Get Well Soon President Trump

Floor Speech

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Mr. GREEN of Texas. Madam Speaker, before I get to H. Res. 1168, I would like to say just a few words about a very pressing issue in my mind.

I was approached just recently by a reporter who was very nice and very kind to me, and she wanted my statements about the President and his current circumstance. I did give her my commentary, but I would also like to indicate that, in her request, she was a little bit concerned as to whether or not people across the aisle from the President would find some degree of comfort in making statements about his condition.

Well, here is what I believe: I believe that in times such as these, I believe that, when a person is ill, we have to put politics aside. I believe that we should respect the humanity of every person.

I have a deep abiding affinity for every person's humanity, and I explained to her that I have said a prayer for the President as early as this morning. I especially mentioned the President, the First Lady, and Ms. Hicks.

I am saddened by what has happened, to be quite candid with you. I wish no person this illness. This virus is vicious, and my prayer is that the President will get well soon.

I also mentioned that there was one bit of good news as it relates to the President, and it was that his son does not have this virus. I don't think that that is the ultimate in good news. We want everybody to recover--everybody--not just the President, the First Lady, and Ms. Hicks. We want everybody to recover.

I know how my mother loved me, and my mother would have assumed every illness that I had if she could have. She loved me to the extent that she made great sacrifices for me. So I would hope and I believe that the President and the First Lady had some degree and comfort in knowing that their son does not have this virus.

I would hope that every person in this country will get proper treatment and every person will walk away from this virus and that our country will be able to say that we were able to unite and overcome the virus.

My final comment to the reporter was I do want to see the President get well soon and my prayer is that we can unite against this virus. There are many other things that we can unite around, too, and should unite around, but this virus is vicious, and my hope is that our country will unite against the virus. National Domestic Violence Awareness Month

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Mr. GREEN of Texas. Madam Speaker, having said this, I now rise. And still I rise.

Today, in the name of liberty and justice for all, I rise. And I rise to present H. Res. 1168, the original National Domestic Violence Awareness Month resolution, and I have this Special Order time to speak to the world, if you will, by and through this microphone, which takes the message far and wide, about domestic violence.

I rise today in support of those who have endured, and many continue to endure, domestic violence across our country.

People are suffering from the pandemic, and those who are suffering from the pandemic and they have got domestic violence to deal with, they are suffering in some ways that I probably cannot understand.

But because they are suffering, those of us who have it within our power to do something about those who suffer, I believe we must do it.

I believe that too often, those who suffer have to depend upon those who are comfortable to get their relief. Suffering should not be dependent upon those who decide that, ``That is not my problem.''

We all have to assume that domestic violence is our problem, because domestic violence does not discriminate. It is like the virus, in a sense, the coronavirus. It is not just something that is endemic to Democrats or Republicans or Independents. It doesn't recognize party lines.

People who engage in this activity come from all walks of life. It doesn't matter whether you are rich or poor: domestic violence can be a part of your life. And it has been a part of the lives of people who have been very wealthy, very poor, and in between.

It doesn't matter where you come from. It can be something that is, unfortunately, imposed upon you.

And domestic violence, while it is something that happens to women much more often than men, it does happen to men as well.

It happens to all persons regardless of race, creed, color, national origin, regardless of your sexuality, and it has especially been a problem for women who are trans. It has been a serious problem. Lives have been lost.

So I rise today in support of all who would support efforts to end domestic violence.

I am not a person who wants to see things simply get better. I think ``better'' is something that we acquire before we get to the end, but that is not the end. We are not looking to just make it better. We want to end domestic violence.

I rise today with this bipartisan resolution. It is important to say this, that it is bipartisan. Members across the aisle feel as strongly about domestic violence as Members on this side of the aisle.

The bipartisan resolution has the support of 21 additional Members of Congress. And my guess is we would have more than this 21 if not but for the fact that we had to drop the resolution on the 1st of the month, this is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and people are doing so many different things now and are leaving town, so they didn't get a chance to really review it so that they could sign onto it. I do believe that there would be many more Members.

But for those who have signed on, I think it appropriate to let the world know that they are part of this and that there is an anticipation that there will be others to join us in this bipartisan resolution.

The resolution is cosponsored by Representative Ann Wagner, a very dear friend. She and I have worked on many things together. Representative Rick Larsen, another friend. All of these persons are persons that I have had some relationship with. Representative Pete Olson, Representative Bobby C. Scott, Representative Henry Cuellar, Representative Brian Fitzpatrick, Representative Albio Sires, Representative David Price, Representative Bobby Rush, Representative Sylvia Garcia, Representative Sanford Bishop, Representative Sean Casten, Representative Tom Malinowski, Representative Peter Welch, Representative Barbara Lee, Representative Danny Davis, Representative Susie Lee, Representative Eleanor Holmes Norton, Representative Alcee L. Hastings, Representative Dina Titus, Representative Tom O'Halleran, and Representative Raul Grijalva.

Madam Speaker, I want to thank all of them for joining us for this movement, to be a part of this movement to end domestic violence.

October 1 was first declared as National Domestic Violence Awareness Month 31 years ago in 1989. Since then, October has been a time to acknowledge domestic violence survivors and to be a voice for those who have been victimized by domestic violence.

Domestic violence is prevalent in every community and affects all people regardless of age, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, gender, race, religion, or national origin. I realize that I just repeated myself, but some things bear repeating. These are such things.

Physical violence is often accompanied by emotional abuse and controlling behavior as part of a much larger systemic pattern of dominance and control.

The people that I talk to, who are supposed to understand this much better than I, make it very clear to me that this is about control, about dominance; not always, but to the extent that we can generalize and say that this is what it is about, it is about control and dominance, one person wanting to dictate to another person, to the extent that if the person doesn't comply, there are consequences.

We cannot live in a world where persons are allowed to impose their will on other people simply because they have the power to do so, they are physically capable of doing so, they are mentally situated such that they can do so. We can't allow it.

Domestic violence is devastating, and the consequences of domestic violence can cross generations and last a lifetime.

Crossing generations can occur when a child lives in a home where domestic violence is prevalent. Children learn from their parents; they learn from the behavior of their parents. The behavior of parents is something that children will accept, but they will also attempt to replicate it. The replication of it takes it across generations.

We cannot accept the notion that our children, when they are in their formative years, will be allowed to see parents as this kind of conduct is exhibited and then adopt it, and when they grow up, unfortunately, some of them will take on the ugly habits and behavior of their parents.

Women are disproportionately victims of domestic violence, as one in four women and one in seven men ages 18 and older will experience domestic violence at some point in their life. It is a very disheartening statement.

On average, more than three women are murdered by their husbands or boyfriends in the United States every day. This is something that bears repeating. On average, more than three women are murdered by their husbands or boyfriends in the United States every day.

This ought to shock the conscience of the Nation. This is unacceptable. Awareness is important, but we have got to do more than simply make people aware.

I will say more about this, as I have now a colleague who has joined me, and I am honored to introduce him.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. O'Halleran), my friend from Arizona's First District.

Mr. O'Halleran is from the great State of Arizona. He represents Arizona 1. But something more important ought to be said: He is from across the aisle. This is the demonstration of bipartisanship that I spoke of earlier, and I want to thank him and commend him for what he is doing to help us end domestic violence.

As he moves to the microphone, my hope is that those who have not had the opportunity to be here today will have the opportunity to say more in the future. This is one of the times when too much said about this will not be enough.

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Mr. GREEN of Texas. Madam Speaker, I want to give the gentleman my most profound apology for my snafu. I respect the fact that he has decided to be a part of what I am a part of, but we are all a part of this House, and this House functions best when we are united and working together. So I greatly appreciate the gentleman and thank him for his commentary.

Madam Speaker, let me continue with a few more facts, and then I would like to talk about the help that we can make available.

Facts, statistical information: African-American women experience intimate partner violence at a rate 35 percent higher than White women and about 2.5 times the rate of other races. But African-American women are less likely than White women to use social services or battered women's programs or to go to the hospital because of domestic violence.

Somehow, we must get the word to women of color and make it clear to them that they can be protected.

As a lawyer, I can recall a circumstance where a victim of domestic violence came to my office for help. I, obviously, wanted to help her, recognizing her condition.

She didn't have to tell me that she was a victim. It was very obvious, looking at her physicality. Her eyes were battered and swollen. Her face was bruised. You could see where someone had held her arm tightly, to the extent that there were marks on her body. She was truly a battered person, and she wanted help.

Her mother was with her. Her mother begged that we do something to help her daughter, and we did. We helped her with the filing of her case.

Here is something that will break your heart because it broke my heart. Within days after her case was filed, she came back to the office, and she wanted me to help her get the charges dismissed. It hurts my heart to even tell the story.

No amount of pleas could change her position because she felt that somehow she had acted too quickly. She felt that somehow they should be able to work this out without intervention. She felt that he was the breadwinner for the family, and somehow, she would be denied access to the breadwinner.

It was a very painful thing for her, much more painful than it was for me, I am sure. But it was still a painful incident in my life.

I mention this because, with the statistical information indicating that women of color don't go to the hospital, they don't go through the various programs. I mention this because in Texas now, the law has changed, such that the woman is not forced to testify against her husband to the extent that it was the case before. The State can bring the charges now.

Unfortunately, for too long, women were put in a position where they had to give the testimony. They were forced to give the testimony. The testimony had to come from some source, so it came from them.

But now, the State of Texas can bring these charges, and it doesn't have to be the spouse against the spouse.

I think this is an important step forward. But this is not enough.

We have to assure women that they can come forward and coming forward will not cause them to be victimized to an even greater extent. We have to give them this assurance, which means that there have to be counselors available for them to visit with.

They will have to have the opportunity to find a safe house, a place where they can start their lives without fear each day that something may happen.

This is the kind of thing that we can do here in Congress with our legislation and that we have been doing, to be very candid, providing safe houses, making sure that the persons are taken care of. This is important.

Noncitizen victims of domestic violence report heightened concerns with accessing law enforcement and services due to uncertainty arising from changing immigration policies and heightened immigration enforcement.

Noncitizens must be given the same opportunity to get help as citizens. We cannot assume that somehow a noncitizen is not worthy of the same level of help as citizens. Victims are human beings. To the same extent as persons who are born in this country as those who are born outside of this country, we have to protect all victims.

There are some who don't want to see us spend as much money on persons who are undocumented. There are some. But I believe that, in this House, we have people who understand that it doesn't matter where you are from, how you got here. If you are the victim of a crime, you ought to get the help that you merit by virtue of having an infraction committed against you. If you are the victim of a crime, it doesn't matter your place of origin. If you need help, we will help you. And we should help you beyond simply allowing you to file charges against a person.

While you are here, we have to protect you. You ought to have a safe house available to you as well, regardless of where you are from.

At least 15,500,000 children live in families in which domestic violence occurred at least once in the past year--at least once in the past year.

One in 15 children are exposed to intimate partner violence each year, and 90 percent of these children are eyewitnesses to such violence. Children should not be exposed to a circumstance where one parent is harming another or where any person is harming another person.

Children exposed to domestic violence are more likely to attempt suicide, abuse drugs and alcohol, run away from home, and become victims of human trafficking.

One large study found that men exposed to physical abuse, sexual abuse, or adult domestic violence as children were four times more likely than other men to have perpetrated domestic violence as an adult.

I spoke of this earlier. Some things bear repeating. Men who were exposed to physical abuse, sexual abuse, and domestic violence are four times more likely than other men to perpetrate domestic violence as adults.

The approach to ending domestic violence has to be holistic. It has to be an approach that deals with each and every aspect of it. We cannot decide that we are going to take on a portion of it and assume that the rest will take care of itself. It doesn't take care of itself. It only gets exacerbated.

We have to do more to protect persons, regardless of their gender, as it relates to domestic violence.

I now would like to move to what I said I would talk about earlier, the fact that we have to do more than get the word out, the fact that it is not enough to sympathize and empathize. Sympathy and empathy are worthy of praise, but we have got to do more than sympathize and empathize. We are attempting to do more.

In the Heroes Act 2, we have domestic violence grants and funding. The updated Heroes Act provides critical health and economic support to communities and families: $100 million in additional funding for family violence prevention and services is available. It will provide much- needed support for domestic violence organizations by waiving matching requirements on all Federal moneys. These funds are for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic.

And when I say Federal funds, I am talking about family violence prevention and services programs.

$375 million dollars is for Violence Against Women programs, with a waiver of local match requirements, including: $100 million in grants to combat violence against women, $100 million for sexual assault victims so that they may have assistance, $50 million for assistance to Tribal governments, $40 million for transitional housing assistance grants, $25 million to enhance culturally specific services for victims of domestic violence, $25 million for outreach and services to underserved populations, $20 million for rural domestic violence and child abuse enforcement assistance, and $15 million to support families in the justice system. These are moneys in the Heroes Act for victims of domestic violence.

We have $62.5 billion for administration for children and families. This will provide supportive and social services for families and children through programs, including: $100 million for family violence prevention and services, which includes $2 million for the National Domestic Violence Hotline--I will be giving that number out in just a moment; $4 billion in tenant-based rental assistance.

This will allow public housing agencies to respond to coronavirus and the ability to keep over 2.2 million families stably housed even when facing a loss of income, including $1 billion for new and temporary vouchers for individuals and families who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless or fleeing domestic violence. This will allow the PHAs to have the flexibility necessary for the safe and effective administration of these funds, while maintaining fair housing, nondiscrimination, labor standards, and other environmental protections.

There are grants to assist low-income women and survivors of domestic violence in obtaining qualified domestic violence relations orders. This provision directs the Secretary of Labor, acting through the Director of the Women's Bureau in conjunction with the Assistant Secretary of the Employee Benefits Security Administration, to award grants of at least $250,000 to establish community-based organizations on a competitive basis to assist low-income women and survivors of domestic violence in obtaining qualified domestic relations orders to ensure that these women actually obtain the benefits to which they are entitled through these orders.

Simply put, we are assisting women to get court orders that can protect them.

As a judge in a former life, we were in a position to issue retraining orders to protect persons who were being threatened. Well, this is the money to assist in allowing people to acquire these restraining orders.

The domestic violence hotline, I indicated that I would give you the number, Madam Speaker, so if you need help and you have heard of what is available and what we would like to have available, here is the number. It is a National Domestic Violence Hotline. It operates 24/7. The number is, and I shall repeat it, 1-800-799-7233. 1-800-799-7233.

I would beg that, if you believe you need help, you would call this number.

I would hope that we will pass the bill that will provide all of these various services that I have called to your attention. It is a crisis. It is a crisis within a crisis.

But we have the power to change these things, and my hope is that we will use this power. It is not enough to be sympathetic and empathetic. We have to do more. We can be helpful. Sympathy and empathy are wonderful things, but they won't replace the money necessary to provide persons with counseling, provide them with a safe house, and provide them with healthcare that they would need as a result of domestic violence.

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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