[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 2]
[House]
[Page 1696]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       DON'T ROB VICTIMS OF CRIME

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Poe) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, before I came to Congress, I spent my 
other life in the criminal justice system, first as a prosecutor in 
Texas, and then as a criminal court judge for over 22 years. I heard 
about 20,000 to 25,000 felony cases during that time, everything from 
stealing to killing. I saw a lot of people come to the courthouse, and 
most of those individuals did not want to be there. That included 
defendants, but it also included victims of crime.
  Victims were people from all types of backgrounds. Mr. Speaker, they 
all had something in common. They were a silent group of people who 
were preyed on by criminals. After the crime was over, many suffered 
for years.
  Finally, Congress came up with a novel idea, a law that established 
the Crime Victims Fund to support victims of crime. But instead of 
using taxpayer money for the fund, Congress had a different idea. Why 
not force the criminals, the traffickers, the abusers, and other folks 
to pay for restitution for the victims of crime. They inflicted pain 
and suffering on innocent people. They should be the ones to pay for 
that.
  So in 1984, when President Ronald Reagan was President, he signed the 
Victims of Crime Act, otherwise known to us as VOCA. Because of this 
new law, convicted felons in Federal Court are assessed fees and fines 
and must pay into the Crime Victims Fund. The money in this fund is to 
be used for a wide range of victim services:
  It establishes and takes care of domestic violence shelters, where 
spouses can hide from their abusers.
  It establishes rape crisis coalition centers.
  It promotes and sends money to victim advocates throughout the United 
States who go to court with victims of crime, especially violent crime.
  It gives victims restitution and pays for critical medical and 
counseling programs.
  It also goes to train police officers. It does a lot of good things 
and is wisely spent by the Angels of Compassion in victim services that 
help restore victims.
  Over the years, because our Federal judges have continued to fine and 
assess greater penalties to criminals, the VOCA fund, as of today, 
holds approximately $12 billion. That is a lot of money, even for 
Washington, D.C. What a wonderful idea.
  And let me make it clear once again: This is not taxpayer funded 
money. Criminals paid for this. Criminals are paying the rent on the 
courthouse and they are paying for the system that they have created.
  So what is the problem?
  Well, the problem is, Mr. Speaker, only a fraction of that money is 
spent each year for victims, depriving them of needed services and that 
money. More money continues to go in the fund every year because less 
and less of a percentage of it is spent, thus, the $12 billion.
  Mr. Speaker, the fund, every year, is robbed, literally, by Congress 
to offset the costs of totally unrelated things, literally stealing 
money from the victims and sending that money to the abyss of the 
Federal Treasury to offset special pet projects. That money does not 
belong to Congress to spend on anything other than victims of crime. It 
belongs to the victims who have endured suffering and abuse.
  Victims do not have a high-priced, high-dollar lobbyist to come up 
here to Washington and advocate on their behalf to get the money that 
they are entitled to. That is our responsibility, Congress' 
responsibility. They expect us to be their voice.
  Jim Costa from California and I are co-chairs of the Victims' Rights 
Caucus, and we believe the first responsibility of government is to 
protect the innocent, especially those robbed, pillaged, and sexually 
assaulted by crime.
  Congress needs to quit stealing the money from victims and giving it 
to other projects. We must stop this robbing by bureaucrats, taking 
money out of the crime fund, so that we can ensure victims have access 
to the resources that they need to become survivors of crime.
  To achieve this goal, Representative Jim Costa and I have 
reintroduced the Crime Victims Fund Preservation Act. This bill creates 
a ``lockbox'' to ensure that money in the fund cannot be used for 
anything other than victims' programs authorized under the law of the 
VOCA statute in 1984.
  Victims must be rescued and taken care of. The bill ensures the money 
that victims are entitled to is in a safe place from pilfering hands. 
Give the victims a fighting chance, and do not continue to victimize 
them more by taking restitution money from them. It is just wrong to 
play this financial ledger mumbo-jumbo that Congress plays every year 
to take money away from victims and give it to other projects.
  Don't touch victims' money. It is just wrong, Mr. Speaker.
  And that is just the way it is.

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