Supporting the Goals and Ideals of Domestic Violence Awareness Month

SUPPORTING THE GOALS AND IDEALS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AWARENESS MONTH -- (House of Representatives - September 27, 2005)

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Mr. AL GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I am honored that our leadership has chosen to bring this concurrent resolution, House Concurrent Resolution 209, before this august body. This concurrent resolution highlights the need to focus on and end domestic violence.

First, Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Tom Davis), chairman of the Committee on Government Reform; and the gentleman from California (Mr. Waxman), ranking member, for bringing this important piece of legislation to the House floor.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ginny Brown-Waite), the co-chair of the Congressional Caucus for Women's Issues, who has worked with me as the Republican lead on this legislation. I am proud to say that this is a bipartisan effort. Her work on behalf of ending domestic violence and violence against women is commendable, and her leadership in this effort is invaluable.

My heartfelt thanks also goes out to my 73 colleagues on both sides of the aisle who have cosponsored this resolution. I am pleased that this bill has received such strong bipartisan support because domestic violence transcends party affiliation; it transcends ethnicity; it transcends gender. Simply put, it transcends the boundaries of human decency that human beings owe each other.

House Concurrent Resolution 209 is intended to support the goals and ideals of Domestic Violence Awareness Month this October. As our Nation strives to persevere in the aftermath of both Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, it is important that we not lose sight of the issues that have continually plagued Americans for decades.

Our Nation faces a distressing crisis that affects women, men, and children regardless of race, ethnicity, or religion. I have seen firsthand some of the dreadful and vile effects of domestic violence. I have seen the blackened eyes, the broken noses, and the broken limbs.

The crisis of domestic violence is one that should not go unnoticed, especially because it is a crisis in which violations typically occur in places where we believe we have a safe haven: in our homes.

Between 1998 and 2002, family violence accounted for 11 percent of all reported and unreported violence. Nearly 22 percent of murders in 2002 were family murders, and women have suffered disproportionately with 43 percent of murders occurring by family perpetrators.

I am deeply saddened that domestic violence continues to occur in our backyards. In my city of Houston, Texas, over 31,000 incidents of family violence were reported in 2004. That is an astounding average of 88 incidents a day. That is more than three family violence incidents an hour. In fact, 34 confirmed deaths in Houston in 2004 were as a result of family violence, many of whom were children under the age of 16 years.

Such horrendous statistics are jarring, but I take great pride in the efforts of the Houston Police Department to combat domestic violence. The police department took the initiative to begin a program known as ``Houston Men Against Family Violence.'' This initiative, which is run jointly by the Houston Police Department and other community partners including the Houston Area Women's Center, works to express the message that ending domestic violence is a responsibility that should be shared equally by all people. It educates and encourages men in the community to volunteer as leaders in the effort to end domestic violence by reducing the part men play as the primary perpetrators of family violence.

I think that it is of utmost importance, utmost necessity, that we all work together to have a chance at effectively eradicating this appalling crime. So I want to commend the Houston Police Department, all law enforcement agencies, and all other organizations that work to make our homes and families safer.

I would like to thank several organizations for their commitment to ending domestic violence and for their endorsements of this concurrent resolution. I appreciate the efforts and support of the Harris County District Attorney's Office, the National Center on Domestic and Sexual Violence, the YWCA, the Institute on Domestic Violence in the African American Community, the Montana State Attorney General's Office, and the Utah State Attorney General's Office.

These organizations work tirelessly every day to combat the epidemic of domestic violence that has ravaged this country.

I commend them and hope that we in this body will continue to support their efforts. It is my wish that we can continue to work together to bring an end to the pervasive and damaging crime of domestic violence through the future legislative efforts of this august body.

The month of October provides us with an opportunity to recognize the dedication and success of those working tirelessly to end domestic violence and the strength of the survivors, but our efforts and awareness should continue beyond October. Every day ought to be End Domestic Violence Day. Domestic violence knows no boundaries of time or space or place.

I urge all of my distinguished colleagues to support the adoption of H. Con. Res. 209. Doing this will show the American public that we stand united against domestic violence.

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