Domestic Violence Awareness Month

Floor Speech

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AWARENESS MONTH

Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, today marks the beginning of domestic violence month, and it marks a time when we look at the progress we have made in this area and what challenges remain.

As a former prosecutor, I am well aware of the tragedies we see every day in this country from domestic violence. But it is also a time in our State where we look back at the lives of Paul and Sheila Wellstone, who devoted their time, their passion, and their energy to doing something about a problem that so often is overlooked or about which people do not want to talk.

This is, in fact, a few weeks on the calendar before their tragic death in a plane crash. Today we are going to welcome their son, David Wellstone, to the Capitol, and there will be a quilt displayed in the Russell rotunda, a quilt made by women and children from 13 different domestic violence centers across this country.

At the event today, we are going to have in Paul and Sheila's honor--we are not just going to look back on all they accomplished and stood for, but we are also going to look ahead to the work we all must do to carry their legacy forward, especially that commitment they had to ending domestic violence.

It is hard to believe it has already been nearly 5 years since we lost Paul and Sheila. It feels both so long ago and yet not that long ago. But we know their dreams and passions remain alive in each one of us, and that is why we are gathering tonight.

For me, I get my own special reminder of Paul Wellstone every day. His family gave me the flags that hung in his office. I am also reminded every day by ordinary people in the Capitol when I say I am from Minnesota--the tram drivers in the basement or the police officers or the secretaries in Senate offices who, when you say you are a Senator from Minnesota, they remember Paul, and they remember how well he treated people and the dignity with which he treated people every day.

Above all, I keep in mind, in front of my mind, the fundamental values for which he fought and struggled--being a voice to the voiceless, bringing power to the powerless, bringing justice to those who suffered injustice and above all, bringing hope to all of us that we can change the world and make it a better place.

There is no better way to honor Sheila's groundbreaking work in domestic violence than to mark the beginning of Domestic Violence Awareness Month with that quilt hanging in the Capitol.

I had the honor and opportunity to work with Sheila on many occasions when I was Hennepin County attorney. She was instrumental in creating and funding the Hennepin County Domestic Abuse Service Center. Hennepin County has about 1.1 million people, and this center is a landmark center across the country. It is a single place where women and their children can come. There is a play area for the kids. There are prosecutors there. There are police there. It is one place where they can get through the redtape and come to get help. The center is an international model for serving victims of domestic violence.

Sheila and I shared a particular concern for the fate of children who grew up in homes with domestic violence. There are deeply disturbing statistics on children who witness domestic abuse in their homes. These kids are six times more likely to commit suicide. They are 24 times more likely to commit sexual assault. They are 60 times more likely to exhibit delinquent behavior and, most chilling of all, little boys who witness domestic violence are 100 times more likely to become abusers themselves.

In my job as a prosecutor, I learned very quickly that when there is domestic violence, there is always a victim, the immediate victim, but it ripples through an entire family.

I remember a case we had in a suburban area where a man who had been abusing his wife killed her. There was a little girl, a little daughter who was about 4 years old. When he disposed of his wife's body, he brought the daughter with him in the back seat. A few days later, the grandparents came in from Russia. The woman was a Russian immigrant. They brought the deceased woman's twin sister, identical twin sister. This little daughter had never seen her aunt before. She ran through the airport when she saw her get off the plane and she said: Mommy, mommy, mommy. When you hear stories such as that story, you remember it is not about one victim, it is about an entire family.

Sheila knew those stories, and Sheila knew those statistics. But even more, she knew the names and the faces of the real children who witnessed and experienced abuse in the home. It made her all the more determined to do something about it because in America, of all places, kids should be free to grow up with safety, security, and peace of mind.

I remember the last time I saw Sheila. It was 2 weeks before that terrible plane crash. She and I had been asked to speak at a ceremony celebrating the new citizenship of Russian immigrants. It wasn't a campaign event. There were no cameras, even though it was about 3 weeks before one of the biggest elections in the country. It was just new citizens and their families.

We both talked about the immigrant traditions in our own families. She talked about her family growing up in Appalachia. I talked about my family on the Iron Range with the Slovenian roots. As the event was winding down, in walked Paul. He wasn't supposed to be there. He was supposed to be in Washington. It was 3 weeks before this major election, and he was in this little room, with no reporters and no cameras, to greet these new citizens.

I always knew he was there for two reasons. One, he was there because he loved his wife and he wanted to be there to surprise her and support her. But he was also there that night because he truly embraced that immigrant tradition. He embraced the idea that a person could come to this country, an incredible journey to freedom, with nothing, and they could work hard, succeed and send their kids and their grandkids to college because that had been what had happened to him and that had been what happened to Sheila.

It was the same thing for Sheila and Paul with victims of domestic violence, people who had sunk to the lowest in their life, who had no home, who were out on the street, who were out hiding in a shelter. She worked tirelessly to ensure that victims and their families could begin their own journeys to freedom, that they could get a fresh start, with new opportunities, in a new and secure environment.

We will always miss Paul and Sheila, but thanks to their son David, who is going to be with us here this evening, and countless volunteers and friends from all over the country, they have carried on their legacy and their work. They have carried on their legacy to change the world and make it a better and safer place for everyone.

Mr. President, I yield the floor.

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