[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Page 15943]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN OFFICE

  Mr. BIDEN. Mr. President, I rise to speak today to mark several 
important developments in our Nation's fight to end domestic violence, 
sexual assault, and stalking. First, I recently had the honor of 
addressing domestic violence advocates from across the country who have 
convened in Washington, DC, to attend the annual meeting of the 
National Network to End Domestic Violence. These are the women and men 
on the front lines, transforming the Violence Against Women Act from 
words on a piece of paper into real solutions for battered women and 
children.
  These advocates witness the terrible toll of family violence. They, 
in essence, know the statistics by heart. Statistics like 20 percent of 
all nonfatal violence against females over 12 years of age were 
committed by intimate partners, according to government statistics 
released in February 2003. Or the statistics that tell us that in 2000 
alone, 1,247 women were killed by an intimate partner. These advocates 
experience what the studies confirm; that is, in almost half of the 
households with domestic violence, there are children under the age of 
12.
  In the face of such daunting numbers, I was pleased to tell these 
advocates that our fight for an independent and separate Violence 
Against Women Office is over. I have been assured by Attorney General 
Ashcroft that his department will comply with the directive for an 
independent office that was in the law passed by the Congress last 
session. I want to make clear that my Violence Against Women Office Act 
and subsequent push to ensure compliance was not a fight about office 
space or bureaucratic in-fighting. I introduced this legislation 
because I know that a separate office means that the office's 
leadership and agenda cannot be marginalized or pushed to a back 
office. A separate office means that violence against women issues stay 
at the forefront and that its director appointed by the President and 
confirmed by the Senate will have an office with the stature and status 
to use it as the bully pulpit on domestic violence issues that I 
intended when I authored the Violence Against Women Act.
  Nor is the independent office simply a Joe Biden issue. The Violence 
Against Women Office Act was voted on favorably--with no objections--in 
the Senate Judiciary Committee. The act passed unanimously in the 
Senate and passed overwhelmingly in the House. The mandate for 
freestanding Violence Against Women Office is Congress' law, not a 
whim.
  Despite the law's clear language and intent, the Department of 
Justice formally announced in February 2003 that it ``interpreted'' the 
new law to permit the office to remain as a part of the Office of 
Justice Program, the arm of the Justice Department which handles grant 
making, rather than implementing significant policy decisions. I 
vigorously protested this ``interpretation,'' informing the Justice 
Department that it was inconsistent with both the plain letter of the 
law, as well as congressional intent. In fact, I personally called 
Attorney General Ashcroft on February 13 to discuss this issue and to 
urge him to reconsider the Department's position.
  On March 24, the Attorney General called to inform me that he had 
personally reviewed this issue and that he was reversing the 
Department's February decision. More specifically, he pledged to me 
that the Office would be moved outside of the Office of Justice 
Programs to become an independent and distinct office, as called for by 
the law. He also pledged that the Director of the Office would have a 
direct line of report to him, and not be required to report through the 
Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Programs, as the 
Department had previously required. I am grateful that Attorney General 
Ashcroft took the time to turn his full attention to this matter, to 
examine the law and legislative history, and to ensure that his 
Department correctly implemented the act. I commend the Attorney 
General for doing ``the right thing'' with respect to the office.
  The strength and stature of the Violence Against Women Office will be 
matched by the strength and stature of its director, Diane Stuart. 
Pursuant to the new law that requires Senate confirmation, Ms. Stuart 
testified before the Judiciary Committee earlier this month, and the 
committee will vote on her nomination on Thursday. Ms. Stuart has been 
acting director of the office for almost 2 years, and during that time 
has done terrific work. I am particularly impressed with the 
extraordinary outreach Ms. Stuart has done thus far, meeting with law 
enforcement, prosecutors, and service providers from Montgomery County, 
MD, to Portland, OR. She is truly an expert in the areas of domestic 
violence, sexual assault, and stalking, and I look forward to working 
with her as we fight to end family violence in our communities.

                          ____________________