[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 31, Number 42 (Monday, October 23, 1995)]
[Pages 1838-1839]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's Radio Address

October 14, 1995

    Good morning. In recent weeks, all of us have had reason to focus on 
two of the biggest problems facing our country: the problem of 
continuing racial divisions and the problem of violence in our homes, 
violence against women and children.
    Today, I want to talk to you about that violence in our homes. It is 
prevalent, unforgivable, and sometimes deadly. In the latest statistics 
from the Justice Department, we find that close to a third of all women 
murdered in this country were killed by their husbands, former husbands, 
or boyfriends.
    For too long, domestic violence has been swept under the rug, 
treated as a private family matter that was nobody's business but those 
involved. Fortunately, that's changing. In recent years, a huge public 
outcry against domestic violence has been rising all across the Nation. 
In our churches, schools, and throughout communities, we've begun to 
bring this problem out in the open and deal with it. Now everyone knows 
it is cowardly, destructive of families, immoral, and criminal to abuse 
the women in our families.
    Just last week at the White House, I met with a group of women who 
are survivors of domestic abuse. One woman told me of being battered and 
terrorized for more than 20 years, all the while blaming herself for the 
brutality she endured. It wasn't until her husband attacked her son that 
she got up the courage to leave the marriage and to seek help.
    It's important to remember that when children witness or are 
victimized by violence in the home, they often later grow up to abuse 
their own families. So it can become a vicious cycle, as many abusers 
were once those abused themselves.
    The good news is we can do something about this. The same day I met 
with the women survivors, I also met a remarkable Nashville police 
sergeant named Mark Wynn, a young man who himself grew up in a home 
where his father abused his mother and the children. But that experience 
motivated him to become a police officer and to dedicate his life to 
preventing domestic violence. For the past 10 years, he's been educating 
police nationwide about the seriousness of this problem and what to do 
about it. And he spearheaded the creation of a special domestic violence 
unit in the Nashville Police Department that has helped to reduce 
domestic murders by 70 percent in the last 6 months alone.
    One year ago, we made a major commitment in Washington to ensuring 
the securities of our families with the bipartisan passage of my 
anticrime bill. That law banned assault weapons from our streets and our 
schools, imposed tougher penalties for repeat offenders, including the 
``three strikes and you're out'' law. It provided resources for 
community-based prevention programs to give our children something to 
say yes to. And it put 100,000 more police officers behind our efforts 
at effective community policing. That's an increase of about 20 percent 
in the number of police who are protecting our citizens. In just a year, 
25,000 of these new officers are already out there working to help make 
your life safer. And I've put aside $20 million to train our police to 
effectively deal with the problems of domestic violence.
    The crime bill also included the landmark Violence Against Women 
Act. For the first time in our history, the Federal Government is now a 
full partner in the effort to stop domestic violence. The Violence 
Against Women Act combines tough new sanctions against abusers with 
assistance to police, to prosecutors, and to shelters in the fight 
against domestic violence.
    Just last week, we awarded grants to organizations in 16 different 
States to assist in their efforts to stop the violence and support the 
victims. And soon we'll establish an 800 number where women facing abuse 
can get assistance, counseling, and shelter.
    Yet at the very moment our Nation has been focused on the abuse 
against women by their husbands--or former husbands or boyfriends--the 
House of Representatives has voted to cut $50 million from our efforts 
to protect battered women and their children, to preserve families, and 
to punish these crimes. I'm happy that the Senate agreed with me to 
fully fund the Violence Against Women Act, and I certainly hope the 
House will reconsider its decision.

[[Page 1839]]

    Violence against women within our families will not go away unless 
we all take responsibility for ending it. So let me close today by 
speaking directly to the men of America, not just as President or a 
father or a husband but also as a son who has seen domestic violence 
firsthand.
    We all know how much we owe to the sacrifices of the women who are 
our mothers, our wives, our sisters, our daughters. I was fortunate 
enough to be raised by a loving mother who taught me right from wrong 
and made me believe I could accomplish anything I was willing to work 
hard for. Hillary and I were blessed to celebrate our 20th wedding 
anniversary just this week. And of course, our daughter Chelsea is the 
great joy of our lives.
    I know that all of us support stronger law enforcement efforts to 
deal with violence against all of the mothers, all of the wives, all of 
the daughters in America. But the real solution to this problem starts 
with us, with our personal responsibility and a simple pledge that we 
will never, never lift a hand against a woman for as long as we live and 
that we will teach our children that violence is never the answer. Then 
we can do all we can to end violence in our homes, in our neighborhoods, 
and in everyone else's homes and neighborhoods throughout our beloved 
country.
    Thank you for listening.

Note: The address was recorded at 1:48 p.m. on October 13 in the 
Roosevelt Room at the White House for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on October 
14.