National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011

Floor Speech

Mr. SHADEGG. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the en bloc amendment, but in particular in support of my amendment in that amendment, number 30.

Under current American law, veterans are entitled to certain emoluments when they pass. These include burial in a veterans cemetery or in one of our national cemeteries or in a State cemetery supported by veterans' funds, a flag to drape the coffin, a military honor guard, and a certificate from the President.

In 1997, however, following the bombing in Oklahoma City, this Congress recognized that those benefits were still accorded to veterans who had committed even capital offenses, and they recognized that Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma City bomber, would have been entitled under current law to be buried with all of those honors.

So this Congress, in good judgment, decided to revoke those emoluments, those honorary benefits from veterans who had been convicted of the violent crime of murder. And, indeed, we revoked it for all capital offenses. In 1997, we expanded that and said it would be applicable to anybody convicted of a capital offense, whether they were sentenced to death or not, but we left a gaping hole in the law.

My amendment simply seeks to fill that hole. It's a gaping hole which says that if you have been convicted of the violent rape of a woman, you may still receive all of those honorary emoluments, you may still be buried in a veterans cemetery with an American flag, with a certificate from the President, and with a military honor guard. That dishonors all of our Nation's veterans who are indeed buried in those cemeteries as appreciation for their great service to this country.

I believe, and I believe that this body recognizes that rape is one of the most violent of all crimes. It's not committed in the heat of passion as murder sometimes is. It is indeed a plotted, carried-out crime, a crime of immense violence.

This issue came to my attention when Jenny Bush, a recent college graduate, went home on Halloween evening from her job, entered her home, and was accosted there by a man who had entered during the day through a first-story window. He taped her with duct tape, held her at knifepoint, and violently raped her. Fortunately, her rapist was caught, and in the course of the proceedings it was determined that he was a serial rapist. He had indeed raped 10 other women, including a 9-year-old girl. And yet under the law in America, he was entitled, upon his death, to receive all of the military honors we give to those who have not committed such heinous crimes. That is an injustice, and it is an injustice that this amendment corrects.

This amendment was brought to me by Jenny Bush's father following the incident where the rapist, the serial rapist who raped this young lady committed suicide on the morning of his sentencing and then was buried with all of those military honors.

I don't think that we should say that our veterans cemeteries are open to the burial and to utilization by sex offenders who have committed violent rape against America's women. This has been a 3-year struggle where we have sought to amend the law.

I want to thank the Rules Committee for making this amendment in order. I want to thank Steve Bush and his daughter Jenny for their courage in raising this issue. I want to thank Ann Ream, who is with the Voices and Faces Project; Stephanie Hanson and Joanne Archambault with End Violence Against Women International for their work in trying to help pass this legislation. It seems to me that it is well time for us to correct the injustice which exists in our law on this issue. I commend the committee for making it possible for us to correct this.

I want to make it clear that this amendment only takes away those honorary emoluments. It does not financially punish the family of the perpetrator of these crimes. It simply says that we are not going to give these special honors to someone convicted of such a heinous crime as rape.

I want to thank the chairman of the committee and the ranking member of the committee. I believe this is something that will in fact honor this Congress by recognizing we do not, as a Nation, tolerate violent crimes against women. Our Uniform Military Code of Justice indeed already provides that rape is in fact a capital crime. So this brings our code in line with the current provision of the law.

The FBI ranks rape second only to murder. And as I have already indicated, I believe you can make the argument that rape is indeed a more heinous crime than murder because it is always carried out with forethought and planning and perpetrated often with great violence, as it was against Jenny Bush.

This legislation mirrors a bill which I have introduced in the Congress for the last 3 years called Jenny's Law, named after Jenny Bush. It has been officially endorsed by the RAINN Network, which is the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, and has also been endorsed by the Military Order of the Purple Heart.

I will insert a letter from the Military Order of the Purple Heart in support of this amendment for the Record at this point.

MILITARY ORDER OF THE

PURPLE HEART,

Springfield, VA, March 1, 2010.
Hon. John Shadegg,
Washington, DC.

Dear Mr. Shadegg: I am writing to inform you that the Military Order of the Purple Heart (MOPH) is in total support of H. R. 731 "Jenny's Law.''

MOPH shares your view that regardless of the service to America, if following that service, those individuals who are convicted of committing certain sex crimes should not receive certain burial benefits and funeral honors. These individuals should not be eligible for burial in National cemeteries administered by the Department of Veterans' Affairs, Arlington National Cemetery and certain State Veterans' Cemeteries.

While these individuals may have served honorably in the Armed Forces, their crimes following that service are so onerous that the crimes, in our opinion, negate that service.

Respectfully,

James M. Sims,
National Commander.

Let me simply conclude that I encourage my colleagues to support the en bloc amendment.

I yield to the ranking member.

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Mr. SHADEGG. Reclaiming my time, let me just briefly say I have spent a great deal of my life advocating for the victims of crime. It seems to me this is an outrage that exists in current law. The victims of crime should not be revictimized. In this case, American law does revictimize those victims of rape under these circumstances. I think it is high time that we correct it.

I thank, again, the chairwoman of the Rules Committee and the chairman and ranking member of the Armed Services Committee for making the correction of this injustice possible.

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