Family Violence Prevention and Services Improvement Act of 2021

Floor Speech

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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 716, I call up the bill (H.R. 2119) to amend the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act to make improvements, and ask for its immediate consideration.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. 2119.

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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to urge support for the bipartisan Family Violence Prevention and Services Improvement Act of 2021 introduced by the gentlewoman from Georgia (Mrs. McBath), the gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young), the gentlewoman from Wisconsin (Ms. Moore), and the gentleman from New York (Mr. Katko).

Before I continue, I want to encourage anyone struggling with intimate partner violence to reach out to the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE or the StrongHearts Native Helpline at 1-844-7NATIVE.

Madam Speaker, it is difficult to overstate the need to address intimate partner violence in this country. Roughly 1 in 4 women and nearly 1 in 10 men reported experiencing some sort of intimate partner violence.

These incidents often cause severe physical injuries that portend even graver consequences, including the tragic loss of life.

For survivors of violence, emotional trauma and intimate partner violence often last long after the physical injuries have healed, triggering lifelong struggles with disease and mental health challenges.

For decades, the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act has been a central pillar in our response to domestic violence, authorizing services like shelters and 24-hour domestic violence hotlines.

Regrettably, these programs have been technically expired since the end of 2015. Although funding has continued, updates to the law have been long overdue. For example, we know that the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the risk of intimate partner violence and restricted access to critical services for survivors.

H.R. 2119 strengthens our fight in this public health crisis by updating the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act in two important ways.

First, it prioritizes equity by expanding funding to reach communities that have disproportionately high rates of intimate partner violence but limited access to services.

Second, it invests more in prevention so we can avert the physical danger and emotional trauma that survivors experience before it occurs.

These updates represent the next steps we must take not only to support the survivors who need it most, but also to prevent intimate partner violence from harming our communities.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from Georgia (Mrs. McBath), the lead sponsor of the legislation.

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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Georgia.

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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Oregon (Ms. Bonamici), the chair of the Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Human Services.

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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Manning), who is a distinguished member of the Committee on Education and Labor.

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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Mrvan) who is a distinguished member of the Committee on Education and Labor.

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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania (Ms. Wild), who is a distinguished member of the Committee on Education and Labor.

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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Adams), who is the chair of the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections.

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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Illinois (Ms. Newman).

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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania (Ms. Dean).

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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Green).

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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I include in the Record a Statement of Administration Policy in support of the legislation. Statement of Administration Policy H.R. 2119--Family Violence Prevention and Services Improvement Act of 2021--Rep. McBath, D-GA, and 83 cosponsors

The Administration strongly supports House passage of H.R. 2119, the Family Violence Prevention and Services Improvement Act of 2021. Congress first enacted the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (FVPSA) in 1984 to provide resources to address domestic violence as a public health issue and to support life-saving services and prevention programs throughout the nation. FVPSA, last reauthorized in 2010, allocates funding to states and territories that reaches over 1,500 domestic violence shelters and services programs, as well as funding for over 240 tribes and tribal organizations, to address and prevent domestic violence and dating violence. FVPSA also provides funding for a network of state and territorial domestic violence coalitions, the National Domestic Violence Hotline, and national technical assistance providers that provide training and capacity building to ensure that vital services and support are available to individuals experiencing domestic violence and their children. Additionally, FVPSA funds the DELTA program, which provides funds to design, implement, and evaluate innovative domestic violence and dating violence prevention models.

As a result of FVPSA funding, each year approximately 1.3 million survivors receive critical services such as emergency shelter, crisis counseling, safety planning, assistance in seeking an order of protection, and assistance recovering from financial abuse and addressing housing insecurity. Nonetheless, research demonstrates that the need for services continues to outpace availability and many survivors are unable to access critical services and support. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated economic insecurity, increased isolation, and compounded barriers faced by victims and survivors in seeking safety and stability, particularly for those from historically marginalized communities.

H.R. 2119 is a bipartisan bill that will authorize increased funding to strengthen existing services while expanding access to tribes and tribal coalitions, culturally- specific programs, and other underserved communities. It will also expand investments in domestic violence prevention by increasing support for existing evidence-based, community projects and by funding new initiatives to reach more communities nationwide. The Administration urges swift passage of this legislation.

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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I include in the Record a letter from the family violence prevention working group, a coalition of national organizations working on domestic violence issues. September 20, 2021. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House, House of Representatives, Washington, DC. Rep. Steny Hoyer, Majority Leader, House of Representatives, Washington, DC. Rep. Bobby Scott, Chairman, House Committee on Education & Labor, House of Representatives, Washington, DC. Rep. Kevin McCarthy, Republican Leader, House of Representatives, Washington, DC.

Dear Speaker Pelosi, Majority Leader Hoyer, Chairman Scott, and Republican Leader McCarthy: The undersigned organizations thank the Committee for passage of the Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute (ANS) to the bipartisan Family Violence Prevention and Services Improvements Act (FVPSA), H.R. 2119, to re-authorize core support and enhance comprehensive responses to domestic violence, family violence, and dating violence. We write today to express our profound support for the bill and write to urge all Members vote yes on final passage. FVPSA provides critical support for shelters, coalitions, training and technical assistance centers, children's services, emergency response hotlines, and prevention initiatives. This bill also expands grant programs and makes many needed improvements to ensure more survivors of domestic violence, family violence and dating violence have access to support and safety.

FVPSA provides core funding to support more than 1,500 local, public, private, nonprofit and faith-based organizations and programs and over 250 tribes and tribal organizations in responding to the urgent needs of over 1.3 million domestic violence victims and their children. As you know, there is still an urgent need to increase survivors' access to these vital programs as well as to address current unmet needs. Estimates show that due to a lack of capacity, nearly 200,000 requests for shelter can go unmet in a year. As demonstrated in the annual survey of the National Network to End Domestic Violence, in just one day in 2020, programs across the country were unable to meet 11,407 requests from survivors (requests for emergency shelter, housing, transportation, childcare, counseling, legal representation, and other supportive services).

The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, and family violence. Survivors are at risk in a time of heightened economic, health, familial, and emotional trauma. Direct service providers are also grappling with the unprecedented challenge of housing survivors and providing life-saving services while following distance and separation protocols. The improvements made in this bill will greatly help meet the needs of survivors in the current crisis and beyond.

The important improvements in H.R. 2119 reflect the priorities of the domestic violence field and the diverse needs of survivors, including:

Increasing the funding authorization level to address very low per-program funding levels and provide access to FVPSA funds for more programs not currently funded.

Updating provisions and definitions to ensure access to services for all survivors, better alignment with related statutes, and reflect evolving best practices amongst service providers to provide uniform guidance to the domestic violence field.

Strengthening the capacity of Indian Tribes to exercise their sovereign authority to respond more fully to domestic violence in their communities, and authorizing funding for tribal coalitions and the currently funded Alaska Native Women's Resource Center.

Bolstering support for all survivors through a grant program that increases the capacity of culturally specific community-based organizations to expand access to safety for survivors of color, as well as provisions that promote best practices.

Providing a more robust investment in prevention by bringing evidence-informed prevention initiatives to more tribes, states, and local communities across the country.

Continuing and expanding support for national technical assistance (TA) centers and their work to develop effective policy, practice, research, and cross-system collaborations.

Updating provisions to include additional access and resources for survivors with disabilities and Deaf survivors, including a new TA center on enhancing accessible services for those survivors.

Updating provisions for the National Domestic Violence Hotline and hotline services for underrepresented populations, including American Indians, Alaskan Natives and Deaf survivors.

Creating an underserved grant program to increase access to safety for populations that face additional barriers.

We must continue to ensure that when survivors take the courageous step to reach out for support, individuals, organizations and institutions are prepared to address the risks faced by survivors and their children and improve efforts to create pathways to enhanced safety and well-being.

As you lead the efforts to pass the bill out of the House, we thank you again for your leadership on behalf of survivors, their families, and their communities around the country, and hope the bill moves swiftly through a vote by the full House of Representatives on final passage. Sincerely,

Alaska Native Women's Resource Center (AKNWRC); Alliance of Tribal Coalitions to End Violence (ATCEV); Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence (API-GBV); Battered Women's Justice Project (BWJP); Casa de Esperanza: National Latin@ Network for Healthy Families and Communities; Futures Without Violence; Lovelace Consulting, Inc.; National Center on Domestic Violence, Trauma & Mental Health (NCDVTMH); National Clearinghouse for the Defense of Battered Women; National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV); National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP); National Congress of American Indians (NCAI); National Domestic Violence Hotline (The Hotline); National Indigenous Women's Resource Center (NIWRC); National LGBTQ Institute on IPV; National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV); StrongHearts Native Helpline; The National Resource Center on Domestic Violence (NRCDV); Ujima: National Center on Violence Against Women in the Black Community; YWCA USA.

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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee), chair of the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for bringing outstanding leadership to this issue. And I thank my good friend, Congresswoman McBath, for her outstanding leadership on helping to reauthorize this very important legislation that really saves lives.

In my own district, we lost a heroic Sergeant Preston of the Houston Police Department for one of the most dangerous calls that police get, domestic violence. He was killed. The 11-year-old son was shot, but, thank God, he survived. What terrible, senseless violence.

We know that in this program, more than 76,000 people a day are helped. It is important to take note of the fact that intimate partnership violence is a crucial element of this legislation. To be able to reauthorize the Family Violence Prevention and Services Improvement Act is to save lives.

In addition, it is important to take note of my amendment that has been accepted. I look forward to debating it on the floor and the $2 million extra that the State of Texas will give.

But the most important part of it is the recognition that we will save lives and help to bring families together and to unify the Nation.

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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. I yield the gentlewoman an additional 1 minute.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. As indicated, 76,000 victims of domestic violence are helped, but 11,000 are unable to get help because of the lack of funding.

It is important, as well, to note that, on average, more than one in three women and one in four men in the United States will experience rape, physical violence and/or stalking by an intimate partner.

It is also important to relieve the regulations, the strangulations that were on this bill before. It now opens it to up provide more to individuals who are suffering.

What we want to do is to end family domestic violence, and what we want to do is to end that intimate partner violence and bring families together, protect children. I am supporting this legislation, and I believe it is long overdue.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of the Jackson Lee Amendment to H.R. 2119, the Family Violence Prevention and Services Improvement Act, which makes a good bill even better.

I thank my colleague, Congresswoman McBath of Georgia, for introducing this important legislation which will improve the protection and prevention for Americans affected by family violence, domestic violence, and dating violence.

The Jackson Lee Amendment improves the bill by requiring the Comptroller of the United states to produce a report on the success of outreach efforts to minority communities.

Through the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (FVPSA), survivors receive services such as emergency shelter, crisis counseling, safety planning, and assistance recovering from financial abuse and housing insecurity.

FVPSA is the only federal funding source dedicated to providing support to domestic violence shelters and programs.

Madam Speaker, this bill marks an historic effort to acknowledge and address the unique suffering of family violence survivors from marginalized communities.

I thank the Rules Committee for including my amendment, because this amendment is straightforward and makes this important bill even more effective than it already is.

We must recognize that not all survivors are a monolith.

Different communities and cultures have different perceptions of domestic violence and reactions to it--therefore different communities and cultures need different treatments and prevention measures to address domestic violence.

That is why I am proud to support this bill, which includes provisions that are tailored to these specific populations.

Such provisions include:

1. Providing new grants to local programs serving culturally specific or traditionally underserved communities;

2. Increasing access for survivors from racial and ethnic communities to services by creating a national grant program to build the capacity to address domestic violence; and

3. Increasing funding for Native American tribes by allocating tribal grants as a set-aside to acknowledge their sovereign authority.

These are laudable initiatives, and my amendment goes a step ' further to sustain this commitment by adding a requirement that the Comptroller of the United States must produce a report on the success of outreach efforts to minorities.

Specifically, my amendment requires the Comptroller General to include in the study and report described in Section 19 the results of outreach efforts conducted pursuant to section 308 to certain groups-- including racial and ethnic minorities, individuals with disabilities, tribal populations, and individuals who are geographically isolated-- regarding increasing the availability and ease of access to services.

Simply put, receiving accurate feedback about our efforts will inform our decision-making, allowing us to adapt and improve upon our programs to reach more minority survivors.

It is these communities specifically that are in the most need of our help.

In my home state of Texas, 29 percent of domestic violence victims are Black despite making up only 12 percent of the population.

The share of domestic violence victims in Texas who are Native American is twice as much as the proportion of Natives in the general population.

Madam Speaker, no member should be complacent with these egregious statistics.

With this bill's increased commitment to prevention and treatment of family violence, we are sending a message to survivors that you are not forgotten.

For these reasons, I encourage all Members to support H.R. 2119, the ``Family Violence and Prevention Services Improvement Act.''

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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I am prepared to close. I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I have to respond to a comment about the budget. I would point out and remind everyone that since the 1960s, every Democratic President has ended an administration with a better deficit situation than they inherited, without exception. And every Republican administration has ended their administration with a worse deficit situation than they inherited, without exception. The last President was well on his way to fulfilling that trend before the pandemic.

The Build Back Better and the transportation plans are in the process of being paid for so they will not be adding to the deficit.

Madam Speaker, each person in this Chamber should agree that we must do more to address intimate partner violence in this country. The critical services for survivors under the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act have now expired, have been expired for more than 5 years, and are in urgent need of updates.

During the pandemic, many survivors have been isolated with their abusers, while the gaps in our response to domestic violence have been exacerbated. This is not the time for Congress to stand by while our communities continue to endure the far-reaching and lifelong impacts of this public health crisis. Now is the time for Congress to take action.

As we face new challenges during the pandemic, we must ensure that survivors in our most vulnerable communities have access to the support services they need. We must prioritize effective prevention strategies that stop intimate partner violence from occurring in the first place.

Madam Speaker, each of us has the responsibility to do our part to fight against domestic violence. The bill before us is an opportunity to come together and reaffirm our commitment to supporting survivors and preventing all Americans from suffering the devastating consequences of intimate partner violence.

I want to thank all the bipartisan sponsors for their leadership and for their work to pass this urgent legislation. I urge my colleagues to support the Family Violence Prevention and Services Improvement Act of 2021, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, pursuant to section 3 of House Resolution 716, I rise to offer amendments en bloc No. 1.

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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, there are six amendments in this en bloc.

Mr. Kahele has offered an amendment which establishes the Native Hawaiian Resource Center on domestic violence.

Ms. Ocasio-Cortez has offered an amendment to amend the definition of a child to include any child under 18, including emancipated minors.

Mr. Cohen has offered an amendment to clarify grant eligibility for legal aid organizations.

Ms. Newman has offered an amendment to clarify that domestic violence coalitions may partner with mental health and substance abuse disorder providers.

Ms. Jackson Lee has offered an amendment requiring the GAO study required in the underlying bill to include information on outreach to racial and ethnic minorities.

Ms. Bush has offered an amendment to clarify that domestic violence coalitions can provide training to housing service providers.

These amendments make meaningful improvements to the bill. I urge a ``yes'' vote on the amendments en bloc No. 1, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Cohen), the chair of the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties.

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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee), the chair of the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, let me thank the gentleman very much for his work, and again let me thank my colleague, Congresswoman McBath, a member of the Education and Labor Committee and a member of the Judiciary Committee.

Madam Speaker, I rise to support my amendment, and all of the other amendments, which in particular my amendment provides an outreach that I think is extremely crucial to providing an outreach to populations that have been unnecessarily victims of domestic violence.

I do want to, again, emphasize the issue of Sergeant Preston, who died in the course of a police encounter with a domestic abuser with a gun, and to emphasize that an average of 24 people per minute are victims of rape, physical violence, or stalking by an intimate partner in the United States; more than 12 million women and men over the course of a year. Nearly 3 in 10 women, or 29 percent, and 1 in 10 men, in the U.S. have experienced physical violence and/or stalking.

This reauthorization is long overdue. Just under 15 percent of women, 14.8 percent, and 12 percent of men in the U.S. have been injured as a result of intimate partner violence that included rape, physical violence, and stalking by an intimate partner. More importantly, how many of them have been killed?

In my own district, we had a circumstance of a domestic violence incident where the woman was killed in the bed, and laying next to her was her newborn infant. The stories are without comparison.

When you talk to women's shelters, the great need that they have and the funding that is going to come from this particular effort is $2 million to the State of Texas alone. The effort that is most important is vulnerable women, women of color, and Native Americans. The Tribal dollars that are in here are crucial as well.

The Violence Against Women Act, I hope that we will see its passage in the Senate, along with the reauthorizing of the Family Violence Prevention and Services Improvement Act as well, because we, too, address the question of Tribal women.

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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Texas.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, Tribal circumstances are an enormously difficult circumstance to be engaged in. The abuse in the Tribal areas, and the utilization of vicious acts then coming out and not being prosecuted is really unseemly.

But this is going to be intervention. This is going to be saving lives.

I would just offer, as I close, a comment on who we should expand this to: the LGBTQ community, the transgender, individuals who have to deal with the remnants of a rape. That is, of course, a pregnancy that my State, the State of Texas, has now violated all human dignity with their abortion bill that not only stops women from engaging with their faith leader, their family members, and their doctor, but it also stalks women and sends people out for a bounty to get $10,000.

So this is the kind of uplifting legislation, reauthorization after 10 years, that is going to address the question of women who are desperately in need and also protect law enforcement officers as well.

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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentlewoman from Texas.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, this is also going to protect law enforcement officers as well. In tribute and memory to Sergeant Preston, a veteran of the HPD, the idea of being able to go and help and come back with your own life and protect those who are being victimized. The less we have of that and the more intervention that we have, the more we can save lives.

So I want to claim that this particular legislation is lifesaving. I ask my colleagues to support the Jackson Lee amendment, which is, in essence, attempting to get more resources, more information, and support the Family Violence Prevention and Services Improvement Act.

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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, again, these amendments included in the amendments en bloc make meaningful improvements to the bill. I urge a ``yes'' vote on en bloc No. 1, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, pursuant to section 3 of House Resolution 716, I rise to offer amendments en bloc No. 2.

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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, there are two amendments in this en bloc. First, as it has been explained, the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Foxx) has offered an amendment to reinstate the State match requirement, and the gentlewoman from Louisiana (Ms. Letlow) has offered a substitute amendment, leaving out the majority of the programming improvements in H.R. 2119 and adding a problematic provision regarding abortion.

These amendments undermine the bipartisan, bicameral progress included in H.R. 2119 and neglect to make any changes or enhancements to FVPSA programs.

These amendments en bloc fail to meet the moment. There are a number of things they do:

They halt the creation of a new resource center on disability and domestic violence needed to counter the disproportionate rates of intimate partner violence among people with disabilities.

They prevent Tribal governments from getting the resources they need to combat domestic violence, which occurs at alarming rates in Tribal communities.

They strike grants that support survivors from racial and ethnic minority groups. Communities of color face disproportionate rates of domestic violence and sexual assault and often experience barriers to accessing services.

They remove the addition of new prevention grants to ensure prevention funding goes to every State, Tribe, and territory, despite the fact that currently only 10 States receive funding to do any prevention work, and this amendment maintains that status quo.

These amendments would also reinstate State matching fund requirements. Particularly during the ongoing pandemic and economic crisis, this would create significant operational challenges for service providers. For example, nonprofit organizations do not have the benefit of guaranteed funding and may struggle to meet match requirements. Ultimately, this means fewer services available for survivors.

The amendments en bloc also include a partisan attack on abortion, undermining a comprehensive reauthorization that can meaningfully improve the lives of survivors of intimate partner violence.

These amendments inject needless political controversy into this debate, undermining the hard work we have done to develop a comprehensive reauthorization. Instead of acknowledging the complexities of medical decisions for both women and their providers, abortion opponents use these bills and amendments like these as a distraction.

These amendments threaten the progress we have made on the bill, and therefore I urge a ``no'' vote on amendments en bloc No. 2.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance my time.

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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I believe I have the right to close.

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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time to close.

Madam Speaker, again, the amendments included in this en bloc weaken the bill. I urge a ``no'' vote on en bloc No. 2. I yield back the balance of my time.

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