[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 16 (Monday, February 4, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Pages S454-S455]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ACT
Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I am honored to be an original cosponsor
of the bipartisan legislation to reauthorize the Violence Against Women
Act. Let me thank the two leaders of that important bill, Senators
Leahy and Crapo, for their work to ensure that the Senate makes
renewing this important law a high priority early in this Congress.
I also wish to acknowledge the work of the many advocates who have
delivered so strongly the message to Congress and to the public that we
must do more to prevent violence from occurring in our homes and in our
communities. Our law enforcement officers, counselors, social workers,
health care professionals, public educators, and community service
providers are truly on the front lines of the effort to help those who
are the victims of violence and to help prevent violence from occurring
in the first place. Their advocacy on behalf of these victims has
helped to make this bill a priority. I commend them all for the work
they are doing each and every day.
In my home State of Maine, we are fortunate to have a very low crime
rate, but law enforcement officials tell me that the two greatest areas
of concern are domestic violence and drugs. Often, these two go hand in
hand. In fact, a 2011 study by the University of Southern Maine's
Muskie School of Public Service found that 65 percent of victims of
crime in Maine believe the offender was under the influence of drugs or
alcohol at the time.
Over the last decade, occurrences of domestic violence have resulted
in nearly half of all homicides in my State. Nearly half are the result
of incidents of domestic violence.
According to statistics from the Maine Department of Public Safety,
there were 5,360 reported domestic assaults in the year 2011, which is
nearly a 5-percent increase from the previous year. This equates to one
domestic assault every 1 hour and 38 minutes, and this is in a State
with a very low crime rate.
Nationally, one in four women and one in seven men experience severe
physical violence at the hands of an intimate partner.
In addition, Maine's 10-year average is 364 rapes per year. Think
about that. That is almost one rape per day in a State with a very low
crime rate. Those are only the reported crimes. I suspect the actual
number is even higher. According to the Maine Coalition Against Sexual
Assault, an estimated 13,000 Mainers will experience some form of
sexual violence this year alone. Currently, rape has the lowest
reporting, arrest, and prosecution rate of all violent crimes in the
United States.
So I am very pleased that this year's reauthorization bill also
includes the provisions of the Sexual Assault Forensic Evidence
Registry--or SAFER--Act, which was authored by our colleague, Senator
John Cornyn. I commend the Senator for his leadership in that area, and
I am pleased to be a cosponsor of his bill, which unanimously passed in
the last Congress in the Senate and has been incorporated into the
Violence Against Women Act reauthorization. This bipartisan bill, the
[[Page S455]]
SAFER Act, would authorize the Attorney General to award grants to
State and local governments to audit and reduce the backlog of untested
rape kits.
Mr. President, I think you will share my shock and alarm at the
number of these kits which are sitting in the possession of law
enforcement agencies and which could contain DNA evidence that would
lead to prosecutions and help get rapists off the streets and yet have
not been analyzed. The estimate is that between 300,000 and 400,000 of
these kits are just sitting in the possession of law enforcement
agencies but have not been analyzed. That is totally unacceptable.
The reauthorization bill we introduced last week would help ensure
that Maine and every other State has the necessary resources to support
victims of violence and, whenever possible, to prevent violence from
occurring in the first place.
Elizabeth Saxl, the executive director of the Maine Coalition Against
Sexual Assault, recently wrote to me in support of the reauthorization
of the Violence Against Women Act. She noted this in her letter:
By reauthorizing and making significant improvements to
these important programs, this legislation will help fulfill
the critical unmet needs of victims of violence and expand
protections to currently under-protected populations.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that her letter be printed in
the Record at the conclusion of my remarks.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
(See exhibit 1.)
Ms. COLLINS. The Violence Against Women Act has made a significant
difference in combating domestic violence, sexual assault, and
stalking, through grants to State and local governments and nonprofit
organizations. Since it was first passed in 1994, the programs
authorized under this law have provided State and local partners with
more than $4.7 billion of assistance. This assistance helps to ensure
that the victims of violence get the help they need to recover and has
prevented incalculable suffering by stopping violent crimes before they
happen.
It is extremely important to pass this legislation because all men
and women--and men are victims as well as women. In some ways, the name
of this law should be changed. But all women and men, regardless of
race, religion, sexual orientation, or disability deserve to be safe
and protected from physical violence, and that is what this
reauthorization would help to do.
Finally, this is not and never should be a partisan issue. Violence
and domestic assaults do not discriminate between Republicans and
Democrats, Independents and Greens, or people who are not politically
active at all.
This is an equal opportunity crime that harms people regardless of
their political affiliation, their profession, their location, or their
status in life. It is an issue that deserves bipartisan support. I hope
my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will come together and pass
this important bill.
I recognize there may be some provisions of this bill which are
controversial; but, surely, we can come together in support of the goal
of this vital legislation. We can work out differences if not on the
Senate floor then in conference with the House; but, surely, we can
come together and reauthorize this law that has made such a difference
to so many in our country.
Exhibit 1
Maine Coalition Against
Sexual Assault,
Augusta, ME, February 4, 2013.
Hon. Susan M. Collins,
U.S. Senate,
Washington, DC.
Dear Senator Collins: On behalf of the Maine Coalition
Against Sexual Assault (MECASA), and the sexual assault
crisis and support centers we represent, I am writing to
express our strong support for S. 47, the Violence Against
Women Reauthorization Act (VAWA) of 2013. By reauthorizing
and making significant improvements to these important
programs, this legislation will help fulfill the critical
unmet needs of victims of violence and expand protections to
currently under-protected populations.
VAWA has provided invaluable support for law enforcement,
courts, sexual assault crisis and support centers, domestic
violence service providers, prevention efforts, and community
outreach. In the past decade, nearly half of Maine's
homicides have been the result of domestic violence, many of
which included elements of sexual violence. Additionally,
nearly 13,000 Mainers will experience sexual violence this
year alone while Maine's ten-year average for rapes reported
to law enforcement is only 364. The cost of these crimes to
Maine is enormous. VAWA helps control these costs by enabling
support centers to provide free, necessary, quality services
to victims who need help, not to mention the incalculable
suffering that these programs help prevent.
Since the original passage of VAWA, Maine has strengthened
laws regarding domestic violence, sexual violence, and
stalking and has implemented programs which continue to yield
tangible results for victims and for public safety. Despite
VAWA's success, its criminal justice and community-based
programs remain acutely necessary. According to a recent
study by the University of Southern Maine's Muskie School of
Public Service, nearly one in five Mainers reported having
been the victim of sexual assault or an attempted sexual
assault in his or her lifetime. Nationally, the Center for
Disease Control and Prevention estimates that nearly one in
five women and one in 71 men have been raped at some time in
their lives, and one in four women and one in seven men
experience severe physical violence by an intimate partner.
MECASA supports efforts to further strengthen and improve
the response of the criminal justice, legal, and victim
support systems for survivors of domestic violence, dating
violence, sexual assault, and stalking. We are grateful to
you for your steadfast support of VAWA and your commitment to
violence prevention and response.
Thank you for all you do on behalf of Maine and our nation.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth Ward Saxl,
Executive Director.
Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, seeing no one seeking recognition, I
suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Tennessee is recognized.
Mr. CORKER. I thank the Chair.
(The remarks of Senator Corker pertaining to the introduction of S.
215 are printed in today's Record under ``Statements on Introduced
Bills and Joint Resolutions.'')
Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, I notice the absence of a quorum, and I
thank the chair for the time.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for
the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. King.) Without objection, it is so
ordered.
Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that I speak as in
morning business.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
____________________