[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Page 6669]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




      NATIONAL SEXUAL ASSAULT AWARENESS AND PREVENTION MONTH 2008

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Judiciary 
Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. Con. Res. 77 
and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The clerk 
will report the concurrent resolution by title.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 77) supporting the 
     goals and ideals of National Sexual Assault Awareness and 
     Prevention Month 2008.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
concurrent resolution.
  Mr. REID. I ask unanimous consent the concurrent resolution be agreed 
to, the preamble be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be laid upon 
the table, and any statements be printed in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 77) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The concurrent resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                            S. Con. Res. 77

       Whereas on average, a person is sexually assaulted in the 
     United States every 2\1/2\ minutes;
       Whereas the Department of Justice reports that 191,670 
     people in the United States were sexually assaulted in 2005;
       Whereas 1 in 6 women and 1 in 33 men have been victims of 
     rape or attempted rape;
       Whereas the Department of Defense received 2,688 reports of 
     sexual assault involving members of the Armed Forces in 
     fiscal year 2007;
       Whereas children and young adults are most at risk of 
     sexual assault, as 44 percent of sexual assault victims are 
     under the age of 18, and 80 percent are under the age of 30;
       Whereas sexual assault affects women, men, and children of 
     all racial, social, religious, age, ethnic, and economic 
     groups in the United States;
       Whereas only 41 percent of sexual assault victims pursue 
     prosecution by reporting their attacks to law enforcement 
     agencies;
       Whereas \2/3\ of sexual crimes are committed by persons who 
     are not strangers to the victims;
       Whereas sexual assault survivors suffer emotional scars 
     long after the physical scars have healed;
       Whereas prevention education programs carried out by rape 
     crisis and women's health centers have the potential to 
     reduce the prevalence of sexual assault in their communities;
       Whereas because of recent advances in DNA technology, law 
     enforcement agencies now have the potential to identify the 
     rapists in tens of thousands of unsolved rape cases;
       Whereas aggressive prosecution can incarcerate rapists and 
     therefore prevent them from committing further crimes;
       Whereas free, confidential help is available to all 
     survivors of sexual assault through the National Sexual 
     Assault Hotline, more than 1,000 rape crisis centers across 
     the United States, and other organizations that provide 
     services to assist survivors of sexual assault; and
       Whereas April is recognized as ``National Sexual Assault 
     Awareness and Prevention Month'': Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That--
       (1) it is the sense of Congress that--
       (A) National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month 
     provides a special opportunity to educate the people of the 
     United States about sexual violence and to encourage the 
     prevention of sexual assault, the improved treatment of its 
     survivors, and the prosecution of its perpetrators;
       (B) it is appropriate to properly acknowledge the more than 
     20,000,000 men and women who have survived sexual assault in 
     the United States and salute the efforts of survivors, 
     volunteers, and professionals who combat sexual assault;
       (C) national and community organizations and private sector 
     supporters should be recognized and applauded for their work 
     in promoting awareness about sexual assault, providing 
     information and treatment to its survivors, and increasing 
     the number of successful prosecutions of its perpetrators; 
     and
       (D) public safety, law enforcement, and health 
     professionals should be recognized and applauded for their 
     hard work and innovative strategies to increase the 
     percentage of sexual assault cases that result in the 
     prosecution and incarceration of the offenders;
       (2) Congress strongly recommends that national and 
     community organizations, businesses in the private sector, 
     colleges and universities, and the media promote, through 
     National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month, 
     awareness of sexual violence and strategies to decrease the 
     incidence of sexual assault; and
       (3) Congress supports the goals and ideals of National 
     Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month 2008.

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