[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 1]
[Senate]
[Pages 865-866]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ACT

  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I am honored to be an original cosponsor 
of the bipartisan legislation to reauthorize the Violence Against Women 
Act. Let me thank the two leaders of that important bill, Senators 
Leahy and Crapo, for their work to ensure that the Senate makes 
renewing this important law a high priority early in this Congress.
  I also wish to acknowledge the work of the many advocates who have 
delivered so strongly the message to Congress and to the public that we 
must do more to prevent violence from occurring in our homes and in our 
communities. Our law enforcement officers, counselors, social workers, 
health care professionals, public educators, and community service 
providers are truly on the front lines of the effort to help those who 
are the victims of violence and to help prevent violence from occurring 
in the first place. Their advocacy on behalf of these victims has 
helped to make this bill a priority. I commend them all for the work 
they are doing each and every day.
  In my home State of Maine, we are fortunate to have a very low crime 
rate, but law enforcement officials tell me that the two greatest areas 
of concern are domestic violence and drugs. Often, these two go hand in 
hand. In fact, a 2011 study by the University of Southern Maine's 
Muskie School of Public Service found that 65 percent of victims of 
crime in Maine believe the offender was under the influence of drugs or 
alcohol at the time.
  Over the last decade, occurrences of domestic violence have resulted 
in nearly half of all homicides in my State. Nearly half are the result 
of incidents of domestic violence.
  According to statistics from the Maine Department of Public Safety, 
there were 5,360 reported domestic assaults in the year 2011, which is 
nearly a 5-percent increase from the previous year. This equates to one 
domestic assault every 1 hour and 38 minutes, and this is in a State 
with a very low crime rate.
  Nationally, one in four women and one in seven men experience severe 
physical violence at the hands of an intimate partner.
  In addition, Maine's 10-year average is 364 rapes per year. Think 
about that. That is almost one rape per day in a State with a very low 
crime rate. Those are only the reported crimes. I suspect the actual 
number is even higher. According to the Maine Coalition Against Sexual 
Assault, an estimated 13,000 Mainers will experience some form of 
sexual violence this year alone. Currently, rape has the lowest 
reporting, arrest, and prosecution rate of all violent crimes in the 
United States.
  So I am very pleased that this year's reauthorization bill also 
includes the provisions of the Sexual Assault Forensic Evidence 
Registry--or SAFER--Act, which was authored by our colleague, Senator 
John Cornyn. I commend the Senator for his leadership in that area, and 
I am pleased to be a cosponsor of his bill, which unanimously passed in 
the last Congress in the Senate and has been incorporated into the 
Violence Against Women Act reauthorization. This bipartisan bill, the 
SAFER Act, would authorize the Attorney General to award grants to

[[Page 866]]

State and local governments to audit and reduce the backlog of untested 
rape kits.
  Mr. President, I think you will share my shock and alarm at the 
number of these kits which are sitting in the possession of law 
enforcement agencies and which could contain DNA evidence that would 
lead to prosecutions and help get rapists off the streets and yet have 
not been analyzed. The estimate is that between 300,000 and 400,000 of 
these kits are just sitting in the possession of law enforcement 
agencies but have not been analyzed. That is totally unacceptable.
  The reauthorization bill we introduced last week would help ensure 
that Maine and every other State has the necessary resources to support 
victims of violence and, whenever possible, to prevent violence from 
occurring in the first place.
  Elizabeth Saxl, the executive director of the Maine Coalition Against 
Sexual Assault, recently wrote to me in support of the reauthorization 
of the Violence Against Women Act. She noted this in her letter:

       By reauthorizing and making significant improvements to 
     these important programs, this legislation will help fulfill 
     the critical unmet needs of victims of violence and expand 
     protections to currently under-protected populations.

  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that her letter be printed in 
the Record at the conclusion of my remarks.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  (See exhibit 1.)
  Ms. COLLINS. The Violence Against Women Act has made a significant 
difference in combating domestic violence, sexual assault, and 
stalking, through grants to State and local governments and nonprofit 
organizations. Since it was first passed in 1994, the programs 
authorized under this law have provided State and local partners with 
more than $4.7 billion of assistance. This assistance helps to ensure 
that the victims of violence get the help they need to recover and has 
prevented incalculable suffering by stopping violent crimes before they 
happen.
  It is extremely important to pass this legislation because all men 
and women--and men are victims as well as women. In some ways, the name 
of this law should be changed. But all women and men, regardless of 
race, religion, sexual orientation, or disability deserve to be safe 
and protected from physical violence, and that is what this 
reauthorization would help to do.
  Finally, this is not and never should be a partisan issue. Violence 
and domestic assaults do not discriminate between Republicans and 
Democrats, Independents and Greens, or people who are not politically 
active at all.
  This is an equal opportunity crime that harms people regardless of 
their political affiliation, their profession, their location, or their 
status in life. It is an issue that deserves bipartisan support. I hope 
my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will come together and pass 
this important bill.
  I recognize there may be some provisions of this bill which are 
controversial; but, surely, we can come together in support of the goal 
of this vital legislation. We can work out differences if not on the 
Senate floor then in conference with the House; but, surely, we can 
come together and reauthorize this law that has made such a difference 
to so many in our country.

                               Exhibit 1

                                           Maine Coalition Against


                                               Sexual Assault,

                                    Augusta, ME, February 4, 2013.
     Hon. Susan M. Collins,
     U.S. Senate,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Senator Collins:  On behalf of the Maine Coalition 
     Against Sexual Assault (MECASA), and the sexual assault 
     crisis and support centers we represent, I am writing to 
     express our strong support for S. 47, the Violence Against 
     Women Reauthorization Act (VAWA) of 2013. By reauthorizing 
     and making significant improvements to these important 
     programs, this legislation will help fulfill the critical 
     unmet needs of victims of violence and expand protections to 
     currently under-protected populations.
       VAWA has provided invaluable support for law enforcement, 
     courts, sexual assault crisis and support centers, domestic 
     violence service providers, prevention efforts, and community 
     outreach. In the past decade, nearly half of Maine's 
     homicides have been the result of domestic violence, many of 
     which included elements of sexual violence. Additionally, 
     nearly 13,000 Mainers will experience sexual violence this 
     year alone while Maine's ten-year average for rapes reported 
     to law enforcement is only 364. The cost of these crimes to 
     Maine is enormous. VAWA helps control these costs by enabling 
     support centers to provide free, necessary, quality services 
     to victims who need help, not to mention the incalculable 
     suffering that these programs help prevent.
       Since the original passage of VAWA, Maine has strengthened 
     laws regarding domestic violence, sexual violence, and 
     stalking and has implemented programs which continue to yield 
     tangible results for victims and for public safety. Despite 
     VAWA's success, its criminal justice and community-based 
     programs remain acutely necessary. According to a recent 
     study by the University of Southern Maine's Muskie School of 
     Public Service, nearly one in five Mainers reported having 
     been the victim of sexual assault or an attempted sexual 
     assault in his or her lifetime. Nationally, the Center for 
     Disease Control and Prevention estimates that nearly one in 
     five women and one in 71 men have been raped at some time in 
     their lives, and one in four women and one in seven men 
     experience severe physical violence by an intimate partner.
       MECASA supports efforts to further strengthen and improve 
     the response of the criminal justice, legal, and victim 
     support systems for survivors of domestic violence, dating 
     violence, sexual assault, and stalking. We are grateful to 
     you for your steadfast support of VAWA and your commitment to 
     violence prevention and response.
       Thank you for all you do on behalf of Maine and our nation.
           Sincerely,
                                              Elizabeth Ward Saxl,
                                               Executive Director.

  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, seeing no one seeking recognition, I 
suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Tennessee is recognized.
  Mr. CORKER. I thank the Chair.
  (The remarks of Senator Corker pertaining to the introduction of S. 
215 are printed in today's Record under ``Statements on Introduced 
Bills and Joint Resolutions.'')
  Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, I notice the absence of a quorum, and I 
thank the chair for the time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. King.) Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that I speak as in 
morning business.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

                          ____________________