[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 120 (Monday, July 17, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Page S4018]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                               POWER Act

  Let me give one specific. It is an issue I feel very passionate 
about. I had a bill introduced last year. It passed the Senate by 
unanimous consent, and we are trying to pass it right now by unanimous 
consent this Congress. Unfortunately, it didn't pass out of the House. 
I think it will. It has passed out of committee again. It is called the 
Pro bono Work to Empower and Represent Act, the POWER Act. It is very 
bipartisan. A number of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, 
including Senators Heitkamp, Shaheen, Leahy, and Warren, are 
cosponsors.
  Here is what it does: I come to the Senate floor every week to talk 
about what a great State I live in--Alaska. One thing we actually 
aren't proud of in Alaska is that we have a real big problem with 
domestic violence and sexual assault in my State. One of the best ways 
to deal with that issue, one of the best ways to help victims and 
survivors break the cycle of violence that occurs with way too many 
families and way too many women and children in Alaska--and across the 
country--is to get attorneys to represent them.
  Here is a startling fact. It is a little harsh when you say it, but 
it is true: If there is someone who commits a rape or is accused of 
committing a rape, that person gets a Sixth Amendment right to counsel. 
That is in our Bill of Rights. Guess what the victim gets in terms of 
legal representation: nothing. There is no right. But that is a really 
important way to help break the cycle of violence--to get survivors and 
victims an attorney and get the resources to do that. That is what the 
POWER Act does, and that is why it passed by unanimous consent last 
year.
  We have a big problem in the country in terms of domestic violence 
and sexual assault. This would help. We are trying to move it right now 
by unanimous consent. It will pass. But it is not going to pass now 
because the minority leader is blocking every unanimous consent 
agreement on the Senate floor. Why? Why?
  Does he think that women in America don't need the resources to 
represent themselves in these kind of horrendous crimes? They do. Trust 
me. Thousands of them--tens of thousands of them do. So why are we 
blocking this? Why don't we move it? We are shutting down the whole 
Senate, trying to shut down the Federal Government's ability to seat 
itself, to do the work of the American people. This is historic 
obstruction, and no one explains it. The press doesn't ask about it. I 
think the American people need to know about it.
  We were elected to move this country forward. The election happened 
in November. Let's come together. There is a lot of bipartisan work to 
do. We have our differences on healthcare and other issues, but there 
are so many things about which we don't have differences--growing the 
economy, rebuilding our military, infrastructure. We need people in the 
Federal Government who can do that, and we need leaders in the Senate 
who can move things forward by unanimous consent--like the POWER Act--
when they are not controversial. We don't have those leaders right now, 
and we need them. We need to get this country moving again. The way 
things are happening on the Senate floor, it is not happening that way 
at all.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Georgia.