Violence Against Women Civil Rights Restoration Act of 2003

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of S.J. Res. 8, and I thank the gentleman from Wisconsin (Chairman Sensenbrenner), the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Scott), the ranking member, and the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Green) for all of their hard work on this issue and this resolution and for their work in preventing sexual assault and rape.

The gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Green) and I introduced the companion legislation to this bill, H.J. Res. 36 in the House earlier. This April is Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month, but it is important to remember that preventing sexual assault should be a top priority during each month of the year.

We must also remember that violence against women is not just a woman's issue, it is a man's issue, a family's issue, and an issue that is important to society at large.

According to the Department of Justice, someone is sexually assaulted in this country every 82 seconds. That translates to over 1,000 a day, and over 380,000 sexual assaults every year; yet we have the ability to help protect our daughters, our sisters, and our friends by putting rapists behind bars using DNA evidence. We know that DNA evidence is better than a fresh set of fingerprints, and we know it is often better than eyewitness testimony.

Earlier this year I reintroduced with the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Green) and the gentleman from New York (Mr. Weiner) an important piece of legislation that would take important steps to prevent sexual assaults from occurring. The Debbie Smith Act would provide critical funding for eliminating the backlog of unprocessed DNA evidence, for establishing sexual assault forensic examiner programs, and for training law enforcement and prosecutors about how to use DNA technology most effectively.

The bill also establishes a national standard for the collection of DNA evidence, thereby ensuring that the evidence is processed in a reasonable amount of time. I authored this bill after Debbie Smith testified before the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight. She spoke about the tool of DNA and how it can be used to convict rapists. She was raped near her home in 1989, and for 6\1/2\ years she lived in fear that her attacker would return to fulfill the threat he had made to her that day, that if she told anyone, he would kill her. Only on the day that her husband told her that the man that had raped Debbie had been identified through a DNA match and was in prison was Debbie able to breathe again.

Tragically, there are other Debbie Smiths out there, other women still living in fear because they do not know if their attacker will come back to them again. The Debbie Smith Act will help to bring justice and closure to the survivors of rapes and their families, and it will help prevent rapes by putting rapists behind bars.

This is an issue that both Republicans and Democrats agree on. Attorney General Ashcroft earlier this year stated that he supported a $1 billion initiative to process DNA evidence. This is clearly very important because there is an estimated 350,000 to 500,000 kits unprocessed around the country. It is no wonder that only 2 percent of women who are raped will ever see their attacker spend a day in jail, but each rape kit represents a life, the life of a person like Debbie Smith, and each rape kit represents a predator, a rapist who may strike again and again. Law enforcement tells us that most rapists, if not caught, will attack approximately, or at least, 8 times.

It is time to put DNA evidence to work stopping rapes and sexual assaults from occurring around the country, and I do believe that this year we will pass this bill. It is needed, it is important, and we will pass it because there is strong bipartisan support from the White House, from the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Sensenbrenner), from the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Green), and many others. I thank everyone who has worked on it. There is no greater way to celebrate Sexual Assault Month than to pass legislation that will prevent sexual assaults in the future. I am hopeful this year we will be able to achieve that.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of S.J. Res. 8, a resolution to raise awareness and encourage prevention of sexual assault. There is no crime that is more personal, more intrusive, or more painful than rape, and it must be a priority of this Congress and this Administration to work toward an end to this violence. Unfortunately, while this resolution is a nice demonstration of sympathy and support from the Congress, it is woefully inadequate. While I strongly support its passage,

the Republican Leadership should allow the House to consider legislation to provide real relief to victims of sexual assault and domestic violence. It is my hope that this resolution will be followed by consideration of H.R. 1267, the Domestic Violence Screening, Treatment, and Protection Act; H.R. 1046, the Debbie Smith Act dealing with the DNA evidence backlog; H.R. 394, the Violence Against Women Civil Rights Restoration Act; and many others.

We have come a long way in the last 30 years since women started speaking up and speaking out against sexual assault. We are now better able to treat rape victims in emergency rooms; law enforcement has access to tools to teach them how to respond to the crime of sexual assault; and there are social and mental health services available to women who are survivors of rape. I am grateful for this progress.

However, as we've raised awareness of this violence, we have also learned that it reaches far deeper into every aspect of our society than we wanted to admit or acknowledge. It is far more likely that perpetrators know their victims and aren't just strangers in the bushes. And women aren't the only victims--one in 33 men have been victims of rape or attempted rape. Furthermore, teens are twice as likely as any other age group to be victims of crime--nearly one-third of all sexual assault victims are raped between the ages of 12 and 17, and one in five girls becomes a victim of violence in dating relationships.

We've also heard a lot this year about women at the Air Force Academy who have been victims of sexual assault. It is a disgrace that so many women have been re-victimized and silenced as a result of our military's reaction to these violent crimes. We must work hard to change the culture in every branch and at every level of the military from one that accepts violence against women to one that condemns such violence and treats victims, and all women, with respect and equality. But what we haven't heard much about is that men in the military are also victims of sexual assault. A special report appeared in January 2003 and revealed that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs began collecting nationwide data on the extent to which men have been sexually traumatized in the armed services. The preliminary results are that nearly 22,500 male veterans--more than one of every 100 former soldiers, sailors and airmen treated by the VA--reported being sexually traumatized by peers or superiors during their military careers. This once again shows that sexual violence is about humiliation, degradation, and control.

We must commit ourselves to ending violence against women this month and every month. We must fully fund all Violence Against Women Act programs. We must speak up when we hear people speak about sexual violence in a dismissive or harmful way. We must educate our sons to be nonviolent and to treat women with respect. I believe that if we commit ourselves, we can end violence against women. Therefore, I urge my colleagues to vote for S.J. Res. 8.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the Senate joint resolution (S.J. Res. 8) expressing the sense of Congress with respect to raising awareness and encouraging prevention of sexual assault in the United States and supporting the goals and ideals of National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on S.J. Res. 8.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I support this resolution as a way to further increase awareness of sexual assault and recognize the important contributions of victims in various groups that combat sexual assault. The police, forensic workers, and prosecutors should be praised for their hard work and dedication to this fight.

Through recent advances in DNA technology, law enforcement agencies have developed the potential to identify the rapists in tens of thousands of unsolved rape cases. The work of these individuals to prosecute sexual assault cases and incarcerating the offenders makes all of us safer.

We must also recognize the work of victims, national and community organizations, private sector supporters, and the media in this area. These groups helped to increase public awareness and provide support for individuals affected by this dramatic experience. Public awareness is a vital tool in combatting the incidence of sexual assault. It is noteworthy that the rate of sexual assaults has decreased by half in the last decade.

This resolution also recognizes the plight of victims of sexual assault. Often, victims suffer emotional scars that remain long after the physical scars have healed. Free, confidential help is available to all victims of sexual assault through the National Sexual Assault Hotline, more than 1,000 rape crisis centers in the United States and other organizations that provide services to assist the victims of sexual assault.

Hopefully, public awareness of this issue will also help victims to recognize that they are not alone and encourage them to come forward and report the crime. Currently, less than 40 percent of the sexual assault victims pursue prosecution by reporting their attack to law enforcement agencies.

This resolution offers the support of this Congress and brings attention to this very important issue. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting the individuals and organizations that dedicate themselves to combatting sexual assault.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Green).

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to join the chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary in supporting S.J. Res. 8 to call attention to National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month. The purpose of this resolution is to increase public awareness of sexual assault and to recognize the important contributions of various individuals and groups across the United States that combat sexual assault.

Mr. Speaker, sexual assault victims are primarily young people with 44 percent of the victims under the age of 18, 80 percent under the age of 30. Sexual assault affects women, men, children of all races, social, religious, age, ethnic and economic groups and even prisoners. Yet less than 40 percent of sexual assault victims pursue prosecution by reporting their attack to law enforcement agencies.

Mr. Speaker, as we recognize Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month, Congress also recognizes that other tools are also important in preventing and addressing sexual assault. With advances in DNA technology, law

enforcement agencies have been able to identify and prosecute many offenders, and the potential exists to identify tens of thousands of additional offenders in unsolved rape cases. That is why it is so important that Congress provide additional resources needed to immediately eliminate the current backlog of rape evidence kits across the United States.

I look forward to working with my colleague, the gentleman from Wisconsin, in authorizing and funding the Debbie Smith Act and other bills aimed at reducing the DNA backlog.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney) who is a lead sponsor of this resolution, an advocate for the issue.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for her advocacy, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding me the time.

Mr. Speaker, some would be quick to point out that this resolution is about symbolism; but in this area and on this subject, symbolism is important. Symbolism can help us raise the profile of this very important issue.

As the previous speaker, the chairman, just alluded, there are things that we should celebrate in our battle against sexual assault. Rape is down 50 percent over the last decade. We have recently passed the Protect Act, child abduction legislation, that I think will offer new tools and resources in the fight against sexual assault. The committee is developing DNA legislation that will provide additional tools and resources; but as we all know, we have so far to go.

A person is sexually assaulted in this country every 2 minutes.

According to the Department of Justice, nearly 250,000 people were assaulted in 2001 alone; 1 in 6 women have been the victim of rape or attempted rape.

This resolution declares that Congress supports the goals and ideals of the National Sexual Assault Awareness Month. We can use this opportunity to educate the public on how to prevent sexual assault. We can use this opportunity to recognize those in the community that volunteer numerous hours to work with victims. We can use this opportunity to recognize law enforcement for their dedicated work in this battle against sexual assault in the areas of increased conviction and increased prevention, and we can use this opportunity to salute the more than 20 million victims who have survived sexual assault. We stand with them. By raising the profile, hopefully these numbers will fall and we will have fewer victims, we will have more convictions, and we will have greater awareness of this awful battle we must fight.