[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 5]
[House]
[Page 6045]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       THE VICTIMS OF CRIMES ACT

  (Mr. POE of Texas asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, the Victims of Crimes Act, or VOCA, as 
it's called, is a wonderful idea that requires convicted criminals to 
pay into a fund that is used by crime victims. It is the idea that 
criminals pay for the system they have created. They pay rent on the 
courthouse, so to speak, by putting money in a fund that goes to these 
victims. This VOCA fund is about $6 billion. This is not taxpayer 
money. It is money that belongs to victims. But Federal bureaucrats 
seem to want to rob this fund and pay for other Federal programs.
  We cannot allow this money to be taken from victims of violent crime. 
This money should be placed in a lockbox so it is only used by crime 
victims and victim services.
  During this National Crime Victims Week, our Nation must constantly 
be sensitive to the needs of people who have been robbed, assaulted, 
and harmed by criminals. We as a nation are judged not by the way we 
treat the rich, the powerful, and the famous, but by the way we treat 
the innocent, the children, the elderly, and victims of crime. And 
that's just the way it is.

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