[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 4]
[House]
[Pages 4989-4992]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         WHITE RIBBON CAMPAIGN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Pompeo). Under the Speaker's announced 
policy of January 5, 2011, the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Buerkle) 
is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
  Ms. BUERKLE. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to speak about two of the most 
significant issues facing our society today--the twin scourges of 
domestic violence and sexual abuse. Our society has a moral obligation 
to stand up against those who exploit their power to commit violence 
against women, men, and children. I join other Members here today in 
taking the opportunity to discuss these issues and participate in the 
White Ribbon Campaign.
  On Tuesday of this past week, March 22, in Syracuse, New York, the 
president of SUNY Upstate Medical University, Dr. David Smith, chaired 
a breakfast. It was the kickoff to the White Ribbon Campaign, a 
campaign that is to draw attention to and focus on, raise awareness of, 
domestic violence and sexual abuse. The White Ribbon Campaign is an 
international campaign, participating probably across 55 countries.
  Later in the week, on Friday, again Dr. Smith led a group of men in a 
march raising awareness for domestic violence. They marched in women's 
shoes down the main street in Syracuse, New York. Again, ``walk a mile 
in their shoes,'' raising awareness, raising the consciousness of 
domestic violence and sexual abuse, these issues that face our society 
today. The international campaign has probably 55 countries and 
involves a general public education focused on preventing domestic 
violence.
  Many of my fellow Members this past week have been wearing white 
ribbons for our commitment to putting the spotlight on domestic 
violence. Wearing the white ribbon speaks to our personal pledge to 
never commit, condone, or remain silent about violence against women 
and children. The white ribbons were sponsored by Vera House. Vera 
House was formed in 1977 in Syracuse, New York, by Sister Mary Vera 
because Sister Mary Vera recognized the need for emergency shelters for 
women.

                              {time}  1510

  She developed and expanded her services. Now, today, Vera House has 
merged with the Rape Crisis Center, and they serve the needs of so many 
women, men and children who have been abused. Again, the whole White 
Ribbon Campaign is to raise public awareness of domestic violence.
  At this time, I yield to the gentlewoman from North Carolina, 
Representative Renee Ellmers.
  Mrs. ELLMERS. Thank you.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to thank my colleague and friend from New 
York and to point out the fact that, over the years, she has just been 
a tireless, dedicated supporter of women's issues, family issues, and 
of giving her

[[Page 4990]]

voluntary support of legal services to facilities that provide domestic 
violence havens in New York. She is a strong advocate for the White 
Ribbon Campaign, and I am proud to stand with her today in support of 
ending violence against women.
  We show our support today by wearing these white ribbons that 
represent a pledge to never commit, condone, or to remain silent about 
violence against women and girls. So let's start this discussion by 
defining the different forms of violence against women.
  Domestic violence occurs when one person in an intimate relationship 
uses a pattern of controlling assaultive behavior to abuse, threaten, 
harass, and intimidate the other partner. This violence comes in many 
forms. In its simplest terms, it is emotional abuse; name-calling; 
playing mind games; put-downs; threats--they can be physical or 
emotional--intimidation; using looks; smashing things; loud voices or 
actions to put you in fear of what might happen; isolation; controlling 
where you go, what you do, what you see; driving away friends and 
family; and of course sexual abuse and the use of children: making you 
feel guilty about the children, using custody or visitation to harass 
you.
  None of these forms of abuse are acceptable, and part of the White 
Ribbon Campaign's objective is to bring these issues to light. The 
bottom line here is that there are men in this country who want to 
protect the women they love. Through the White Ribbon Campaign, they 
are speaking out against these atrocities that take place. They are 
educating and calling on their fellow man to stop the violence.
  While we are taking a moment today to bring this important issue to 
light, I want to take a moment to commend the many facilities in my 
congressional district that are helping to provide a safe place for 
women but that are also working toward bringing families back together 
by working through the violence issues.
  S.A.F.E. of Harnett County is a private, nonprofit organization whose 
mission is to provide safety and to serve as an advocate for sexual 
assault and domestic violence victims, survivors, and their families.
  In Chatham County, North Carolina, the Family Violence and Rape 
Crisis Services has helped numerous people through effective 
programming. One victim said, ``The pieces of the puzzle are coming 
together. The Family Violence and Rape Crisis Service has given me the 
strength to be who I was supposed to be on my own.''
  In Johnston County, Safe Harbor is another private, nonprofit agency 
that was created in 1984 with $500 and a donated phone line. This 
agency served around 3,000 victims in 2009.
  There are numerous other facilities in my congressional district that 
are also doing good work toward stemming the tide of domestic violence. 
I want to commend them for their hard work and dedication to the 
downtrodden.
  As I close today, I also want to commend the men who support the 
White Ribbon Campaign. I applaud them for rising up and for reaching 
out to educate. It takes a strong man to take this kind of action.
  Ms. BUERKLE. I thank the gentlewoman from North Carolina for her kind 
comments and for putting attention on the Rape Crisis Centers and all 
of these centers which have dealt with this, because today, while we 
rise and we stand to call and bring to consciousness domestic violence, 
this is also a wonderful opportunity to thank the hundreds of thousands 
of people who volunteer in these shelters, who work for these agencies, 
who provide a safe haven for the women, the men and the children who 
are abused--for the victims of domestic violence.
  My colleague talked about what these centers do. Vera House, the 
agency that I stand today to represent and to talk about, has expanded 
their services these days to outreach, advocacy, education, and 
children's counseling. Children, as you heard from my colleague, are 
often the victims of domestic violence between spouses. They are the 
ones who suffer. Vera House offers counseling to these children. Most 
importantly, Vera House provides violence education for the 
perpetrators. If we are going to change behaviors, we have got to 
educate and to retrain the way the perpetrators think.


                             General Leave

  Ms. BUERKLE. Mr. Speaker, at this time, I ask unanimous consent that 
all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend 
their remarks and to include extraneous material on the subject of 
domestic violence and sexual assault.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from New York?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. BUERKLE. Mr. Speaker, for over 14 years, I have worked at Vera 
House as a pro bono legal volunteer. The Women's Bar Association in 
Syracuse, New York, put together a program where all attorneys, male 
and female, go through training to begin to address the needs of the 
victims of domestic violence. Through those 14 years, I began to get an 
up-close, clear understanding of the issue of domestic violence. The 
fact is that domestic violence transcends socioeconomics; it transcends 
race. Domestic violence is an issue that everyone faces. It crosses 
racial lines; it crosses economic lines; it crosses social lines.
  I recall one of my meetings with a woman whose husband was well-known 
in the media in our town. You would never suspect. You would never 
think that she would be a victim of domestic violence--educated, with 
financial means. Yet she was a victim. This is the pervasiveness of 
sexual assault and domestic violence.
  At this time, I yield to my esteemed colleague, Judge Poe.
  Mr. POE of Texas. I thank the gentlelady for yielding time, and I 
appreciate the work she has done on this issue and for bringing it to 
the House's attention today during this Special Order.
  Domestic violence, as you said, affects the entire country--all 
races, all economic groups. No one is exempt from this dastardly deed. 
It's my honor to serve as chairman of the Victims' Rights Caucus. It's 
a bipartisan caucus. Congressman Jim Costa is the co-chair. We hope to 
help promote the concept that victims are people, too, that they have 
rights, and that the same Constitution that protects defendants 
protects the rights of victims as well. I appreciate the gentlelady for 
being a member of that caucus.
  In my other life, before I came to Congress, I'd spent most of my 
time at the courthouse in Houston for 30 years. I was a prosecutor and 
a criminal court judge, hearing criminal cases, and I saw a lot of 
people come down there. A lot of people were down there because they 
had committed crimes against their families. We need to understand that 
when you hurt someone in your family, it is not a family problem only--
it is a criminal problem--and society must get to the point where we 
believe that it is socially unacceptable to commit crimes in the 
family.
  Probably the most important person in my life when I was growing up 
was my grandmother. She never forgave me for being a Republican; she 
always considered herself a Democrat, God bless her. But one thing she 
said that was true was that you never hurt somebody you claim you love, 
and that's an absolute truth.

                              {time}  1520

  People who claim they love somebody and then physically or 
emotionally or verbally abuse them are wrong and should be treated 
accordingly and held accountable for that conduct. It is very important 
that we recognize that domestic violence is a true issue, and we also 
need to understand as a culture and as a community that when a person 
is the victim of domestic violence that it's not their fault. They are 
the victim.
  The offender, in most cases the husband, they are not the victim. The 
spouse is the victim, the wife, and defendants and husbands who commit 
those crimes can't use excuses and try to portray themselves as the one 
being the victim. The offenders should be held accountable, and victims 
need to understand society and the law are on their side.
  Many victims of spousal abuse and domestic violence, they don't 
report it.

[[Page 4991]]

They don't want the neighbors to know. They don't want the community to 
know. They feel like they're beaten down physically and emotionally, 
and sometimes they think it is their fault. It's not their fault. It's 
always the offender's fault.
  And so we as a culture, as a community, in this country, whether 
we're from New York or from Texas, we need to let people know that if 
they are a victim of crime, if there is a lady that is abused by her 
husband, that society comes to her rescue and helps in any way we can 
and to make sure we have a safe haven for them to go to if necessary 
and that we make sure that it's financed so that the wife does not feel 
like ``I have no place to go because I can't afford anyplace,'' and so 
she stays in that abusive relationship, and sometimes it ends in worse 
tragedy.
  Lastly, I'd like to talk about a very favorite person of mine who 
lives not far from here. Yvette Cade is just a regular person who lives 
in Maryland, and a few years ago she was trying to separate and divorce 
from her husband. A judge refused to grant her a restraining order, 
refused to grant a restraining order that she requested to keep her 
spouse away from her until all of the divorce had been worked out, and 
because the restraining order wasn't extended, her spouse went into a 
video store where she was working, carrying a jar of gasoline, and 
poured it over Yvette Cade's head and set that woman, that wonderful 
lady, on fire.
  Now, because of a person in the store who helped put out that fire 
that this spouse had committed against Yvette Cade, she survived. And 
it's things like that that we as a culture need to hold these culprits 
accountable for these crimes against people in their family, and we 
need to take wonderful ladies like Yvette Cade and make sure we treat 
them with tender care and make sure we have compassion on them to 
prevent any further damage to them physically, emotionally, and also 
prevent the consequences that other people may choose to commit against 
spouses in their own family.
  It is important that we continue to preach this word throughout the 
country that spousal abuse is something we're going to deal with as a 
Nation.
  I thank the gentlelady for yielding.
  Ms. BUERKLE. I thank my esteemed colleague from Texas for his kind 
comments, and I thank all of the gentlemen who have the courage to 
stand up and call awareness to the issue of domestic violence, who 
stand against the violence against women, men, and children.
  Domestic violence is known by many names: domestic abuse, spousal 
abuse, family violence, intimate partner violence. It also takes many 
forms, from physical violence involving small things such as hitting or 
kicking, biting, shoving, or restraining. It can be emotional or it can 
be verbal, which manifests in many types of behavior: controlling, 
domineering, threatening, or humiliating. And we as a society have an 
obligation to raise the awareness of domestic violence so that women 
know, just as my esteemed colleague was talking about, it's not their 
fault. It is the fault of the perpetrator, whether that perpetrator is 
male or female, and that is the person who should be held accountable, 
not the victim.
  It can also be economic abuse in which the abuser controls the 
victim's money, and this abuse we often see with the elderly. Another 
issue that we need to raise society's consciousness about, the issues 
of elder abuse.
  Tragically, domestic violence is not a rare phenomenon, Mr. Speaker. 
The Centers for Disease Control estimate that domestic violence is a 
public health problem affecting over 32 million Americans, or 10 
percent of the population. This is a tragedy of national proportion 
that society, again, we must raise up the consciousness of this 
horrific issue.
  The effects of domestic violence are staggering. Physical abuse can 
be bruises, broken bones, head injuries, lacerations, but those are 
just the external physical wounds. Internal bleeding, chronic health 
conditions such as arthritis, irritable bowl syndrome, ulcers, 
migraines, miscarriages can also be linked to physical abuses that 
victims sustain.
  But there are other effects as well. Many victims experience anxiety, 
stress, fear, guilt, depression, guilt that what is happening to them 
is their fault. Again, we have to raise the awareness and raise the 
consciousness of society that it is the perpetrator's fault, not the 
victim's.
  Abused victims also frequently manifest a condition we think of 
relative to our veterans: posttraumatic stress disorder. Victims with 
conditions have flashbacks, nightmares, or exaggerated responses.
  The effects of abuse can also be financial. Many victims courageously 
leave their abusers but often lack the education, the skills, and the 
resources to find gainful employment to care for themselves and any 
children they might have.
  Mr. Speaker, I can recall sitting with women who are helpless. They 
sit across the table from you, and they are helpless because they don't 
know what to do. They don't know how to get out of the situation. They 
don't understand that there is help and that society is willing to step 
up and provide safe haven for them and for their children.
  I spoke to a prosecutor who had a program that would go after 
deadbeat dads and go after the support so that women would be able to 
leave, be safe, and get support in order to support their children. I 
think that our society is coming around. We have wonderful 
organizations like Vera House, but we in this House must work hard. We 
must continue to raise awareness about these issues.
  The other societal scourge I referenced in my opening remark is 
sexual assault. Sexual assault is, simply put, any unwanted contact of 
a sexual nature. It does not matter if the victim is on a date or 
drinking when it occurs. It's never okay to force sexual contact on you 
against your will.
  Again, it's raising the awareness. It's letting society know, the 
vulnerable know, that it's not your fault and that you don't have to 
withstand these abuses.
  Like domestic abuse, sexual assault knows no privileged class immune 
to its ravages. Men, women, children, all ages, all races, all 
religions, and ethnicities are victims. The effects are often similar 
to the victims of domestic abuse, and the effects can be especially 
troubling for children and men.
  I serve on the Veterans' Affairs Committee, and I am passionate about 
veterans' issues. It is a committee that is bipartisan. It's a 
committee that works together because we all understand, we all 
understand the service and the sacrifice of our men and women in the 
military. I am the daughter and sister of veterans and believe that we 
owe a debt of gratitude to our men and women in uniform, but part of 
that debt extends to making sure that we don't turn a blind eye to 
sexual assault of women and men in our armed services.
  We have much to do, but I applaud the U.S. Air Force's recognition 
that sexual assault against both male and female airmen is a serious 
problem that needs a systemic solution. And while the Air Force has 
emphasized sexual assault prevention in responses for several years, 
they acknowledge that sexual assault is still a problem in the Air 
Force, as it is for our military services. In the Air Force's own 
words, Sexual assault continues to burden our airmen and degrade our 
mission effectiveness. Sexual assault is a crime and there is no place 
for this or this behavior in our Air Force. We must demand better of 
ourselves and of society.

                              {time}  1530

  Consequently, they contracted with Gallup to conduct an anonymous 
poll about sexual assault in the Air Force. The findings were, to put 
it mildly, disturbing. The results of the survey in the 12 months prior 
were that 2,143 women and 1,355 men reported that they had been 
sexually assaulted, with the majority of female victims reporting that 
their assailant was a fellow airmen. Even one victim is one too many.
  Sadly, it is unrealistic to think that our Armed Forces would be 
immune to the kinds of problems endemic in our

[[Page 4992]]

society. We must engage as men, women, moms, dads, community leaders, 
airmen, soldiers, marines, sailors, and guardsmen; churches, 
synagogues, mosques, youth centers, sports teams, schools, colleges. 
The list goes on. It will take all aspects of society to change a 
culture that increasingly devalues human life.
  I believe, Mr. Speaker, that we are created in the image of God and 
that for each of us, He has a purpose in our lives. No woman should 
ever, ever have to fear for the safety of her unborn child because of 
an abusive husband. No child should ever dread going to bed because of 
a parent who is molesting her. And no man should be raped because 
justice turned a blind eye to prison rape.
  I have six children and 11 grandchildren, Mr. Speaker, and as a 
parent and a grandparent, I think about the lessons I have tried to 
teach to each of them. Some of those lessons were very successful, some 
less so, but I taught my kids to help others. Helping others includes 
living up to the pledge I mentioned earlier, that I am making by 
wearing that white ribbon: I will not commit, condone, or remain silent 
about violence against women, men, or children. And I commend the other 
Members of this body for the white ribbons that they courageously wore 
to, again, raise the awareness of domestic violence and sexual 
assaults.
  We have a serious problem in front of us, Mr. Speaker, in every 
community in America, but I have hope. America is an amazing country, 
and I am so privileged to be an American, to be free. I believe that 
the greatness of this country is a reflection of both the greatness of 
our founding and the greatness of our people. We are up to and equal to 
the task of fighting domestic violence and sexual assault if we put our 
American minds and our American spirits to it.
  So, today, as I stand before you, Mr. Speaker, again, to call 
attention to the scourge of domestic violence and sexual abuse, it's, 
at the same time, celebrating the wonderful agencies and shelters and 
volunteers and people who have stepped forth who are willing to take 
this issue on, who are willing to address it, who are willing to help 
the victims of sexual assault and domestic violence. We are blessed by 
their service, by their commitment to society, by their appreciation of 
the value of human life and their desire to help those who need that 
help.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank the House for the ability to be able to call 
attention to these issues.
  At this time, I want to say to Vera House in Syracuse, as well as all 
of the shelters and all of the agencies throughout this country, thank 
you for your service. Thank you for what you do for the victims of 
domestic violence and sexual assaults.

                          ____________________