Survivors' Bill of Rights in the States Act of 2019

Floor Speech

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Mrs. SHAHEEN. Mr. President, I am pleased to join Mr. Grassley from Iowa on the floor today to talk about important legislation that we are cosponsoring that built upon previous efforts that both of us were engaged in to protect survivors of sexual assault in the criminal justice system. The efforts to extend rights to sexual assault survivors across the country is critically important, and I am hopeful that, once our legislation is known to our colleagues, that they will join us in passing this important bipartisan bill.

Amanda Nguyen of the Rise organization initially contacted our office in 2015. I know she also worked with Senator Grassley. When she came to us and detailed her harrowing story of sexual assault, she was raped, and then she felt like she was raped again by a criminal justice system that was not responsive to the challenges of survivors of sexual assault. Amanda described the system that further traumatized survivors and provided scarce protections for their rights.

Evidence of assault was being destroyed without survivors' consent, and survivors were forced to periodically follow up with law enforcement to preserve that evidence. The broken process that survivors were forced to endure resulted in a system where they were often re-victimized. Instead of a process that helped them move forward with their lives as they pursued justice, survivors were confronted with the trauma of reliving their attack each time they sought to preserve evidence or gather information about their case.

Well, because of Amanda's efforts, the Sexual Assault Survivors' Rights Act was created. It was legislation that provided for the first legally recognized set of rights for survivors that could be enforced in a court of law. Senator Grassley took that legislation, he included it in the Adam Walsh Reauthorization Act, and it was signed into law. It has provided survivors with greater protections in Federal cases because of focus on notice, on access to evidence, and on the preservation of sexual assault evidence collection kits.

By creating this set of court enforceable rights at the Federal level, Congress established a model for the States to adopt similar legislation to protect the rights of survivors. So far, 21 States, including my home State of New Hampshire, have adopted that legislation to guarantee survivors certain basic rights in the criminal justice system.

Now, unfortunately, we are trying to figure out how to encourage other States to follow the lead of Congress, States that have not yet adopted legislation protecting survivors. That is why the bill that Senator Grassley and I are here to discuss today is so critically important. The Survivors' Bill of Rights in the States Act, the legislation we are cosponsoring, would establish a grant program accessible to States that have in place a law which guarantees the rights contained in the Sexual Assault Survivors' Rights Act.

The grand amount would be a percentage of the funding that the State receives under the Stop Violence Against Women Formula Grant Program. States could then use the funds to implement survivor rights, preserve sexual assault evidence collection kits, reduce the backlog of kits, and provide support for victim services.

Congress has previously passed legislation using the Stop Formula Grants to incentivize States to adopt legislation, and this is the perfect example of why that kind of an approach would be successful. No survivor should be compelled to bear the indignity of petitioning law enforcement merely to ensure that they are given a fair shake in the criminal justice process. It is my hope that this legislation will lead to an increase in States passing bills to protect survivors' rights.

I think it is important that Congress again show survivors that we are behind them, that we will stand up with them for their rights. The Survivors' Bill of Rights in the States Act would do just that.

I am so pleased to be joining Senator Grassley in this effort. I think, with this bipartisan support, we can get support from all of our colleagues to enact this follow-on legislation into law and provide the additional support that survivors need.

Thank you, Mr. President.

I yield to my colleague, Senator Grassley.

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