[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 17]
[Senate]
[Page 22607]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   IN RECOGNITION OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AWARENESS MONTH, OCTOBER 2005

 Ms. CANTWELL. Mr. President, I rise today in recognition of 
Domestic Violence Awareness Month. As we mark the 11th anniversary of 
the Violence Against Women Act, VAWA, which has given a voice to the 
thousands of women and children who had silently suffered the effects 
of domestic violence, we must continue to build on these protections 
for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.
  The enactment of the 1994 Violence Against Women Act symbolized a 
significant Federal response to the problem of violence against women. 
The original act rewrote Federal criminal law in several respects, 
including creating penalties for interstate stalking or domestic abuse, 
strengthening penalties and requiring restitution for repeat sexual 
offenders, rendering a victim's past sexual behavior inadmissible in 
Federal cases, and allowing a Federal judge to order HIV testing of 
alleged rapists. VAWA also created a grant program to improve law 
enforcement in cases of violent crimes against women, rape prevention 
and education programs, and funds for battered women's shelters. 
Earlier this year, my home State of Washington received a grant of over 
$2.3 million through this program to help victims of domestic violence 
get access to needed services and to enhance the partnership between 
criminal justice agencies, victim services providers, and community 
organizations which respond to domestic violence.
  Since passing VAWA, local communities around the United States have 
made significant strides toward eradicating domestic violence. Between 
1993 and 2001, the rate of nonfatal domestic violence dropped 49 
percent. States have passed over 660 laws pertaining to domestic 
violence, stalking, and sexual assault. Yet, despite our progress, a 
woman in the United States is still more likely to be assaulted, 
injured, raped, or killed by a male partner than by any other 
assailant. Three to four million American women continue to be battered 
by their husbands or partners every single year. At least a third of 
all female emergency room patients are battered women. A third of all 
homeless women and children in the U.S. are fleeing domestic violence. 
At least 5,000 women are beaten to death each year. This is 
unacceptable and we need to continue our efforts to eradicate domestic 
violence.
  As we consider all issues of domestic abuse, we need to also be aware 
of the advent of for-profit international marriage brokers--companies 
that operate solely to connect men and women of different nations with 
the intent of getting married. Today, experts put the number of 
international marriage brokers at nearly 500 worldwide. Based on the 
1999 statistics, there are between 20,000 and 30,000 women who have 
entered the U.S. using an international marriage broker in the past 5 
years. While many of these matches result in long, happy unions, there 
is an unfortunate growing epidemic of domestic abuse among couples who 
meet through a broker. The risk of foreign women being abused and in 
some cases murdered by men they meet through these mail-order bride 
agencies is heightened greatly when they do not have access to vital 
information about their potential husbands or their rights in the 
United States. In my home State of Washington, we know of at least 3 
cases of serious domestic violence, including 2 murders of women who 
met their husbands through Internet-based brokers.
  On October 4, my colleagues unanimously passed legislation to 
reauthorize and improve the Violence Against Women Act once again. This 
legislation includes language I authored that will make information 
available to foreign women about the marital and violent criminal 
history of their prospective American husbands, in addition to 
requiring international marriage brokers to provide foreign fiances 
with information about the rights and resources available to domestic 
violence victims in the United States. Under current practice, American 
clients can get all the information they want about foreign fiancees, 
while foreign clients only receive information that the Americans 
choose to share, and have no way to make sure what they are told is 
true. By providing foreign women who meet their potential American 
spouses with ability to access their potential spouse's marital and 
criminal history, we are taking a further step to curb domestic 
violence. The decisions we in Congress chose to make concerning the 
Violence Against Women Act of 2005 sets in place the priorities and 
funding levels that will directly affect how we respond to and prevent 
domestic violence in the coming years.
  Because of its occurrence behind closed doors, many Americans are 
unaware of the severity of this problem. While domestic violence most 
directly affects women, it hurts us all, no matter our sex, race, 
religion, or economic status. As our Nation recognizes Domestic 
Violence Awareness Month, let each of us consider what we can further 
do to prevent its continuation.

                          ____________________