The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“VIOLENCE AWARENESS MONTH” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Justice was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H10720-H10724 on Oct. 24, 1995.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
VIOLENCE AWARENESS MONTH
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Blute). Under the Speaker's announced policy of May 12, 1995, the gentlewoman from Maryland [Mrs. Morella] is recognized for 60 minutes.
Mrs. MORELLA. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to be involved in this special order to commemorate Domestic Violence Awareness Month. It really should be Domestic Eradication Month, year, decade, into the millennium and beyond that.
I would like to compliment the gentlewoman from California [Ms. Roybal-Allard], because she chairs the violence task force for the congressional Caucus for Women's Issues, and she is the one who compiled the list of people to participate in this special order. A number of them are not here because of the late hour, but they are submitting testimony for the Congressional Record.
It gives me great pleasure to yield to the gentlewoman from California [Ms. Roybal-Allard], who, as I say, chairs that violence task force and does it so well.
I thank the gentlewoman very much for arranging for this.
Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD. Mr. Speaker, October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. A time when we focus on the tragedy of violence that exists in many homes and families throughout our country.
As chair of the Violence Against Women Task Force, I sincerely thank Representative Connie Morella and Representative Nita Lowey for their assistance in this special order. I also thank my colleagues, male and female, from both sides of the aisle, who have joined me to bring attention to a crime that destroys lives and undermines the foundation of our country--the family.
This is especially meaningful because domestic violence is not bound by geographic, racial, economic, or partisan lines. Domestic violence is a tragedy which affects people in all communities, both rich and poor, rural and urban, racially diverse or homogeneous.
Although acts of domestic violence are overwhelmingly committed against women, this is not just a women's issue.
The devastation of domestic violence extends well beyond the tragedy in the lives of these women. Domestic violence injures children, is a root cause of juvenile delinquency, a leading cause of homelessness and costs billions of dollars to this country in employee absenteeism and medical costs.
Domestic violence affects all of us directly or indirectly and whether we know it or not. Although we have raised the level of awareness about domestic violence, we are failing to prevent or reduce it. Current statistics reveal domestic violence is at epidemic proportions.
Today, a woman is battered every 13 seconds, compared to 15 seconds a few years ago and is still the single greatest cause of injury to women in the United States.
Today, over half the marriages in our country involve at least one incident of battering.
In 1993, 1 out of every 5 women in emergency rooms was there as a result of domestic violence--today that figure has risen to 1 in every 4 women.
In my own county of Los Angeles, over 50 percent of the 911 calls are a result of domestic violence. Even more tragically, these calls are often made, not by the victim, but by the children of the victim.
As an underreported crime, the actual number of women who experience such violence each year is unknown. Of the women who do report this violence, however, we know the battery is so severe that at least 4 million women a year require medical or police intervention. We also know the abuse ends in death for nearly 6,000 women a year.
As part of the Remember My Name Project started by the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, this poster memorializes the thousands of women who have died at the hands of their batterers. These women were our mothers, daughters, sisters, friends, and neighbors.
These women did not have to die. Nor did Angelita Avita, a young woman from the L.A. area.
Jose Salavarria, Angelita's common-law husband, was first arrested for battery in November 1994. He spent 20 days in jail and was required to attend 1 year of counseling.
Angelita did everything possible to prevent the abuse. She left Jose and moved to a location unknown to him. When Jose repeatedly violated his parole and attempted to contact her, she notified the police.
On one occasion, Jose even threatened her with a gun, which happened to be unloaded. For this offense, Jose was given more jail time and 2 years parole.
On September 15, Jose again violated his parole and tracked Angelita down. He waited outside her house. This time his gun was loaded. When Angelita left for work Jose shot her. When she fell to the ground, he shot her three more times before turning the gun on himself.
Angelita was killed at the young age of 35 by her common-law husband of more than 18 years, leaving behind their two teenage children.
Tragically Angelita's story is all too common. But it is a story that does not have to be repeated. Domestic violence is preventable.
We must therefore all work together to stop this devastating crime by making it a national priority, supporting violence prevention and treatment programs, and expanding and strengthening the legal rights of victims.
We can break the cycle of family violence in this country.
We cannot afford to fail the families of America. If we do we will all be losers in the end.
Mrs. MORELLA. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for that very true and eloquent statement about domestic violence and the fact that we do have controls to prevent it.
Mr. Speaker, the trial of O.J. Simpson unleashed a national conversation about domestic violence and a national awareness of the problems that have not ended despite the verdict rendered in Los Angeles earlier this month.
The verdict did nothing to alter the fact that domestic violence is an epidemic in the United States, nor did it alter the fact that Mr. Simpson was a batterer whose abusive behavior was ignored by the police, the courts, and society because of his celebrity status.
Every day, women of all ages, income, and education levels are beaten or killed by their husbands and boyfriends, no matter where they live or work.
Statistics from the Justice Department are grim. The National Crime Victimization Survey found that women experience ten times the amount of violence at the hands of intimate partners than men.
According to the Uniform Crime Statistics, in 1977, 54 percent of female murder victims were killed by husbands or boyfriends; by 1992, the percentage had soared to 77 percent. And we must not forget the millions of children who witness violence in their homes and who often grow up to become abusers or victims.
On October 2, at a White House ceremony honoring survivors of domestic violence, President Clinton proclaimed October as National Domestic Violence Month and spoke about the ``vital partnerships [that] have formed between Federal agencies and private sector organizations to expand prevention services in urban, rural, and underserved areas across the country. * * *''
The landmark Violence Against Women Act, which I proudly sponsored in this House and which must be fully funded by this Congress, provides funding for these important programs and services targeting domestic violence: A national domestic violence hotline; training programs for police and judges; shelters, counseling programs, and other victims services.
When the Congress passed the crime bill last year, it pledged to substantially increase Federal efforts against domestic violence. We have come a long way in assisting our local governments and victim service groups by helping them fund programs that are tailored to their particular needs and circumstances. They are counting on us.
All across the United States, in communities large and small, in cities and towns and in rural areas, these professionals and volunteers quietly do their work in shelters, in counseling programs, in courts and police stations, and in our classrooms. I salute their devotion, their dedication, and their commitment.
Since 1980, the Maryland Network Against Domestic Violence has led the effort in my State to pass legislation to help battered women and their children, to train law enforcement personnel and judges, and to raise public awareness about domestic violence and its impact on our society.
Last year, the network's 23 domestic violence programs served 12,308 women and 3,295 children and helped 77,467 people who telephoned hotlines and shelters for help. What would have happened to these families, if the network had not been there?
The network, under the indefatigable leadership of executive director Susan C. Mize, has fought for increased shelter funding, for stiff spouse abuse and child custody laws, for warrantless and mandatory arrest laws, for stalking laws, and for fair trials for battered women in criminal cases.
This year, the network's staff will train judges about changes in Maryland family law and about domestic violence. They will teach police departments across the State how to collect evidence in domestic violence cases, and they will train prosecutors on how to use that evidence in court.
The network is also helping the State's Office of Aging develop a program targeting elder abuse. The AARP tells us that 58 percent of the abused elderly are abused by a spouse; by contrast 27 percent are abused by an adult child.
In Montgomery County, which I am honored to represent in the U.S. Congress, domestic violence rose more than 330 percent between 1984 and 1994. My district, one of the most affluent and highly educated districts in the Nation, is no exception when it comes to domestic violence.
Last year alone in Montgomery County, there were 2,101 reported cases of domestic violence. This year, with the help of the county's Task Force Against Domestic Violence, County Executive Doug Duncan introduced a Coordinated Program Against Domestic Violence, which combines our legal and judicial departments, our medical and social work professionals, and our public and private schools into one integrated system on behalf of battered women and their families. And because of the county's rich ethnic, racial, and language mix, the county has especially tailored its counseling programs to reflect its diverse populations.
I am proud of the work being done in my State and all across the country to combat the terrible scourge of domestic violence. With funds form the Violence Against Women Act, we can do so much more.
I look forward to the day when hotlines will no longer ring, when shelters will no longer be needed, and when children will no longer cower, terrorized in their homes by domestic violence.
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Mr. Speaker, it now gives me pleasure to yield time to a very special Member of Congress, the gentlewoman from New York, Mrs. Nita Lowey, who is the cochair with me of the Congressional Caucus for Women's Issues.
Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentlewoman from Maryland [Mrs. Morella], who is not only my cochair of the Congressional Caucus on Women's Issues, but has truly been a leader and a fighter for domestic violence issues. Let us hope we can together reach that day when all this work will not be necessary. I am particularly pleased to be here with the gentlewoman from California, Ms. Lucille Roybal-Allard, who has been the chair of the Domestic Violence Tax Force. I thank the gentlewoman for leading us in this special order this evening.
Mr. Speaker, 1995 has been a landmark year in raising this Nation's consciousness about domestic violence.
Together, we listened in horror to the 911 tapes on which Nicole Brown Simpson pleaded for her life with a radio dispatcher while her husband raged in the background.
We were shocked to discover that a judge in Maryland sentenced a man to only 18 months after he had been convicted of murdering his wife, explaining the sentence by stating that murder was a reasonable response to finding one's wife in bed with another man.
We watched as the first criminal was convicted under the Violence Against Women Act, a man who beat his wife senseless, put her in the trunk of his car and drove around for 6 days before taking her to a hospital.
And for the first time we have a President who is dedicated to eradicating domestic violence from this Nation, a President who was raised in a home violated by abuse, a President who remembers seeing his own mother struck by her husband.
At this moment in the Nation's history, one would expect that Congress would be leading the fight to combat domestic violence. And yet, at the very time that we should be attacking violence against women, the programs that protect women are under attack.
This summer, the House leadership attempted to gut the funding for the Violence Against Women Act programs. The Violence Against Women Act was passed just last year by a bipartisan, unanimous vote. And yet, the House leadership tried to cut over $169 million of funding to the programs authorized under the act.
Fortunately, a bipartisan group of women Members stood up for these programs. Together, we ensured that Congress would not break its promise to the American people to protect victims of domestic violence. Working together, we restored $90 million of funding for these programs.
Currently, the Senate proposes to fully fund these vitally important programs. I can think of no better recognition of domestic violence awareness month than an agreement by the House to fully fund the Violence Against Women Act programs.
Domestic violence is an epidemic that is sweeping this Nation. The Violence Against Women Act programs are necessary to roll back this tide of violence. Just listen to these statistics:
The FBI estimates that a woman is battered every 5 to 15 seconds in America;
28 percent of women who were murdered in 1992 were killed by husbands or boyfriends;
Domestic violence will occur in at least 50 percent of all marriages;
Estimates show that one in six women in this country is, or has been, a victim of domestic violence;
The cost of domestic violence to U.S. health care is estimated between $5 to $10 billion a year;
The American Medical Association estimates that anywhere from 22 to 35 percent of women seeking emergency medical care are there due to injuries incurred by domestic violence.
These statistics are horrifying. The Violence Against Women Act was the Congress' way of signaling that this epidemic of violence must end. The failure to fully fund the programs makes the Violence Against Women Act meaningless. And it signals to the American people that this House is turning its back on America's families by cutting funding that protect its mothers, sisters, and children.
What will it take for the House leadership to realize the importance of funding these programs? How many women must be terrorized in their own homes? How many women must die?
as Domestic Violence Awareness Month comes to a close, I urge all of my colleagues to remember that focusing on this issues just once a year is not enough. In the months that come, we must all work together to ensure that women are safe from domestic violence. We must come together to demand that the Violence Against Women Act programs are fully funded. It is literally a matter of life and death.
Mr. Speaker, I again thank my colleagues, the gentlewoman from California [Ms. Roybal-Allard], the chair of this task force, and the gentlewoman from Maryland [Mrs. Morella], with whom I have worked very closely in fighting for the full funding of these programs. I thank the gentlewoman very much for this special order this evening.
Mrs. MORELLA. Mr. Speaker, I want to commend the gentlewoman publicly and for the Record for the very hard work that went into being able to obtain significant funding for the Violence Against Women Act. All America thanks her for doing that.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to now yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. Fox].
Mr. FOX of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Maryland [Mrs. Morella]. I also want to thank my colleagues who have been so active in this effort for a long time and have made great strides and great accomplishments, the gentlewoman from New York [Mrs. Lowey] and the gentlewoman from Maryland [Mrs. Morella], who have cochaired the Women's Caucus issues. They have been at the forefront of the fight, along with the gentlewoman from California [Ms. Roybal-Allard], who has chaired the Violence Task Force and has done so much to accomplish in several Congresses the important legislation at the forefront that has been requested by law enforcement officials and others who know that much has to be done.
We just have to look to the facts, that we have not completed this important battle. When you look at 1967 to 1973, battering men have killed 17,500 women and children in the United States. Women have suffered 5 million victimizations between 1992 and 1993. That is an unbelievable figure. Most of the violence against women cases have involved a husband, an ex-husband, a boyfriend, and an ex-boyfriend. Almost 70 percent of the men who batter their wife or girlfriend also abuse a child. So this is a problem that has been systemic. But thanks to the efforts of the three Members who I have mentioned, we have passed in this Congress two important bills, the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act, which provides awareness, prevention and assistance grants, and the Violence Against Women Act, which addresses the judicial side of sexual assault and domestic violence, including increased penalties.
We have other legislation which is important that is coming up for a vote, which I hope that those of our colleagues listening tonight who have not yet become involved as much as Representatives Morella, Roybal-Allard, and Lowey have, will get involved with this legislation to make sure it is passed to help their communities and their districts, and they include the Domestic Violence Victims Insurance Protection Act, which is designed to protect the victims of domestic violence from being denied health insurance.
While women are encouraged to seek out help and report domestic violence abuses to local law enforcement authorities and family physicians, some women have found that doing the right things for themselves and their families may have a price, the loss of or inaccessibility to health insurance. Victims who come forward from domestic violence should not be denied insurance. In this legislation it would be prohibited.
A second bill, the Domestic Violence Identification Referral Act of 1995 will supply incentives for medical schools to provide comprehensive training, Mr. Speaker, in domestic violence identification, treatment, and referral. There is no better opportunity to receive permanent assistance for victims of domestic violence than in the privacy of their physician's office, but they will not receive that help unless all doctors are trained to identify and treat the victims of domestic abuse. By encouraging medical schools to incorporate training on domestic violence into their curricula, this bill will help ensure that America's health care providers of the future recognize and treat victims of domestic violence, and we will save the lives of women, children, and seniors who are most at risk of being victims of domestic violence.
Finally, I would advocate that my colleagues work with these Members to adopt the Domestic Violence Community Response Team Act, which is a bill designed to fortify America's fight against spousal abuse and domestic violence.
We find that, just looking to my district, Montgomery County, PA, like your Montgomery County, MD, we have important organizations, like the Montgomery County Victim's Services Center, Laurel House, the Montgomery County Women's Center, and the Montgomery County Commission on Women and Families. They are on the frontlines of this fight.
If we have a coordinated effort by working with our police departments, this legislation will increase the availability of communities to pool their resources in the fight against violence. I believe that we only have to look to the physical abuse suffered by Nicole Brown Simpson in Los Angeles, which has riveted the whole Nation, in making sure that we work with each of you, with the gentlewoman from California [Ms. Roybal-Allard], with the gentlewoman from New York [Mrs. Lowey] and the gentlewoman from Maryland [Mrs. Morella] as the cochair. I look forward to working with these Members in a bipartisan fashion, both here in the House and with our Senators, to make sure that the legislation that you have introduced and worked with your colleagues will in fact become law, and we will all be better for it. I thank the gentlewoman for this opportunity to join in her special order.
Mr. MORAN. I thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. Fox]. It indicates the fact that we have by art partisan support to eradicate domestic violence and come up with such programs, and we support from menace well as the women in the Congress and throughout the Nation.
You mentioned two other bills that I think are critically important. The one is to make sure that no insurance policy is going to prevent those people who are victims of domestic violence from getting the insurance. In some instances, and this is becoming rarer, but I think we do need to get the legislation in effect to fully prevent it, in some instances they have considered it a preexisting condition. This is a situation where the victim is victimized also by not being able to have that very thing that she needs so vitally, and that is the health insurance.
The other bill that the gentleman mentioned is one that would require that medical schools include within their medical training information abut domestic violence, how to recognize it, and protocols for treating it. We did pass in the last Congress a measure that required the Centers for Disease Control to come up with a demonstration program to be used in some hospitals where protocols would be established for domestic violence to be able to treat it.
So, again, I thank the gentleman very much from one Montgomery County to another for participating in this special order.
Mr. FOX of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, if the gentlewoman will yield further, I just wanted to say as a former prosecutor and assistant district attorney in my hometown, I know how important it is to have a coordinated effort. What the gentlewoman has done in her home area as well as in Congress, it is very important to bring people together, because some issues may be cyclical and only happen once and they are done.
When it comes to domestic violence, I found by working with community groups, we had a Protection From Abuse Act in Pennsylvania, but we had to school police officers in that bill. But by doing so, and working with law enforcement and with clergy, with social service networks, and with individuals who are involved with positive parenting, together we can as lawmakers work with those who are out in the field and really make a difference long term.
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Mrs. MORELLA. Mr. Speaker, in recognizing the fact that O.J. Simpson was, in fact, a batterer, we know that case really was sort of a wake-
up call in a way. It told women throughout our country that such a thing as domestic violence is prevalent and that it is time for them to no longer put up with it, but to turn for help to the courts, to law enforcement, to the medical community, to their neighbors and organizations.
I am very pleased now to be able to yield time to our distinguished friend, the gentleman from New York [Mr. Owens].
Mr. OWENS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Maryland, and I congratulate her on this very important special order.
Mr. Speaker, as the chairman of the House subcommittee committee on select education and civil rights, and I served in that capacity for 6 years, I was proud to introduce the Domestic Violence and Family Services Act in both 1988 and 1992. We reauthorized this Domestic Violence and Family Services Act. This act funds a variety of prevention programs which are designed to promote the swift identification of domestic violence. It also provides critical operating support needed to sustain a national network of temporary shelters for the victims of domestic violence.
Mr. Speaker, these programs need greater Federal support. Family violence shelters must turn away three out of every four women who seek assistance due to insufficient space. The House has voted to free funding. I guess we should be grateful that they are not cutting the funding of these programs, but they voted to freeze funding for domestic violence programs at last year's levels, ignoring the enormous need for greater Federal assistance.
We do not have any great Federal bureaucracy in this area, but the Federal Government's participation is very important. Federal Government sets the tone, it sets the pace, it provides leadership in this critical area, and I think that leadership is needed more than ever. Temporary shelters are just that. They are temporary. We need a more enduring, a more effective response to the crisis of family violence in order to do that.
We have to invest in programs and enact policies which will enhance the economic well-being of women. No woman should be forced to remain with an abusive partner in order to feed her kids or because she needs a roof over her head. No woman should be forced to put her physical survival in jeopardy for the sake of assuring her economic survival.
Mr. Speaker, this Congress has taken a buzzsaw to Federal programs which support the economic well-being of women and children. Job services, training services are being cut by 20 percent. Low-income housing is being slashed by $3 billion. The safety net guarantee of AFDC payments for women with children, who are unable to find work, has been stripped away. A woman who flees an abusive husband will no longer be able to count on temporary income support while she tries to get back on her feet.
Minimum wage is important for women. Congress must also invest in women's economic well-being by increasing the minimum wage. Sixty-six percent of minimum wage workers are women. In all of these areas the Federal Government's leadership is very much needed. The pace is set by the Federal Government, the tone is set by the Federal Government. We must not neglect our duties in this area.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman and congratulate her for her leadership in this critical area.
Mrs. MORELLA. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Owens for the work that he has done in all kinds of human needs.
I am reminded in Beijing when Mrs. Clinton said women's rights are human rights, human rights are women's rights. And the other issues he mentioned too in the work force do affect women also.
And Mr. Speaker, I would just remind this body that there is no excuse for domestic violence. It is a crime and it should be treated as such, and I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, it is time to break the silence. Four million American women were beaten by their husbands or boyfriends last year. At least 600 of them were killed.
Domestic violence is a crime. It is the single greatest cause of injury to American women--more than burglaries, muggings, or other physical crimes combined. Forty-two percent of murdered women are killed by their husbands or boyfriends. This must stop.
This crime crosses racial, social, and economic lines. It affects poor, rich, and minority women alike. Last year alone, Los Angeles County Law Enforcement received close to 73,000 domestic violence calls for assistance.
We must recognize that this problem plagues our society, often in secret. Many women--struggling to come to grips with the horror they are living--blame themselves for their abuse. Society and law enforcement officials can also make them feel at fault by not believing them or supporting them at the scene of the crime, by not prosecuting their abusers, or by blaming them for their life choices.
Battered women need help to escape a violent husband or boyfriend. Some women may be too afraid, or too ashamed to seek assistance. Battered mothers may not be able to support their children on their own. They may not know where to turn.
Even those who do manage to leave abusive relationships are not guaranteed safety. While separated and divorced women represent 7 percent of the U.S. population, they account for 75 percent of all battered women, and report being battered 14 times as often as women still living with their parents.
In Los Angeles County, where my district is located, there are 18 shelter facilities for battered women and their children. These places offer a temporary safe shelter for abused women and their families. In my county, 65 percent of the shelters' residents are the children of battered women. Even so, four out of every five families requesting shelter have to be turned away due to lack of resources.
Violence which begins in the home breeds violence elsewhere. Children who grow up in a violent household are at high risk for alcohol and drug use, depression, low self-esteem, poor impulse control, and sexual acting out. We must work to prevent this cycle of violence. Let us open our eyes in our families and communities, and take action to combat this heinous crime.
Ms. JACKSON-LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight to speak about the epidemic of violence facing the women of this Nation. The FBI estimates that every 15 seconds a woman is beaten by her husband or boyfriend. In 1992, 5,373 women in the United States were murdered. Six out of every ten of these women were killed by someone they knew. Of those who knew their assailant, about half were killed by their husband, boyfriend, ex-husband or ex-boyfriend. Although most assaults on women do not result in death, they do result in physical injury and severe emotional distress. Physical injuries are the most tangible manifestations of domestic violence, yet they are frequently not reported by women and go unrecognized by the professionals who are mandated to intervene. More than one million seek medical assistance for injuries caused by battering each year. Injuries from domestic violence account for 30 percent of visits by women to emergency rooms and require 1.4 million doctor visits annually.
In addition to the visible physical injuries that women suffer from violence, they also face emotional, physical, and social consequences. Survivors of domestic violence and rape are more likely than women who have not been abused to suffer from psychological problems, including suicide attempts, major depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, dissociative disorders, alcohol and other drug abuse, and sleep and eating disorders.
Too many Americans, including some in the criminal justice system domestic violence is dismissed as a ``private or family matter'', rather than a criminal offense. In some cases women who go to court are asked what they did to deserve the beating or why they just don't get up and leave. Too often in cases of family violence police do not make arrests, prosecutors do not press charges, judges do not impose tough sentences and women and children at risk go unprotected.
The impact of family violence on children is often underestimated. Thirty to seventy percent of children who live in violent homes become victims of child abuse and neglect. Infants and very young children, as innocent bystanders, may receive severe blows not meant for them but which also result in injuries. Older children also get hurt in trying to intervene and protect their mother. Even when they are not physically harmed, children who witness domestic violence experience short-term and long-term effects on their physical and mental health. They may suffer from chronic health problems, behavioral disorders and mental illness. Some may engage in antisocial behavior and repeat the cycle of violence in their own interpersonal relationships. In addition, battered women are often unable to care adequately for their children. They may use more physical discipline and may be more likely to physically abuse their children.
The 1994 Violence Against Women Act--which combines strong law enforcement provisions with Federal funding for States and communities to assist victims of domestic abuse and sexual assaults--was an important first step but there is more that must be done. We must work to identify effective measures for reducing the threat that women and children face of being physically abused or sexually assaulted by partners, acquaintances, and strangers. We must find a way to prevent abusive behavior and injuries before they occur.
Too often, wife-beating continues to be regarded as a private, not police matter. Until 1874, it was legal for husbands to physically chastise their wives, an attitude that persists today. The truth is that in 1995, batterers can get away with it, victims don't tell and often when they do no one pays attention. There continues to be a large difference between what is permitted inside the home and outside of it. In addition, women are likely to forgive and reconcile with their abusers, even in cases of severe injury. Studies have found that 50 percent of women who flee to a shelter will resume living with their abusers. And most often, the abuse continues. In many communities there is no incentive, such as the risk of jail, to start or complete, court-
ordered treatment--if in fact, such treatment was even ordered.
A growing number of States have passed laws requiring police to follow through on their investigation of any complaint of domestic violence, even if the plaintiff subsequently asks to have the complaint withdrawn. Otherwise police often fail to follow up, and abuse victims may drop a complaint out of fear for their lives.
In 1982, Duluth, MN became the first jurisdiction to adopt a mandatory arrest policy in domestic violence cases. Police who respond to a domestic fight must make an arrest if they have probable cause to believe abuse occurred within 4 hours. The Duluth model seeks to hold an abuser accountable at every stage of the legal process. The program, which has an 87 percent conviction rate for spousal abuse cases, tracks a couple from a 911 call to the time an abuser finishes probation.
In addition to a mandatory arrest policy--first offenders typically spend at least one night in jail--there is a ``no drop'' prosecution policy. All cases are prosecuted regardless of whether the woman wants to proceed. Judges in Duluth sentence men who plead guilty to misdemeanor spousal assault to 30-to-90 days in jail, which is suspended if they enter the 6-month treatment program, consisting of weekly counseling sessions. Typically men who miss three consecutive classes are arrested and jailed. This model is one which should be replicated in communities throughout the Nation. Such policies send a clear message to batters that abuse will not be tolerated.
Violence against women is a public health problem of enormous magnitude which exacts a tremendous cost on our Nation's women and children. We cannot begin to address this problem until we all open our eyes to the magnitude of the problem. We can't make our streets safe if we can't make our homes safe. To do this we must all get involved. Neighbors must contact the police when they hear violent arguments, relatives should lend support to family members in need, and teachers should be aware of signs that students have witnesses violence at home. Pastors and clergy cannot tell a battered spouse to ``try and make it work.'' Sending a woman home to a battering spouse often places a woman's life at risk. We need to let abuse victims know that there are options available to them and their children. And we in Congress and local governments must work to ensure that these options are available. Early intervention is crucial, and it is essential if we are to reduce the epidemic of abuse in our homes and our society.
Ms. HARMAN. Mr. Speaker, it is ironic that this month is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. It's been hard to compete for news coverage to raise awareness given all of the attention the O.J. verdict and trial has received--a trial where the issue of domestic violence should have played a critical role. This month, no one can get in a word about anything besides O.J., so I suppose I'll have to comment on the trial if I want to see my remarks in print.
Let me say that juror No. 7, Brenda Moran, was under a false impression when she implied there was no relationship between spousal abuse and murder. In 1990, 30 percent of women who were murdered were killed by husbands or boyfriends. Estimates show that one in six women in this country are, or have been, victims of domestic violence. Domestic violence knows no socio-economic, ethnic, or racial lines. Women across America are abused and killed by their partners, and we must do more to stop this.
Also occurring this month are negotiations between House and Senate conferees to the Commerce-Justice-State appropriations bill where the funding level for the Violence Against Women Act will be decided. In 1993, the Congress passed the Violence Against Women Act, a promise to finally treat domestic violence like the crime that it is, to improve law enforcement, to make streets and homes safer for women, and to vigorously prosecute perpetrators. We promised more counseling. We promised more shelter to provide a safe haven for abused women. Yet this summer, the House of Representatives abandoned these promises. The House-passed Commerce-State-Justice appropriations bill has a $50 million shortfall in funds for the Violence Against Women Act. I fear this may be interpreted as a message to battered women that there are few resources for them, only empty promises. I implore the conferees to adopt the Senate level of funding to fully fund the Violence Against Women Act at $175 million.
The funding is critical to stopping abuse and providing counseling. Rainbow Services is a shelter in San Pedro, CA, in my district, that desperately needs the money to implement its programs to combat domestic violence. Two women the Rainbow Services shelter and tried to help, were killed in the last 6 months--women whose lives could have been saved had they had been able to stay at the shelter longer. These women came forward and tried to do the right thing, but the resources were not there to keep them away from their abusers long enough. Clearly, grants from the Violence Against Women Act translate into saving human lives.
Rainbow Services has long waiting lists for counseling, beds, and all of its other services. The number of women who come seeking help has doubled in the last 3 months since a domestic violence hotline was established in May. The increased funds from California's VAWA grant only constitutes half of what they need for their emergency response program, a program operating 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Rainbow Services recently received a grant for a new shelter--the first shelter for battered elderly women in the area--and the Violence Against Women Act grants are critical to its operation.
I recently visited several shelters in my district and talked to women and heard their stories. I have urged the Los Angeles district attorney, Gil Garcetti, to step up the local commitment to violence against women. But until our national consciousness is raised, local efforts will be inadequately supported and financed.
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, but we must realize that victims of domestic violence live in fear every day of every year. The FBI estimates that a woman is battered every 5 to 15 seconds in America. Our commitment must not be limited to recognizing a special month to combat domestic violence, or simply funding programs to stop the violence. We must continue to raise this issue at the local level, the State level, and the national level until women are no longer afraid to reach out for help, until there are no women turned away at shelters because they are too full, and until domestic violence is recognized as the crime that it is.
Mr. REED. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in recognition of Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Violent attacks are the No. 1 health threat to women in this country. In fact, women are at greater risk of injury from violent attacks than they are from cancer or heart attacks; or auto accidents, plane crashes, AIDS, or drowning.
Since coming to Congress, I have actively supported legislation to prevent violence against women. Unfortunately, the strides we made in the last Congress through passage of the Violence Against Women Act
[VAWA] are being threatened by legislation this Congress which decreases levels of funding for essential programs.
My home State of Rhode Island is fortunate to have excellent resources for women who are victims of violence. I have had the opportunity to work with many of the people who have dedicated their lives to helping these victims, and I am well aware of the important and necessary work that they are doing. But we must continue to support these efforts. Much more remains to be done. Last year in Rhode Island more than 4,100 people asked the district and family courts for protection from abuse; 14,120 calls for help were answered on our State's seven domestic abuse hotlines; 854 abused women and children found safety and support in Rhode Island's six domestic violence shelters; 8,752 clients received advocacy and assistance from Rhode Island's domestic violence shelters and advocacy programs; and at least 12 people died in Rhode Island as a result of domestic violence, more than twice the number in 1993.
These numbers clearly illustrate the need for funding VAWA programs and strong laws to curb and prevent domestic violence. I will continue to work to strengthen laws, support legislation, and ensure Federal support for programs aimed at combating violence against women. I urge my colleagues to continue to raise awareness of this issue, and to support legislation aimed at solving this national crisis.
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