[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 5373]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     SEXUAL ASSAULT AWARENESS MONTH

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Thompson of Pennsylvania). The Chair 
recognizes the gentleman from New York (Mr. Reed) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. REED. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize, again, April as 
Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
  Mr. Speaker, we must stand up and raise awareness across this country 
that sexual assault and domestic violence can no longer be allowed to 
exist in our country. We must be proactive on raising awareness on this 
issue. That is why I come to this floor today to do just that.
  Each Member--Democrat, Republican, East, West, North, South--has an 
opportunity, and I hope they join me to do this throughout April, to 
say ``no more'' to sexual assault in the United States of America.
  Mr. Speaker, every 2 minutes, another American is sexually assaulted, 
every 2 minutes. That is 237,868 victims--our fellow citizens--a year 
that are impacted by this heinous crime and assault and violence.
  Now, Mr. Speaker, one of the other things that we need to do, on top 
of raising awareness, is change our culture in America. Earlier this 
month, a graphic video was shown across this Nation and across this 
world of a gang rape that took place in broad daylight on the beaches 
of Panama City, Florida. The victim was clearly incapacitated and was 
clearly assaulted by several men on that beach.
  Mr. Speaker, those perpetrators should and will be held accountable. 
Justice will be done; but what culture exists in America to allow the 
hundreds of people that were standing nearby who witnessed this assault 
and did nothing? Bystanders need to understand that, in America today, 
we stand up and say ``no more'' to this heinous crime.
  Mr. Speaker, because this victim was unconscious and incapacitated, 
it would have been likely, absent this video, that this crime would 
have gone unreported. That is the norm in America. Sixty-eight percent 
of the assaults in the last 5 years were not reported. We need to 
change our culture, and we need to say ``no more.''
  Now, Mr. Speaker, I have been on this floor numerous times; and, as 
many of you have seen before, I have shared my personal story from our 
family situation with this issue. I will tell you, just as I said the 
first time I came here and shared that story with the Nation, I say it 
again: there are no excuses for sexual assault and domestic violence in 
America.
  It is time for us to come together as a nation and say ``no more'' to 
sexual assault and domestic violence on our fellow citizens.

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