Supporting the National Domestic Violence Awareness Month 2010

Floor Speech

Supporting the National Domestic Violence Awareness Month 2010

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I would like to start by thanking the gentlelady and the ranking member. I would also like to thank my friend, the sponsor of this resolution from Texas, Mr. Ted Poe, a former State district court judge in the State of Texas, former prosecutor in Harris County, and someone that I have known for more than 20 years. He and I have worked on this effort. It is a collaborative effort and this is his year to sponsor and I cosponsor with him. And I will be honored to sponsor next year and he will, of course, work with me as a cosponsor of this resolution.

But I want to say this about Mr. Poe: This is something that he does, not because it happens to be legislation. I know him from his days as a prosecutor, and these cases concerning domestic violence were cases that he took seriously. And I know him from his many years as a State district court judge, and I can honestly say, as I look toward him, that these were cases that he took seriously.

So this is more than just another resolution for Mr. Poe, and for me as well. This is something that we take seriously because we, as judges, we have seen what the results of domestic violence can do to a family, what it can do not only to the person who is actually the victim,

but the entire family becomes a victim of domestic violence. And I am just honored to have this opportunity to cosponsor the resolution with Mr. Poe this year.

The resolution has 41 Democratic and Republican cosponsors. Clearly, it is bipartisan. It is a resolution that receives wide support annually, and it is a resolution that transcends more than party lines. It also transcends lines of ethnicity. It transcends the lines of religion. It transcends the lines of business, the lines that tend to put us in various categories. This resolution transcends all of these lines because the violence that is perpetrated transcends all of these lines. It goes into all walks of life.

It doesn't matter what your economic status is, your social status is. Domestic violence can impact people at all levels of life. And this resolution hopefully will put enough focus on it, such that we will continue to admonish persons who engage in this kind of invidious, abhorrent behavior, admonish them to seek counseling, to try to get yourself in a position such that you can treat your fellow human being as a child of God meriting the same kind of consideration that you would want your daughter or your mother, if you happen to be a male.

I would also add that there have been Federal efforts that should not go unnoticed. This started about 20 years ago and has continued, and we have had more than just this month. We also had the Violence Against Women Act of 1994, which created a new culture as it relates to domestic violence. It helped the police and the judges and the prosecutors to understand that this was more than a personal event that took place. It was something that impacted society as a whole. And I am looking forward to supporting the reauthorization of the Violence Again Women Act in 2010.

Family Violence Prevention and Services Act, this provides emergency shelters, crisis intervention programs, and community education.

I am also proud to mention the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act because this act provided $225 million for violence against women in the sense that it helped to fund programs that will help women who find themselves being victimized.

The awareness of domestic violence is growing. I have indicated that judges and prosecutors and police officers----

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The constabulary, if you will, now understands the importance of treating this as a serious issue, and much progress has been made. However, there is still much to be done. We still have about 9,000 requests for help that go unnoticed and unanswered on a daily basis. We still have victims who continue to suffer in silence: 29 women lost their lives in Harris County; 136 Texas women were killed; 11 Texas children were killed; 92 percent of homeless women suffer physical and sexual abuse.

So I will just simply close with this: I am honored to be a cosponsor, and I am honored that the resolution is being presented. And I beg that all of my colleagues would please support this resolution because you are supporting families across the length and breadth of the country. You are keeping them together, and you are helping to prevent someone from being abused.

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