[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 2]
[House]
[Page 1878]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             VOCA: ROUND II

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. POE. Mr. Speaker, that great Iron Lady from across the ocean, 
Margaret Thatcher, made the comment that you may have to fight a battle 
more than once to win it.
  Let me give you a little historical background. I have spent all my 
life in the criminal justice system, first as a prosecutor in Texas and 
22 years as a criminal court judge, heard about 20, 25,000 criminal 
cases, everything from stealing to killing. I saw a lot of people come 
to the courthouse.
  But another group of people also worked their way to the courthouse, 
and they did not want to be there either, and that was the victims of 
crime. They were young, they were old, they were men, they were women, 
they were children. They were the silent group of people who were prey 
because of criminals.
  Victims do not really have a lobby because most of them have to take 
care of themselves after they become victims of crime, until recently. 
In 1984, a novel program was started under the Reagan administration 
called VOCA, Victims of Crime Act; and the idea was pretty simple: 
Criminals in the Federal courts that are convicted pay into a court 
cost fund. That money then is used for victims and helps pay for their 
injuries, for their medical expenses, sometimes the funeral expenses. A 
great idea: Make criminals pay for the system they have created. Make 
them pay the rent on the courthouse. And that has been going along 
fairly well, so well that approximately $1.2 billion is now in that 
fund. And it is not taxpayer money. It is not the Federal Government's 
money. It is money that belongs to victims, money that has been 
obtained from criminals. And it is a crucial resource for different 
organizations throughout the United States.
  Most victims groups, programs, agencies operate under a shoestring. 
Many of them are just trying to keep lights on, and they receive this 
VOCA funding. We are talking about domestic violence shelters. We are 
talking about rape crisis centers. Victim compensation funds, funeral 
services, and medical expenses all receive benefit from VOCA funding. 
One example is in Houston, the Children's Assessment Center, a program 
like 400 others throughout the United States, where sexually abused 
children go so that they can be treated not only for their medical 
injuries but their emotional pain and get themselves prepared for 
trial.
  We have approximately 4,400 agencies in this country that depend on 
that VOCA victim fund. We are talking about 3.6 million victims a year. 
VOCA is the only Federal program that supports services to victims of 
all types of crimes: homicide, drunk driving, elder financial 
exploitation, identity theft, robbery, and rape.
  So what is the problem, Mr. Speaker? Well, the bandit budget 
bureaucrats are up to their old tricks. They are stealing this money 
from the victims fund, and they want it to go into the abyss of the 
Federal treasury.
  This may all sound familiar. It is familiar. A year ago those same 
individuals wanted to do the same thing, and because of different 
victims groups in the United States, that was stopped. That VOCA fund 
stayed with victims. It did not go into the abyss of the Federal 
treasury. But now those bureaucrats are up to these old tricks again, 
and they want that money to be taken from victims and put into the 
abyss of the Federal budget.
  Mr. Speaker, that money does not belong to the Federal Government. It 
is not taxpayer money. It is money that belongs to victims.
  Victims continue to get victimized in the criminal justice system, 
and now this is another way of victimizing victims once again.
  Mr. Speaker, when I came to the House of Representatives, I, along 
with Jim Costa from California from the other side of the aisle and 
Katherine Harris from Florida, started the Victims Rights Caucus to 
bring the awareness of the plight of victims to this House. Because you 
see, Mr. Speaker, it is the first duty, the first responsibility, of 
government to protect the people. Government does a pretty good job of 
that. We are fighting the war on terror in Afghanistan and Iraq and 
other places in the world. We are doing a good job.
  But we have got a war on terror going on here, and those are the 
terrorists that live among us, those street terrorists, criminals. And 
when they are captured and when they are prosecuted and they are put in 
jail, make them pay. Make them pay financially to support victims, 
their medical injuries and their needs after they have come to the 
criminal justice system.
  So this money cannot be taken from the victims fund. We will fight 
this battle again, as Margaret Thatcher said. The victims posse, as I 
call them, those victims organizations throughout the United States, 
they are a posse because most of them are volunteers, and they will do 
what they can to make sure that this money stays left alone, that it 
stays in the VOCA fund, that it remains moneys for victims and to be 
used for victims as well.
  This is a user fee for criminals. They need to pay. In fact, they 
need to pay more. The robber barons are taking this money; and, Mr. 
Speaker, this ought not to be.

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