Introduction of 2007 National Crime Victims' Rights Week Resolution

Floor Speech

INTRODUCTION OF 2007 NATIONAL CRIME VICTIMS' RIGHTS WEEK RESOLUTION

* Mr. COSTA. Madam Speaker, as co-chair of the Congressional Victims' Rights Caucus, I rise today to introduce the 2007 National Crime Victims' Rights Week Resolution on behalf of myself and my caucus co-chair, Congressman TED POE of Texas. This resolution expresses Congress's support of the goals and ideals of National Crime Victims' Rights Week and the efforts to increase public awareness of the rights, needs, and concerns of crime victims and survivors in the United States. This observance will take place the week of April 22 through April 28.

* In 1980, President Reagan first called for a national observance to recognize and honor the millions of crime victims and survivors in America. National Crime Victims' Rights Week also pays tribute to the thousands of community-based and system-based victim services providers and to the criminal justice and allied professionals who provide critical support and assistance to victims every day, of every week, of every single year. National Crime Victims' Rights Week has since been proclaimed annually with ceremonies and observances in Washington, DC, and in thousands of communities throughout our Nation.

* President Reagan's strong emphasis on the rights and needs of crime victims led to the passage of the Victims of Crime Act, which in 1984 created the Crime Victims Fund. Since then, the Crime Victims Fund has dedicated more than $8 billion collected from criminal fines--not taxpayers' dollars--that annually supports more than 4,400 victim assistance programs serving some 3.8 million victims, and compensation to more than 165,000 victims for their unreimbursed medical expenses, lost wages and funeral costs. The adage, ``crime doesn't pay, victims do,' is challenged by the VOCA fund, which rightfully holds offenders accountable for their criminal actions, with fines ensuring that crime victims receive the services and support they so greatly need and deserve. And the Congressional Victims' Rights Caucus has worked since its inception to preserve the intent and integrity of the Crime Victims Fund as created by President Reagan nearly a quarter century ago.

* The 2007 National Crime Victims' Rights Week theme is ``Victims' Rights: Every Victim. Every Time.' Today more than ever, these simple words resonate with greater importance than ever before. In the decade between 1994 and 2004, the National Crime Victimization Survey found that violent crime rates declined, reaching the lowest level ever recorded in 2005. Unfortunately last year, the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports reported that crime is, once again, on the rise--violent crime rose 3.7 percent; murders increased 1.4 percent; robberies were up nearly 10 percent; and arson increased by nearly 7 percent. This means more victims than ever suffer the indignation of crime, and have significant losses that affect them physically, emotionally, financially and spiritually. Our caucus and our Congress must recommit our energies to ensure that ``every victim of every crime' has access to support and services.

* I know that my colleagues in Congress have heard a great deal about violence and victimization, and have heard from those who are directly affected:

* The teenage girl who leaves home for the first time to go to college, only to be drugged and raped at a campus party; or the young mother who is beaten by her husband on a regular basis, but fears leaving him because he's threatened to kill her kids, and she has no money, nor no place to go.

* ``Every victim. Every time.'

* Or the elderly man--no different from our parents--who is abused in a nursing home; or the parents whose only son is killed in a violent drunk driving crash.

* ``Every victim. Every time.'

* Or the horrific day that nobody will ever forget--September 11, 2001--when nearly 3,000 people were killed in the terrorist attacks against our Nation in New York, Pennsylvania, and right here in the shadow of our own Capitol.

* ``Every victim. Every time.'

* America is a nation known for its commitment to justice. Yet when we consider ``criminal justice,' that's pretty much what it is about: justice for the criminal and, still too often, little consideration is given to justice for victims. National Crime Victims' Rights Week gives us the chance to talk about ``victim justice'--justice for innocent folks whose lives are irrevocably altered by crime. It gives Congress the opportunity to say, ``yes,' every victim of every crime should receive information about their case; to say, ``of course' every victim of every crime should be offered protective measures to make them feel safe; to say, ``absolutely,' every victim of every crime that results in a conviction should receive restitution directly from the offenders who harmed them.

* America's victims' rights movement is leading our entire Nation in this direction. Today, victims of crime and those who serve them have not only a voice, but a vision for what justice should look like in America. Today, there are over 32,000 laws that define and protect victims' rights. We have over 10,000 organizations in our communities and in our systems of justice that help victims cope in the aftermath of crime, and help victims recover. Criminal justice is no longer all about the offender; it is rightfully becoming very much about the victims.

* I am proud to be one of the cofounders, along with Representative Poe, of the Congressional Victims' Rights Caucus. The goals of the Victims' Rights Caucus are to (1) represent crime victims in the United States through the bipartisan legislation that reflects their interests, rights and needs; (2) provide an ongoing forum for proactive interactions between the U.S. Congress and national victim assistance organizations to enhance mutual education, legislative advocacy and initiatives that promote justice for all--including victims of crime; and (3) seek opportunities for public education initiatives to help people in America to understand the impact of crime on victims, and to encourage their involvement in crime prevention, victim assistance, and community safety. We have an Advisory Group of victims, survivors, victim advocates and justice professionals who serve as our ``eyes and ears' to victims and survivors of crime, and they are not shy about letting us know what victims need.

* And we have learned that one thing victims need, the one thing that victims deserve, is recognition of their suffering, and recognition of their need for justice, and their need for supportive services. ``Victims' Rights: Every Victim. Every Time.'

* This is what 2007 National Crime Victims' Rights Week is all about. And this is what Congress can commit to by passing the National Crime Victims' Rights Week resolution.

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