It's Time to Talk Day

IT'S TIME TO TALK DAY -- (Senate - September 26, 2006)

Mr. CRAPO. Mr. President, I would like to call my colleagues' attention to the efforts of Liz Claiborne, Inc., and Redbook to designate September 21, 2006, It's Time to Talk Day. What they want us and the Nation to talk about is domestic and dating violence, and they have partnered to encourage national dialog on the subject of this pervasive and terrible crime.

We are not the only ones talking about it: talk radio, government officials, domestic violence advocates, businesses, and schools across the Nation are taking time today to focus on the issue that will affect nearly one- third of all women in their lifetime and many men. Bringing the crime of domestic and dating violence to the level of a simple conversation can start a chain reaction that will save a relationship and may, very well, save a life.

Some of you may know that I am especially concerned about teen dating violence, a crime that exists in every community regardless of race, socioeconomics, rural or urban. A young Idaho woman in an abusive dating relationship died 6 years ago. Since that time, I have pushed to include dating violence as a definition of domestic violence under Federal law. My efforts would be fruitless without the help of citizens and organizations nationwide. Liz Claiborne, Inc. is one of the organizations that has taken a leadership role in educating teens about teen dating violence through its ``Love is Not Abuse'' curriculum designed for 9th or 10th graders. I have been pleased to support those efforts to promote this curriculum throughout the country this past spring.

I commend the company not only on this endeavor but its newest effort to partner with the National Domestic Violence Hotline and create the first-ever National Teen Dating Violence Hotline. The hotline will be operated by the National Domestic Violence Hotline and will focus on teens and young adults up to the age of 24. Although there are national hotlines for adults, teens have special needs and require a different approach to dealing with their issues and privacy concerns.

Time to Talk Day should not be the only day to talk about how we can prevent domestic and dating violence. We must work hard to educate our children how to live in healthy relationships to prevent the cycle of violence from being repeated in the future.

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