[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 132 (Tuesday, September 28, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H7084-H7087]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SUPPORTING NATIONAL DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AWARENESS MONTH 2010
Ms. HIRONO. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the
resolution (H. Res. 1637) supporting the goals and ideals of National
Domestic Violence Awareness Month 2010 and expressing the sense of the
House of Representatives that Congress should continue to raise
awareness of domestic violence in the United States and its devastating
effects on families and communities, and support programs and practices
designed to prevent and end domestic violence, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
The text of the resolution is as follows:
H. Res. 1637
Whereas domestic violence affects people of all ages as
well as racial, ethnic, gender, economic, and religious
backgrounds;
Whereas females are disproportionately victims of domestic
violence;
Whereas 6 in 10 Native American women will be physically
assaulted in their lifetimes;
Whereas on average, more than 3 women are murdered by their
husbands or boyfriends in the United States every day;
Whereas approximately 40 to 60 percent of men who abuse
women also abuse children;
Whereas approximately 15,500,000 children are exposed to
domestic violence every year;
Whereas children exposed to domestic violence are more
likely to attempt suicide, abuse drugs and alcohol, run away
from home, and engage in teenage prostitution;
Whereas a large study found that men exposed to physical
abuse, sexual abuse, and adult domestic violence as children
were almost 4 times more likely than other men to have
perpetrated domestic violence as adults;
Whereas women ages 16 to 24 experience the highest rates,
per capita, of intimate partner violence;
Whereas approximately 1 in 3 adolescent girls in the United
States is a victim of physical, emotional, or verbal abuse
from a dating partner, a figure that far exceeds
victimization rates for other types of violence affecting
youth;
Whereas teen girls who are physically and sexually abused
are up to 6 times more likely to become pregnant, and more
than 2 times as likely to report a sexually transmitted
disease, than teen girls who are not abused;
Whereas 1,500,000 high school students nationwide
experienced physical abuse from a dating partner in a single
year;
Whereas young people who are physically abused perform
worse in school;
Whereas adolescent girls who reported dating violence were
60 percent more likely to report one or more suicide attempts
in the past year;
Whereas primary prevention programs are a key part of
addressing teen dating violence, and many successful
community examples include education, community outreach, and
social marketing campaigns that account for the cultural
appropriateness of programs;
Whereas one-quarter to one-half of domestic violence
victims report that they have lost a job due, at least in
part, to domestic violence;
Whereas the annual cost of lost productivity due to
domestic violence is estimated at $727,800,000 with over
7,900,000 paid workdays lost per year;
Whereas according to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, in 2003, the costs of intimate partner violence
exceed $8,300,000,000 and $1,200,000,000 in the value of lost
lives;
Whereas even 5 years after the abuse has ended, health care
costs of women with a history of intimate partner violence
remain 20 percent higher than those for women with no history
of violence;
Whereas in addition to the immediate trauma caused by
abuse, domestic violence contributes to a number of chronic
health problems, including depression, alcohol, substance
abuse, and sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV/AIDS,
and often limits the ability of women to manage other chronic
illnesses such as diabetes and hypertension;
Whereas men are the perpetrators in at least 85 percent of
domestic violence cases and prevention programs should
address their needs;
Whereas research demonstrates that men are willing to help
prevent violence against women, particularly through shaping
the attitudes of younger men and boys;
Whereas a multi-State study shows that domestic violence
shelters are addressing victims' urgent and long-term needs
and are helping victims protect themselves and their
children;
Whereas there is a need to increase funding for programs
aimed at intervening and preventing domestic violence in the
United States; and
Whereas individuals and organizations that are dedicated to
preventing and ending domestic violence should be recognized:
Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That--
(1) the House of Representatives--
(A) supports the goals and ideals of National Domestic
Violence Awareness Month; and
(B) recognizes the National Safe Child Initiative as an
awareness-raising campaign to educate the public about the
prevalence and problem of child abuse, and commends the
National Safe Child Coalition for bringing awareness to and
working to protect children from batterers; and
(2) it is the sense of the House of Representatives that
Congress should continue to raise awareness of domestic
violence in the United States and its devastating effects on
families and communities, and support programs designed to
end domestic violence.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from
Hawaii (Ms. Hirono) and the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Ehlers) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Hawaii.
General Leave
Ms. HIRONO. Mr. Speaker, I request 5 legislative days during which
Members may revise and extend and insert extraneous material on House
Resolution 1637 into the Record.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentlewoman from Hawaii?
There was no objection.
Ms. HIRONO. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of House Resolution 1637, which
supports the goals and ideals of National Domestic Violence Awareness
Month to be recognized this October. National Domestic Violence
Awareness Month is an important time to raise awareness of domestic
violence and its devastating effects on our families and communities.
In addition, this month offers organizations, social workers, and
public officials a chance to spread the word about the resources which
help victims seek the help they desperately need.
I would like to thank Representatives Poe and Green for introducing
this important measure. And once again, I express my support for House
Resolution 1637.
Domestic violence is defined as the willful intimidation, assault,
battery, sexual assault or other abusive behavior perpetrated by an
intimate partner against another. It is an epidemic that affects women,
men, and children in every community regardless of age, sex, economic
status, nationality, or educational background.
One in four women and one in six men will be victims of domestic
violence in their lifetime, and 15\1/2\ million children are abused
every year. Children exposed to domestic violence are more likely
themselves to commit acts of domestic violence when they are adults,
and to commit suicide, abuse drugs, and engage in teenage prostitution.
It is critical that our communities have the resources they need both
to help prevent domestic violence from occurring and to support victims
when abuse has occurred.
During this month, communities and groups nationwide hold events to
increase awareness
[[Page H7085]]
of domestic violence and the resources available to help victims escape
the cycles of violence. Additionally, these events educate the public
about ways to prevent and end abuse. We especially recognize the hard
work and dedication shown by organizations and individuals that serve
victims of abuse and educate the public about domestic violence
prevention.
Mr. Speaker, I once again express my support for House Resolution
1637 which recognizes the month of October as National Domestic
Violence Awareness Month.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. EHLERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I rise today in support of House Resolution 1637, supporting the
goals and ideals of National Domestic Violence Awareness Month 2010 and
expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that Congress
should continue to raise awareness of domestic violence in the United
States and its devastating effects on families and communities, and
support families and practices designed to prevent and end domestic
violence.
{time} 1830
Women disproportionately experience domestic violence in their lives.
Boys who are exposed to domestic violence are four times as likely to
perpetrate domestic violence of adults. The cost of intimate partner
violence exceeds $8.33 billion each year. As evident by these
staggering statistics, domestic violence has far-reaching effects in
our society.
Domestic violence is the willful intimidation, assault, battery,
sexual assault and/or other abusive behavior perpetrated by an intimate
partner against another. It is an epidemic that affects individuals in
every community, regardless of age, economic status, religion,
nationality, educational background or gender.
Domestic violence is far-reaching and affects men and women of all
ages and backgrounds. Male victims are less likely than women to report
violence and seek services, but are often victims of domestic violence.
Both men and women experience the same dynamics of interpersonal
violence and face many of the same hurdles thereafter, including job
loss, increased rates of drug and alcohol abuse, and increased rates of
suicides.
Unfortunately, children are often victimized as the witnesses of
domestic abuse. Research has shown that children who witness domestic
violence and living in an environment where violence occurs may
experience some of the same trauma as abused children. Children who
witness domestic violence are more likely to become abusers as adults
and face many of the same risk factors as the victims of abuse.
Domestic violence affects the victim, children, the abuser and entire
families and communities. It is important that we support the promotion
of awareness of this issue and those individuals and organizations that
work to prevent and end domestic abuse.
I urge my colleagues to support House Resolution 1637.
Mr. Speaker, I yield the balance of my time to the gentleman from
Louisiana (Mr. Cassidy), and I ask unanimous consent that he be allowed
to control that time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Michigan?
There was no objection.
Ms. HIRONO. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 4 minutes to the
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Al Green).
Mr. AL GREEN of Texas. I would like to start by thanking the
gentlelady and the ranking member. I would also like to thank my
friend, the sponsor of this resolution from Texas, Mr. Ted Poe, a
former State district court judge in the State of Texas, former
prosecutor in Harris County, and someone that I have known for more
than 20 years. He and I have worked on this effort. It is a
collaborative effort and this is his year to sponsor and I cosponsor
with him. And I will be honored to sponsor next year and he will, of
course, work with me as a cosponsor of this resolution.
But I want to say this about Mr. Poe: This is something that he does,
not because it happens to be legislation. I know him from his days as a
prosecutor, and these cases concerning domestic violence were cases
that he took seriously. And I know him from his many years as a State
district court judge, and I can honestly say, as I look toward him,
that these were cases that he took seriously.
So this is more than just another resolution for Mr. Poe, and for me
as well. This is something that we take seriously because we, as
judges, we have seen what the results of domestic violence can do to a
family, what it can do not only to the person who is actually the
victim, but the entire family becomes a victim of domestic violence.
And I am just honored to have this opportunity to cosponsor the
resolution with Mr. Poe this year.
The resolution has 41 Democratic and Republican cosponsors. Clearly,
it is bipartisan. It is a resolution that receives wide support
annually, and it is a resolution that transcends more than party lines.
It also transcends lines of ethnicity. It transcends the lines of
religion. It transcends the lines of business, the lines that tend to
put us in various categories. This resolution transcends all of these
lines because the violence that is perpetrated transcends all of these
lines. It goes into all walks of life.
It doesn't matter what your economic status is, your social status
is. Domestic violence can impact people at all levels of life. And this
resolution hopefully will put enough focus on it, such that we will
continue to admonish persons who engage in this kind of invidious,
abhorrent behavior, admonish them to seek counseling, to try to get
yourself in a position such that you can treat your fellow human being
as a child of God meriting the same kind of consideration that you
would want your daughter or your mother, if you happen to be a male.
I would also add that there have been Federal efforts that should not
go unnoticed. This started about 20 years ago and has continued, and we
have had more than just this month. We also had the Violence Against
Women Act of 1994, which created a new culture as it relates to
domestic violence. It helped the police and the judges and the
prosecutors to understand that this was more than a personal event that
took place. It was something that impacted society as a whole. And I am
looking forward to supporting the reauthorization of the Violence Again
Women Act in 2010.
Family Violence Prevention and Services Act, this provides emergency
shelters, crisis intervention programs, and community education.
I am also proud to mention the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
because this act provided $225 million for violence against women in
the sense that it helped to fund programs that will help women who find
themselves being victimized.
The awareness of domestic violence is growing. I have indicated that
judges and prosecutors and police officers----
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Ms. HIRONO. I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentleman.
Mr. AL GREEN of Texas. The constabulary, if you will, now understands
the importance of treating this as a serious issue, and much progress
has been made. However, there is still much to be done. We still have
about 9,000 requests for help that go unnoticed and unanswered on a
daily basis. We still have victims who continue to suffer in silence:
29 women lost their lives in Harris County; 136 Texas women were
killed; 11 Texas children were killed; 92 percent of homeless women
suffer physical and sexual abuse.
So I will just simply close with this: I am honored to be a
cosponsor, and I am honored that the resolution is being presented. And
I beg that all of my colleagues would please support this resolution
because you are supporting families across the length and breadth of
the country. You are keeping them together, and you are helping to
prevent someone from being abused.
Mr. CASSIDY. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe).
{time} 1840
Mr. POE of Texas. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
It is an honor to once again sponsor this Domestic Violence Awareness
Month resolution.
I want to commend Judge Green for working with me on this issue. He
did make one mistake, however. He said we have known each other for 20
years. I'm sorry; it has been 30 years since we
[[Page H7086]]
were young buck lawyers in the courthouse doing battle in Houston,
Texas. So it has been a long time.
But he is correct, this is an issue that must continue to come to the
awareness of the American people, that domestic violence is something
that is, unfortunately, continuing in this country.
Thirty-five percent of the murder victims that were killed in 2008
were killed at the hands of people they knew. Intimate partners, 35
percent of them, murdered by people that were close to them.
In 2007, crimes by intimate partners accounted for 23 percent of all
crimes against women.
In a single day in 2009, 65,000 victims were treated by domestic
violence programs; but, due to lack of resources and funding, almost
10,000 were turned away because there were no resources to take care of
them.
We have a growing need and presence of domestic violence shelters
throughout the country, and they have fewer and fewer resources to take
care of these women who seek refuge from someone that they knew who has
been trying to assault them or has succeeded in assaulting them.
Congress must, of course, pass the reauthorization of the Family
Violence Prevention and Services Act. Victim service providers are on
the front lines of defense against domestic violence, and this funding
is vital to the treatment and reduction of domestic violence.
I spent all of my legal career before coming here as a prosecutor and
a criminal court judge, so I was always in the courthouse doing
criminal cases, and I saw the result of what happens when people in
family situations commit crimes against other family members. It is
something that has to cease in this country, and it is also something
that we, as a community, need to be aware of. Unfortunately, many times
courts don't take these cases seriously.
One of my favorite people is Yvette Cade from Baltimore, Maryland.
Yvette Cade was a real person, still is a real person. And all these
cases are about real people, Mr. Speaker.
On October 10, 2005, Yvette Cade's estranged husband--Roger Hargrave
is his name. He and his wife were not getting along, so he sought her
out. He went to the business where she worked, a video store, walked
inside with a bottle full of gasoline, came up to her, and he poured
that gasoline over her head and he set her on fire. Yvette Cade, a
victim of domestic violence.
She survived that brutal assault, and, thanks to a passerby that saw
this happen, the fire was put out in the parking lot. The judge
involved in this case, Prince George's County Judge Richard Palumbo,
had already lifted a protective order against Hargrave. If he had not
lifted that protective order to keep him away from his estranged wife,
she may not have had this brutal assault committed against her.
Now, Hargrave is serving life in prison for the assault, setting his
wife on fire, but Mrs. Yvette Cade has third-degree burns over 60
percent of her body. She has had 19 surgeries. She survived this brutal
attack. She is a remarkable woman. She has a spirit that it surprises
me she has the spirit that she does.
But she is just one of thousands of people, Mr. Speaker, that are
assaulted in the family, and it continues. We, in this society, must
make sure that it is socially unacceptable to hurt somebody in the
family.
My grandmother, who was the most influential person in my life, lived
to be the age of 99. Judge Green would like this: She never forgave me
for being a Republican. That is a different issue. But she always said,
You never hurt somebody you claim you love. And that is a true
statement, and it always has been. You never hurt somebody you claim
you love. We need to send that message out throughout the Nation,
especially in these family situations. And young males need to
understand that if they get in a relationship with a young woman that
they never hurt them if they claim they love them.
So it is an honor for me to support this. I honor also and recognize
the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, all those wonderful
organizations that are out there taking care mainly of women who find
themselves in desperate situations because someone that supposedly
loved them treated them so badly.
Mr. CASSIDY. I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. HIRONO. In closing, Mr. Speaker, it is very clear, and I thank my
colleagues for their very strong remarks in support of this resolution,
because domestic violence truly knows no bounds; and the women,
children, and seniors who are the most vulnerable in our communities,
who are generally the victims of domestic violence, need our support
and our help. So I again urge my colleagues to support House Resolution
1637.
Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of House
Resolution 1637, expressing the support of the House of Representatives
of the goals and ideals of National Domestic Violence Awareness month.
I would like to thank the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Education
and Labor Committee for bringing this resolution to the Floor; and I
would also like to thank Representative Ted Poe--author of the
resolution--for his tireless efforts to raise awareness of the scourge
of domestic violence.
I am proud to be a cosponsor of this resolution because domestic
violence for me is not an abstract concept. I have lived through
domestic violence and I think it is important for people to hear my
story and understand the human side of this problem. My colleagues who
spoke before me did an excellent job laying out the statistics but the
numbers do not fully express what it's like to survive domestic
violence.
I have said this before but I can't stress this point enough: it is
so important that everybody in America be involved in stopping domestic
violence. There are so many people out there that have heard some woman
scream in the night or seen some child beaten by a father, mother or
caregiver and simply done nothing about it. They say to themselves that
it is not their business, and so they go on their merry way, and they
feel like this problem will go away on its own. It doesn't go away. It
only gets worse and worse and worse until sometimes people get killed
or maimed for life. I know because I have lived through this hell.
My father was six-foot eight, and my mother was five-foot-and-a-half
inches tall, and he used to beat her so badly that we couldn't
recognize her. He would tear her clothes off of her in front of me and
my brother and sister, and then if we said anything he would beat us
too.
Thankfully for my family he eventually went to prison for trying to
kill my mother, but one of the reasons it went that far, in my opinion,
is because there wasn't enough attention paid to what he was doing in
the first place.
I can remember one night about 2 o'clock in the morning, my mother,
who had been beaten up, took me and my brother and sister down to the
police station in Indianapolis, and she went to the desk sergeant and
said to him, you know, she wanted to get a restraining order, get away
from this brute and this brutality. And the desk officer said, you know
what time it is, lady? It's 2 o'clock in the morning, and these kids
ought to be in bed. If you don't take these kids home right now, I'm
going to arrest you for child abuse. That was the attitude that we saw
back in those days.
I can remember when she would throw a lamp through the front window
when he was beating on her, or me, and scream for help so loud that you
could hear it for blocks away and nobody came. Nobody's light went on.
Nobody paid any attention. That is the crime! The crime isn't just the
wife abuse or child abuse or spousal abuse. The crime is that people
don't take it upon themselves to stop it.
Today, police departments have improved across this country; and
there are a lot of organizations that are trying to help men, women and
kids who are abused, and that's great. It's a great step in the right
direction, but as the statistics that we've heard today tell you, the
violence still goes on and on and on. The only way it's going to stop
is, if collectively across this country, men and women who see violence
in public or in private or hear about it, report it to the police,
report it to the proper people and get that perpetrator away from that
man and that woman and those kids. If we don't do that, this is never
going to stop. The perpetrator has to be afraid of what's going to
happen to him or her.
And so I'd like to say to my colleagues, this is very important
legislation. I really appreciate it. I'm glad that we sponsor this
every year, and I encourage everyone to vote in favor of this
resolution. We need to make sure there's awareness of this violence.
Only by shining the light of day on it can we eliminate this scourge
once and for all.
Mr. BOSWELL. I rise today to bring to light my concerns about the
growing epidemic of domestic violence in our country, and to vehemently
voice my support for H. Res. 1637, commemorating October as Domestic
Violence Awareness Month.
Domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence and stalking are
crimes of epidemic
[[Page H7087]]
proportions that impact millions of individuals and every community in
our Nation. To address and prevent these crimes, the Federal Government
created the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and the Family Violence
Prevention and Services Act (FVPSA). VAWA programs administered by the
Departments of Justice (DOJ) and Health and Human Services (HHS) have
changed Federal, tribal, State and local responses to these four
crimes.
In 2007, crimes by intimate partners accounted for 23 percent of all
violent crimes against females and 3 percent of all violent crimes
against males. This rate jumped in 2008, when 35 percent of female
murder victims were killed by an intimate partner. These staggering
statistics are just a few examples of how serious this problem has
become. These figures compel us to raise awareness in the health care
community about the devastating effect that domestic violence has on
families and communities.
The current economic crisis has a disproportionately high and
devastating impact on victims of domestic violence, sexual assault,
dating violence and stalking. When victims of these heinous acts take
the difficult step to reach out for help, many are in life-threatening
situations and must be able to find immediate refuge. Given the
dangerous and potentially lethal nature of these crimes, we cannot
afford to ignore these victims' needs.
We in Congress continue to support the Department of Justice and the
Department of Health and Human Services as they continue their efforts
to put an end to domestic violence in our country.
I urge my colleagues to continue to raise awareness about this grave
issue by supporting H. Res. 1637 and designating October as Domestic
Violence Awareness Month.
Ms. HIRONO. I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentlewoman from Hawaii (Ms. Hirono) that the House suspend the rules
and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 1637, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the resolution, as amended, was agreed to.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________