[United States Statutes at Large, Volume 131, 115th Congress, 1st Session]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

 
Proclamation 9587 of April 3, 2017

National Crime Victims' Rights Week, 2017

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

During National Crime Victims' Rights Week, we stand with crime victims
and their families, we renew our commitment to safeguarding our
communities from crime, and we recognize those who devote their lives to
supporting and empowering victims and survivors.
Crime and violence rob people of their rights to life, liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness. We must focus on the plight of crime victims and
search for effective solutions. For too long, communities across this
Nation have suffered from murder rates that are far too high. Gang-
related shootings plague our major cities, while violence continues to
afflict towns both small and large.
The physical, mental, and emotional scars borne by crime victims are
often coupled with serious financial implications. In 1984, President
Reagan signed the Victims of Crime Act, which established the Crime
Victims Fund. This fund provides compensation for victims of crime for
crime-related expenses such as medical payments, counseling, lost wages,
and funeral and burial costs; supports victims' service programs such as
domestic violence shelters and rape crisis centers; and builds capacity
to improve responsiveness to the needs of crime victims. The Crime
Victims Fund receives billions of dollars each year from, among other
sources, certain criminal fines and penalties paid by convicted Federal
offenders, which helps prevent American taxpayers from shouldering the
burdens of reparations. While this fund cannot completely undo the
damage caused by crime, it can at least ease the monetary burden felt by
victims and their families in the midst of grief.
As a society, we must continue to support those who have endured the
fallout from crime. My Administration is developing an office to assist
victims of crimes committed by criminal aliens. The Victims Of
Immigration Crime Engagement (VOICE), within the Department of Homeland
Security, will work to serve the victims of open borders policies--which
will no longer form the basis of our immigration system. These victims
will not be ignored by the media or silenced by special interests any
longer. We will restore law and order and protect our citizens from this
undue harm.
During National Crime Victims' Week, we renew our commitment to
protecting all victims of crime, vindicating their rights, alleviating
their

[[Page 2436]]

burdens, and preventing future crime. We will assist our law enforcement
community in bringing justice to victims and to their communities. My
Administration is resolved to uphold this fundamental purpose of the
United States Government--preserving security for all Americans.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of
America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and
the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim April 2 through April
8, 2017, as National Crime Victims' Rights Week. I urge all Americans,
families, law enforcement, community and faith-based organizations, and
private organizations to work together to support victims of crime and
protect their rights.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this third day of April,
in the year of our Lord two thousand seventeen, and of the Independence
of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-first.

DONALD J. TRUMP