National Stalking Awareness Month

Floor Speech

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I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I'm proud to be the sponsor of this legislation. Stalking is described as repeated harassment or threatening behavior toward somebody else. The stalker can be a stranger or someone the victim knows very well--an ex-partner, a family member. Laws vary from State to State, but stalking is usually considered under the law to be any unwanted contact between the stalker and the victim, that he or she either directly or indirectly communicates a threat or places fear in the victim. Some examples include, but are not limited to, unwanted phone calls; letters; emails; instant messages; following the victim; showing up at the location where the victim is without any reason; leaving unwanted items or presents; and spreading false information or rumors about the victim.

Stalking can turn any ordinary day and any ordinary activity, like walking to your car, into a terrifying experience for the victim. Victims of stalking will never really know if they are safe whether they are at home, in their cars, at their work, or even just walking down the street. Stalkers show up at the oddest places. They will be sitting out in front of someone's home; they'll be there when the lady drops her child off at school; when she picks him up in the afternoon; when she goes to church. The stalker is everywhere.

One example is a wonderful young lady from Maryland by the name of Yvette Cade. Yvette Cade was severely burned by her husband shortly after a restraining order against him was removed by the judge. Just 3 weeks before, she begged a judge to reinstate a restraining order that had been ordered against her husband. And she told him, the judge, that she feared for her life. But the judge, in his incompetence, refused to reinstate the restraining order. The judge has been reprimanded for that conduct--for refusing to listen to Mrs. Cade's case--which could have prevented the horrible tragedy.

Let me make it clear: when the judge refused to reinstate the restraining order, her husband followed her to the store that she worked in. He walked in the store. He had a bottle of gasoline. He poured it over the top of her head and he set Yvette Cade on fire, all because he had been stalking her, but also a judge had the ability to intervene and prevent that activity--and he did not do so.

Yvette Cade survived those injuries, and she is an advocate for victims' rights to this day. This case is a reminder why we must educate law enforcement and others, including judges, about stalking and domestic violence in order to help them recognize situations as happened to Mrs. Yvette Cade. During a 12-month period, an estimated 3.4 million people ages 18 and older are victims of stalking.

There's a similar story of a woman named Peggy Klinke. She lived in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and broke up with her boyfriend, named Patrick Kennedy, after dating him for 3 years. He couldn't handle not being with Peggy and stalked her outside of her work. He waited for her outside of her gym. He followed her everywhere she went. And she could always find his truck wherever she showed up.

She filed stalking charges against him and had a protective order put out against him. Eventually, Peggy started dating someone else and tried to move on with her life. Patrick set her boyfriend's house on fire and flew to Peggy's mother's house in Ohio and spray painted her house with profanity. The police then thought they had enough evidence to take him to court. Six months before the trial began, Peggy moved to California to hide from Patrick. He hired a private investigator to find her, and he did so in California. Two weeks before the trial, he located her and then killed her and then killed himself.

The most effective way of preventing stalking is making people aware it exists and how dangerous it can be. While not every instance of stalking ends in violence, many do. Stalking must be taken seriously and decisive measures must be taken by law enforcement officials as soon as the behavior begins in order to prevent the escalation into a violent situation.

House Res. 960 expresses support for the designation of January 2010 as National Stalking Awareness Month to raise awareness and encourage the prevention of stalking. I support this bill and urge my colleagues to support it as well.

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Mr. Speaker, I am ready to yield but I did want to make comments regarding my colleague Mr. Johnson.

I appreciate his comments about his family and how stalking violence can happen anywhere in the United States to anybody. We, as a body, must be aware that victims throughout the country go through terrible tragedies in their lives. This legislation brings awareness of stalking to the national front.

Stalking laws are imposed to protect the right to be left alone, and that's a right that all people have in this country, to be left alone. I want to thank the victims groups that have supported this legislation and, as chairman of the Victims' Rights Caucus, all of the numerous members of the caucus who also support this. I urge its adoption.

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