Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2011--Motion to Proceed--Continued

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Madam President, I rise to discuss the importance of addressing the financial challenges now facing the U.S. Postal Service and our critical need to ensure that it remains a strong and reliable resource for the people of our country.

The American Postal Service was created over two centuries ago as a function of the Federal Government, acknowledged in the U.S. Constitution. In those last 220 years, the way we send mail and exchange correspondence has changed dramatically. We no longer need a stamp or an envelope; we can just shoot an e-mail or sign onto Facebook.

But even with all these changes, the fact remains that no matter who you are or where you live, odds are that the post office plays a vital role in your daily life. Seniors rely on the Postal Service to receive their medications, businesses rely on it to ship and receive goods, and countless jobs hinge on its services, both directly and indirectly.

No matter how far we have come with technology in this digital age, there are some things that simply cannot be sent by e-mail. That is why reliable timely mail service is something all Americans should be able to count on.

I have heard from numerous people in my State about the negative impact the closure of certain post offices or mail processing facilities would have on their communities. I have heard from State and local leaders about the impact of closing the mail processing facilities in Duluth and Bemidji. I have heard from farmers who actually get their goods and ship their products through those mail processing centers.

That is why I have worked with Senator Sanders and roughly 25 of my colleagues in the Senate, including Senator Durbin--one-fourth of the entire Senate--to negotiate changes to this original bill. I thank Chairman Lieberman and Senators COLLINS and CARPER for their great leadership. I am glad about some of the changes they have made.

The substitute amendment would, in fact, keep at a minimum 100 mail processing plants that are currently scheduled to close, and they would remain open for at least 3 years. Overnight delivery standards in regional areas will be protected. A large number of rural post offices that are being studied for closure will remain open.

I am a cosponsor of the amendment to the legislation that would provide important safeguards before closing mail processing facilities, and I have also cosponsored the McCaskill-Merkley amendment that would establish a 2-year moratorium on closing rural post offices and recognize the concerns of rural residents.

There is no doubt that changes need to be made to the Postal Service to make it more competitive in the digital world. I think a lot of those changes are contained in the substitute amendment. We can even make it stronger. I strongly believe we can reach a balance that makes necessary reforms, while maintaining the quick service on which Americans have come to rely.

I yield the floor.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Madam President, after our work on this important bill to reform the Postal Service is complete, we will be turning to another important bill, one that has a long history of bipartisan support. That bill, the Violence Against Women Act, is a law that has literally changed the way we think about violence against women in the United States.

The Violence Against Women Act is one of the great legislative success stories of this generation. Since it was first passed in 1994--and I will tell you that then-Senator Biden was involved in drafting that legislation and led that effort, he and someone we miss very dearly in Minnesota, Paul Wellstone. He and his wife Sheila were also involved in getting this important bill passed. Since that time, annual domestic violence rates have fallen by 50 percent as communities nationwide have stopped looking at these issues as family issues and started treating domestic violence and sexual assault as the serious crimes they are.

Before I came to the Senate I spent 8 years as chief prosecutor for Minnesota's largest county, Hennepin County. During that time, both prevention and the prosecution of domestic violence were one of my top priorities. We were very proud of the Domestic Violence Service Center, which was cutting edge in the Nation, a one-stop shop where people could go when they were victims of domestic violence, a place for their kids; shelters, prosecutors would be able to charge out complaints, police would be there for protective orders. It was a way to help people who were at the point where they thought no one was there for them, for women to be able to come in and find one place that was safe for them.

As we all know, there is still a lot of work to be done. According to a recent survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 24 people per minute are victims of rape, physical violence, or stalking. Approximately one in four women has experienced severe physical violence by an intimate partner at some point in their lifetime, and 45 percent of the women killed in the United States every year are killed by an intimate partner. Every year close to 17,000 people lose their lives to domestic violence.

These statistics mean domestic violence and sexual assault and stalking are still problems in America. As far as we have come, we can still do better. That is why it is such a good thing that we passed the Violence Against Women Act reauthorization out of our Judiciary Committee and the bill now has the support of 61 Senators, including 8 Republicans. I am hopeful we will be able to pass this bill quickly after we take it up later this week. It has taken too long.

Combating domestic violence and sexual assault is an issue on which we should all be able to agree. Many of the provisions in the reauthorization bill make important changes to the current law. The bill consolidates duplicative programs and streamlines others. It provides greater flexibility in the use of grant money by adding more ``purpose areas'' to the list of allowable uses. It has new training requirements for people providing legal assistance to victims, and it takes important steps to address the disproportionately high domestic violence rates in the Native American communities.

The bill also fills some gaps in the system. I am pleased to say it includes legislation I introduced with Senator Hutchison to address high-tech stalking, cases where the stalker uses technology such as the Internet, video surveillance, and bugging to stalk their victims. Sadly, we are seeing more of this. This bill will give law enforcement better tools for cracking down on stalkers.

Just as with physical stalking, high-tech stalking may foreshadow more serious behavior down the road. It is an issue to take seriously, and we in law enforcement must be as sophisticated as those who are breaking the law. That is why we need to update this law.

We also should not lose sight of the fact that the VAWA reauthorization has strong support from law enforcement. The Fraternal Order of Police, the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, the National Sheriffs' Association, and the International Association of Chiefs of Police support this bill.

Recent events in my State have shown me and the entire population of Minnesota in the worst possible way just how closely domestic violence is linked with the safety of our law enforcement officers. I don't think people always think about that. They realize when police officers are out driving on the road, drunk drivers are out driving on the road--that it is risky. Because the police are constantly on the road. What they don't realize is one of the leading causes of death of officers is domestic violence-related incidents.

A couple of months ago I attended the funeral of Shawn Schneider, a young police officer from Lake City, MN. Officer Schneider died responding to a domestic violence call--a 17-year-old girl who was being abused by her boyfriend. When Officer Schneider arrived at the scene, he was shot in the
head. The girl survived, but Officer Schneider literally gave his life to save another. I attended that funeral, and I will never forget the heartbreaking scene of his two young sons walking down the church aisle with the little girl, his daughter, in a blue dress covered with stars. I think it reminds all of us that domestic violence just doesn't hurt the immediate victim, it hurts entire families, entire communities.

This has never been a partisan bill. It is crucial to pass this bill. We have made a lot of progress over the years, and we have been able to work across the aisle to build on VAWA's success. That is something that means a lot to me, and it certainly means a lot to the millions of people who are victims of domestic abuse and sexual assault every single year.

I urge my colleagues to support our efforts to bring this bill to the floor quickly. We can pass it this week. We can provide desperately needed help to victims of domestic assault, domestic violence, and other such crimes.

I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source