[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 18]
[Senate]
[Page 24110]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AWARENESS MONTH

  Mr. BIDEN. Mr. President, yesterday the Senate passed S. Res. 282, 
which recognizes October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month and 
establishes a sense of the Senate that the Congress should raise 
awareness of domestic violence in the United States and its impact on 
our Nation's families. I am thankful to the 32 co-sponsors of this 
resolution and to my colleagues for its unanimous passage.
  We have made substantial progress in combating domestic violence 
since 1994 when we passed the Violence Against Women Act. Since the 
Act's passage, domestic violence has dropped by almost 50 percent. 
Incidents of rape are down by 60 percent. The number of women killed by 
an abusive husband or boyfriend is down by 22 percent and more than 
half of all rape victims are stepping forward to report the crime.
  Despite this record of success, we still have so much more to do. 
According to the Department of Justice, more than three women are 
murdered by their husbands or boyfriends every day. More than 2.5 
million women are victims of violence each year and nearly one in three 
women experiences at least one physical assault by a partner during 
adulthood. Reports also indicate that up to ten million children 
experience domestic violence in their homes each year, and nearly 
8,800,000 children in the United States witness domestic violence each 
year.
  This is unacceptable. The impact this has on our Nation's families 
and on the fabric of our society as a whole is clear. What is lesser 
known is the impact that domestic violence has on our Nation's 
pocketbook. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently 
found that violence against women costs our country in excess of $5.8 
billion each year; $4.1 billion of this is spent on direct medical and 
mental health care services. Since 1994, we have invested $15.50 per 
woman to implement the Violence Against Women Act, but it is estimated 
that this investment has saved $159 per woman, with a net overall 
savings of $14.8 billion. I bring this up to remind my colleagues that 
even in this time of budget deficits, investing in programs to halt 
domestic violence is not only the right thing to do, but it ultimately 
saves money.
  It is fitting that this year's National Domestic Violence Awareness 
Month is the month that the Senate passed the Violence Against Women 
Act of 2005. This bill will reauthorize critical components of the 
original act, and it will establish further protections for battered 
immigrants and victims of human trafficking in order to additionally 
combat domestic violence and sexual assault. The legislation takes the 
critical next steps to helping victims become safe, secure, and self-
sufficient. I would like to point out that this bill had 57 co-sponsors 
and passed unanimously. This is in stark contrast to the original Act, 
which took many, many years to get passed. We have changed the paradigm 
on this issue and we have come a long way. But, we need to do more. The 
Violence Against Women Act of 2005 will help do this, and I look 
forward to the House-Senate conference on this bill and getting the 
bill passed into law.
  In addition to the work that we are doing in the Senate, National 
Domestic Violence Awareness Month gives us a chance to acknowledge the 
hard work of so many individuals and groups that have tackled this 
issue head-on. These advocates talk the talk and they walk the walk. 
They help ensure a better life for so many battered women and children, 
and they remind Congress what is at stake and what remains to be done. 
We all owe a debt of gratitude to the advocates, lawyers, service 
providers, judges, police, nurses, shelter directors, and the many 
others who have dedicated their lives to this cause.
  Again, I thank my colleagues for acting on this important resolution, 
and I look forward to working with them in the coming months and years 
to address the problem of domestic violence in our Nation.

                          ____________________