Violence Against Women Act, S. 1197
VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ACT, S. 1197
BREAQK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. BIDEN. Mr. President, last night, the Senate passed by unanimous consent the Biden-Hatch--Specter Violence Against Women Act of 2005, S. 1197. It is a testament to the underlying goals of this legislation that this legislation was unanimously passed and garnered 57 cosponsors from both sides of the aisle. I would like to thank Chairman Specter for his unyielding efforts to get this bill passed, and I would like to thank Senator Hatch for his longstanding support for this effort. The act expired on September 30. The House has passed its legislation, so it is imperative that we get the Violence Against Women Act of 2005 to conference and to the President's desk immediately.
The Violence Against Women Act of 2005 makes many critical improvements to the original act that we passed over 10 years ago. Many in this Chamber are well aware that I consider the Violence. Against Women Act the single most significant legislation that I have crafted during my 32-year tenure in the Senate. Indeed, the enactment of the Violence Against Women Act in 1994 was the beginning of a historic commitment to women and children victimized by domestic violence and sexual assault. Our Nation has been rewarded for this commitment. Since the act's passage in 1994, domestic violence has dropped by almost 50 percent, incidents of rape are down by 60 percent, and the number of wowen killed by an abusive husband or boyfriend is down by 22 percent. Today, more than half of all rape victims are stepping forward to report the crime. And since we passed the act in 1994 over a million women have found justice in our courtrooms and obtained domestic violence protective orders.
``This is a dramatic change from 10 years ago. Back then, violence in the household was treated as a ``family matter'' rather than a criminal justice issue. Because we took action, the criminal justice system is much better equipped to handle domestic violence, and it is treated for what it is, criminal. The goal of the legislation passed is to usher the Violence Against Women Act into the 21st century. With this legislation we attempt to look beyond the immediate crisis and takes steps to not only punish offenders, but to also do more to help victims get their lives back on track, and prevent domestic violence and sexual assault from occurring in the first place.
This bill is truly a cooperative effort. As Senator Hatch, Senator Specter and I drafted this bill, we listened closely to suggestions from both sides of the aisle, and we listened carefully to the input from those with wide ranging opinions on how to combat this problem. In particular, we listened to those who are on the front lines fighting to end violence, such as police officers, emergency room nurses, victim advocates, shelter directors, and prosecutors. Based upon these discussions, we made targeted improvements to existing grant programs and we tightened up the criminal laws.
The groups that assisted with drafting this bill included the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, the National Network to End Domestic Violence, the Family Violence Prevention Fund, Legal Momentum, the National Alliance to End Sexual Violence, the National Center for Victims for Crime, the American Bar Association, the National District Attorneys Association, the National Council on Family and Juvenile Court Judges, the National Association of Chiefs of Police, the National Sheriffs' Association and many others. I would personally like to thank them for the work that they do each and every day to make our Nation a better, safer place for its citizens.
No doubt, the bill that we have passed today is ambitious. We have made tremendous strides in treating domestic violence and sexual assaults as public crimes over the past 10 years. We have helped ensure that offenders were held accountable, and we created coordinated community responses to help victims. The Violence Against Women Act of 2005 will help us look beyond the immediate crisis and provide long-term solutions for victims, and we will redouble our prevention efforts. This is why we included important efforts to ease the housing crisis for victims fleeing their homes, included efforts to engage boys and men to prevent domestic violence from occurring in the first place, enlisted the healthcare community in identifying and treating victims, and to help stop the cycle of abuse suffered by immigrant women and provided tough new regulations for international marriage brokers to ensure that they provide foreign brides with information related to the background of their potential husband and their rights if they are abused.
Despite all of the strong points of this legislation, it could be made better. In particular, I had hoped that provisions from Senator Murray's Security and Financial Empowerment Act, SAFE, would have remained in the bill. This amendment would provide some fundamental economic protections for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. Just as the Family Medical Leave Act protects individuals caring for a sick loved one, the SAFE Act would allow domestic violence victims to take time off from work to appear in court cases and other judicial proceedings without jeopardizing their employment at a time they need it the most. The SAFE Act is important legislation, and I believe that there is bi-partisan support for it. Unfortunately, we were not able to reach a consensus on this amendment and, as a result, it is not part of this final bill. It is my hope that the Senate will revisit this issue soon, and I look forward to working with Senator Murray in this effort.
One of the primary concerns expressed about the bill is that it simply costs too much. This is certainly understandable given our Nation's financial situation right now, but I have always said that the safety of the American people is the single most important responsibility for Federal, State, and local governments. And, while money doesn't solve every problem, there are very few, if any, efforts related to preventing violence and fighting crime that can be solved without money. As such, it is simply a fact that this effort will continue to cost money. I would argue that the results over the past 10 years show that this has been money well spent, and I hope that the Congress will continue to fund these efforts. In fact, there is evidence that we have received a net return on this investment. A 2002 university study found that money spent to reduce domestic violence saved nearly ten times the potential costs through the years of 1995 and 2000. During that time, the Federal Government spent $1.6 billion for the act's programs and, as a result, we avoided spending an estimated $14.8 billion on medical, legal and other victimization costs that arise from domestic violence. On an individual level, the bill costs roughly $15.50 per woman in the United States and saves an estimated $159 per woman. This evidence suggests that our success in ending family violence cannot be signal to reduce funding, rather, it is a call to continue to do more. We simply can't afford to lose the gains that we have made. We have found a winning combination, and we need to stick with it.
The Senate's action today demonstrates that eradicating violence against women is truly a shared goals, one that is held by Democrats and Republicans, one that is upheld by men and women, and one that is desired by both Government and by the private sector. I would like to thank my colleagues of the Senate for their support of this important legislation. In particular, I want to thank Senator Hatch, a long-standing champion on this issue. Since 1990, Senator Hatch and I have worked together to end family violence in this country, so it is no great surprise that once again he worked side-by-side with us to craft today's bill. I am also deeply indebted to Senator Kennedy for his unwavering commitment to battered immigrant women and his work on the bill's immigration provisions. I also thank Senator Leahy who has long-supported the Violence Against Women Act and, in particular, has worked on the rural programs and transitional housing provisions. Finally, I want to thank my very good friend from Pennsylvania for his commitment and leadership on this bill. It is a pleasure to work with Senator Specter, and I want to thank him for expeditiously moving this legislation through the Judiciary Committee and through today's action by the Senate. I look forward to working in the future with all of my colleagues to ensure that we continue to strive to the important goals of the Violence Against Women Act of 2005. This effort will require a bi-partisan commitment.
Again, I am thankful to Senators Reid and Frist for their work on seeing that bill is passed and to all of my colleagues who unanimously supported the Violence Against Women Act of 2005.
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