[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 5117]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

  (Mr. NADLER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, I rise today to discuss a silent, yet 
deadly, epidemic facing the country: domestic violence. Every 9 seconds 
a woman is battered in the United States. In 2001, 80,000 women and 
children in New York State alone requested help from domestic violence 
programs, and these were only the documented cases. Many more cases go 
unmentioned as women, fearing to come forward, leave the assaults 
unreported.
  The most common form of domestic abuse is physical; but many men 
abuse their wives and partners emotionally, sexually, and economically; 
and women are not the only victims. Between 3.3 and 10 million children 
annually witness the abuse that occurs between their parents, and so 
the domestic violence cycle is passed on from generation to generation.
  For many years domestic violence has been viewed as a woman's 
problem, but that is not the case. Domestic violence is a woman's 
problem, a man's problem, the community's problem. The time is long 
overdue for men to take a stand and say that domestic violence is 
unacceptable. We must have full funding for the Violence Against Women 
Act to protect women who are victims. The President has said so, but 
his 2004 budget proposes a $19 million cut in funding for domestic 
violence. We demand full funding for the Violence Against Women Act. We 
commend the groups who work so tirelessly to extend this message.

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