[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 62 (Wednesday, April 10, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E444]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2019

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. KENDRA S. HORN

                              of oklahoma

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, April 3, 2019

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the state of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 1585) to 
     reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act of 1994, and for 
     other purposes:

  Ms. KENDRA S. HORN of Oklahoma. Mr. Chair, I am honored to have 
supported the 2019 reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act 
(VAWA). This vitally important legislation continues and expands 
critical protections for families and women facing abuse.
  As an Oklahoman and member of the Native American Caucus, I am 
grateful this legislation expands protection for our Native women, 
children, and law enforcement. House Resolution 1585 improves tribal 
access to federal crime information databases. It creates new 
mechanisms that let us hold non-Native abusers of Natives accountable. 
It reaffirms that tribal governments can prosecute those non-Natives in 
cases of domestic and intimate partner violence, and it expands those 
protections to children. Native children are 50 times more likely to be 
abused, according to the National Congress of American Indians, and 60 
percent of the non-Native-on-Native abuse crimes tried since 2013 have 
involved children.
  Health care is one of the most important issues in my district. H.R. 
1585 creates more opportunities and access to survivors. It 
reauthorizes critical grants providers use to treat patients, and it 
broadens the reach of these grants to develop services to address the 
safety, medical, and mental health needs of survivors, while 
maintaining the grants' local focus on providing funds to state 
domestic and sexual violence coalitions.
  We need to work every day to support survivors and provide the 
services they and their families need. When we work with survivors, 
though, we must examine the root of the problem and study long-term 
effects. We, as policymakers, understand survivors have undergone 
trauma, but we do not focus enough on the lasting effect trauma can 
have on health--both mental and physical. We need to acknowledge 
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs).
  ACE scores are determined through a ten-question quiz that is based 
on a list of experiences people might see or undergo before turning 18. 
It includes sexual abuse, neglect, and incarceration of a parent or 
family member.
  If a person has experienced four or more of these adverse 
experiences, they are 700 percent more likely to be diagnosed with 
depression. They are more likely to have attempted suicide. Severe 
obesity, diabetes, cancer, and stroke all become more likely the higher 
one's ACEs score. Oklahoma's average score is 4.8. It is no coincidence 
that we rank poorly for health outcomes.
  I am proud of local providers in my own district including the 
Palomar Family Justice Center, that use ACEs data to interrupt the 
cycle of abuse. I am also proud of the Potts Family Foundation, which 
has been a leader in our community on the conversation about trauma.
  We must take an evidence-based approach. We must understand the 
nature and impact of trauma to best serve those who have suffered.

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