[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 11]
[House]
[Pages 16503-16504]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AWARENESS MONTH

  (Mr. SWALWELL of California asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. SWALWELL of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in solemn 
recognition of October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
  While we have made great strides in fighting domestic violence, we 
still have a long way to go. Over one-third of women have experienced 
rape, violence, or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime.
  As a former prosecutor, who has worked with hundreds of women victims 
of domestic violence, I know that holding their batterer responsible is 
important to them, but almost more important is making sure that we 
have the victim services necessary after the batterer is held 
responsible. That is more important for their pathway to healing.
  I am proud to support the Violence Against Women Act reauthorization. 
Back home in the East Bay, we are fortunate to have places for women to 
go for those victim services. For example, Ruby's Place, in Hayward, 
California, is a shelter helping hundreds of domestic violence 
survivors. I visited Ruby's Place in April. I saw the care, compassion, 
and concern that the employees there showed to women and families who 
are desperately in need of assistance.
  Shelters like Ruby's Place provide a lifeline to women across the 
country, and those places count on the Federal Government to help them.
  Hopefully, recognizing October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month 
is one important step to helping places like Ruby's Place.

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