[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 4]
[Senate]
[Pages 5365-5366]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ACT

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, in 1994, the Violence Against Women Act 
passed both Houses of Congress on strong bipartisan votes. In the 18 
years since then, incidents of domestic violence have fallen by 53 
percent.
  Despite that progress, staggering rates of abuse make it clear that 
we still have a long way to go. More than a third of women and more 
than a quarter of men in this country have been victims of violent 
sexual assault or stalking by a partner. Because of the unique nature 
of the crime, combating domestic violence and protecting those affected 
also requires unique tools.
  Victims have been abused by the very people who are supposed to love 
and care for them, so Congress must make certain law enforcement has 
the means to stop these heinous crimes, and we must ensure communities 
have the resources to support victims and help them heal. That is why 
the Senate must move quickly to reauthorize this legislation, which 
expired last year.
  Many of the programs under the act have been funded for the last year 
by continuing resolutions, but a full reauthorization is necessary to 
ensure authorities have all the resources they need to fight domestic 
violence.
  Women and families across the country are depending on us to act. 
Several from Nevada wrote to share their stories.
  When I practiced law, this law was not in effect. The only good news 
during that period of time that developed as I began to do more work in 
the domestic relations field was as a result of some generous people 
establishing in Las Vegas a domestic crisis shelter. What is that? It 
is a place where women and children can go to stay away from husbands 
who were abusing them. It is so important. These are secret locations; 
you cannot find them in the phone book. It gives these women and their 
children--sometimes just a woman--a place to go.
  I had a leadership meeting this morning and spent some time talking 
to them about some examples of things that took place before this law 
passed. It was very difficult to find ways of helping these women. With 
this law, it is much easier. We must continue this extremely important 
legislation. The women who wrote to me had some very sad stories. 
Without this legislation, it would be even worse.
  Coincidentally, I talked to Vice President Biden this morning and 
reminded him of what he had done. He has been watching what we do here. 
He said thanks for continuing this legislation. It was his idea, and it 
has been extremely valuable for this country.
  Every day in America, three less fortunate women die at the hands of 
their abusers--by being abused by their spouses. In addition to those 
three who die, there are nine more who are abused very much. They have 
serious injuries. Some have been made paralyzed as a result of the 
beatings. It is hard to believe these beatings take place, but they do. 
It is in our power--the 100 of us--to protect them and help them.
  Reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act would help law 
enforcement continue to develop effective strategies to prosecute cases 
involving violent crimes against women. But also, in addition to the 
criminal aspect of it, it allows these women a place to go.
  It would provide funding for shelters and transitional housing 
programs for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault, and it 
would help victims get back on their feet. It would make legal 
assistance available to victims of

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violence, and it would safeguard children victimized and affected by 
dating violence and stalking.
  This reauthorization would also enact important improvements to the 
law, gleaned from 18 years of experience combating violence against 
women.
  It would extend better protections for Native American women. The 
most significant spousal abuse and abuse to children takes place on 
Indian reservations. This legislation will enlarge the breadth of the 
bill to protect these people who are so badly in need of help.
  This legislation also includes nondiscrimination protection for all 
victims, regardless of what they look like or where they are from.
  It reduces bureaucracy and implements new accountability measures to 
ensure Federal investments are properly spent.
  It places great emphasis on training police to respond to reports of 
sexual assault, which has among the lowest conviction rates for any 
violent crime. For police officers, it is one of the most dangerous 
things they can do. Last year, we had a peace officer in Las Vegas--a 
sergeant who had been in law enforcement many years--who went with 
another officer to respond to a domestic violence phone call. He was 
shot and killed as he walked in the door. So we do need to understand 
that we need to continue to help train police and also make them better 
trained to convict the people doing these bad things.
  Many years ago, when I was a freshman in the Senate, I held a 
hearing, under the auspices of the Appropriations Committee, on spousal 
abuse. Maybe things have changed over the years--and I hope they have. 
There are better counseling programs. But one thing we learned during 
those hearings many decades ago was that the main thing that helped a 
man stop abusing his wife was to put him in jail. Maybe things are 
better now. At least we need to have better tools to make it so these 
people can be convicted of these brutal crimes.
  We know the tools and training this legislation provides are 
effective. Consider this legislation's successful record of reducing 
domestic violence by 53 percent and helping police punish these 
abusers. We need to do better, but what we have done has been a big 
step forward from the time I was holding those hearings, before this 
legislation became effective.
  That is why the Senate reauthorized this law unanimously in 2005, on 
a 95-to-0 vote. That is pretty good. Again, in 2005, we did it 
unanimously. And in 2000, we did it by a 95-to-0 vote. Both times it 
was unanimous. I hope we can do it again.
  I look forward to a similar bipartisan vote this year, as Democrats 
and Republicans join together to renew our national commitment to 
ending domestic violence.

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