[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 186 (Wednesday, November 20, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6690-S6693]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                        Remembering Nathan Lane

  Mr. GARDNER. Mr. President, I rise today to honor a Foreign Service 
Officer of the United States and a former Pearson Fellow in my office, 
who was tragically killed in an accident while serving his country 
abroad.
  After serving in my office for a yearlong fellowship, Nathan Lane was 
assigned to the Poland desk at the U.S. State Department here in 
Washington. Sadly, while on temporary duty in Poland, he was involved 
in a car accident. While he was initially hospitalized, his injuries 
proved too severe, and, surrounded by his loving family, he passed away 
on November 2.
  Nathan was a committed public servant who joined the State Department 
in 2000 and served in nearly every corner of the globe. He and his wife 
Sara and, later, his son Peter travelled from Mexico, to Russia, to 
Belarus, to Vietnam, and finally to Kenya. After his assignment in 
Kenya, he had the ``misfortune'' to be assigned to my office through a 
Pearson Fellowship. Here, my team and I got to see his diligence and 
dedication every day firsthand.
  During his time in my office, Nathan proved invaluable. His knowledge 
and expertise of foreign policy gave him a mastery of the portfolio, as 
revealed by his exceptionally researched policy papers on important 
international issues and matters that my team and I tackled in the 
Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
  Nathan's understanding of the dynamics of foreign relations and his 
skills at compiling pertinent information allowed him to craft the 
soon-to-be-released report on China. This product of the Subcommittee 
on East Asia, the Pacific, and Cybersecurity Policy will be a 
comprehensive report on the activities of China in the Indo-Pacific 
region. Absent Nathan's diligence and dedication, this report would not 
have been possible.
  Additionally, Nathan drafted a resolution urging the formation of an 
unprecedented treaty alliance between the United States and Indo-
Pacific nations to collectively guard against growing cyber threats. 
The Cyber League of Indo-Pacific States, or CLIPS, was Nathan's 
brainchild. He was passionate about this idea and rightfully proud of 
this resolution, and my team and I are honored to carry on this torch.
  Of course, Nathan contributed so much more than just policy 
expertise. His kind heart and curious nature made him a friend to my 
staff and me. He would readily help those around him, even with the 
smallest tasks, without a whisper of complaint and quickly fit in as 
one of the team.
  Nathan had many passions beyond foreign policy. He loved chess, and 
every so often, we would catch him pulling up an ongoing game between 
times of busyness. He loved running, and it wasn't uncommon for him to 
step away from his desk at a convenient time to go for a quick jog 
around Capitol Hill.
  Perhaps his greatest passion, though, was baseball. Indeed, one of 
his most timeless contributions to our office was his membership of 
Coors & Corn, the joint softball team between Senator Sasse's office 
and mine. We may not have won it all that year, but we certainly would 
not have stood a chance without Nathan. As we celebrate the World 
Series in Washington, Nathan was such a great Nats fan that, every time 
we cheer for that team, we will also be cheering for him.
  He was one of a kind. He was cheerful, eager, and caring; his loss 
will be felt by all of us who knew him. I ask my colleagues to join me 
in praying for his family, his wife, and his son and commemorating the 
man who graced so many of us with his compassion.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.


                   Unanimous Consent Request--S. 2843

  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I rise today to speak on the Violence 
Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2019. This bill passed the House 
by a vote of 263 to 158, with 33 Republicans supporting it.
  A week ago, along with every other Senate Democrat, I introduced the 
bill in the Senate. People on the frontlines helping these victims 
wrote this bill. This bill is not a Democratic bill. It is not a 
Republican bill. This bill is a survivors' bill. It is written with the 
help of survivors who know what is needed in the real world.
  The bill accomplishes two things. It preserves the advancements we 
made during the last reauthorization in 2013, and it includes certain 
meaningful improvements to the law. In particular, there are three key 
elements.
  One, it expands jurisdiction over non-Native Americans for domestic 
violence offenses and crimes against children, elders, and law 
enforcement. Violence is a big problem on Tribal lands, and the best 
way to address it is to allow the Tribes themselves to prosecute these 
crimes. Unfortunately, some, instead, want to circumvent the Tribal 
justice system that we know works, and this moves us in the wrong 
direction.
  Secondly, the bill builds on existing antidiscrimination protections 
for the LGBT community. In the 2013 reauthorization, Congress declared 
that Federal grant recipients could use funds to train staff to 
recognize and combat discrimination against LGBT individuals. 
Unfortunately, the law wasn't clear, and organizations are still 
uncertain if they can use funds for this purpose. This bill simply 
clarifies that intent. It is a small but very important change to help 
this at-risk community. There has been surprising resistance from some 
on the Republican side to include this modest language.
  Third, our bill keeps guns out of the hands of domestic abusers. It 
does this by adding intimate partners and stalkers to the existing list 
of individuals who can be banned from possessing firearms. We know the 
presence of a firearm in a domestic violence situation increases the 
odds of a woman being killed by 500 percent. That is a major increase 
in risk. It only makes sense to take guns away from convicted domestic 
abusers who may use them to kill their spouses or partners.
  There is simply no way to stop domestic violence, but I think we have 
a duty to do all we can, and this bill makes significant improvements 
in the law.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that at a time to be 
determined by the majority leader, in consultation with the Democratic 
leader, no later than before the end of this year, the Judiciary 
Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. 2843 and the 
Senate proceed to its immediate consideration; that the only amendments 
in order be two germane amendments per side; that the debate on the 
bill be limited to 1 hour and amendments limited to 30 minutes each, 
equally divided between the two leaders or their designees; that upon 
the use or yielding back of time, the Senate vote in relation to the 
amendments; that upon the disposition of the amendments, the bill, as 
amended, if amended, be read a third time and the Senate vote on 
passage; and finally, that amendments and passage be subject to a 60-
affirmative vote threshold, all with no intervening action or debate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Ms. ERNST. Mr. President.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Iowa.
  Ms. ERNST. Mr. President, I am reserving the right to object.
  I am on the floor today to speak my piece about the Violence Against 
Women Act. I speak to this body not just as a Senator, but I speak to 
this body as a survivor of rape and as a survivor of domestic violence.

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  For months--for months--the senior Senator from California and I 
worked together on a piece of legislation that would reauthorize the 
Violence Against Women Act, a bipartisan effort, an effort that brought 
the Senator and I together to reauthorize the bill with as much support 
in this body as possible.
  We were working together in good faith to make our way through the 
issues that affect so many women in abusive situations, partners in 
abusive situations, domestic violence situations where children are 
involved, to find a common path forward to have this bill reauthorized, 
again, with as much support as possible in this body at a time when 
America views us as so politically divided.
  What could bring us together? The issue of violence directed at women 
and children and survivors of sexual assault should bring us together.
  Months of bipartisan effort--but there was pressure to immediately 
introduce the House-passed version of the Violence Against Women Act. 
We were moving ahead with steady progress in a number of these areas, 
but, again, there was political pressure to introduce the House-passed 
version of the bill, not one that we could come together with on the 
floor of this Senate but one that even the Democrats--in their release, 
in their press gaggle addressing the House version of Violence Against 
Women--said would never make it through the Senate. Why on Earth would 
we introduce a piece of legislation that will not make it through this 
body? Shouldn't we be working together to find a path forward?
  We should continue to work on it. I sincerely hope that by the end of 
this year we can come together as Republicans and Democrats and not 
present a Republican version or a Democratic version but produce a 
version that will pass this body and protect those who are in a very 
vulnerable state. I have been in that vulnerable state before, and I 
appreciated the assistance that was given to me by folks who were 
funded by this piece of legislation.
  So, with that, I object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Perdue). Objection is heard.
  The Senator from California has the floor.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I would ask the Senator to yield for 
just a moment. I know we had some good discussions, and they broke off. 
I am very happy to continue to work on this. I felt it was important to 
enter the House bill because of the three very important provisions 
that I just went over, which are, in essence, the three improvements on 
the bill, if you will.
  I have no problem sitting down now so that we can discuss it. If we 
could find a way that we can agree, I think that would be just fine. 
But in the interest of time and because there has been a substantial 
period of time, I just decided to introduce it. The three issues are 
Tribal sovereignty, the LGBTQ people, and the gun provisions. Those are 
the three new House provisions.
  I hope that Senator Ernst and I can sit down and discuss it. I would 
be very happy to do this--sit down and discuss, if she would like.
  Thank you.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Iowa.
  Ms. ERNST. Mr. President, I truly appreciate the remarks by the 
senior Senator from California. I truly have enjoyed working on this 
piece of legislation.
  There were three markers that were laid down within the House version 
of the bill as outlined previously, but there was no consensus there. 
It was, ``Either accept these provisions or we don't work together.''
  We need to keep finding a way to get to consensus on a bill moving 
through this body, and I am happy to continue working on legislation 
with the Senator. I think, by the end of this year, we should find 
something that would work to reauthorize this very important piece of 
legislation, and I appreciate her leadership on this very much. I truly 
have enjoyed working with her.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from California.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. If I may, in response to the Senator--I am very happy 
to accept the invitation. We can sit down and continue to work on this, 
but I would point out that these three provisions have tremendous 
support: the Tribal sovereignty, the protections for the LGBT 
community, and spouse protections when a spouse has a weapon. Those are 
rather difficult over here. They were not in the House. But who knows? 
Maybe we can work something out, and I am happy to try.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Iowa.
  Ms. ERNST. Mr. President, the Violence Against Women Act turned 25 
years old this year. As many of us are aware, this law provides 
desperately needed resources to tackle domestic and sexual abuse in 
our communities. Folks, it needs to be reauthorized.

  I wasn't in the Senate the last time this bill was passed back in 
2013, and I wanted to be part of the process of getting the bill done 
this time around. As a woman, as a survivor, and as someone who 
volunteered at a women's shelter in college, I understand just how 
awful violence against women can be in terms of physical and mental 
well-being, self-image, our families, and security in the whole of 
society.
  For months the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and I 
worked to develop a bipartisan proposal that I really thought could get 
across the finish line. Folks, as that old ``Schoolhouse Rock'' video 
says: Without passing the House, the Senate, and getting a signature 
from the President, all you have is a bill, just a bill, not a law. And 
no survivors are helped by a bill.
  Here we are today, after months of work and mountains of effort that 
went toward working on a bipartisan bill, and at some point someone 
pressed the big red button of partisan politics, and the Democrats 
refused to work together any longer, walking away from the real 
progress we had made. Not only did they walk away from the negotiating 
table, but they did so by dropping a bill that is going nowhere, as 
they have acknowledged.
  The Senate Democrats' bill is a nonstarter. It will not pass the 
Senate. It will not get the President's signature. Most importantly, it 
will not actually help the survivors who need it.
  These politics are sad. We should be helping survivors, not engaging 
in the kinds of partisan antics that will never produce real results. 
We have seen this before. The Democrats will say that Republican women 
can't speak for women because we don't agree point by point with their 
leftist agenda. These are worn-out tactics, my friends.
  However, despite the minority's decision to walk away and put 
politics ahead of survivors, I am leading our effort to continue 
getting a bill done that focuses on providing the resources and support 
survivors across the country need for women and children in urban and 
rural areas like mine.
  My goal has always been to empower survivors, to punish abusers, and 
to enhance the overall purpose behind this very important law. That is 
why, this week, I plan to put forward a bill that puts survivors first. 
We have included a number of issues Senate Democrats failed to address. 
For example--and this should be so simple, folks--we are holistically 
addressing female genital mutilation. We have tripled the amount of 
funding that is available for education and sexual assault prevention. 
We also focus more on enhancing the penalties for abusers.
  As a matter of fact, one of the most objectionable and unacceptable 
items in the Senate Democratic bill is that they allow accused abusers 
to go outside of the justice system and negotiate directly with their 
victim--with their victim--those women, those abused survivors who have 
already been manipulated and beat down. It allows those abusers to 
negotiate directly with their victims to avoid jail time; that is, of 
course, as long as the victim consents, as if an abusive relationship 
ever involved consent--outside of the justice system, folks, outside of 
the justice system. It is unimaginable that we would allow or fund such 
an abusive system or abusive situation and allow abusers to escape 
justice. I think abusers should face justice, and I am not sure why our 
Senate Democratic colleagues don't agree.
  Coming from a rural area of our country, I made sure we prioritized 
rural resources in our bill. We are offering increased funding for 
housing assistance so that women and children can be safe from their 
abusers. When living in an area like mine--rural Montgomery County, Red 
Oak, IA--the nearest shelter is an hour away. You

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have virtually cut off a woman and her children from any job she might 
have, any family she might have, and it truly takes them out of their 
life. By offering these housing resources through voucher programs, our 
bill enables them to rent an apartment or home in their home community.
  Imagine what we could do in this body if we worked with a single 
purpose instead of a dozen different motives. Imagine this entire body 
pulling together with a single purpose, focusing on assisting those 
survivors.
  I welcome the support of all of my colleagues for my bill--Democrats 
and Republicans--and I hope we can all join together in this effort. 
How many more violent abusers can we put behind bars to keep survivors 
safe? How many more people would be alive today?
  I want to thank my colleagues for joining me today to speak on the 
importance of the Violence Against Women Act. I want to send the 
message to the countless survivors across this country: We are with 
you. We hear you, and we are working for you.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Texas.
  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I would like to begin by thanking our 
friend and colleague from Iowa, Senator Ernst, for her leadership on 
the reauthorization and--indeed, I think the important point should be 
made--to strengthen the Violence Against Women Act. We don't have to 
settle for the House bill. We can have a better bill for victims of 
domestic violence. Unfortunately, like so much important work, we seem 
constantly to get diverted and distracted and dragged down by the 
partisanship that seems to dominate Washington, DC, these days. For 
many months, our colleague from Iowa has been working closely with 
Senator Feinstein from California to try to figure a way to reauthorize 
this critical law.
  In the meantime, though, not on one occasion but on two occasions, we 
have offered a continuing resolution that would extend the current 
reauthorization and our Democratic colleagues have shut that down. So 
we are in unchartered territory where we don't currently have an 
authorization for the Violence Against Women Act.
  I shared our colleague's disappointment when our Democratic 
colleagues walked away from the negotiating table and chose to 
introduce a replica of the House's partisan bill, which as you have 
heard, does not have the support to pass in the Senate. Let me say one 
thing that should be abundantly clear but sometimes I think it gets 
lost: We all agree that more must be done to prevent violence and 
respond to it. It is fair to say that we have different opinions on 
what those pathways look like, but one thing that should not be up for 
debate is whether or not we reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act. 
That is something we need to do.
  The fact is that we don't have to settle for the House bill. We can 
do better. Our Democratic colleagues took an interesting approach in 
introducing a bill that a majority of people in this Chamber will not 
support, and they know that. Sadly, that is part of the point. They 
know they have a bill that does not enjoy consensus support because 
they would rather make the political point and argument that somehow 
some of us on this side don't believe in supporting victims of domestic 
violence, which is absolutely a falsehood. It is a lie. During a press 
conference, the Senator from Hawaii even conceded five times that the 
House bill is going nowhere, but that is the path our Democratic 
colleagues have chosen. Rather than working in a bipartisan fashion to 
build a consensus package that could actually become law, they decided 
to head down a partisan path led by the House bill, which came to us 7 
months ago.
  Clearly, some of our colleagues here in the Senate are not interested 
in actually making laws. They are in it for the headlines, for the 
politics. In the face of this ridiculous and unacceptable jockeying, I 
am glad that today Senator Ernst will introduce a consensus alternative 
to the bill offered by our colleagues, and I am proud to be a cosponsor 
of the legislation. This bill introduced by the Senator from Iowa will 
send more funding and more resources to the Violence Against Women Act 
than the Democrats' bill. It is actually better and will authorize a 
program for twice as long. It will give the Department of Justice the 
stability it needs to plan for the future without being jerked around 
by partisan gains.
  This bill includes a lot more than just funding. It also addresses a 
number of horrific crimes that are being committed against women and 
girls in our country. Sex trafficking, for example, is currently not 
always recognized as a form of sexual assault--and it is--but this bill 
would make that clear. It would also enhance the maximum criminal 
penalties for sexual abuse of minors and other vulnerable groups. It 
will, as you heard, take aim at heinous crimes like mutilation and 
address crimes in rural areas and on Tribal lands. This legislation 
includes provisions from a number of bipartisan bills that have been 
introduced in the Senate to both improve resources for victims and 
target specific types of abuse.

  One example is a bill I introduced with the Senator from California, 
my friend Senator Feinstein, called the HEALS Act, which will remove 
some of the hurdles that exist between victims of domestic violence and 
their access to safe housing. That is in our bill. This provision would 
also include greater flexibility for transitional housing programs so 
that survivors can get back on their feet without the fear of losing 
the roof over their head.
  This bill includes language introduced by Senators Murkowski and 
Cortez Masto to combat the epidemic of murdered and missing Native 
women and girls. It will allow for better law enforcement coordination 
and provide local and Tribal law enforcement with more resources to 
address these crimes. It is critical that we all call attention to 
these despicable acts of violence and unequivocally reject them without 
regard to partisanship or party.
  Another challenge we face is technology outpacing our ability to 
counter certain types of exploitation. Abusive images and videos 
proliferate online, for example. This is a relatively new challenge, 
but it is real and it is omnipresent. This legislation will empower 
victims of this type of abuse to remove the content from the internet 
by using copyright takedown authority. It also establishes an 
innovation fund for the Office on Violence Against Women to address 
emerging trends so victims can get the support they need as quickly as 
possible.
  If you compare this legislation to the bill passing the House and 
introduced by our Democratic colleagues here, there is no question that 
our version does more to support survivors of domestic violence and 
sexual assault. It provides more funding over a longer period of time, 
and it targets despicable crimes that are being committed across the 
country that aren't even covered by the House bill.
  Let me just close by thanking our friend from Iowa for continuing to 
fight for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault and for 
leading the effort to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act. It is 
a bill that never should have lapsed, despite two attempts to continue 
it that our Democratic colleagues objected to. I am proud to be a 
cosponsor of this bill and look forward to working with all of our 
colleagues to advance it. I hope our colleagues will return to the 
negotiation table and work with us so we can send a long-term 
reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act to the President's 
desk for his signature.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from North Dakota.
  Mr. HOEVEN. Mr. President, I rise to join my colleagues from Iowa, 
Texas, and Alaska in calling for the reauthorization of the Violence 
Against Women Act, or VAWA. VAWA was foundational to addressing 
domestic violence and sexual assault and supporting survivors in their 
recovery.
  VAWA expired earlier this year, and it is critical that the services 
and tools offered through the law are reauthorized so we can continue 
to help and empower survivors. Additionally, it is important that we 
make it known that crimes of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating 
violence, and stalking are not tolerated.
  Senator Ernst will be introducing this legislation, which I am 
cosponsoring, to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act. This bill 
includes key Tribal provisions, such as expanding Tribal criminal 
jurisdiction and upholding Tribal sovereignty while

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amending the 2013 VAWA, and providing increased funding for Indian 
Tribes to address violence committed against Indians on their lands.
  A Department of Justice report found that more than four in five 
American Indian and Alaska Native women experience violence in their 
lifetime, and Native women are significantly more likely to experience 
cases of stalking and physical violence by an intimate partner.
  Under Senator Ernst's VAWA bill, Indian Tribes will be allowed to 
train more lawyers and Tribal court judges, further strengthening the 
Tribal criminal justice system; have access to increased data and 
reporting on the subject of missing and murdered Indians; and will 
require the Department of Justice to issue annual reports to Congress 
in order to thoroughly track the progress of the special criminal 
jurisdiction and better determine trends of violence committed on 
Indian lands.

  The Committee on Indian Affairs has held hearings on violence against 
Indians and missing and murdered Native Americans. As chairman of the 
committee, I introduced legislation that would increase resources to 
Indian victims of crime. The Senate majority VAWA includes my SURVIVE 
Act, which would provide Indian Tribes with a 5-percent Tribal set 
aside of the Crime Victims Fund. Prior to our work on this initiative, 
Tribes were accessing less than 1 percent of this important funding. As 
a member of the Appropriations Committee, I have included a Tribal set-
aside in the three previous fiscal years of criminal justice science 
packages, which underscores the importance of passing authorizing 
language, such as my SURVIVE Act.
  This VAWA bill also includes Savanna's Act, a bill I am cosponsoring, 
named for Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind, a pregnant woman from the Spirit 
Lake Nation in my home State who went missing and was found murdered 8 
days later. Savanna's tragic death did not go unnoticed and has helped 
to raise awareness about missing and murdered Native American women. 
Savanna's Act will help to address cases of missing or murdered Indians 
by directing the Attorney General to review, revise, and develop law 
enforcement and criminal justice guidelines; improving access to 
Federal criminal databases; holding Tribal consultations with Indian 
Tribes, Tribal Organizations, and Urban Indian Organizations when the 
Department of Justice develops and implements guidelines; requiring 
training and technical assistance to Indian Tribes participating in the 
guidelines implementation process; and mandating data collection and 
reporting by the Department of Justice.
  The Senate majority VAWA includes these important Tribal bills, and I 
am proud to be a cosponsor of Senator Ernst's bill. There are many 
great provisions in this VAWA bill, and I hope my colleagues on the 
other side of the aisle will give it serious consideration. We must act 
to reauthorize VAWA in order to help support survivors and provide them 
with the assistance they need to recover. Reauthorizing VAWA also sends 
the important message that crimes of domestic violence, sexual assault, 
dating violence, and stalking are not tolerated in this country, and 
that we will continue to support survivors.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alaska.
  Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. President, I want to join my colleagues here on the 
importance of the VAWA reauthorization. In particular, I want to thank 
Senator Ernst for her months of hard work that she has put into this 
bill that we are introducing today. I am a proud cosponsor on that 
bill.
  You saw in her remarks earlier her passion, her energy, and her focus 
on rural America, which is very important to me and my great State of 
Alaska. I am hopeful, as all of my colleagues here are, including our 
friend from California, Senator Feinstein, that we in the Senate are 
going to get to a place where we can have a bipartisan bill that is 
going to reauthorize VAWA. This is hugely important for America, and it 
is hugely important for Alaska.
  I come down to the floor every week and I talk about someone who is 
doing something great in my State. I like to brag about the great State 
of Alaska. It is an amazing place, but, I will tell you, there is one 
area where we are not so amazing. My State, unfortunately, has the 
highest rates of domestic violence and sexual assault of any State in 
America. It is horrendous. The number of victims and the carnage that 
this leaves in Alaska and throughout our country are something we 
should be able to come together and fix. We can do this.
  I want to talk about a provision in Senator Ernst's bill that is 
something that I have been working on with her, but, importantly, with 
many Senators, including a lot of my Democratic colleagues. It is title 
XII of the bill. It is called the ``Choose Respect'' title. This is a 
series of bills that I have introduced with Senators Gillibrand, 
Harris, and Coons, my Democratic colleagues, and it is focused on 
trying to change the culture and get more legal resources to victims 
and to survivors.
  Why is that so important? When you look at the studies that show what 
is the best way for a survivor to break out of the cycle of violence 
that they often find themselves in, one of the answers is to get them 
an attorney. It empowers them. It enables them to use the justice 
system to their advantage. Yet here is the problem. When you look--
literally, on a daily basis--at the lack of legal representation for 
victims and survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault, it is 
endemic across the country. So a number of the elements of this bill, 
particularly under the ``Choose Respect'' title, are going to try to 
change this.

  Last year, we had legislation that I authored that was passed into 
law and was then signed by the President. It was called the POWER Act 
and was about getting more legal resources for survivors. It was a good 
start, but it didn't do enough. The bill this year--again, a bill that 
I cosponsored earlier with Senator Harris of California--focuses on 
this issue.
  Think about this: If you have an accused abuser--let's say an accused 
rapist--and if there is an indictment, under the Sixth Amendment of the 
U.S. Constitution, that perpetrator gets a right to counsel. OK. That 
is our Constitution. That is fine. What does the victim get? What does 
the survivor get? Right now, the victim gets nothing. Far too often, 
victims go without any legal representation, and that is often the 
beginning of a cycle they fall into.
  One of the provisions of this would be, once there is an indictment 
of a crime of violence, that the Federal Government would help to 
ensure the goal of having the victim also get an attorney through State 
domestic violence counsels. These are just some of the elements of this 
bill.
  Senator Gillibrand and I have legislation that is part of this. It is 
called the Choose Respect Act, which would have a public advocacy 
program to try to get young men in particular to start changing our 
culture. It is not just a problem in Alaska; it is a problem throughout 
the country.
  There are many things in this bill that are very bipartisan, and I 
certainly am committed to working with Senator Cornyn, Senator Hoeven, 
Senator Blackburn, Senator Feinstein, and Senator Ernst in order to get 
to the compromises we need to make in the Senate to pass this bill. 
That is what we want to have done. That is why we are all here on the 
floor, talking about this passionately. I think we can do it because it 
is too important to miss this opportunity to pass legislation that is 
going to help some of the most vulnerable people in our country and in 
my State, and I am certainly committed to working with everybody here 
to make it happen.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Tennessee.
  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that I be 
allowed to complete my remarks before the vote.