Domestic Violence Awareness Month

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, ending domestic violence is not a quixotic quest; it is a noble calling. This is why we have filed H. Res. 392, a resolution supporting the goals and ideals of October as National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that Congress should continue to raise awareness of domestic violence and its devastating effects on individuals, families, and communities, and support programs designed to end domestic violence in the United States.

Mr. Speaker, I am honored to tell you that we will have a number of speakers.

At this time, I yield to the Congresswoman from the Fourth District of Maryland, the Honorable Donna Edwards. She serves on Science, Space, and Technology; Transportation and Infrastructure; she cochairs the Women's Caucus; and she is the chair of the Democratic Women's Working Group. She also cofounded the National Network to End Domestic Violence in 1994. She was its executive director.

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I thank you very much for your testimony. Actually, it is something that I believe will benefit a good many persons who are viewing this today.

I would like to share just a few stories, if I may. Mr. Speaker, I practiced law in Houston, Texas, and my practice was one that involved a good deal of civil work. In the early 1970s, I can recall females coming to my office to receive assistance from a lawyer to file charges based upon abuse that had been imposed upon them.

In some of the cases, the damage done to the person was physical and immediately seen; but as you talked to the person, you could see that this person had been suffering for years. Literally years of suffering would emerge from this person in a 30-minute, 1 hour, 1 1/2 hour visit. And they would plead with me, Please help me get the charges filed. The plea was there because at that time it was considered a family issue. When women would go in to file charges, the police would say, Well, we will look at it. We will see if we can get somebody out there. But they didn't always respond to the evident need. The need was evident because of what the eye could see.

Many of the women who would come in would bring a minister or some other person to corroborate the story. There was this belief that your physical appearance alone was not enough evidence to support the filing of charges.

Unfortunately, society had so developed at that time that we would take this victim to intake and we would help with the filing of the charges and we would help get charges filed. The unfortunate circumstance was that the culture at that time was such that other family members would visit with the victim and encourage the victim to drop the charges; family members seeing and knowing about the abuse not only on this occasion for which charges were being filed, but also the abuse that had occurred through the years. And family members would quite often prevail; and, as a result, charges would sometimes be dropped.

I regret that we went through this time in our history where women were not treated with the dignity and respect that they should be accorded. A lot of that has gone away, and I will say more about a lot of this in just a moment, but there is still enough of it for us to band together and for us to answer the clarion call for help that these women present to us on a daily basis.

I am honored to tell you that we have with us now another Member of Congress from the 40th District of California. She serves on the Appropriations Committee, and I am honored to yield to the Honorable Lucille Roybal-Allard.

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I thank the gentlelady. I want to thank the gentlelady for the work she has done here in Congress over the years to eliminate domestic violence.

This has been a bipartisan effort, Mr. Speaker. I am proud to tell you that S. 47, the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act, this bill passed the House of Representatives with bipartisan support. In the House the vote was 286-138. It passed the Senate with bipartisan support. It was 78-22. The bill had this bipartisan support because it embraced women not only who are known to us as people from our communities, but also there were some communities that were embraced that have not been traditionally a part of the bill.

It helped American Indian women because at one time tribal courts could not take on persons who had sexually assaulted women because they were non-Indians. Well, the

bill addressed this. It also addressed the LGBT community which had not been included. It doesn't matter what your sexual preference is, domestic violence can be imposed upon you. And when you are hurt, you need help. This bill provided the help needed for women regardless of race, creed, color, origin. Regardless of your sexual preference, you can get help pursuant to S. 47, which received bipartisan support.

I wanted to tell you that annually my friend from the State of Texas, the Honorable Ted Poe, works with me and I with him. We alternate years of taking the lead on this issue. He has had a career that has paralleled mine. When he was a prosecutor, I was a defense attorney. He became a district court judge in Texas right around the time I became the judge of a justice court. Here in Congress, we have sought to work together on many bills and many pieces of legislation, but I am proudest of what we do on domestic violence.

Domestic Violence Awareness Month is one where he and I have collaborated to work together to make sure that we get this issue exposed to the public so we can continue the process of elimination. I am proud to tell you that he represents the Second Congressional District of Texas, serves on Foreign Affairs as well as the Judiciary Committee, and I am proud to tell you that I consider him a friend, not in the sense that we politely say it here in Congress when we say ``my friend.'' I consider him a friend in the sense that he and I have developed a real kinship and relationship. Although we don't always agree, we always try to work together for the good of our State, city, and for the good of women who are being impacted by domestic violence.

I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe)

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I thank my colleague very much, and I thank you for your many words expressing what you actually witnessed. Yours was a testimony, not just a recitation, from something that was accorded you by some other person. You were there to see what happened, and you and I know that there is still great work to be done.

In our State of Texas, in 2012, domestic violence caused 11,994 adults to need shelter, Mr. Speaker. It caused 14,534 children to need shelter, Mr. Speaker. It caused 36,831 adults to need nonresidential services, counseling, legal assistance. It caused 15,694 children to need nonresidential services. Unfortunately, 26.2 percent of the adults were denied shelter because of a lack of space.

Mr. Speaker, there is still great work to be done, and I am honored to ask, at this time, another colleague to speak. However, would you kindly advise me as to the amount of time I have left.

The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Yoho). The gentleman from Texas has 25 minutes remaining.

Mr. AL GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I ask so that Members may be aware. We have a few Members left to speak, and we want to make sure that every Member has some time.

Mr. Speaker, I am honored to ask the Honorable Barbara Lee to move to the podium and consume an appropriate amount of time. She is my very dear friend from the great State of California, the 13th Congressional District, who sits on Appropriations and who has been a longtime champion of protecting women and protecting people and is truly a champion for the least, the last, and the lost.

I might also add, Mr. Speaker, that she was the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, and I was proud to serve under her leadership.

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I thank you--and I also thank you for raising the issue of domestic violence against men. We talk quite often about it being against women, and there is good reason. The overwhelming empirical evidence connotes that women are the largest group of victims of domestic violence, so I thank you for broadening the issue for us. Thank you very much.

At this time, Mr. Speaker, I am honored to tell you that we have a Congressman from the State of Florida--I was reared in Florida, went to Florida A&M University.

He serves the 18th District of Florida, serves on Financial Services, and he is committed to working across the aisle. He makes a concerted effort to achieve bipartisanship. He is a champion for fair play.

I also want you to know that he understands that, as we do this, as we try to end this scourge on society known as domestic violence, that it is more than simply an issue of violence; it also has economic components to it. He has tried to cause us to understand some of these components, but also, that it is a moral issue.

I would now ask my friend, who accorded me this tie that is purple--the color purple in the tie, as I understand it, represents courage, survival, honor and dedication, dedication to ending domestic violence. Of course, purple is being worn today to spread awareness of domestic violence.

I now yield as much time as he may consume to my friend, the Honorable Patrick Murphy.

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I thank my fellow Floridian. I, of course, am from Texas now, but my roots are in Florida, and I thank you so much.

Mr. Speaker, how much time do we have left?

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman has 12 minutes remaining.

Mr. AL GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I am honored at this time to recognize another Texan, a Texan from the 23rd District, who served 22 years, Mr. Speaker, in the State house, a Texan who serves on the Agriculture Committee, a Texan who is a strong supporter of domestic awareness, who voted for the reauthorization of the VAWA, and I might say, a Texan who started his career in Congress extending his hand across the aisle. He is one who not only preaches bipartisanship, he practices it.

I am honored to yield as much time as he may consume to my friend, the Honorable Pete Gallego.

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I thank my colleague from the State of Texas.

I would also mention to my colleague that, unfortunately, one study concluded that 10,401 domestic violence victims reached out for help but were turned away because of a lack of resources. There is still great work to be done, and I thank you for continuing to do this great work. God bless you.

At this time, Mr. Speaker, we have another Texan, from the 18th Congressional District in Houston, Texas, who serves on Homeland Security as well as Judiciary. We are going to ask that our friend, the Honorable Sheila Jackson Lee, move to the podium.

And how much time remains, Mr. Speaker?

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Texas has 6 minutes remaining.

Mr. AL GREEN of Texas. I ask that Members govern themselves accordingly, with 6 minutes left.

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Mr. Speaker, I do thank you for your indulgence. You have been liberal with the time.

And I want to remind persons that while we do this on an annual basis in the month of October, we do want to make domestic violence awareness an everyday activity.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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