A Scourging Plague

Floor Speech

A Scourging Plague

Mr. Speaker, there are families in America where assault, violence and terror at home are a way of life.

Yvette Cade got a restraining order against her abusive husband, a man that she daily and dreadfully feared. But a Virginia judge lifted that protective order when her husband, Roger Hargrave, promised he would seek counseling.

Soon after the order was lifted, Yvette went off to her job at a T-Mobile store. Her husband later walked in the store, doused her with gasoline and set her on fire. A customer boldly put out the fire that resulted in third-degree burns over 60 percent of Yvette's body.

That was 4 years ago. Yvette, a survivor, has spent 92 days in the hospital and she has had 14 surgeries. She lives in daily turmoil and pain, pain inflicted on her by her worthless, wretched husband.

Mr. Speaker, October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Brutality at home cannot remain a dark secret any longer. Domestic violence is a national health care issue; a crime and a scourging plague on a nation's culture.

And that's just the way it is.

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