    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2004, Book I)]
    [April 1, 2004]
    [Pages 497-498]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks on Signing the Unborn Victims of Violence Act of 2004
    April 1, 2004

        Thank you for coming. Thank you all. Please be seated. Thanks for
    the warm welcome. [Laughter] Welcome to the people's house, the White
    House. I'm pleased that you all could be here for the first bill signing
    ceremony of the year 2004.
        The Unborn Victims of Violence Act provides that, under Federal law,
    any person who causes death or injury to a child in the womb shall be
    charged with a separate offense, in addition to any charges relating to
    the mother. As of today, the law of our Nation will acknowledge the
    plain fact that crimes of violence against a pregnant woman often have
    two victims. And therefore, in those cases, there are two offenses to be
    punished. Under this law, those who direct violence toward a pregnant
    woman will answer for the full extent of the harm they have done and for
    all the crimes they have committed.
        I appreciate Members of the United States Congress who have joined
    us today. Majority Leader Bill Frist is with us
    from the Senate. Thank you for coming. Majority Leader Tom DeLay of the House of Representatives, Members from both
    political parties have joined us. I appreciate the Members on stage
    here. House bill sponsor Congresswoman Melissa Hart from Pennsylvania is with us. Senate sponsor Senator
    Mike DeWine from Ohio is with us. And the
    chairmen of the Judiciary Committees, Senator Orrin Hatch and Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner, are with us as well. Thank you all. I appreciate
    those in attendance today from across the country who have worked hard
    to get this bill passed.
        I also want to thank Sharon Rocha and her
    husband, Ron Grantski, for joining us today.
    This act of Congress addresses tragic losses such as Sharon and Ron have
    known. They have laid to rest their daughter Laci, a beautiful young woman who was joyfully awaiting the
    arrival of a new son. They have also laid to rest that child, a boy
    named Conner, who was waiting to be born when his life too was taken.
    His little soul never saw light, but he was loved, and he is remembered.
    And his name is forever joined with that of his mom in this statute,
    which is also known as Laci and Conner's law. All who knew Laci Peterson
    have mourned two deaths, and the law cannot look away and pretend there
    was just one.
        Each of these families on this stage has lost a child or a
    grandchild or both. Carol and Buford
    Lyons, Tracy Marciniak-

    [[Page 498]]

    Seavers, Stephanie Alberts, Cynthia Warner, I thank
    you all for your courage for coming today.
        As these and the other families understand, any time an expectant
    mother is a victim of violence, two lives are in the balance, each
    deserving protection and each deserving justice. If the crime is murder
    and the unborn child's life ends, justice demands a full accounting
    under the law.
        Until today, the Federal Criminal Code had been silent on the injury
    or death of a child in cases of violence against a pregnant woman. This
    omission in the law has led to clear injustices. The death of an
    innocent unborn child has too often been treated as a detail in one
    crime but not a crime in itself. Police and prosecutors had been to
    crime scenes and have shared the grief of families but have so often
    been unable to seek justice for the full offense. The American people as
    well have learned of these cases, and they urged action. The swift
    bipartisan passage of this bill through Congress this year indicates a
    strong consensus that the suffering of two victims can never equal only
    one offense.
        The moral concern of humanity extends to those unborn children who
    are harmed or killed in crimes against their mothers. And now, the
    protection of Federal law extends to those children as well. With this
    action, we widen the circle of compassion and inclusion in our society,
    and we reaffirm that the United States of America is building a culture
    of life.
        It is now my honor to sign the Unborn Victims of Violence Act of
    2004.

    Note: The President spoke at 2:57 p.m. in the East Room at the White
    House. H.R. 1997, approved April 1, was assigned Public Law No. 108-212.