Supporting the goals and ideals of National Domestic Violence Awareness Month 2010 and expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that Congress should continue to raise awareness of domestic violence in the United States and its devastating effects on families and communities, and support programs and practices designed to prevent and end domestic violence.

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

It is an honor to once again sponsor this Domestic Violence Awareness Month resolution.

I want to commend Judge Green for working with me on this issue. He did make one mistake, however. He said we have known each other for 20 years. I'm sorry; it has been 30 years since we

were young buck lawyers in the courthouse doing battle in Houston, Texas. So it has been a long time.

But he is correct, this is an issue that must continue to come to the awareness of the American people, that domestic violence is something that is, unfortunately, continuing in this country.

Thirty-five percent of the murder victims that were killed in 2008 were killed at the hands of people they knew. Intimate partners, 35 percent of them, murdered by people that were close to them.

In 2007, crimes by intimate partners accounted for 23 percent of all crimes against women.

In a single day in 2009, 65,000 victims were treated by domestic violence programs; but, due to lack of resources and funding, almost 10,000 were turned away because there were no resources to take care of them.

We have a growing need and presence of domestic violence shelters throughout the country, and they have fewer and fewer resources to take care of these women who seek refuge from someone that they knew who has been trying to assault them or has succeeded in assaulting them.

Congress must, of course, pass the reauthorization of the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act. Victim service providers are on the front lines of defense against domestic violence, and this funding is vital to the treatment and reduction of domestic violence.

I spent all of my legal career before coming here as a prosecutor and a criminal court judge, so I was always in the courthouse doing criminal cases, and I saw the result of what happens when people in family situations commit crimes against other family members. It is something that has to cease in this country, and it is also something that we, as a community, need to be aware of. Unfortunately, many times courts don't take these cases seriously.

One of my favorite people is Yvette Cade from Baltimore, Maryland. Yvette Cade was a real person, still is a real person. And all these cases are about real people, Mr. Speaker.

On October 10, 2005, Yvette Cade's estranged husband--Roger Hargrave is his name. He and his wife were not getting along, so he sought her out. He went to the business where she worked, a video store, walked inside with a bottle full of gasoline, came up to her, and he poured that gasoline over her head and he set her on fire. Yvette Cade, a victim of domestic violence.

She survived that brutal assault, and, thanks to a passerby that saw this happen, the fire was put out in the parking lot. The judge involved in this case, Prince George's County Judge Richard Palumbo, had already lifted a protective order against Hargrave. If he had not lifted that protective order to keep him away from his estranged wife, she may not have had this brutal assault committed against her.

Now, Hargrave is serving life in prison for the assault, setting his wife on fire, but Mrs. Yvette Cade has third-degree burns over 60 percent of her body. She has had 19 surgeries. She survived this brutal attack. She is a remarkable woman. She has a spirit that it surprises me she has the spirit that she does.

But she is just one of thousands of people, Mr. Speaker, that are assaulted in the family, and it continues. We, in this society, must make sure that it is socially unacceptable to hurt somebody in the family.

My grandmother, who was the most influential person in my life, lived to be the age of 99. Judge Green would like this: She never forgave me for being a Republican. That is a different issue. But she always said, You never hurt somebody you claim you love. And that is a true statement, and it always has been. You never hurt somebody you claim you love. We need to send that message out throughout the Nation, especially in these family situations. And young males need to understand that if they get in a relationship with a young woman that they never hurt them if they claim they love them.

So it is an honor for me to support this. I honor also and recognize the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, all those wonderful organizations that are out there taking care mainly of women who find themselves in desperate situations because someone that supposedly loved them treated them so badly.

I would like to start by thanking the gentlelady and the ranking member. I would also like to thank my friend, the sponsor of this resolution from Texas, Mr. Ted Poe, a former State district court judge in the State of Texas, former prosecutor in Harris County, and someone that I have known for more than 20 years. He and I have worked on this effort. It is a collaborative effort and this is his year to sponsor and I cosponsor with him. And I will be honored to sponsor next year and he will, of course, work with me as a cosponsor of this resolution.

But I want to say this about Mr. Poe: This is something that he does, not because it happens to be legislation. I know him from his days as a prosecutor, and these cases concerning domestic violence were cases that he took seriously. And I know him from his many years as a State district court judge, and I can honestly say, as I look toward him, that these were cases that he took seriously.

So this is more than just another resolution for Mr. Poe, and for me as well. This is something that we take seriously because we, as judges, we have seen what the results of domestic violence can do to a family, what it can do not only to the person who is actually the victim, but the entire family becomes a victim of domestic violence. And I am just honored to have this opportunity to cosponsor the resolution with Mr. Poe this year.

The resolution has 41 Democratic and Republican cosponsors. Clearly, it is bipartisan. It is a resolution that receives wide support annually, and it is a resolution that transcends more than party lines. It also transcends lines of ethnicity. It transcends the lines of religion. It transcends the lines of business, the lines that tend to put us in various categories. This resolution transcends all of these lines because the violence that is perpetrated transcends all of these lines. It goes into all walks of life.

It doesn't matter what your economic status is, your social status is. Domestic violence can impact people at all levels of life. And this resolution hopefully will put enough focus on it, such that we will continue to admonish persons who engage in this kind of invidious, abhorrent behavior, admonish them to seek counseling, to try to get yourself in a position such that you can treat your fellow human being as a child of God meriting the same kind of consideration that you would want your daughter or your mother, if you happen to be a male.

I would also add that there have been Federal efforts that should not go unnoticed. This started about 20 years ago and has continued, and we have had more than just this month. We also had the Violence Against Women Act of 1994, which created a new culture as it relates to domestic violence. It helped the police and the judges and the prosecutors to understand that this was more than a personal event that took place. It was something that impacted society as a whole. And I am looking forward to supporting the reauthorization of the Violence Again Women Act in 2010.

Family Violence Prevention and Services Act, this provides emergency shelters, crisis intervention programs, and community education.

I am also proud to mention the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act because this act provided $225 million for violence against women in the sense that it helped to fund programs that will help women who find themselves being victimized.

The awareness of domestic violence is growing. I have indicated that judges and prosecutors and police officers----

The constabulary, if you will, now understands the importance of treating this as a serious issue, and much progress has been made. However, there is still much to be done. We still have about 9,000 requests for help that go unnoticed and unanswered on a daily basis. We still have victims who continue to suffer in silence: 29 women lost their lives in Harris County; 136 Texas women were killed; 11 Texas children were killed; 92 percent of homeless women suffer physical and sexual abuse.

So I will just simply close with this: I am honored to be a cosponsor, and I am honored that the resolution is being presented. And I beg that all of my colleagues would please support this resolution because you are supporting families across the length and breadth of the country. You are keeping them together, and you are helping to prevent someone from being abused.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of House Resolution 1637, expressing the support of the House of Representatives of the goals and ideals of National Domestic Violence Awareness month. I would like to thank the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Education and Labor Committee for bringing this resolution to the Floor; and I would also like to thank Representative Ted Poe--author of the resolution--for his tireless efforts to raise awareness of the scourge of domestic violence.

I am proud to be a cosponsor of this resolution because domestic violence for me is not an abstract concept. I have lived through domestic violence and I think it is important for people to hear my story and understand the human side of this problem. My colleagues who spoke before me did an excellent job laying out the statistics but the numbers do not fully express what it's like to survive domestic violence.

I have said this before but I can't stress this point enough: it is so important that everybody in America be involved in stopping domestic violence. There are so many people out there that have heard some woman scream in the night or seen some child beaten by a father, mother or caregiver and simply done nothing about it. They say to themselves that it is not their business, and so they go on their merry way, and they feel like this problem will go away on its own. It doesn't go away. It only gets worse and worse and worse until sometimes people get killed or maimed for life. I know because I have lived through this hell.

My father was six-foot eight, and my mother was five-foot-and-a-half inches tall, and he used to beat her so badly that we couldn't recognize her. He would tear her clothes off of her in front of me and my brother and sister, and then if we said anything he would beat us too.

Thankfully for my family he eventually went to prison for trying to kill my mother, but one of the reasons it went that far, in my opinion, is because there wasn't enough attention paid to what he was doing in the first place.

I can remember one night about 2 o'clock in the morning, my mother, who had been beaten up, took me and my brother and sister down to the police station in Indianapolis, and she went to the desk sergeant and said to him, you know, she wanted to get a restraining order, get away from this brute and this brutality. And the desk officer said, you know what time it is, lady? It's 2 o'clock in the morning, and these kids ought to be in bed. If you don't take these kids home right now, I'm going to arrest you for child abuse. That was the attitude that we saw back in those days.

I can remember when she would throw a lamp through the front window when he was beating on her, or me, and scream for help so loud that you could hear it for blocks away and nobody came. Nobody's light went on. Nobody paid any attention. That is the crime! The crime isn't just the wife abuse or child abuse or spousal abuse. The crime is that people don't take it upon themselves to stop it.

Today, police departments have improved across this country; and there are a lot of organizations that are trying to help men, women and kids who are abused, and that's great. It's a great step in the right direction, but as the statistics that we've heard today tell you, the violence still goes on and on and on. The only way it's going to stop is, if collectively across this country, men and women who see violence in public or in private or hear about it, report it to the police, report it to the proper people and get that perpetrator away from that man and that woman and those kids. If we don't do that, this is never going to stop. The perpetrator has to be afraid of what's going to happen to him or her.

And so I'd like to say to my colleagues, this is very important legislation. I really appreciate it. I'm glad that we sponsor this every year, and I encourage everyone to vote in favor of this resolution. We need to make sure there's awareness of this violence. Only by shining the light of day on it can we eliminate this scourge once and for all.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 1637) supporting the goals and ideals of National Domestic Violence Awareness Month 2010 and expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that Congress should continue to raise awareness of domestic violence in the United States and its devastating effects on families and communities, and support programs and practices designed to prevent and end domestic violence, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I request 5 legislative days during which Members may revise and extend and insert extraneous material on House Resolution 1637 into the Record.

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of House Resolution 1637, which supports the goals and ideals of National Domestic Violence Awareness Month to be recognized this October. National Domestic Violence Awareness Month is an important time to raise awareness of domestic violence and its devastating effects on our families and communities. In addition, this month offers organizations, social workers, and public officials a chance to spread the word about the resources which help victims seek the help they desperately need.

I would like to thank Representatives Poe and Green for introducing this important measure. And once again, I express my support for House Resolution 1637.

Domestic violence is defined as the willful intimidation, assault, battery, sexual assault or other abusive behavior perpetrated by an intimate partner against another. It is an epidemic that affects women, men, and children in every community regardless of age, sex, economic status, nationality, or educational background.

One in four women and one in six men will be victims of domestic violence in their lifetime, and 15\1/2\ million children are abused every year. Children exposed to domestic violence are more likely themselves to commit acts of domestic violence when they are adults, and to commit suicide, abuse drugs, and engage in teenage prostitution. It is critical that our communities have the resources they need both to help prevent domestic violence from occurring and to support victims when abuse has occurred.

During this month, communities and groups nationwide hold events to increase awareness

of domestic violence and the resources available to help victims escape the cycles of violence. Additionally, these events educate the public about ways to prevent and end abuse. We especially recognize the hard work and dedication shown by organizations and individuals that serve victims of abuse and educate the public about domestic violence prevention.

Mr. Speaker, I once again express my support for House Resolution 1637 which recognizes the month of October as National Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Al Green).

I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentleman.

In closing, Mr. Speaker, it is very clear, and I thank my colleagues for their very strong remarks in support of this resolution, because domestic violence truly knows no bounds; and the women, children, and seniors who are the most vulnerable in our communities, who are generally the victims of domestic violence, need our support and our help. So I again urge my colleagues to support House Resolution 1637.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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

I rise today in support of House Resolution 1637, supporting the goals and ideals of National Domestic Violence Awareness Month 2010 and expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that Congress should continue to raise awareness of domestic violence in the United States and its devastating effects on families and communities, and support families and practices designed to prevent and end domestic violence.

Women disproportionately experience domestic violence in their lives. Boys who are exposed to domestic violence are four times as likely to perpetrate domestic violence of adults. The cost of intimate partner violence exceeds $8.33 billion each year. As evident by these staggering statistics, domestic violence has far-reaching effects in our society.

Domestic violence is the willful intimidation, assault, battery, sexual assault and/or other abusive behavior perpetrated by an intimate partner against another. It is an epidemic that affects individuals in every community, regardless of age, economic status, religion, nationality, educational background or gender.

Domestic violence is far-reaching and affects men and women of all ages and backgrounds. Male victims are less likely than women to report violence and seek services, but are often victims of domestic violence. Both men and women experience the same dynamics of interpersonal violence and face many of the same hurdles thereafter, including job loss, increased rates of drug and alcohol abuse, and increased rates of suicides.

Unfortunately, children are often victimized as the witnesses of domestic abuse. Research has shown that children who witness domestic violence and living in an environment where violence occurs may experience some of the same trauma as abused children. Children who witness domestic violence are more likely to become abusers as adults and face many of the same risk factors as the victims of abuse.

Domestic violence affects the victim, children, the abuser and entire families and communities. It is important that we support the promotion of awareness of this issue and those individuals and organizations that work to prevent and end domestic abuse.

I urge my colleagues to support House Resolution 1637.

Mr. Speaker, I yield the balance of my time to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Cassidy), and I ask unanimous consent that he be allowed to control that time.