Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization

VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ACT REAUTHORIZATION -- (House of Representatives - September 27, 2005)

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of January 4, 2005, the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ginny Brown-Waite) is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.

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Ms. HARRIS. Mr. Speaker, today much attention is focused on our ability as a Nation to respond to the events, natural or unnatural, which have emerged on a visibly grand scale. Mother Nature's naked fury, clothed in hurricanes Katrina and Rita, exposed our vulnerability to her indiscriminate forces and its cruelty, but also its charity, exhibited by thousands of citizens who reached out to the victims' grasping hands. We also continue to respond to terrorism by engaging in a vigilant battle against religious and ideological extremism at home and abroad.

No less vital to the security of our society is our response to the perniciously pervasive scourge of domestic violence. In 1994, this Congress recognized the threat posed by violence against women to the fabric of our society when it passed the Violence Against Women Act, VAWA.

Set to expire in October, I strongly support the reauthorization of VAWA, which has made a valuable contribution to declining rates of violent crime. Yet it is not enough to simply herald the falling violent crimes rates for both males and females since 1984. It is not enough to celebrate the fact the number of total domestic violence cases in Florida started to decline in 1998 and, in 2004, fell a further 3.3 percent.

For the 119,772 Floridians who were victims of abuse or violence in 2004, statistics provide neither comfort nor shelter. By reauthorizing and reinforcing the provision of VAWA, we demonstrate to those victims and their families that we have not lost focus or lost sight of them.

By strengthening the enforcement provisions of VAWA and by making it gender-neutral, I believe it will serve to protect not only women but all victims of domestic abuse and those who suffer its effects. The effects of domestic violence are neither discriminatory nor confined to the bruises of the body.

According to the Child Welfare League, between 3.3 million and 10 million children witness some form of violence in the home each year and children from violent homes exhibit more aggressive or delinquent behavior compared to their peers of nonviolent homes. Furthermore, it has been reported that between 50 and 70 percent of men who abuse their partners also abuse their children. And the cycle continues.

Tomorrow I will proudly lend my support to extending the lifeline VAWA provides to thousands of families and the community organizations which provide them safety and refuge each year. I will reaffirm my support for putting the full force of the law behind the enforcement of our criminal laws while placing my full faith in the families and communities this program serves.

I would also encourage my colleagues to offer the same support to language in the overall measure to prohibit the personal information of victims of domestic violence from being entered into the Homeless Management Information Systems Database. This would permit the use of nonpersonally identifying information for data collection and statistical purposes while safeguarding the identities of women who are most vulnerable to the violence and often dangerous ramifications of reporting domestic abuse. Our Nation faces many challenges, but few are more important than providing shelter for the body and hope for the soul.

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