason; 
leaving unwanted items or presents; and spreading false information or 
rumors about the victim.
  Stalking can turn any ordinary day and any ordinary activity, like 
walking to your car, into a terrifying experience for the victim. 
Victims of stalking will never really know if they are safe whether 
they are at home, in their cars, at their work, or even just walking 
down the street. Stalkers show up at the oddest places. They will be 
sitting out in front of someone's home; they'll be there when the lady 
drops her child off at school; when she picks him up in the afternoon; 
when she goes to church. The stalker is everywhere.
  One example is a wonderful young lady from Maryland by the name of 
Yvette Cade. Yvette Cade was severely burned by her husband shortly 
after a restraining order against him was removed by the judge. Just 3 
weeks before, she begged a judge to reinstate a restraining order that 
had been ordered against her husband. And she told him, the judge, that 
she feared for her life. But the judge, in his incompetence, refused to 
reinstate the restraining order. The judge has been reprimanded for 
that conduct--for refusing to listen to Mrs. Cade's case--which could 
have prevented the horrible tragedy.
  Let me make it clear: when the judge refused to reinstate the 
restraining order, her husband followed her to the store that she 
worked in. He walked in the store. He had a bottle of gasoline. He 
poured it over the top of her head and he set Yvette Cade on fire, all 
because he had been stalking her, but also a judge had the ability to 
intervene and prevent that activity--and he did not do so.
  Yvette Cade survived those injuries, and she is an advocate for 
victims' rights to this day. This case is a reminder why we must 
educate law enforcement and others, including judges, about stalking 
and domestic violence in order to help them recognize situations as 
happened to Mrs. Yvette Cade. During a 12-month period, an estimated 
3.4 million people ages 18 and older are victims of stalking.
  There's a similar story of a woman named Peggy Klinke. She lived in 
Albuquerque, New Mexico, and broke up with her boyfriend, named Patrick 
Kennedy, after dating him for 3 years. He couldn't handle not being 
with Peggy and stalked her outside of her work. He waited for her 
outside of her gym. He followed her everywhere she went. And she could 
always find his truck wherever she showed up.
  She filed stalking charges against him and had a protective order put 
out against him. Eventually, Peggy started dating someone else and 
tried to move on with her life. Patrick set her boyfriend's house on 
fire and flew to Peggy's mother's house in Ohio and spray painted her 
house with profanity. The police then thought they had enough evidence 
to take him to court. Six months before the trial began, Peggy moved to 
California to hide from Patrick. He hired a private investigator to 
find her, and he did so in California. Two weeks before the trial, he 
located her and then killed her and then killed himself.
  The most effective way of preventing stalking is making people aware 
it exists and how dangerous it can be. While not every instance of 
stalking ends in violence, many do. Stalking must be taken seriously 
and decisive measures must be taken by law enforcement officials as 
soon as the behavior begins in order to prevent the escalation into a 
violent situation.
  House Res. 960 expresses support for the designation of January 2010 
as National Stalking Awareness Month to raise awareness and encourage 
the prevention of stalking. I support this bill and urge my colleagues 
to support it as well.
  Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. POE of Texas. I yield 5 minutes to the original author of the 
national stalking criminal legislation some years ago, the gentleman 
from California (Mr. Royce).
  Mr. ROYCE. My colleague, Judge Poe, the Representative from Texas, 
has told you some of the examples about women who have found themselves 
in this dire situation. We had in my county, Orange County, California, 
a total of four young women in 1990 who were, in the span of 6 weeks, 
all confronted by the same situation. They were being stalked by an 
acquaintance or a former beau, someone they knew. Each knew they were 
going to be attacked. Each had been threatened that they would be 
attacked.
  I spoke after the attack with a law enforcement officer there who 
said it was the hardest thing he ever had to do in his life was to tell 
one of these young women, I know you feel he's going to attack you, but 
there's nothing we can do until you're physically attacked. Despite the 
threats he's made, there's nothing we can do. So he said, I took it 
upon myself to follow this individual because I knew he intended to 
carry out that attack. He said, I came within 2 minutes of preventing 
him from killing her. But, unfortunately, he took her life, and then 
when he saw me, he took his own. This was the example given in this one 
case, but there were four cases within that 6 weeks in 1990.
  I had previously passed legislation in the State senate on terrorism 
as it related to credible threats made against synagogues and churches 
by those who threatened to blow up synagogues. And I thought, Well, 
perhaps we can extend this and actually give law enforcement the chance 
to step in. Since that other law had been upheld by the State supreme 
court, perhaps it would uphold a law if we passed an anti-stalker law 
that said if you threatened the victim with a credible threat of great 
bodily harm, it became a stalking crime, and thereby perhaps you would 
have the deterrent effect of having law enforcement able to go to these 
victims or go, more importantly, to perpetrators and tell them, You may 
not understand this, but under this new law you face 3 years or more in 
State prison if you do this.
  We passed the legislation in California after some debate. We had 
particularly effective testimony from one young woman who had been 
stalked for

[[Page H442]]

years by a high school acquaintance who she didn't even know, and 
finally taken at knifepoint. There was a 12-hour standoff. But because 
he didn't drag her more than the allotted number of feet, it was not a 
kidnapping. So, finally, with her testimony, we got that through the 
State house.
  And then we found that the very advice we were giving these victims--
get away from your stalker; move, because there's little we can do--
meant that when they moved from the State of California to another 
State--let's say Florida, an example that I'm familiar with--the 
restraining order was no longer in effect, which meant that he couldn't 
be charged with stalking.
  So the answer to that was a Federal law. By that time, we had used 
the California law as a template. We passed it in all 50 States. Japan 
had adopted the law. Parliaments in Europe adopted the law. But the 
question was: How do you protect those who go from State to State when 
those restraining orders are no longer in effect?
  So in the United States House of Representatives I introduced that 
legislation. As a result, this new law provides a uniform Federal law 
protecting stalking victims when they cross State lines either to 
travel or work or to get away from their stalkers, or for any other 
purpose; and when they're on Federal property; if they're on a military 
base, for example; if they're at a post office.
  It was signed into law in 1996. And I will tell you now why I am 
appreciative of these Members bringing this law up to date, of which I 
am a cosponsor. Our key problem is getting people aware of the 
existence of this law. Our key challenge today is deterrence. As 
mentioned, you have a case today where one out of every four young 
women who is killed is being murdered by someone who formerly stalked 
her. And there is a deterrent effect to law enforcement coming to you 
and saying you could be serving 3 years in a Federal penitentiary or in 
jail. You've got 3.4 million people being stalked every year, according 
to the Department of Justice.

                              {time}  1530

  If we had those in law enforcement, if judges were more cognizant of 
the challenges of this problem, we'd be better able to handle this 
situation.
  Many communities have come to understand that stalking is a serious 
problem. Many have come up with programs that can support victims and 
combat this crime, but we really need law enforcement to have more 
focus because how many times can you look at a situation and say, All 
right. There's something we could have done to help deter this. We know 
the incidences where that has been effective here.
  Most stalkers are known by their victims. It isn't always the case, 
but most are known.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman from California 
has expired.
  Mr. POE of Texas. I yield to the gentleman for 1 additional minute.
  Mr. ROYCE. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  And in today's world, stalkers, unfortunately, are using a very new 
and upgraded type of technology from what, traditionally, they used. It 
used to be that, you know, they'd leave a message on the phone. Today 
it's computers, it's GPS units, it's cell phones, it's social 
networking, and all of this can be used to harass victims.
  If anyone would like more information on National Stalking Awareness 
Month, I urge you to visit www.stalkingawarenessmonth.org, and try--for 
those out there in law enforcement--try to understand just how 
devastating this can be to victims, and try to give them a hand, and 
try to deter these attacks before they occur.
  Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. I will close just after making this 
statement. My sister Lynnette Maria Johnson was murdered back on May 
30, 1973. That happened right here in Washington, D.C.
  From high school sweethearts to college, these two individuals, my 
sister and this gentleman who stalked her and killed her, were an item. 
But when she went to college, she started meeting new people and her 
interests changed, and the gentleman just could not take it and so he 
continued to stalk her. Finally, it resulted in him killing her. At 
that time, I don't think there were any stalking laws that would have 
prevented his misconduct, and so I personally have a zero tolerance 
level for stalkers.
  I am proud to support this bill. Representative Poe, a trial lawyer 
and a trial judge who has seen so many cases like these in his career, 
I'm sure. And Mr. Royce of California spoke eloquently on this issue as 
well. So I want to congratulate him for introducing the Federal 
legislation that came before this.
  I would advise all victims that as soon as it starts happening, let 
the police know and go get some counseling so that you don't allow this 
thing to get out of control. If you hit it hard when it first rears up, 
I think that the chances are much better that the result down the line 
will be positive and not negative.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I am ready to yield but I did want to 
make comments regarding my colleague Mr. Johnson.
  I appreciate his comments about his family and how stalking violence 
can happen anywhere in the United States to anybody. We, as a body, 
must be aware that victims throughout the country go through terrible 
tragedies in their lives. This legislation brings awareness of stalking 
to the national front.
  Stalking laws are imposed to protect the right to be left alone, and 
that's a right that all people have in this country, to be left alone. 
I want to thank the victims groups that have supported this legislation 
and, as chairman of the Victims' Rights Caucus, all of the numerous 
members of the caucus who also support this. I urge its adoption.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of S. 
2950, ``To extend the pilot program for volunteer groups to obtain 
criminal history background checks and for other purposes, introduced 
by my distinguished colleague from New York, Senator Schumer. ``The 
Criminal History Background Checks Pilot Extension Act of 2009,'' will 
be revising the 78-month requirement to a 92-month requirement.
  This act is particularly important to protect our children as they 
participate in so many activities throughout the community.
  Mr. POE of Texas. I have no further requests for time, and I yield 
back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Johnson) that the House suspend the rules 
and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 960.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the 
ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a 
quorum is not present.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.
  The point of no quorum is considered withdrawn.

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