Independent Living Centers Technical Adjustment Act

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

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to join my colleague and friend Mr. Costa from California as an original sponsor of this resolution to recognize and support the mission and goals of National Crime Victims' Rights Week. Together, Mr. Costa and myself chair the Congressional Victims' Rights Caucus. The caucus is comprised of Members from both sides of the aisle who are dedicated to protecting the interests and needs of crime victims throughout our country. Crime victim issues are not partisan. They are nonpartisan issues, Mr. Speaker, and affect everyone in this country.

In 1980, President Ronald Reagan first called for a national observance to recognize and honor the millions of crime victims and those survivors in this country. Since then, Victims' Rights Week has been proclaimed annually with ceremonies and observances here in Washington, D.C. and thousands of communities throughout the Nation.

Each April, the Office for Victims of Crime, called the OVC, organizes a weeklong series of activities and rallies to increase public awareness of the rights, the needs and concerns of crime victims in the United States. The theme of this year's National Crime Victims' Rights Week is ``25 Years of Rebuilding Lives: Celebrating the Victims of Crime Act.''

In 1984, the Victims of Crime Act, called VOCA, created the VOCA fund, a Federal victims compensation account funded by fines assessed in Federal criminal convictions. This is a collection of criminal fines, not taxpayer dollars.

The way it works, Mr. Speaker, criminals convicted in Federal Court contribute into a fund, as I say paying for the crimes they have committed, paying rent on the courthouse, and that fund is used exclusively for victims and victims' services throughout the United States. It is not a taxpayer-funded fund; it is a fund solely funded by criminals. What a novel idea: Make criminals pay to the victims of crime, victims that many of them have caused to be victims in the first place.

Also the Victims of Crime Act establishes the Office for Victims of Crime to distribute those funds throughout the United States. In fact, with the help of the OVC, there are now 10,000 victim assistance programs providing emotional, financial, physical and spiritual support every day. All of these organizations owe to some extent their existence because of the VOCA funds that were established by Congress many years ago.

VOCA is the only Federal fund that caters to the needs of victims. Each year, about 4,400 agencies and almost 3.5 million victims receive support and financial compensation from this fund funded by criminals. Just to clarify, this money that is collected is used to help victims and their families.

This year, during National Crime Victims' Rights Week, we celebrate that the VOCA fund has been assisting victims for over 25 years and has distributed literally billions of dollars since its inception. Currently there are $6.5 billion in this fund, funds that will be given to victims and victims services. It is important that we as Members of Congress make sure that the bureaucrats, however, don't see this fund and take the fund and use it for other services in the United States that have nothing to do with victims.

While the events of this week provide excellent opportunities to focus on victims' rights, this issue requires attention by Members of Congress so that the VOCA fund is not taken by the bureaucrats and used for other purposes.

Last month, four police officers in Oakland, California, Dan Sakai, 35, Mark Dunakin, 40, John Hege, 41, and Ervin Romans, 43, were shot to death by a 27-year-old parolee. Earlier this month, an armed man walked into a New York Immigration and Naturalization service center and shot 17 people, killing 13 and wounding four others.

The National Center For Victims of Crime reports that during 2008 a child was reported abused or neglected almost every 35 seconds. In my home State of Texas alone, there were more than 83,000 separate allegations of abuse or neglect confirmed by Child Protective Services.

Crime victims, Mr. Speaker, are not statistics. They are real men, women and children with families and loved ones, and those victims who manage to survive the acts of violence must not be excluded from the criminal justice system. Their voices must be heard, and in honor of every victim, we renew our commitment to protect the rights of crime victims and provide them effective assistance programs, and we also commend the countless professionals and volunteers who have dedicated literally their lives to help victims and survivors of crime.

I urge my colleagues to support this resolution.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the chairman from Virginia for leading this resolution, but also I do want to thank my friend from California, Mr. Costa, for not only sponsoring this legislation, but for his hard work nationally on victims' rights and the movement. He literally started the victims' rights movement in California, the State that we owe a lot to for the victims' right movement when he was in the State legislature there in California, and he has brought his passion to help victims of crime to the United States Congress, and we are all better for that.

Last week in honor of National Crime Victims' Rights Week, the Victim's Rights Caucus, as Mr. Costa mentioned, had several preliminary events. One was the fourth annual Victim's Rights Caucus awards ceremony.

At the awards ceremony last Wednesday night, Mr. Costa and myself joined other Members of the House, Mr. Shadegg from Arizona, Mr. Yarmuth from Kentucky and Mr. Reichert from Washington in honoring six outstanding victim advocates and victim programs.

Mr. Speaker, I include for the Record the names and the awards of these six recipients.

2009 Victims' Rights Caucus Awards Recipients

(1) Suzanne McDaniel Public Awareness Award--Katherine

Cabaniss. Ms. Cabaniss is the Executive Director of Houston

Crime Stoppers. As a former Assistant District Attorney, she

has a passion for preventing and fighting crime. During her

time with Crime Stoppers, Ms. Cabaniss has built strategic

alliances with people and organizations who assist victims of

crime, including local school districts, apartment property

management companies, and women's shelters. She has

strengthened Crime Stoppers relationship with the media, and

in doing so, has used her voice to promote safe communities

and justice for victims of crime. Cabaniss was nominated by

Representative Ted Poe (TX-02).

(2) Ed Stout Memorial Award for Outstanding Victim

Advocacy--Alliance Against Family Violence and Sexual

Assault. The Alliance represents everything that Mr. Stout

worked so hard for during his work on behalf of crime victims

and survivors. They are a nonprofit, grassroots organization

that since 1979 has provided support and services to victims

of domestic violence and sexual assault in Kern County and

the surrounding area. These services are free, and are

bilingual, which serves Kern County's diverse ethnic

background. Their strong focus on assisting victims of

violence against women in rural areas is remarkable. The

Alliance Against Family Violence and Sexual Assault was

nominated by Representative Jim Costa (CA-20).

(3) Ed Stout Memorial Award for Outstanding Victim

Advocacy--Sheryl Cates. Ms. Cates has spent the last 25 years

advocating for victims of domestic violence at all levels. As

Executive Director at Women's Protective Services in Lubbock,

TX, Ms. Cates worked directly with victims as well as

supervising staff who provide services to victims. Also, as

CEO of the Texas council on Family Violence, National

Domestic Violence Hotline and loveisrespect.org National Teen

Dating Abuse Helpline, Ms. Cates is recognized nationally as

an expert in the field of domestic violence and as someone

who can be counted on to participate in any efforts to

support the needs of victims and their families. Cates was

nominated by Representative Lamar Smith (TX-21)

(4) Lois Haight Award of Excellence and Innovation--Steve

Twist. Mr. Twist has worked tirelessly to ensure that every

jurisdiction in America provides victims with rights in the

criminal justice system and that those rights are enforceable

by the individual victim. He has worked as counsel to the

Navajo Nation, aiding in the drafting of various victim

provisions, and is the principal author of the Arizona

constitutional amendment for victims' rights and the Arizona

Victims' Rights Implementation Act, which together are the

strongest victims' rights legal provisions in the country.

Mr. Twist was nominated by Representative John Shadegg (AZ-

03)

(5) Eva Murillo Unsung Hero Award--Jenny Wieland Ms.

Wieland's 17 year old daughter and only child was murdered by

another teen in 1992. She turned her pain into purpose and

has worked tirelessly to reduce youth violence, in hopes that

other mothers

would not have to experience the loss of a child to a violent

crime. In 1994, Jenny Wieland became a founding board member

of Mothers Against Violence in America (MAVIA). In early

1995, she left a career as an insurance broker to become

MAVIA's Program Director and first employee. During her

seven-year tenure with MAVIA, she helped create and implement

MAVIA's many national and local programs, including the

acclaimed Washington State model of Day of National Concern

About Young People and Gun Violence, which encourages young

Americans in classrooms and communities across the country to

sign the Student Pledge Against Gun Violence. Currently,

Wieland is serving as Executive Director of Families and

Friends of Violent Crime Victims in Washington State. Wieland

was nominated by Representative Dave Reichert (WA-08)

(6) Allied Profession Award--Michael Davis, President of

Appriss, Inc. Mr. Davis is the cofounder and president of

Appriss, the provider of local, state and federal automated

victim information and notification services and automated

victim protection order services. In 1994, Mary Byron was

murdered on her 21st birthday by her former boyfriend who was

in jail in Louisville, Kentucky. Mary and her parents asked

to be notified if and when he was released, which did not

happen. In response to this preventable tragedy, Davis and

his partner created VINE' (Victim Information and

Notification Everyday), which provides confidential, around-

the-clock notifications to victims about the status of their

offenders. VINE keeps crime victims and survivors informed

and involved in their cases, in turn promoting personal and

community safety. Today, Appriss provides VINE and related

services to more than 75% of our nation. States participating

in the Statewide Automated Victim Information and

Notification (SAVIN) grant program have entrusted Appriss as

their technology provider. Davis was nominated by

Representative John Yarmuth (KY-03).

Mr. Speaker, it is because of the pioneering efforts of many, including President Reagan and his 1982 Task Force on Victims of Crime, that we are able to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Victims of Crime Act. We must remember that the same Constitution that protects the rights of offenders protects the rights of victims of crime in this country as well.

I urge all my colleagues to join me in supporting in resolution.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 109, supporting the mission and goals of 2009 National Crime Victims' Rights week to increase public awareness of the rights, needs, an concerns of victims and survivors of crime in the United States, and to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the enactment of the Victims of Crime Act of 1984. I thank Congressman Costa, Congressman Poe, Congresswoman Matsui, Congressman Marchant, and Congressman Moran for introducing this meaningful resolution which recognizes and acknowledges the over 25 million individuals that are victims of crimes each year in this country. I urge my colleagues to support this resolution. As members of Congress, we need to acknowledge the impact of crime on individuals, families, and communities and we need to ensure that rights, resources, and services are available to help rebuild lives.

This resolution is important because while our nation has steadily, and rightfully, expanded rights, protections and services for victims of crimes, too many victims are still not able to realize the hope and promise of the gains. Our country must do more to ensure that services are available for underserved segments of the population, including crime victims with disabilities, victims with mental illness, and victims who are teenagers, elderly, or from urban and rural areas or communities of color. According the National Center for Victims:

One person is murdered every 31 minutes.

One person is raped every 1.9 minutes.

One person is assaulted every 36.9 seconds.

One home is burglarized every 18 seconds.

One woman is victimized by an intimate partner every 52 seconds.

One child is reported abused or neglected every 34.9 seconds.

One person is killed in an alcohol-related crash every 40.4 minutes.

One person becomes a victim of identity theft every 4.9 seconds.

One elderly person is victimized by a violent crime every 4.2 minutes.

We must observe victims' rights and treat victims with dignity and respect and engage them in the justice system, which will also further gain respect for public authorities and promote confidence in public safety. The people of this country will be safer and stronger by serving victims of crime and ensuring justice for all.

It is necessary that we, as members of Congress, mark the anniversary of the enactment of the Victims of Crime Act of 1984. This Act is the hallmark of the Federal Government's recognition of its commitment to supporting rights and services for victims of all types of crime through the establishment of the Crime Victims Fund. This fund is paid by criminal fines and penalties, not tax payer dollars. The fund has collected more than $9 billion from offender fines and penalties to be used exclusively to help victims of crime. These funds have aided the more than 4 million victims of crime a year. The money provides medical care, counseling and funeral costs. This act has encouraged other programs to also transfer offender fines into help for victim rehabilitation.

The theme of the 2009 National Crime Victim's right Week, celebrated April 26-May 2, 2009 is ``25 years of Rebuilding Lives: Celebrating the Victims of Crime Act''. This theme highlights the Act's significant achievements and contributions in advancing rights and services for all crime victims. This week will provide an opportunity for the nation to strive to reach the goal of justice for all by ensuring that all victims are afforded legal rights and provided with assistance to face the financial, physical, spiritual, psychological and social impact of crime.

I encourage my colleagues to pass this resolution so that we can increase the public awareness of the impact of crime on victims and survivors, and of the constitutional and statutory rights and needs of victims of crime. This resolution will recognize the 25th anniversary of the enactment of the Victims of Crime Act of 1984. It will also direct the clerk of the House of Representatives to transmit an enrolled copy of this resolution to the Office for Victims of Crime within the Office of Justice Programs of the Department of Justice.

In Harris County, within the 18th District of Texas, which I proudly represent, the Houston Mayor's Crime Victims Office has a saying, ``Crime victims are the only unwilling participants in our criminal justice system; everyone else chooses their own roles. Victims' rights are often a mere courtesy, while defendants' rights--and rightfully so--are protected in our Constitution. Victims' rights deserve the same protection.'' While Harris County is fortunate to have some of the Nation's finest victim service organizations, such as the Houston Area

Women's Center, Parents of Murdered Children, AVDA, MADD and Family Time, as well as victim liaisons staffed from our criminal justice partners it is far from immune from crime. The Harris County Victim Witness Division, alone, assisted over 30,000 victims of crime last year and helped them receive $16.9 million in restitution.

I have been and continue to be an advocate for victims of crime most importantly with my latest legislation, H.R. 262, the David Ray Ritcheson Hate Crime Prevention Act which I also introduced in the 110th Congress. I twice sponsored a resolution expressing the sense of Congress that the people of the United States should grieve for the loss of life that defined the Third Reich and celebrate the continued education efforts for tolerance and justice, reaffirming the commitment of United States to fight against intolerance and prejudice in any form, and honoring the legacy of transparent procedure, government accountability, the rule of law, the pursuit of justice, and the struggle for universal freedom and human rights. Additionally, I sponsored H.R. 5610, in the 109th Congress, the Foreign Anti-Sex Offender Protection Act of 2006. I have co-sponsored numerous bills that benefit victims of crimes.

Nobody wants, or deserves, to be a victim of crime. I urge my colleagues to pass this Resolution and acknowledge and support these unfortunate victims.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from Virginia for his leadership and his support for this important House Resolution, H. Res. 109, which I rise today to introduce.

As has been stated by my colleagues, this resolution supports the mission and goals of National Crime Victims' Rights Week, to designate this week, April 26 to May 2, as National Crime Victims' Rights Week. Congressman Ted Poe and I introduced this resolution on behalf of our fellow Victims' Rights Caucus members who have been supportive of our efforts over the last 4 years.

As was noted, in 1980 President Reagan first called for the national observance to recognize and honor the millions of victims and their families and survivors who have been victims, sadly, of crime in America.

This year, we mark the 25th anniversary of the enactment of the Victims of Crime Act of 1984, better known as VOCA. This legislation has supported rights and services for crime victims for the last 25 years, and quite successfully. It has done it without the use of a single dime from American taxpayer dollars.

The Victims of Crime Act, the VOCA funds, are supported by fines and penalties that come from the criminals who have perpetrated these crimes. These funds are used by State and local organizations to help people through their difficult time periods after experiencing a crime that they have been victimized by. There are over 4,400 agencies across the country which depend upon VOCA funding. These agencies serve near in excess of 3.5 million crime victims each year, sadly.

This resolution also honors the lives that have been rebuilt over the last 25 years as a result of all the good efforts by these local agencies throughout our country. These are millions of people working in victim organizations who have dedicated their lives to assisting people through these terrible, terrible time periods, and each and every one of them I think deserves a thank you from all of us as Members of Congress.

When I arrived in Washington, Congressman Poe and I discovered that there was not a caucus that was dedicated for the purpose of recognizing those victims of crime. So Congressman Ted Poe and I decided to form a new bipartisan congressional caucus that would provide a louder voice for all the advocacy groups who advocate on behalf of victims of crime.

The Congressional Victims' Rights Caucus, of which I am proud to be a cochair of, frankly, has done a lot of good efforts over the last 4 years, and we encourage Members who are listening and their staff who are not members of this bipartisan congressional caucus that you join our efforts.

We have three simple goals. The first is to represent crime victims in the United States through bipartisan introduction of legislation that reflects the interests, rights and needs of victims of crime. Two, our goal is to provide an ongoing forum for proactive discussion between Congress and national victims' assistance organizations to enhance mutual education and legislation advocacy and initiatives which promote justice for all, including the victims of crime. Three, to seek opportunities for public education initiatives to help people in the United States understand the impact of crime on victims and to encourage their involvement in crime prevention, which is the best sort of effort we can possibly do. An ounce of prevention, as we all know, is worth a pound of cure. And also to provide victim assistance and community safety throughout our neighborhoods across this great land of ours.

I want to thank again the gentleman from Virginia. I want to thank Congressman Ted Poe, my cochair of the caucus, for all of your efforts on behalf of Members who work on behalf of those who are victims of crime.

Finally, my fellow colleagues, crime, as we know, knows no boundary, knows no demographic, or congressional district boundary. Sadly, crime affects in some capacity all Americans at some point in life.

When our families, when our friends and when our neighbors are in need of assistance after a crime, they should not be met with a closed door, but they should be met with open arms. We all have a responsibility. This is not simply the domain of local law enforcement agencies, which play a tremendous role, but we as Americans all have a responsibility to help out in our communities.

So I want to thank those members of the Congressional Victims' Rights Caucus, I want to thank those who support this resolution, H. Res. 109, and encourage all of my colleagues to support important legislation that we will pursue in the 111th Congress.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 109) supporting the mission and goals of 2009 National Crime Victims' Rights week to increase public awareness of the rights, needs, and concerns of victims and survivors of crime in the United States, and to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the enactment of the Victims of Crime Act of 1984.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the resolution under consideration.

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

House Res. 109 supports the goals and mission of National Crime Victims' Rights week, which is being celebrated this week, April 26 through May 2, 2009. The 2009 National Crime Victims' Rights week theme is ``25 Years of Rebuilding Lives: Celebrating the Victims of Crime Act.''

Mr. Speaker, each year for the last 25 years, the Office of Victims of Crime in the Department of Justice has observed National Crime Victims' Rights week along with individuals and communities across the country. Victims' rights and crime victims are honored with rallies, candlelight vigils, and other commemorative events.

This week in April is an important time to increase public awareness about the needs and concerns of the 25 million victims and survivors of crime each year, of which over 6 million are victims of violent crimes.

During National Crime Victims' Rights week, people are asked to take time out to acknowledge the impact that crime has on families, individuals, and communities by ensuring that resources and services are available to help crime victims rebuild their lives.

We would also like to acknowledge the 25 years of contributions that the Office of Victims of Crime has made to supporting victims of both violent and nonviolent crime. A major aspect of the office's work has been the creation and supervision of the Crime Victims Fund. This fund is paid for by criminal fines and penalties and supplemented with general tax revenue as needed. Over the last 25 years, the Crime Victims Fund has collected more than $9 billion from offender fines and penalties, which is used solely to assist crime victims. Each year these funds support direct services and financial compensation to more than 4 million victims of crime.

This week is also a time to make a commitment to providing more resources and services to crime victims who live in underserved areas such as urban and rural areas. This is also time to pay special attention to victims of crime who suffer from physical and mental disabilities in addition to child and senior citizens who may be victims of crime.

Mr. Speaker, we should be doing more to invest in crime prevention and therefore reducing the number of victims, but meanwhile this resolution gives us the opportunity to celebrate victims' rights and their dignity. We should ensure that victims are treated with the dignity and respect that they deserve, and doing that will promote a fair and just criminal justice system. For these reasons, Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this important resolution.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the chief sponsor of the legislation who, along with Mr. Poe, introduced

this important resolution, the gentleman from California (Mr. Costa).

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to a strong supporter of victims, a former law enforcement officer, the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Stupak).

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from California, the gentleman from Texas, as well as the gentleman from Michigan, for their work on behalf of victims of crime, and I urge my colleagues to support the resolution.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5610) to provide a technical adjustment with respect to funding for independent living centers under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 in order to ensure stability for such centers, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I request 5 legislative days during which Members may revise and extend and insert extraneous material on H.R. 5610 into the Record.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 5610, the Independent Living

Centers Technical Adjustment Act. This bill addresses an issue brought to our attention by a number of States that are at risk of having to reduce services for adults with disabilities. Authorized under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Independent Living Center program serves adults with disabilities by providing an array of independent living services, including the information and referral services, independent living skills training, peer counseling, and individual and systems advocacy training. This program is administered by the Rehabilitation Services Administration, which allocates Federal funds to the centers based on a formula in an established State plan. Under current law, Centers within a State must first receive funds at the level they received in the previous year, and absent sufficient funding, they must receive the same proportional amount of the total they received the previous year.

The Independent Living Centers were provided additional funds through the stimulus package passed by Congress in 2009. States were given maximum flexibility for determining the allocation of these funds among the centers in their States. Several States opted to distribute these temporary funds using a formula different from their base formula. As a result, some Centers received a proportionally larger or smaller allocation than they did in previous years.

This one-time change in the allocation of funds made sense because of the challenges State economies were facing. At the same time, current law did not envision this one-time increase in funding. And, in fact, the Rehabilitation Services Administration is required to allocate 2010 funds based on a Center's total proportional allocation for 2009 and the additional funding a Center received under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, or ARRA. This requirement may result in some Centers losing up to 35 percent of funds as the total proportion a Center received may be less than they received in the prior year.

The Independent Living Centers Technical Adjustment Act will allow States to request that ARRA funds not be included in determining their center's previous year allocations. That way, the temporary funds provided under ARRA do not permanently change the Center's base allocations. This is a complex but necessary fix to protect services for so many people with disabilities who benefit from the work of the Independent Living Centers.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Chairman Miller for introducing this important legislation, and I urge support of this technical change to ensure Independent Living Centers can continue the important work for people with disabilities in our communities.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I urge support of H.R. 5610, and I yield back the balance of my time.