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.
“NATIONAL CRIME VICTIMS' RIGHTS WEEK” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Justice was published in the Senate section on pages S3408-S3409 on April 11, 2005.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
NATIONAL CRIME VICTIMS' RIGHTS WEEK
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, yesterday marked the beginning of National Crime Victims' Rights Week. For a quarter of a century, we have set this week aside each year to renew our commitment to address the needs of victims and their families and to promote victims' rights.
This year's commemoration comes at a critical juncture in the history of the victims' rights movement. Much has been achieved in the past 25 years to provide victims with greater rights and assistance, but perhaps none so important as the passage of the Victims of Crime Act of 1984, VOCA, and its establishment of a dedicated source of funds to support victims' services. The Crime Victims Fund provides critical funding that helps millions of victims of all types of crime every year. The future of the fund is in doubt, however, and 25 years of progress may be at risk due to the administration's proposal to rescind all amounts remaining in the fund at the end of fiscal year 2006--an estimated $1.267 billion. That would dry up the fund, leaving it with a balance of zero going into fiscal year 2007 to support vital victim services.
Our new Attorney General, upon his confirmation, gave a speech to discuss his priorities for the Department of Justice. He stated, ``As we battle crime, we must also defend the rights of crime victims and assist them in their recovery.'' While I agree on the importance of this goal, rescinding the Crime Victims Fund is not the way to achieve it.
The Crime Victims Fund is the Nation's premier vehicle for the support of victims' services. Nearly 90 percent of the fund is used to award State crime victim compensation and victim assistance formula grants. VOCA-funded victim assistance programs serve nearly 4 million crime victims each year, including victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse, elder abuse, and drunk driving, as well as survivors of homicide victims. VOCA-funded compensation programs have helped hundreds of thousands of victims of violent crime.
The Crime Victims Fund also serves victims of Federal crimes. VOCA funding supports victim assistance services provided by U.S. Attorneys Offices and the FBI, as well as the Federal victim notification system. It is used for child abuse prevention and treatment grants, and it is also used to provide emergency relief to victims of terrorism and mass violence.
Since fiscal year 2000, Congress has set a cap on annual fund obligations expressly for the purpose of ensuring ``that a stable level of funding will remain available for these programs in future years.'' The ``rainy day'' fund created by this spending cap has been used to make up the difference between annual deposits and distributions three times during the past six years.
When Congress began considering caps on fund obligations, I proposed and Congress enacted an amendment to the Victims of Crime Act to clarify our intent to stabilize and preserve the fund for the benefit of victims. The amendment, now codified at section 10601(c) of title 42, requires that ``. . . all sums deposited in the Fund in any fiscal year that are not made available for obligation by Congress in the subsequent fiscal year shall remain in the Fund for obligation in future fiscal years, without fiscal year limitation.'' Thus, in both the authorization and the appropriations processes, Congress has clearly and emphatically stated its intent to maintain a stable source of federal support for essential victim services.
Over the past 4 years, the Bush administration and this Republican Congress have squandered record surpluses and racked up $7.6 trillion in Federal debt as a result of reckless spending and budget-busting tax cuts. Now the Bush administration proposes to reduce the deficit by siphoning off resources that we set aside to assist victims of crime. In this regard, it bears emphasis that the Crime Victims Fund does not receive appropriated funding; deposits come from Federal criminal fines, forfeited bail bonds, penalties, and special assessments, not from the pockets of American taxpayers.
Together with Senators Biden and Schumer, I wrote to President Bush on March 11, 2005, to urge him to reconsider and withdraw his proposal to rescind the Crime Victims Fund. We received no response to that letter.
On March 17, 2005, I offered and the Senate approved by voice vote a budget resolution amendment intended to head off the administration's plans to raid the Crime Victims Fund. I was joined by Senators Kennedy, Mikulski, Feingold, Biden, Durbin, Obama and Dodd, and I thank them again for their support. As amended, the budget resolution passed by the Senate rejects the proposed rescission by assuming that all amounts that have been and will be deposited into the Crime Victims Fund, including all amounts to be deposited in fiscal year 2006 and thereafter, will remain in the fund for use as authorized by the Victims of Crime Act.
In every State and every community across the country, the Crime Victims Fund plays an essential role in helping crime victims and their families meet critical expenses, recover from the horrific crimes they endured, and move forward with their lives. I ask unanimous consent to print in the Record a letter from a number of victims' organizations, representing the millions of Americans who become victims of crime every year. They wrote that rescinding the Crime Victims Fund at the end of fiscal year 2006 would create a ``disastrous'' situation for victim service providers and their clients.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows:
National Crime Victim
Organizations Contact Groups,
Washington, DC, March 12, 2005.Hon. Daniel K. Akaka,Hart Senate Office Building,Washington, DC.
Dear Senator Akaka: We, the undersigned members of the National Crime Victim Organizations Contact Group, represent the millions of citizens that become victims of crime every year in our nation and the agencies that provide supportive services to them. The Crime Victims Fund provides crucial support to thousands of nonprofit organizations and public agencies who help millions of crime victims. We have joined together to urge all members of Congress to oppose the Administration's proposal to remove $1.2 billion from this essential and life-saving fund.
The Fund was created under the Victims of Crime Act in 1984 as a ``separate account'' meaning that the revenues in the Fund are intended to be used solely for financial support of victim services, primarily through State crime victim compensation and State victim assistance formula grants. The Fund comes from the collection of Federal criminal fines, forfeitures and assessments; it does not depend on general taxpayer appropriations. Since the Fund's inception, Congress directed that all amounts deposited into the Fund would remain available to support victim services ``without fiscal year limitation.''
Over 4,400 victim service agencies in every state and every district depend upon VOCA funding for essential victim services, such as emergency shelters, counseling, legal advocacy, and assistance participating in the criminal justice system. In FY 2003, 3.8 million crime victims received VOCA-funded assistance, including victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse, elder abuse, survivors of homicide victims and drunk driving crashes. Hundreds of thousands of victims were provided financial assistance through VOCA grants to State crime victim compensation programs.
Initially, the money collected every year was released to states the following year. When collections grew to nearly $1 billion in fines in FY 1999, Congress placed a cap on the amount that was distributed each year. Congress began limiting annual Fund obligations expressly ``to ensure that a stable level of funding will remain available for these programs in future years'' (Conference Report 106-479).
Capping annual Fund obligations created a Fund balance--a
``rainy day'' fund consisting of amounts that otherwise would have been used by States to support immediate victim assistance needs. The Fund balance was used to make up the difference between annual deposits and Congressional caps three times over the past six years.
Having recently recognized the 20th anniversary of this successful and effective program, we were shocked to learn that the Administration now proposes rescinding the entire Fund at the end of FY 2006, including the amounts that Congress promised and, in fact, needed to protect against Fund fluctuations and to ensure the Fund's stability as well as deposits made during FY 2006. More stable long-term sources of funding are already required to maintain a sufficient amount in the Fund. Rescinding the Fund will zero out the Fund going into FY 2007 and unquestionably create a disastrous situation for victim service providers and their clients. The entire crime victims' field stands united in its opposition to the proposed rescission.
We ask Congress to reject the Administration's recommendation to rescind the Fund and to work with us to guarantee the Fund's future viability and support for victim services.
Sincerely,
David Beatty, Contact Group Coordinator, Justice Solutions, NPO.
Jeanette Adkins, National Organization for Victim Assistance.
Marybeth Carter, National Alliance to End Sexual Violence.
Nancy Chandler, National Children's Alliance.
Steve Derene, National Association of VOCA Assistance Administrators.
Dan Eddy, National Association of Crime Victim Compensation Boards.
Wendy Hamilton, Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
Mary Lou Leary, National Center for Victims of Crime.
Dan Levey, National Organization for Parents of Murdered Children.
Jill Morris, National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
Diane Moyer, Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape.
Lynn Rosenthal, National Network to End Domestic Violence.
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, National Crime Victims' Rights Week is upon us. I urge my colleagues to honor our longstanding commitment to crime victims by working together to preserve the Crime Victims Fund.
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