[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 85 (Wednesday, May 6, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2293-S2294]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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SENATE RESOLUTION 560--RECOGNIZING AND SUPPORTING THE GOALS AND IDEALS 
       OF NATIONAL SEXUAL ASSAULT AWARENESS AND PREVENTION MONTH

  Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself, Mr. Cornyn, Mr. Leahy, Ms. Ernst, Mrs. 
Murray, and Mr. Grassley) submitted the following resolution; which was 
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary:

                              S. Res. 560

       Whereas the Senate is committed to the awareness, 
     prevention, and deterrence of sexual violence affecting 
     individuals in the United States;
       Whereas, according to the National Crime Victimization 
     Survey, between 2008 and 2018, approximately--
       (1) 3,434,326 women were victims of rape and sexual 
     assault; and
       (2) 523,895 men were victims of rape and sexual assault;
       Whereas, due to the unprecedented challenges presented by 
     the COVID-19 pandemic, including mandatory stay-at-home 
     orders, the needs of sexual assault victims have become even 
     more complex and challenging;
       Whereas, according to a March 2020 survey by the National 
     Alliance to End Sexual Violence of more than 600 rape crisis 
     programs, 89 percent of those programs need emergency 
     stimulus funding to respond to requests from survivors for 
     support and emergency assistance;
       Whereas, according to the March 2020 survey, since the 
     onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, 40 percent of the programs 
     surveyed have experienced an increased demand for services 
     both in terms of new requests and more dire and complicated 
     requests from existing clients, including requests relating 
     to technology needs for virtual services and emergency needs 
     of vulnerable survivors;
       Whereas, during the pandemic, many rape crisis centers have 
     had to cancel signature fundraisers and have experienced 
     overall decreases in private donations;
       Whereas, according to the 2018 Child Maltreatment Report of 
     the Department of Health and Human Services, in 2018, child 
     protective services agencies substantiated or found strong 
     evidence to indicate that 47,124 children under 18 years of 
     age were victims of sexual abuse;
       Whereas, according to the National Crime Victimization 
     Survey, between 2014 and 2018, an average of only 29 percent 
     of rapes or sexual assaults in the United States were 
     reported to law enforcement agencies;
       Whereas studies have suggested that the rate at which 
     American Indians and Alaska Natives experience sexual 
     violence is significantly higher than for other populations 
     in the United States;
       Whereas, according to the Centers for Disease Control and 
     Prevention, more than \1/2\ of all female rape victims 
     reported being raped by an intimate partner;
       Whereas sexual violence is a burden for many individuals 
     who serve in the Armed Forces, and the Department of Defense 
     estimates that approximately 20,500 members of the Armed 
     Forces, including approximately 13,000 women and 7,500 men, 
     experienced some form of contact or penetrative sexual 
     assault during 2018;
       Whereas sexual assault does not discriminate on any basis 
     and can affect any individual in the United States;
       Whereas sexual violence may take many forms, including 
     acquaintance, stranger, spousal, and gang rape, incest, child 
     sexual abuse, elder sexual abuse, sexual abuse and 
     exploitation of disabled persons, commercial sex trafficking, 
     sexual harassment, and stalking;
       Whereas, according to the National Alliance to End Sexual 
     Violence, in addition to immediate physical and emotional 
     costs, sexual assault can have numerous adverse consequences 
     for the victim, which may include post-traumatic stress 
     disorder, substance abuse, major depression, homelessness, 
     eating disorders, and suicide;
       Whereas, according to a 2019 survey of rape crisis centers 
     by the National Alliance to End Sexual Violence, \1/2\ of 
     such centers have a waiting list, in some cases months long, 
     for counseling services, 44 percent lack a therapist on 
     staff, and 84 percent have experienced an increased demand 
     for services;
       Whereas many sexual assaults are not reported to law 
     enforcement agencies, and many States have restrictive 
     criminal statutes of limitations, which enable many 
     perpetrators to evade punishment for their crimes;
       Whereas advances in deoxyribonucleic acid (commonly known 
     as ``DNA'') technology have enabled law enforcement agencies 
     to identify and prosecute the perpetrators in tens of 
     thousands of previously unsolved sexual assault cases;
       Whereas incarceration of sexual assault perpetrators can 
     prevent perpetrators from committing additional crimes;
       Whereas national, State, territorial, and Tribal 
     coalitions, community-based rape crisis centers, and other 
     organizations across the United States are committed to--
       (1) increasing public awareness of sexual violence and the 
     prevalence of sexual violence; and
       (2) eliminating sexual violence through prevention and 
     education;
       Whereas important partnerships have been formed among 
     criminal and juvenile justice agencies, health professionals, 
     public health workers, educators, first responders, and 
     victim service providers;
       Whereas thousands of volunteers and staff at rape crisis 
     centers, State coalitions against sexual assault, and 
     nonprofit organizations across the United States play an 
     important role in making crisis hotlines and other services 
     available to survivors of sexual assault;
       Whereas free, confidential help is available to all victims 
     and survivors of sexual assault through--
       (1) the National Sexual Assault Hotline--
          (A) by telephone at 800-656-HOPE; and

[[Page S2294]]

          (B) online at https://hotline.rainn.org; and
       (2) more than 1,000 sexual assault service providers across 
     the United States;
       Whereas the victim service programs of the Rape, Abuse & 
     Incest National Network (commonly known as ``RAINN''), 
     including the National Sexual Assault Hotline--
       (1) in 2019, helped 304,275 survivors of sexual assault and 
     their loved ones, which represented the greatest number of 
     people assisted since the founding of the hotline in 1994; 
     and
       (2) continue to receive a record number of requests for 
     support in 2020;
       Whereas the Department of Defense provides the Safe 
     Helpline hotline, Safe HelpRoom online chat service, and Safe 
     Helpline mobile application, each of which offer support and 
     help to members of the Department of Defense community--
       (1) by telephone at 877-995-5247; and
       (2) online at https://safehelpline.org;
       Whereas individual and collective efforts reflect the dream 
     of the people of the United States--
       (1) for individuals and organizations to actively work to 
     prevent all forms of sexual violence; and
       (2) for no victim of sexual assault to be unserved or feel 
     that there is no path to justice; and
       Whereas April 2020 is recognized as ``National Sexual 
     Assault Awareness and Prevention Month'': Now, therefore, be 
     it
       Resolved, That--
       (1) it is the sense of the Senate that--
       (A) National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month 
     provides a special opportunity to--
       (i) educate the people of the United States about sexual 
     violence; and
       (ii) encourage--

       (I) the prevention of sexual assault;
       (II) improvement in the treatment of survivors of sexual 
     assault; and
       (III) the prosecution of perpetrators of sexual assault;

       (B) it is appropriate to properly acknowledge survivors of 
     sexual assault and to commend the volunteers and 
     professionals who assist those survivors in their efforts to 
     heal;
       (C) national and community organizations and private sector 
     supporters should be recognized and applauded for their work 
     in--
       (i) promoting awareness about sexual assault;
       (ii) providing information and treatment to survivors of 
     sexual assault; and
       (iii) increasing the number of successful prosecutions of 
     perpetrators of sexual assault; and
       (D) public safety, law enforcement, and health 
     professionals should be recognized and applauded for their 
     hard work and innovative strategies to ensure perpetrators of 
     sexual assault are held accountable; and
       (2) the Senate supports the goals and ideals of National 
     Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month.

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