[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 14]
[Senate]
[Page 20795]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                     ISSUES OF IMPORTANCE TO WOMEN

  Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I would like to speak on a pending piece 
of legislation that I believe requires our urgent attention. The fact 
that the leadership has not acted to bring this bill to the floor is of 
great concern to me. While I understand that our time is short and our 
list is long, the Re-authorization of the Violence Against Women's Act 
should be on the list of priorities for this Congress. I urge the 
leadership not to allow another day to pass and to bring this bill to 
the floor for our immediate consideration.
  In 1994, with the President's strong support, Congress passed the 
landmark Violence Against Women Act, which established new Federal 
criminal provisions and key grant programs to improve this nation's 
criminal justice system's response to domestic violence. Since that 
time, the number of crimes against women has decreased. A recent report 
by the Bureau of Justice Statistics shows that the number of women 
experiencing violence at the hands of an intimate partner declined 21 
percent from 1993 to 1998. Under this bill, the Federal Government has 
awarded $1.6 billion dollars, $24 million of which went to support 
programs in the State of Louisiana, to help support the efforts of 
prosecutors, law enforcement officials, the courts, victim advocates, 
health care and social service professionals, and intervention and 
prevention programs. The National Domestic Violence Hotline, 
established with funds from this Act, has received more than 500,000 
calls since it began operating.
  While I think the success of this Act alone is an important reason to 
support its continuation, it is not why I stand here today. Although 
the number of women murdered by an intimate partner is the lowest it 
has been since 1976, still, 3 out of 4 victims murdered last year were 
female. Tremendous strides have been made, but domestic violence and 
crimes against women continue to devastate the lives of many women and 
children throughout our country.
  In fact, in May of this year, one week after Mother's Day, a 
Louisiana woman, Jacqulene Gersfeld, was gunned down by her husband 
just outside a Gretna courthouse. The couple had a history of violence 
and friends reported that this was not the first time Jacqulene's 
husband, Marvin, had threatened to kill her. Far too often, abused 
women are afraid, and many times for good reason, to remove themselves 
from these abusive relationships, but not Jacqulene, she sought help, 
obtained a protective order and filed for divorce. She left that 
courtroom believing that her days of living in fear were over and that 
her husband could no longer harm her. But she was wrong.
  I am sad to say that Jacqulene's story is not unique. In New Orleans 
alone, the Domestic Violence help line receives 16,000 calls for 
assistance a year. Of the total women's homicide rate, 46 percent of 
those deaths are attributed to domestic violence. And that is just one 
city in my state. I am certain that every one of my colleagues could 
come to this floor and tell of a woman in their state whose fate was 
that of Jacqulene's. As citizens of the greatest democracy in the 
world, we cannot stand idly by and watch these stories unfold. The need 
for the services provided for under the Violence Against Women Act are 
needed now more than ever. Women like Jacqulene must be protected from 
the wrath of their estranged abusers. They must know that there are 
people willing to help them and their children escape the abuse and 
start a new life.
  While domestic violence may be dismissed by some as an issue that 
affects only women, it is not, it is an issue that affects us all. 
Studies show that a child's exposure to the father abusing the mother 
is the strongest risk factor for transmitting violent behavior from one 
generation to the next. A significant number of young males in the 
juvenile justice system were from homes where violence was the order of 
the day. Family violence costs the nation from $5 to $10 billion 
annually in medical expenses, police and court costs, shelters and 
foster care, sick leave, absenteeism, and non-productivity. In fact, 
the majority of welfare recipients have experienced domestic abuse in 
their adult lives and a high percentage are currently abused.
  My Colleague from Delaware, Senator Biden, and I have cosponsored 
legislation to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act. If Congress 
fails to reauthorize VAWA, many critical programs may be jeopardized. 
Reauthorization legislation, which has broad bipartisan support will 
help to: maintain existing programs, expand investigation and 
prosecution of crimes against women; provide greater numbers of victims 
with assistance; maintain and expand the domestic violence hotline, 
shelter, rape prevention, and education programs; and support effective 
partnerships between law enforcement, victim advocates and communities.
  Again, I am disappointed that this Congress is quickly coming to a 
close and this bill is still waiting for action by the Senate. Several 
times during the campaign, the leadership has claimed that the issues 
that are important to women are of the highest priority. I can hardly 
think of an issue that more directly affects the lives of women and 
their families than their health and safety.
  Since we returned from the August recess, several members have come 
to the floor and talked about time. The minority leader eloquently 
detailed the amount of time, or lack thereof, that this body has 
dedicated to actually doing the work of the American people. The 
majority leader, on the other hand, has cautioned us that time is 
limited and we, therefore, must use it wisely. I could not agree more--
time is running out and so, it is about time that we ask the Majority 
to do more than make empty promises. It is about time we question the 
sincerity of a party when their Presidential candidate needs to be 
briefed before he can take a stance on legislation to end violence 
against women. It is about time we do all we can to make good on a 
promise that we made six years ago to victims like Jacqulene. While it 
is too late for us to help her, we owe to the hundreds and thousands of 
others like her to act quickly. I implore my colleagues not to let time 
run out for the millions of women whose lives could be saved by this 
legislation.

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