[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Page 9620]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  NATIONAL CRIME VICTIMS' RIGHTS WEEK

  Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, last week we joined together in the 
aftermath of the tragic killings at Virginia Tech to mourn and support 
the families of the victims and the Virginia Tech community. This week 
we join together once again to commemorate National Crime Victims' 
Rights Week.
  Yesterday marked the official beginning of National Crime Victims' 
Rights Week. Since 1981, communities in Vermont and across the Nation 
have observed this week through candlelight vigils and public rallies 
to renew our commitment to crime victims and their families. It is 
important, especially during this time of national sorrow, that we 
recognize the needs of crime victims and their family members and work 
together to promote victims' rights and services.
  We have been able to make some progress during the past 26 years to 
provide victims with greater rights and assistance. In particular, I 
have been honored to support passage of the Victims of Crime Act of 
1984, VOCA, Public Law 98-473, which established the Crime Victims 
Fund, ``the Fund.'' The fund allows the Federal Government to provide 
grants to State crime victim compensation programs, direct victim 
assistance services and services to victims of Federal crimes. Nearly 
90 percent of the fund is used to award State crime victim compensation 
and victim assistance formula grants. These VOCA-funded victim 
assistance programs serve nearly 4 million crime victims each year, 
including victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse, 
elder abuse, and drunk driving, as well as survivors of homicide 
victims. Our VOCA-funded compensation programs have helped hundreds of 
thousands of victims of violent crime.
  The Crime Victims Fund is the Nation's premier vehicle for supporting 
victims' services. It bears repeating that the Crime Victims Fund does 
not receive a dime from tax revenue or appropriated funding. Instead, 
it is made up of criminal fines, forfeited bail bonds, penalties, and 
special assessments.
  Since fiscal year 2000, Congress has set a cap on annual fund 
obligations expressly for the purpose of ensuring ``that a stable level 
of funding will remain available for these programs in future years.'' 
The ``rainy day'' fund created by this spending cap has been used to 
make up the difference between annual deposits and distributions three 
times during the past 7 years.
  The future of the fund is being threatened, however. After 26 years 
of progress, the Bush administration is proposing to rescind all 
amounts remaining in the fund at the end of fiscal year 2008. That 
would leave the fund with a balance of zero going into fiscal year 2009 
and create a disastrous situation for providers of victims' services. 
Over the last few years, the Senate has successfully blocked several 
past attempts by this administration to rescind the fund's remaining 
balance and has supported the retention of all amounts deposited into 
the fund. Over the past 6 years, the Bush administration has squandered 
record surpluses and racked up $8.5 trillion in Federal debt. It is 
wrong to try to pay for its failed fiscal policies by emptying out the 
Crime Victims Fund. These resources are appropriately set aside to 
assist victims of crime.
  In order to preserve the fund once again, Senator Crapo and I, joined 
by more than a dozen other Senators are sending a letter this week to 
the Senate Appropriations Committee asking that the committee oppose 
the administration's proposal to empty the Crime Victims Fund and, 
instead, permit those amounts to remain in the fund, in accordance with 
law, to be used for the important programs and services needed by crime 
victims.
  Also, last week the Vermont Department of Corrections received a 
$400,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice to implement a 
Statewide Automated Victim Information and Notification, SAVIN, system 
to provide timely notifications to crime victims who request it. 
Programs like these give crime victims some peace of mind and 
facilitate communication among the courts and corrections and other law 
enforcement officials.
  We need to renew our national commitment to crime victims. The Senate 
can help by recognizing the importance of the Crime Victims Fund and 
supporting its essential role in helping crime victims and their 
families meet critical expenses, recover from the horrific crimes they 
endured, and move forward with their lives. I urge Senators on both 
sides of the aisle to honor our longstanding commitment to crime 
victims by working together to commemorate victims of crime and to 
preserve the Crime Victims Fund.

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