S. HRG. 109–1033 

REAUTHORIZATION OF THE VIOLENCE AGAINST 

WOMEN ACT 

HEARING 

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY 

UNITED STATES SENATE 

ONE HUNDRED NINTH CONGRESS 

FIRST SESSION 

JULY 19, 2005 

Serial No. J–109–33 

Printed for the use of the Committee on the Judiciary 

( 

REAUTHORIZATION OF THE VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ACT 

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46–016 PDF 2009

S. HRG. 109–1033 

REAUTHORIZATION OF THE VIOLENCE AGAINST 

WOMEN ACT 

HEARING 

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY 

UNITED STATES SENATE 

ONE HUNDRED NINTH CONGRESS 

FIRST SESSION 

JULY 19, 2005 

Serial No. J–109–33 

Printed for the use of the Committee on the Judiciary 

( 

(II) 

COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY 

ARLEN SPECTER, Pennsylvania, Chairman 

ORRIN G. HATCH, Utah 

CHARLES E. GRASSLEY, Iowa 

JON KYL, Arizona 

MIKE DEWINE, Ohio 

JEFF SESSIONS, Alabama 

LINDSEY O. GRAHAM, South Carolina 

JOHN CORNYN, Texas 

SAM BROWNBACK, Kansas 

TOM COBURN, Oklahoma 

PATRICK J. LEAHY, Vermont 

EDWARD M. KENNEDY, Massachusetts 

JOSEPH R. BIDEN, JR., Delaware 

HERBERT KOHL, Wisconsin 

DIANNE FEINSTEIN, California 

RUSSELL D. FEINGOLD, Wisconsin 

CHARLES E. SCHUMER, New York 

RICHARD J. DURBIN, Illinois 

DAVID BROG, Staff Director 

MICHAEL O’NEILL, Chief Counsel 

BRUCE A. COHEN, Democratic Chief Counsel and Staff Director 

(III) 

C O N T E N T S 

STATEMENTS OF COMMITTEE MEMBERS 

Page 

Biden, Hon. Joseph R., Jr., a U.S. Senator from the State of Delaware ............. 4 

Feingold, Hon. Russell D., a U.S. Senator from the State of Wisconsin, prepared statement ................................................................................................... 331 

Hatch, Hon. Orrin G., a U.S. Senator from the State of Utah ............................ 20 

Kennedy, Hon. Edward M., a U.S. Senator from the State of Massachusetts, 

prepared statement .............................................................................................. 362 

Leahy, Hon. Patrick J., a U.S. Senator from the State of Vermont .................... 3 

prepared statement .......................................................................................... 367 

Sessions, Hon. Jeff, a U.S. Senator from the State of Alabama .......................... 6 

Specter, Hon. Arlen, a U.S. Senator from the State of Pennsylvania ................. 1 

WITNESSES 

Carr, M.L., President and Chief Executive Officer, WARM2kids, and Spokesperson, Family Violence Prevention Fund, San Francisco, California ............ 22 

Hayek, Salma, Avon Foundation, New York, New York ...................................... 25 

Leary, Mary Lou, Executive Director, National Center for Victims of Crime, 

Washington, D.C. ................................................................................................. 18 

Rosenthal, Lynn, Executive Director, National Network to End Domestic Violence, Washington, D.C. ....................................................................................... 16 

Sexton, Edmund M., Sr., Sheriff, Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, and President 

National Sheriffs’ Association, ............................................................................ 9 

Stuart, Diane M., Director, Office of Violence Against Women, Department 

of Justice, Washington, D.C. ............................................................................... 7 

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 

Responses of Diane M. Stuart to questions submitted by Senator Coburn ........ 31 

SUBMISSIONS FOR THE RECORD 

American Civil Liberties, Union, Caroline Fredrickson, Direct, LaShawn Warren, Legislative Counsel, Lenora M. Lapidus, Director, Washington, D.C., 

prepared statement .............................................................................................. 300 

Carbon, Susan B., Supervisory Judge, Grafton County, New Hampshire Judicial Branch Family Division, Plymouth, New Hampshire, letter .................... 310 

Carr, M.L., President and Chief Executive Officer, WARM2kids, and Spokesperson, Family Violence Prevention Fund, San Francisco, California, prepared statement ................................................................................................... 312 

Carter, Marybeth, President, National Alliance to End Sexual Violence, Sacramento, California, prepared statement ........................................................... 314 

Charron, Paul R., Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer, Liz Claiborne Inc, New York, letter ................................................................................. 323 

Evans, Robert D., on behalf of The American Bar Association, Washington, 

D.C., prepared statement .................................................................................... 325 

Forster, Corita R., Beloit Domestic Violence Center, Beloit, Wisconsin, letter .. 333 

Fulcher, Juley and Victoria Sadler, Break the Cycle, Washington, D.C, prepared statement ................................................................................................... 334 

Gore, Peter M., Senior Governmental Affairs Specialist, Maine State Chamber 

of Commerce, Augusta, Maine, Letter ................................................................ 354 

Harman International, Industries, Incorporated, Lynn Harman, Corporate 

Counsel, Woodbury, New York, letter ................................................................ 355 

Hayek, Salma, Avon Foundation, New York, New York, statement ................... 357 

Page

IV 

Kingsbury, Marie F., Executive Director, The Women’s Center, Inc., 

Waukesha, Wisconsin, letter ............................................................................... 366 

Leary, Mary Lou, Executive Director, National Center for Victims of Crime, 

Washington, D.C., statement .............................................................................. 370 

Lee, Debbie, Managing Director for Health Programs on behalf of Family 

Violence Prevention Fund, Washington, D.C., prepared statement ................ 382 

The Legal Aid Society Employment Law Center, Elizabeth Kristen, Staff 

Attorney, San Francisco, California, letter ........................................................ 389 

Legal Momentum Advancing Women’s Rights, Washington, D.C., prepared 

statement .............................................................................................................. 391 

Men Supporting VAWA, Dick Bathrick, and Greg Laughlin, Atlanta, Georgia, 

joint letter ............................................................................................................. 417 

Monreal, Carey, President, Chief Executive Officer, and Linda Mayfield, Director Family Violence Services, Milwaukee Women’s Center, Milwaukee, 

Wisconsin, letter ................................................................................................... 419 

Napolitano, Janet, Governor, State of Arizona, Phoenix, Arizona, letter ........... 421 

National Child Abuse Coalition, Thomas L. Birch, Legislative Counsel, Washington, D.C., letter and prepared statement ...................................................... 423 

National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Washington, D.C., prepared 

statement .............................................................................................................. 428 

National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty, Washington, D.C., prepared statement ................................................................................................... 458 

New Horizons Shelter and Women’s Center, Deb Hansen, Executive Director, 

La Crosse, Wisconsin, letter ................................................................................ 464 

North Carolina Department of Justice, Roy Cooper, Attorney General, Department of Justice, Raleigh, North Carolina, letter ............................................... 466 

Orloff, Leslye, Associate Vice President and Director, Immigrant Women Program, Legal Momentum, prepared statement ................................................... 468 

Pollack, Wendy, National Center on Poverty Law, Chicago, Illinois, letter ....... 483 

Primley, Robyn, Records Specialist, Rainbow House Domestic Abuse Services, 

Inc., Marinette, Wisconsin, letter ....................................................................... 484 

Przesmicki, Sheila, Executive Director, Unidos Against Domestic Violence, 

Madison Wisconsin, letter ................................................................................... 485 

Roche ́, Joyce M., President and Chief Executive Officer, Girls Incorporated, 

Washington, D.C., letter ...................................................................................... 486 

Rosenthal, Lynn, Executive Director, National Network to End Domestic Violence, Washington, D.C., prepared statement ................................................... 492 

Rumburg, Delilah, Executive Director, Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape, 

Enola, Pennsylvania, prepared statement ......................................................... 517 

Sacred Circle, Karen Artichoker, Director, Management Team Director, Pine 

Ridge, South Dakota, prepared statement ......................................................... 524 

Safe Harbor Domestic Abuse Shelter, Mary Fantanazza, Executive Director, 

Sheboygan, Wisconsin, letter .............................................................................. 533 

Scruggs, John F., Vice President, Altria Group, Inc., Washington, D.C., letter . 535 

Sexton, Edmund M., Sr., Sheriff, Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, and President 

National Sheriffs’ Association, prepared statement .......................................... 536 

Stewart, Tish, Paralegal, Center Against Sexual & Domestic Abuse, Inc., 

Wisconsin, letter ................................................................................................... 541 

Stuart, Diane M., Director, Office of Violence Against Women, Department 

of Justice, Washington, D.C., statement ............................................................ 543 

Task Force on Family Violence, Carmen M. Pitre, Executive Director and 

Liz Marquardt, Associate Executive Director, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, letter . 556 

Tohono O’Odham Nation, Edward Reina, Jr., Director Public Safety, Sells, 

Arizona, letter ....................................................................................................... 561 

Wilt, Melissa, Director, Public Policy, Men’s Health Network, Washington, 

D.C., prepared statement .................................................................................... 563 

YWCA USA, Peggy Sanchez Mills, Chief Executive Officer, Washington, D.C., 

prepared statement .............................................................................................. 579 

(1) 

REAUTHORIZATION OF THE VIOLENCE 

AGAINST WOMEN ACT 

TUESDAY, JULY 19, 2005 

UNITED STATES SENATE, COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY, Washington, D.C. 

The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 11:00 a.m., in Room 

226, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Arlen Specter [Chairman 

of the Committee] presiding. 

Present: Senators Specter, Hatch, Sessions, Leahy, Biden, and 

Schumer. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. ARLEN SPECTER, A U.S. 

SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA 

Chairman SPECTER. It is 11 o’clock and time to start this hearing, but my colleagues are on their way, so we are going to wait 

just a moment or two. 

Let me express my regrets that we had no idea how many people 

would want to attend this hearing. As I walked through the hall, 

there was a long line on one corridor, and turning the other corridor, there was another long line. I have reason to believe they are 

all taxpayers— 

[Laughter.] 

Chairman SPECTER. There are rooms which could accommodate 

more people, so it is unexpected to have this kind of a turnout. I 

am sorry people are in the hallways. The next time we reauthorize 

this bill, in 2010, we will have a different room. 

[Laughter.] 

Chairman SPECTER. We will begin in just a moment or two. 

[Pause.] 

Chairman SPECTER. The Committee on the Judiciary will now 

proceed with our hearing on legislation to protect women against 

violence. 

At the outset, I commend my ranking member, Senator Leahy, 

for the close cooperation which he and I have enjoyed during the 

first seven months of this year as we look at some very daunting 

tasks in the immediate days ahead with the prospect of a Supreme 

Court nominee to replace Justice O’Connor and we are trying to 

bring the asbestos reform bill to the floor next week. We have a 

hearing on reporter’s privilege tomorrow, and on Thursday, we will 

be taking up the PATRIOT Act. 

The legislation which we are considering today is of vital importance to America and marks a very decisive shift on the way the 

law treats and protects women against violence. Ten years ago, 

2 

when I cosponsored the bill with Senator Biden, and I am pleased 

to be a cosponsor again with Senator Biden and Senator Hatch on 

the Biden-Hatch-Specter-Leahy-et cetera bill. 

A great deal has happened to improve the situation, the way 

women are treated in America. 

Joe, I was just saying nice things about you before you came. 

Senator BIDEN. Well, I was just saying nice things about you to 

Ms. Hayek here. 

Chairman SPECTER. In that event, I will let you go first. 

[Laughter.] 

Chairman SPECTER. I was saying that when the Act was first introduced ten years ago, it was a Biden-Specter bill. There have 

been very decisive improvements in what has happened. 

We find today that there are almost four million American 

women, victims of physical abuse a year, and another almost 21 

million verbally or emotionally abused by their spouse or partner. 

Since 1995, when the Violence Against Women Act was first introduced, it has enjoyed significant success, contributing to a 50 percent decrease in overall family violence and a 22 percent decrease 

in the number of women who are killed by abuse. 

This legislation will provide for a substantial increase in funding 

from the $693 million currently authorized annually to some $794 

million annually, and the breadth of activity of the statute will be 

significantly enhanced. 

Just a word or two on a personal level, recollecting the way 

women were treated not too long ago when I became an Assistant 

District Attorney in Philadelphia. We had a Magistrate’s Court in 

existence which heard cases within 24 hours after the incident, and 

one of the first cases that I had as a fledgling Assistant District 

Attorney involved an assault by a common law husband against a 

women who had a cut running from her forehead down her head, 

down her neck, and all the way to her waist. I had quite a tussle 

with her that morning as to whether she would testify. That was 

the first case I lost. She wouldn’t testify, notwithstanding my explanation to her that it wasn’t a case of her against him, but it was 

a case of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the public dignity and interest, but I could not persuade her to testify. The mentality was very, very different. 

When I became District Attorney, I had long seen the detectives 

question 20 people in a room with the desks all there and a woman 

came in with a rape complaint was just one in a line of a long sequence of witnesses. Immediately, everybody turned to listen. That 

was changed so that interviews were conducted in private to the 

extent possible by women questioners, and women were taken to 

the hospitals for photographs and brushing and the preservation of 

evidence. 

I am down to 34 seconds, so I am going to conclude at this point. 

We have a very impressive array of witnesses, which we will come 

to in due course after we have had opening statements. 

I yield now to my distinguished Ranking Member, Senator 

Leahy. 

3 

STATEMENT OF HON. PATRICK J. LEAHY, A U.S. SENATOR 

FROM THE STATE OF VERMONT 

Senator LEAHY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I couldn’t help but 

notice that there was some comment in the press today about the 

possibility of a nomination to the Supreme Court, some passing interest. Having this hearing is a reason why that choice is so important. A, as I will say in my full statement, a very, very activist Supreme Court, actually the most activist Supreme Court in my lifetime, struck down part of the Violence Against Women Act on the 

basis that in the hour or so of debate in the Supreme Court, they 

understood the reasons of the Act far more than the months and 

months of hearings and debates that you and Senator Biden and 

I and others had on this. 

I felt that the enactment of the Violence Against Women Act over 

a decade ago marked an important national commitment to survivors of domestic violence, and, of course, the bipartisan testimony 

we will hear today, I hope will help our goal of ending domestic violence and dating violence and sexual assault and stalking. I am 

proud to join you and Senator Biden and Senator Hatch as an 

original cosponsor of this, and I especially want to recognize Senator Biden for his commitment to ending violence against women 

and children. Like the Chairman, I served as a prosecutor and I 

know how terrible these acts of violence can be. 

We have an extraordinary panel of witnesses. We have Diane 

Stuart, who is, of course, the Director of the Office on Violence 

Against Women at the Justice Department. Ms. Stuart, we are so 

glad to have you here. A number of leading advocates are here, and 

I salute all of them. 

The kind of violence we are talking about affects people in every 

gender, race, culture, age, class. It goes across all spectrums and 

it is a crime. It is always wrong, whether the abuser is a family 

member or someone the victim is dating, a current or past spouse, 

boyfriend, girlfriend, acquaintance, stranger. We see it everywhere. 

I mean, those that think it never happens in my community, it 

never happens in my neighborhood, let me tell you, and everybody 

in law enforcement will tell you, it happens in your community. It 

happens in your neighborhood. It happens all the time. 

And included in the VAWA 2005 are reauthorizations for two 

programs I initially authored to help rural communities battle domestic violence. I come from rural America, and I know that as bucolic and wonderful as rural America is, with its privacy and its 

often isolation, that same privacy and isolation can make it more 

difficult for both victims and law enforcement. In a State like mine, 

the State of Vermont, our local law enforcement agencies rely heavily on cooperative interagency efforts combatting this crime. That 

is why I include the Rural Domestic Violence Child Victimization 

Enforcement Grant Program as part of the original VAWA. It 

makes services available to rural victims and children. 

The other one is the Transitional Housing Assistance Grants. We 

know that in a time when the availability of affordable housing has 

sunk to record lows, transitional housing for victims is especially 

needed. It is one thing when you have the victim. Oftentimes, you 

have got to get them somewhere safe. Fifty percent of homeless individuals are women and children fleeing domestic violence. They 

4 

may have come from a comfortable surrounding. Suddenly, they are 

fleeing domestic violence and this program, transitional housing, is 

part of that solution. 

I have talked about the activist Supreme Court. In the United 

States v. Morrison, the Supreme Court struck down portions of the 

Act. That case involved a young woman who was allegedly raped 

by two classmates while attending college. Our law allowed a victim of violence to seek civil remedies when the violence was motivated by gender-based animus and we showed in our findings, Congress did, that justice is too often denied to women and a majority 

of States supported our law and supported the civil remedy provided. By a narrow five-to-four vote, the Supreme Court struck 

down this portion of the Violence Against Women Act. I think what 

they were doing, as I said, in their hour of debate on it, they second-guessed the majority of States who had looked at it and Republicans and Democrats who had worked very hard on it in Congress. 

So that is why it is not only important to this law, it is important 

to all of us, the Supreme Court nominations, of course. But I think 

we have to increase our awareness of the problems of violence to 

save the lives of battered women and rape victims and children. 

I still have nightmares occasionally when I think of some of the 

cases I handled. I am sure every one of us who have been prosecutors, who are in law enforcement, on this Committee know this is 

important legislation, and Mr. Chairman, I commend you for going 

forward with it. 

Chairman SPECTER. Thank you very much, Senator Leahy. 

[The prepared statement of Senator Leahy appears as a submission for the record.] 

Chairman SPECTER. We will turn now to Senator Biden, himself 

a former Chairman of this Committee, as is Senator Leahy a 

former Chairman. I am the only member of the panel today who 

is not a former Chairman. 

Senator LEAHY. But you have got the one that counts. 

[Laughter.] 

Senator BIDEN. Mr. Chairman, for real, I don’t want— 

Chairman SPECTER. I again commend my colleague, Senator 

Biden, for his leadership in this field for more than a decade and 

for his presence here. As an appropriator, I can tell you that he is 

always after Senator Leahy and me and the other appropriators to 

release more money, which we have. Senator Biden? 

STATEMENT OF HON. JOSEPH R. BIDEN, JR., A U.S. SENATOR 

FROM THE STATE OF DELAWARE 

Senator BIDEN. Mr. Chairman, you know the reason why this 

hearing is so important, but we are into what we call reauthorizing. I know that is kind of a technical term. A lot of the folks here 

lobby the Congress, but a lot of folks don’t know. Reauthorization 

just means this law is—we want it to continue and we put our 

stamp on it. If we don’t reauthorize, then we leave it to the vagaries of appropriators everywhere whether to fund or not fund this. 

What I worry about is our success. Our success has been so stark 

and our success has been so significant that there are those out 

there saying, why do we have to do more of this? I mean, haven’t 

we kind of tackled this thing? It is like cutting grass. You have got 

5 

to cut it once, and that doesn’t end it for the summer. You have 

got to go out and cut it every week. 

We have a whole new crop of prosecutors, a whole new crop of 

judges, a whole new crop of providers out there, and the money in 

this legislation, which is better than the last piece of legislation, 

which I am most proud of anything I have ever done in my entire 

life as a legislator was that 1994 passage of this bill. We just have 

to do it again. Failure to reauthorize this would be an incredible 

statement that, in fact, we are backing away from what was an historic commitment we made. 

You know, there is no such thing as domestic violence. I hate 

that term, because when we talk about domestic violence, it is like 

people think of a domesticated cat. This is raw, raw, raw violence, 

the worst kind of violence that exists, because in almost all those 

instances, it takes a woman—and sometimes a man is the victim— 

it puts them in a position where someone they trusted and loved 

or are beholden to has abused them. 

People always ask me why I am so passionate about this for the 

last 20 years. My dad, God love him, was a general and a graceful 

man, and from the time—he has passed away now, and Arlen knew 

him—from the time I grew up, he had a refrain. He talked about— 

he would say, ‘‘No man has a right to raise his hand to a woman 

or a child.’’ There is no circumstance, none, zero, none, other than 

self-defense, no matter what, no matter what the challenge is. And 

part of our psyche, we are just beginning to explore here. 

Since 1994, we just began for the first time. Do you remember 

why this didn’t pass at first? It didn’t pass because people said, this 

is a family matter. This is a private matter. It was private. 

Some of the women who helped me get this passed in the audience will recall, they are the ones that know what rule of thumb 

means. Rule of thumb comes back from the 14th century, when in 

the common law courts of England a man was able to beat his wife 

with a rod as long as it did not exceed the circumference of his 

thumb. 

We have a lot more to go. We have 72 days to authorize this. We 

have 42 cosponsors. But the reason we do is this man right here, 

this man right here. I want to remind everybody, back when this 

passed—what is that old expression, failure is an orphan, has an 

orphan for a father or mother, and success has a thousand parents? 

Well, everybody now thinks this is great, but he was one of seven 

people, one of seven people who stood up to pass this bill the first 

time. Had he not stood up and taken the heat, it wouldn’t have 

happened. 

And then, as the appropriator, he not only gave what we asked 

for, he added monies. He added monies for shelter. He added monies for women who are abused. He added a way—because they are 

in prison. This is prison. It is the ultimate prison. You are in your 

own home. It is a prison. You can’t leave. You can’t take your children away. You don’t have any money. This is the man who has 

made it happen. 

So I just want to personally thank him, and only the pros out 

here in the press will understand this. Can you think of anything, 

a major piece of legislation that has been reintroduced or introduced that a Republican has had a Democrat’s name go first? Can 

6 

you think of it? That is the measure of this guy. I am serious. I 

am not joking. That is the measure of this guy. 

This isn’t a Democrat bill or a Republican bill. I bore my colleagues to death because of my passion for this the last 15 years. 

I know I am like a broken record. But thank God, thank God there 

are guys like Specter who step up. 

This is about men and women who are abused. Women overwhelmingly fall in that category. We are making progress. We have 

so much further to go. I hope, Mr. Chairman, with your leadership, 

and it will be your leadership, it won’t be mine, that we are able 

to convince this to be brought up on the docket and get this moving, and I personally thank you for your gumption and your commitment. 

Chairman SPECTER. Thank you very much, Senator Biden, for 

those extraordinary comments, but as I said in my statement, all 

the credit goes to you. 

Senator Sessions, would you care to make an opening comment? 

STATEMENT OF HON. JEFF SESSIONS, A U.S. SENATOR FROM 

THE STATE OF ALABAMA 

Senator SESSIONS. As Reagan said, no matter how far you can go 

if you don’t worry about who gets the credit. Sometimes that is a 

good rule for us all to live by. 

Chairman SPECTER. Good point. 

Senator SESSIONS. Mr. Chairman, it is a pleasure for me to recognize one of Alabama’s finest law enforcement officers, Ted Sexton. I have known him for many years, know his family. He is a 

progressive, innovative, forceful leader for law enforcement in the 

State. He understands the issues that we are dealing with today 

and others, also. He is Vice President of the National Sheriffs’ Association, now been elected to the Presidency of that Association, 

3,000 sheriffs, over 24,000 members across this nation. So it is a 

real thrill for me to, Ted, have you here before us testifying. 

I know that it is your officers and those police officers you work 

with every day that are going into homes, dealing with situations 

where there is violence that may appear in one circumstance to be 

under control, and who knows, may flare right back up and somebody’s life be in danger in very short order. We also know our law 

enforcement officers often find themselves at greater risk in dealing with family violence than most any other kind of violence they 

deal with. 

We have a sheriff here, Mr. Chairman, that is personally experienced. He personally runs a first-rate department and one of the 

best in the State, if not the best. He probably thinks it is the best. 

He has got a first-rate jail that he manages in the highest order 

and I am just impressed with what he has done. He has got a number of creative law enforcement programs, the Amber plan, the 

CONES project, Life Savers, school resource deputies, and other 

things that he does to make his sheriff’s department one of the best 

in the country. 

Thank you for giving me that opportunity and for your leadership on this important issue. 

Chairman SPECTER. Thank you very much, Senator Sessions. 

7 

Chairman SPECTER. We now turn to our first witness, the Honorable Diane Stuart, Director of the Office on Violence Against 

Women at the Department of Justice. She has an undergraduate 

degree from the University of Pittsburgh, a Master’s of Science in 

family and human development from Utah State University. She 

has written extensively and heads a very, very important office in 

our Federal Government. 

Thank you for joining us, Ms. Stuart. In accordance with our custom, the statements are limited to five minutes. All witness statements will be made a part of the record in full. We are giving you 

as much time as we give the panel members, five minutes, so the 

floor is yours and we look forward to your testimony. 

STATEMENT OF DIANE M. STUART, DIRECTOR, OFFICE ON VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, 

WASHINGTON, D.C. 

Ms. STUART. Thank you, Chairman Specter. I truly appreciate 

that and the opportunity to be here this morning. Thanks also to 

members of Congress for the opportunity to speak to you today. 

As a representative of the Department of Justice, I am here primarily to urge Congress to reauthorize the Violence Against 

Women Act. The Act should be renewed, and important improvements should be made so that our communities can expand their 

prevention efforts, ensure the safety of more victims, as has been 

said before, and hold perpetrators accountable for their crimes. 

The mission of the Office on Violence Against Women is to provide national leadership in helping communities build capacity to 

reduce violence against women. We administer financial and technical assistance to communities around the country that are working to end domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and 

stalking. 

The response to the spirit of the Violence Against Women Act, 

specifically of 1994 and 2000, is so, so strong. Since its passage, 

there has been a paradigm shift in how we approach and respond 

to violence against women. That change can be seen in what is 

called a local coordinated community response. This is a victim-centered approach rooted in the belief that criminal justice officials, 

victim advocates, community leaders, health workers, and others 

must work in collaboration to respond to violence against women. 

One excellent example of a coordinated community response is 

the Family Justice Center. This is a center where the majority of 

services for domestic violence victims are co-located under one roof. 

In 2004, we funded the development of 15 Family Justice Centers 

under President Bush’s Family Justice Center Initiative, and I am 

pleased to announce today that the first of these centers is opening 

tomorrow in Brooklyn, New York. The centers in San Antonio, 

Texas, and Alameda County, California, will be opening very soon 

and others shortly thereafter. 

Through the spirit of the Act, the coordinated community response, we have learned that victims are safer and justice is better 

served when a shelter worker has a strong working relationship 

with law enforcement and the district attorney, when an emergency room nurse knows to call an advocate when treating a sexual 

assault victim, when a prosecutor works with law enforcement to 

8 

build an evidence-based case against a domestic violence offender, 

when a judge, working with probation, requires frequent judicial 

review, supervision, and batterer intervention for the abuser in a 

domestic violence case, and when an advocate trains a member of 

the clergy on the dynamics of domestic violence and sexual assault. 

All of these are what make a coordinated community response. 

Through the Office on Violence Against Women’s data collection 

efforts, we know that VAWA funds are helping communities create 

these effective coordinated community responses. For example, 

under one of our grant programs, just one, in a six-month period 

of time, we know that more than 50,000 victims were served. We 

know that more than 120,000 services were provided to those victims. We know that nearly 24,000 individuals were trained. One 

program, six months. And more than 2,600 individuals were arrested for violation of protection orders. It is working. This information illustrates the reach of VAWA funding in a very, very, very 

short period of time. 

Congress should act now to reauthorize and enhance VAWA with 

the following key measures. Number one, reauthorize critical grant 

programs through fiscal year 2010. 

Two, create a new program for tribes by combining the tribal setasides established for the STOP, Arrest, Rural, Safe Havens, and 

Transitional Housing programs. Based on our experience in administering grants to tribes, we recommend combining the tribal setasides to form one tribal grant program. As tribes have few resources and little infrastructure, this would eliminate an immense 

administrative burden by creating an application process based 

specifically on unique tribal needs. 

Number three, add a provision to all OVW grant programs requiring grantees and sub-grantees to maintain confidentiality of 

identifying information about victims served with OVW funds. 

Number four, ensure that no victim pays for a forensic exam, 

even if she or he decides not to cooperate with law enforcement. 

And number five, permit grantees to use funds to address sexual 

assault and stalking by amending the Arrest and the Rural program statutes. 

I would like to leave you with a quote from the Executive Director of a shelter in Tallahassee, Florida, and I quote, ‘‘We have been 

able to move the issues of sexual assault and domestic violence into 

the community consciousness. The money has changed the way 

that communities address the issues of sexual assault and domestic 

violence. You cannot put a price tag on that. You leave the community forever changed,’’ end quote. 

Thank you. I would be happy to take any questions. 

Chairman SPECTER. Thank you very much, Director Stuart. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Stuart appears as a submission 

for the record.] 

Chairman SPECTER. We turn now to Mr. Ted Sexton, who has already been eloquently introduced by Senator Sessions, both being 

Alabamians, but I will add just a word or two. Mr. Sexton is President of the National Sheriffs’ Association. He is Sheriff of Tuscaloosa County. His numerous professional schools include the FBI 

National Academy and the U.S. Secret Service Dignitary Protection 

Seminar and the National Sheriff’s Institute. 

9 

Thank you for joining us, Sheriff Sexton, and we look forward to 

your testimony. 

STATEMENT OF EDMUND M. ‘‘TED’’ SEXTON, SR., SHERIFF, 

TUSCALOOSA COUNTY, ALABAMA, AND PRESIDENT, NATIONAL SHERIFFS’ ASSOCIATION 

Sheriff SEXTON. Thank you, sir. Thank you for your kind invitation to appear before you today to testify about the Violence 

Against Women Act. I am pleased to be in such distinguished company on this panel and offer the views of our nation’s 3,086 sheriffs. 

As you know, the National Sheriffs’ Association strongly supports 

the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act for the simple reason that the problem of domestic violence continues to be a 

concern to the law enforcement community. I am proud to say that 

just one month ago, we sent a letter to Senator Biden expressing 

our strong support of his legislation to renew the Violence Against 

Women Act. In that letter, we not only indicated our support for 

this Act, but also stated that the sheriffs were particularly pleased 

to see authorized amounts for Services and Training for Officers 

and Prosecutors, STOP, and Grants to Encourage Arrest and Enforcement of Prosecution Order Improvements increased. It is my 

hope that the Committee will move quickly on this measure, since 

this Act sunsets at the end of September. 

Since the initial passage of this Act, law enforcement agencies 

across the country have made much progress, but there is still so 

much more that we can do. As this Committee knows so well, NSA 

plays a key role in this Act’s mandated coordinated community response to prevent, investigate, and prosecute crimes of violence 

against women. 

With the help from organizations such as NSA, law enforcement 

has created valuable training courses to teach the front-line officers 

how to deal more effectively with the crime as they encounter it. 

NSA’s program in particular focuses on rural domestic violence. 

These rural areas present difficult issues and the support structures needed to help victims may not be as robust as those in 

major urban areas. 

Additionally, we have recently expanded this training to include 

dispatchers who are required to assess situations before officers 

can arrive on the scene. Often, a law enforcement dispatcher is the 

victim’s first contact with someone who can help. It is essential 

that they be highly trained and prepared to help, reassure, and 

comfort that scared, lonely voice on the other end of the telephone 

line. 

We have been the cornerstone of efforts to bring awareness, as 

well as resources, to confronting the crime. As a result of proactive 

law enforcement addressing this type of crime, we have instilled 

confidence in women who are victims. The confidence that the 

criminal justice system will compassionately address their concerns 

has encouraged more women to call for needed help to break the 

circle of victim. 

Mr. Chairman, my own community of Tuscaloosa County has a 

population of approximately 180,000 and we have seen the number 

of domestic violence cases rise from 3,800 cases in 1997 to almost 

10 

5,600 cases last year. That increase is not a result of abusers seeking haven in Alabama, but rather a direct result of support systems 

that this Act provides to victims through community groups, law 

enforcement, prosecutors, and victims’ advocates. It is a result of 

a system that empowers the victim with the support and the confidence they need to report the crime and take action to protect 

themselves from further abuse. In other words, the Violence 

Against Women Act works. 

As a first responder, law enforcement officers need the tools to 

effectively assess and diffuse domestic violence situations. The responding officers are also the ones who have to initiate contact 

with the victims’ service agencies and many times the medical 

services. It is the uniformed officer who arrives on the scene that 

must set the tone of the subsequent interaction between the victims of violence, the criminal justice system, and the victims’ service agencies. The victims who have had their self-esteem damaged 

by the crime of violence lean on the uniformed officer to help them 

in an often intimidating first step of finding a way out of the situation. 

In addition and perhaps more frustrating to the front-line officer, 

he is the individual who is called upon repeatedly to answer the 

calls of domestic violence. The first officer on the scene is with the 

victim as she negotiates the criminal justice system. 

Like many areas of government, law enforcement is called upon 

to provide more services with fewer resources. Domestic violence is 

an area where our communities cannot afford to lose our vigilance. 

Quoting the DOJ statistics, intimate partner violence made up 20 

percent of all non-fatal violence against females in 2001. Among 

women who report having been raped, physically assaulted, or 

stalked since they were 18 years old, 60 percent were victimized by 

a husband, cohabitating partner, boyfriend, or date. The FBI has 

documented that since 1976 to 2002, one-third of all female murder 

victims were killed by an intimate partner. In my county, almost 

half the murders committed last year were related to domestic violence. That is unacceptable and why we need the continuing support of this Act. 

The National Sheriffs’ Association recognizes that violence 

against children is a growing problem, as well. Again, speaking 

from the experience of my agency, we have responded to horrific 

crimes. One that I will never forget is a case where a man shot 

three infant children in the head and then turned the gun on their 

mother before killing himself. Another that I will not forget is a 

case where a boyfriend of a young mother fired shots at her before 

barricading himself in the house and shooting her teenage daughter as she hid in a closet. These are scenes that no law enforcement 

officer who responded will ever forget, and they are scenes that unfortunately are being played out every day throughout this country. 

One continuing frustration that NSA has been attempting to address is the interoperability of information sources. A fully functioning system would allow deputies to access information regarding restraining orders and orders of protection from abuse issued 

in other States. This so-called data interoperability will also allow 

deputies to better assess whether children passing through the 

State in the custody of an adult are in danger. With so many missVerDate Aug 31 2005 10:59 Jan 29, 2009 Jkt 046016 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 S:\GPO\HEARINGS\46016.TXT SJUD1 PsN: CMORC
11 

ing children reports, Amber alerts, any tool that can help law enforcement is most welcome. 

Most areas of the country are now faced with a multicultural and 

usually multi-lingual community. This raises a new issue for law 

enforcement, how to deal with violence against women among an 

immigrant population unfamiliar with our legal system, unsure of 

local law enforcement, and completely unprepared to leave their 

spouse or partner for fear that they will have no assistance whatsoever. Reaching this growing number of women is the challenge that 

faces us in coming years. Training programs that address this particular issue are needed to help us prepare to meet the challenge. 

The work and training of these law enforcement first responders 

requires a financial commitment. The reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act means that needed funds will be appropriated to assist law enforcement and others to deal effectively 

with this terrible crime of violence. 

Chairman SPECTER. Thank you very much, Sheriff Sexton. 

[The prepared statement of Sheriff Sexton appears as a submission for the record.] 

Chairman SPECTER. Director Stuart, in your testimony, you note 

the importance of biennial reporting, but our records show that 

only one of the nine required reports have been submitted by your 

office. Let me ask you, how soon do you think you could submit the 

other eight reports? 

Ms. STUART. I thank you for that, Senator. I want to reassure 

you that we are working on them very steadily. There are many 

that are in the process of—some that have left our office— 

Chairman SPECTER. Director Stuart, how soon? 

Ms. STUART. How soon? Very soon. 

Chairman SPECTER. Well, I will not ask you a third time, but it 

is, candidly, a little disconcerting when we all know the importance 

of the reports and only one of nine has been submitted. See if you 

can let us have them within the next 30 days. 

Ms. STUART. We will certainly do our best. Thank you. 

Chairman SPECTER. Director Stuart, I note the very heavy incidence of battering of Indian women. Almost one out of three Indian 

women will be raped. Indian women are shown to be three times 

as likely as non-Natives to be battered. And I am pleased to note, 

again through Senator Biden’s leadership, that this reauthorization 

creates a Deputy Director of Tribal Affairs within your office. 

A two-part question. Why are the Indian women so much at risk, 

and what will this new office enable you to do about it? 

Ms. STUART. We are presently, I think, trying to respond to that 

unbelievably difficult problem. It is a fact— 

Chairman SPECTER. What accounts for it? 

Ms. STUART. Probably many things, certainly isolation, certainly 

the inability of individuals to find out information of where to go— 

Chairman SPECTER. And what is your plan of attack with this 

new office? 

Ms. STUART. Well, in several ways. First of all, as I mentioned 

in my opening statement, to combine the tribal programs into one 

program, I think would really help tribes who are seeking out to 

try to figure out how to end this problem and who want to do what 

they can but don’t either, A, know how, or B, have too many reVerDate Aug 31 2005 10:59 Jan 29, 2009 Jkt 046016 PO 00000 Frm 00017 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 S:\GPO\HEARINGS\46016.TXT SJUD1 PsN: CMORC
12 

strictions to follow. So this one program would pull together and 

help them ease the way so they could get the resources that they 

need. There is certainly lack of resources within tribal nations and 

within reservations. 

Chairman SPECTER. Let me skip to another subject, Director Stuart, because of our limited time. The most recent report from the 

Bureau of Justice Statistics shows that 15 percent of intimate partner violence is defined as non-violent victimizations against men. 

As Senator Biden has noted, the Violence Against Women Act applies to domestic violence irrespective of gender. What efforts are 

being made by your Department to protect men as well as women? 

Ms. STUART. Certainly, men are eligible for services provided 

under the grant programs within the Office on Violence Against 

Women. Approximately 12 percent of our victims, according to the 

statistics that we are getting in now, are men, and more than 

half—well, no, the majority of our grant programs, certainly more 

than half, are serving men. So men are being served and they are 

receiving those services through our grant programs as we speak. 

Chairman SPECTER. Sheriff Sexton, I note your testimony about 

the number of domestic violence cases has increased enormously in 

your jurisdiction from 1997 to the year 2004, and you attribute that 

to greater sensitivity so that women will report what has happened. 

Sheriff SEXTON. Yes, sir. 

Chairman SPECTER. I am pleased to see you attribute that in 

part to the statute which we have. I am pleased to see so much 

media attention here today, because a big part of this issue is letting women know that they do have rights— 

Ms. STUART. That is right. 

Chairman SPECTER.—and that they can respond and that there 

are agencies which are available to protect them. Do you think any 

increase in domestic violence has been occasioned by the fact that 

Jeffrey Sessions is no longer Attorney General of Alabama but has 

been spending his time as Senator in Washington, D.C.? 

Sheriff SEXTON. He has trained some very able individuals to follow behind him, sir, one that now serves on the 11th Circuit Court 

of Appeals. 

Chairman SPECTER. Well, we are glad he is here, although we 

don’t want to see these murder rates and these violence cases spiral. 

My red light is about to go on. I yield now to my colleague, Senator Biden. 

Senator BIDEN. Thank you very much. 

If there is any regret I have about this legislation, it is that so 

many men think that it doesn’t apply to them. There is a very active gentleman in my state who has been on a crusade—I say that 

positively, not negatively—to, quote, ‘‘include men.’’ Men are included. Men are covered in this legislation. I think part of the problem is that it is part of a culture among men not to report, as well. 

So I think we should be making that more attractive for men to 

understand they can access these same services. I am going to, for 

the record, submit a much longer statement on that, Mr. Chairman. 

13 

But one of the areas that we go back and focus on, this is—we 

are trying not to commit the sin we all commit when we are here 

long enough, and that is if it was invented by you, you stay with 

it and you don’t change it. We are trying to figure out what portions of the Act we can make work better, what portions of the Act 

in the past weren’t that useful, and we have, in effect, retrofitted 

this. This is a new, improved version of what we passed before, and 

there are a couple of provisions, and I just, in the brief time we 

have, I want to pursue with you, Ms. Stuart, and that is in the 

area of stalking. 

The jurisdictions in the States where they have stalking laws 

that say the burden is on—if there is a ‘‘stay away’’ order issued 

by a State, and the stalking, the person is told to stay away, meaning it can be, depending on the order, you can’t come within 1,000 

feet or you can’t come within a certain amount of space of the person who you have been stalking, if, in fact, it occurs in some States, 

the man or the woman, whoever is doing the stalking, automatically gets thrown in jail, bingo. The burden is on them to prove 

that they weren’t attempting to intimidate. 

Federal law doesn’t say that, and the amendment that was incorporated in the Violence Against Women Act, and he is not here, but 

Secretary Cohen, our former Secretary of Defense, was a major 

player in helping me formulate this portion of the legislation in the 

past. 

What we do here is we change, because the number of stalkings 

that occur across State lines, which give it Federal jurisdiction— 

a ‘‘stay away’’ order in Delaware, the person works in Pennsylvania, the stalker moves from Wilmington, Delaware, across the 

State line to Pennsylvania and intimidates or stalks that person, 

the States get into who has jurisdiction. This gives you jurisdiction. 

And so my question is, if you haven’t looked at it already, I 

would like you to look specifically at the provision in the bill to 

make sure you guys are signed on to the heightened standard or 

the change in standard we placed in the bill, okay? 

Ms. STUART. You have tapped on, Senator, an unbelievably difficult problem. How do you show that the stalking has been happening? And it has been mentioned earlier that people just don’t 

have the information that they need, well, to, one, recognize they 

are being stalked. I mean, how many times someone would say, 

you know, that behavior is stalking behavior and we need to do 

something about it. They are just being annoyed. They are just 

being harassed, and it is stalking and we need to look at it very, 

very seriously. I appreciate the fact that you have brought it up. 

Senator BIDEN. Well, Senator Specter and I changed the language in the bill slightly. I won’t, in the interest of time, go into 

it now. I would appreciate the Department making sure they scrub 

it so we don’t get to the floor and find out there is some objection 

to that. 

Secondly, with regard to the Sheriff, and by the way, Jeff Sessions obviously is right. He knows you well. I have gotten to know 

you, as well. The sheriffs, more than any other law enforcement 

agency, are the folks who everybody in the neighborhood and the 

community knows, and most of you stand for election and you are 

14 

known and it is a big deal that you would take this kind of leadership here. I want to tell you how much I appreciate it. 

But tell me about why you think, if you can in a moment—my 

time is up—the funds allowing you to train your personnel in this 

area are useful or important. 

Sheriff SEXTON. The simple fact is we still lose a lot of police officers every year to responding to domestic violence calls. This is an 

extremely dangerous call for us, and as you mentioned earlier, the 

cycle continues. You cut your grass one week—we have new officers 

coming in constantly. We have the older officers that go to investigations come back. So the training that our officers receive nationwide is extremely important, but this is still one of the most 

deadly calls that our officers go on. To be able to expand the training to the dispatchers to be able to tell us, then give us more specific information about what is going on and the ability of many 

CAD systems to be able to know the call history, that is all important information to us, weapons and the history of abuse that has 

been prior to, as well as one of those issues you just talked about 

that we are having a problem with, which is the interstate protective orders or the protection from abuse. That is a major issue for 

us. 

Senator BIDEN. Thank you very much. My time is up. Thank you, 

Mr. Chairman. 

Chairman SPECTER. Thank you, Senator Biden. 

Senator Sessions? 

Senator SESSIONS. Thank you. Senator Biden, those were some 

excellent points. 

With regard, Mr. Sexton, to how your officers respond to a domestic violence situation, hasn’t it been true in the past that sometimes in the emotion of the moment or the fear of an officer that 

the woman might say, if she is the victim, ‘‘Well, don’t arrest my 

husband and don’t do anything. It is going to be all right.’’ How are 

you now training your officers to handle that situation? 

Sheriff SEXTON. Senator Sessions, I believe you helped write the 

bill in Alabama, but in Alabama, if there is a probable cause for 

the officer to believe that domestic violence has occurred, it is a 

mandatory arrest of— 

Senator SESSIONS. And so you have trained your officers now 

that if the victim is backing back and doesn’t want to press 

charges, that they should press charges. 

Director Stuart, how has the Act helped in encouraging women 

to report violence and do you think—I think that has been a critical part of the success that we have seen, is women’s ability to report and the fact that a police officer doesn’t walk away even if the 

victim is maybe suggesting no prosecution is in order. 

Sheriff SEXTON. Sir, a report will at least be made, and if there 

is any probable cause to believe that she was abused, there will be 

a mandatory arrest. 

Ms. STUART. Senator, I think the spirit of the Violence Against 

Women Act, which is, as I mentioned in my opening statement, a 

coordinated community response, is part of the way or the method 

or the vehicle by which women are becoming aware that they can 

report. In other words, it is not just, I am going to go to a law enforcement officer and I am going to tell him about what happened 

15 

to me, but I also have an advocate on my side who is helping me 

understand what his system is and what his system does. And I 

am going to go to the medical facility and I am going to tell a doctor what happened because I have an advocate on my side that is 

going to help me through all that. 

So it is the advocate talking to the law enforcement officer, talking to the prosecutor, even talking to the judge and bringing everybody together so that she is, the person that has been victimized 

understands that they have the resources out there. I mean, Senator Specter said it. There are laws that can help and it is a crime. 

So with someone on her side, she is able to go through that system, 

whatever it is, and know to expect what is going to happen in the 

court session, how is it going to happen, is he going to go to jail, 

how am I going to be safe, who is going to help me stay safe, the 

transitional housing that Senator Leahy mentioned. All of these 

things come in. And when a community brings all of the elements 

together, then, frankly, individuals are safer. 

Senator SESSIONS. I visited such a coalition in southeast Alabama a couple years ago, and you had mental health people there, 

you had the law enforcement, the prosecutors, the judge, one of the 

district judges was there, hospital people, the human services counselors and those kind of people, in addition to the safe house, private contributions that have been raised in the community to create a safe house for women so they do have a place to go, which 

they haven’t had in the past. 

I think a lot of progress has been made. I just want to dig into 

these numbers a little bit, Director Stuart. Sheriff Sexton noted 

that his arrests are up. His complaints are up. And we had over 

a half-a-million victims last year of domestic violence and almost 

2,000 rapes and assaults were reported. However, you note that in 

the past 10 years, the rate of domestic violence, according to the, 

I believe it is the victims’ survey, is that— 

Ms. STUART. The Crime Victimization Survey, yes. 

Senator SESSIONS. —the Crime Victimization Survey, which 

many say is the best survey rather than just arrests, and we will 

get at that subject right now. It surveys all over America to ask 

who has been victimized in the last year. It showed a domestic violence decline rate of 59 percent and a rape and sexual assault decline rate of 68 percent. That is pretty dramatic. 

Do you think that this effort that has been ongoing here as part 

of the Act that Senator Biden and Senator Specter and others have 

moved and the information that is out there, the safe houses that 

are out there, the fact that police officers now are not walking 

away from scenes but actually arresting people, taking them to jail, 

that this has actually resulted in a real decline in some of these 

assaults? 

Ms. STUART. Certainly, all of those factors come together, and 

when they all come together, the end result is that more are reporting and more arrests are being made, more orders of protection 

are being enforced. It can’t be any one thing. Not one person is responsible for making an end to violence against women. It is everybody doing their part, and so it is all of these factors coming in. 

Certainly, the Act has been a strong leader, standing up there, 

showing the Nation that this is the way we need to go and we need 

16 

to work together to end violence against women. So I think it is 

many things. But certainly the Act has been the leader. 

Senator SESSIONS. I don’t think there is any doubt that the combination of the fact that judges, a lot of them were insensitive in 

the past. Fewer of them are insensitive today. Most sheriffs and 

chiefs of police have been trained in how to handle these situations. 

The situation is much kinder. They have safe houses and places 

that women can go. I just think the prosecutors are more attuned 

to it and the laws are better. So I think a lot of these things that 

have occurred have helped actually make a reduction in some of 

these terrible crimes and I salute everybody who has been a part 

of it. It is something that we too often fail to celebrate, the progress 

that gets made. 

Ms. STUART. I agree. 

Chairman SPECTER. Thank you very much, Senator Sessions. 

Thank you, Director Stuart and Sheriff Sexton. We appreciate 

your being here, and thank you for your testimony. 

Chairman SPECTER. We turn now to our second panel and our 

first witness is Ms. Lynn Rosenthal, the Executive Director of the 

National Network to End Domestic Violence, a nationwide organization of State domestic violence coalitions which supports more 

than 2,500 local service providers. Ms. Rosenthal was recently 

named President of the National Network to End Domestic Violence, which has enabled her to travel around the country with 

community leaders, advocates, and survivors. It certainly gives her 

hands-on experience with this pressing problem. 

Ms. Rosenthal, I know we have rushed you to the witness table, 

but if you are ready to begin, or if you want a moment to collect 

yourself— 

Ms. ROSENTHAL. I am ready, Senator. 

Chairman SPECTER. Okay. Thank you for being here, and the 

floor is yours. 

STATEMENT OF LYNN ROSENTHAL, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, 

NATIONAL NETWORK TO END DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, WASHINGTON, D.C. 

Ms. ROSENTHAL. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Senator Biden, and 

members of the Committee. Thank you for inviting me here today 

to talk about the successes and the future of the Violence Against 

Women Act. 

I was a shelter director in 1993, right before VAWA first passed 

Congress, and I never could have imagined the changes that were 

about to occur. I never could have imagined the local sheriff who 

would go from saying there was no domestic violence in his county 

to asking what he could do to be a leader in the fight to stop it. 

I never could have imagined that law enforcement officers, prosecutors, victim advocates, and survivors would sit down at the table 

together to develop model policies to address domestic violence. Yet 

all this happened and more. But still, our shelters are full, our hotlines are ringing off the hook, and just one day’s look at the headlines tells us that this problem is still with us. 

From the workplace to the schoolyard, violence against women 

spills out into our streets and local communities. The tremendous 

needs uncovered by this Committee more than a decade ago have 

17 

begun to be addressed, but now is not the time to retreat. The 

issues that we face at the State and local level have become more, 

and not less, complex. 

So I recommend that you do three things in VAWA reauthorization. First, shore up existing services and programs. The STOP 

grants are the centerpiece of existing VAWA programs. These formula grants to the States bring together law enforcement, prosecutors, victim advocates, and the courts to develop a coordinated response to the violence. 

For example, in Wisconsin, STOP grant funds helped support 50 

community response teams, and one advocate in Wisconsin said 

that because of STOP grants, the doors were literally thrown open 

so that victim advocates and law enforcement could work together 

to better serve victims. 

But one of the problems I see when I travel around the country 

is that VAWA really trained this whole generation of leaders—police officers, judges, shelter workers—but those folks are now leaving the system, just normal attrition, but as they leave, we are in 

real danger that the guiding principles of VAWA, victim safety and 

offender accountability, will leave with them. So this next round of 

VAWA really has to be about institutionalizing the best practices 

that have evolved over the past decade. 

Second, we ask that you ensure that the needs of uniquely vulnerable populations are being addressed. In rural communities, a 

victim might live hundreds of miles from the closest courthouse, 

shelter, hospital emergency room. VAWA funding has helped address these challenges. 

I worked on a VAWA grant in rural north Florida and we started 

17 domestic violence task forces in counties that previously had no 

services at all. In Iowa, Texas, Pennsylvania, Nebraska, and 

Vermont, VAWA funding has dramatically improved the services 

available to victims in rural communities. But it is not just rural 

victims who need help. Older women, disabled individuals, native 

women, immigrants, these are all individuals who face additional 

barriers in addressing domestic violence. 

Third, we ask that you provide opportunities for victims to rebuild their lives. Although domestic violence is fundamentally a 

criminal justice system problem, the criminal justice system alone 

cannot help victims gain long-term security for themselves and 

their children, and we can’t talk about long-term security unless we 

talk about the dramatic connection between domestic violence and 

homelessness. 

A staggering 92 percent of homeless women have been victims of 

severe physical or sexual abuse at some time in their lives. The 

U.S. Conference on Mayors has identified domestic violence as a 

leading cause of homelessness among women. And women themselves tell us time and time again that they stay in a dangerous 

situation because they simply have no place else to go. 

And it is not just lack of housing resources, although that is a 

significant problem. It is also housing policies themselves that put 

victims in additional danger. Just last month, Dorthea Thomas was 

shot by her ex-boyfriend in her apartment in Jacksonville, North 

Carolina. After being shot once, she tried to escape by hurling herself from the second story balcony. Her boyfriend shot her five 

18 

more times. And she came home from the hospital five days later 

to a notice from her landlord that she had violated her lease by 

being too loud. 

Women are being evicted or denied housing for calling the police, 

filing protective orders, or even simply calling for help, and this 

brings us right back to the criminal justice system. If victims are 

afraid to reach out for help for fear of losing their housing, our efforts to strengthen the criminal justice protections of VAWA are 

undermined. 

It is VAWA 2005 that can change these dangerous practices and 

bring justice to victims. Thank you very much. 

Chairman SPECTER. Thank you very much, Ms. Rosenthal. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Rosenthal appears as a submission for the record.] 

Chairman SPECTER. We now turn to Ms. Mary Lou Leary, Director of the National Center for Victims. Her extensive experience in 

the field has been U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, 

served as Acting Assistant Attorney General of the Office of Justice 

Programs, and oversaw the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office for 

Victims of Crime and Office of Violence Against Women. She has 

a law degree from Northeastern University, a Master’s from Ohio 

State, and a Bachelor’s degree from Syracuse. 

Thank you very much for coming in today, Ms. Leary. We look 

forward to your testimony. 

STATEMENT OF MARY LOU LEARY, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NATIONAL CENTER FOR VICTIMS OF CRIME, WASHINGTON, D.C. 

Ms. LEARY. Thank you very much, Senator Specter. Good morning to you, Chairman Specter, and to the other members of the 

Committee. On behalf of the National Center for Victims of Crime, 

we really appreciate this opportunity to talk to you about this very 

important piece of legislation. 

The National Center has over 20 years of experience working on 

violence against women issues. Approximately 50 percent of all the 

calls that come to our national toll-free help line involve sexual assault, stalking, domestic and dating violence. 

Our Stalking Resource Center, which is funded by the Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women, has trained 

thousands of criminal justice officials and victim service providers 

on how best to combat the deadly crime of stalking. 

Let me tell you, when you want to understand the impact of 

VAWA, I think it can best be illustrated through the lives that it 

has changed, including the life of Donna, an incredibly courageous 

woman with whom the National Center works. Donna was a victim 

of stalking, marital rape, and horrific domestic violence for over a 

decade. Her story, which is detailed in my written testimony, gives 

a dramatic before and after picture of the impact of VAWA. 

Before VAWA, the system simply failed Donna. But VAWA has 

transformed our country’s response to victims and today, as a result of that, Donna is safe, she is strong, and, in fact, she is the 

founder of the country’s first support group for stalking victims, 

and she also happens to be one of the best trainers we have working with our Stalking Resource Center. 

19 

Because you have heard from others today about the impact of 

VAWA on domestic and dating violence, I am going to focus my remarks on stalking and sexual assault. In that regard, VAWA has 

encouraged great collaborations between criminal justice, victims’ 

service, health care, and other professionals. It has trained thousands of front-line professionals about sexual violence and stalking. 

It has funded special prosecutors and police units to respond to 

sexual assault and stalking. And it has funded rape prevention and 

education programs. 

VAWA 2005 would reauthorize these successful programs, but 

even more importantly, it would provide a more comprehensive approach to violence against women. 

Two years ago, the National Center and some of our colleagues 

conducted a survey and examined the gaps in services to victims 

of sexual assault. We surveyed the field, and overwhelmingly, sexual assault programs told us that they were desperately short of 

the funds that they need to help victims. 

We heard about waiting lists for counseling in Illinois, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and many other States. In some 

places, victims are actually being placed in group counseling just 

to give them some kind of support while they are waiting for the 

availability of individual counseling. We have to make sure that 

when victims of sexual assault reach out to us, they find the help 

they need. 

Many of this Committee’s members come from States that have 

large rural areas, and we heard Senator Biden speak about that 

before. Rape crisis centers in such areas across the country are 

really struggling to serve multiple counties with very little staff. 

Many rural areas have no services at all. In some parts of Arizona, 

rape victims have to travel an average of 250 miles to get to the 

closest rape crisis center. And in Iowa, they are traveling for over 

100 miles just to get services after that kind of trauma. In many 

places, victims simply cannot make that trip, so they suffer alone. 

Rape crisis centers also told us that while their communities include many underserved populations, such as racial and ethnic minorities, victims with disabilities, they have no funds at all to extend their outreach or to develop specialized services. 

In response to this overwhelming need, VAWA 2005 would provide increased resources to serve sexual assault victims. For instance, for the first time, a dedicated Federal funding stream for 

sexual assault programs through the proposed Sexual Assault 

Services Act, SASA, that would provide direct services for sexual 

assault victims, would also promote targeted services to reach 

these special underserved populations. It would also help the Native American community, where, as we heard before, Native 

American women experience sexual assault at a rate nearly double 

that of other women. But services for them are sorely lacking. 

VAWA would also include a set-aside for services to rural sexual 

assault victims. It would improve our response to stalking by 

amending two Federal code provisions used to prosecute them. And 

those amendments would allow prosecutors to keep pace with 

changing technology and would redefine the harm a victim must 

sustain before the Act constitutes stalking. 

20 

My time today does not allow me to touch on all of the many 

other important provisions of the bill that you and your colleagues 

have crafted so carefully, but the National Center wants to commend this Committee for its continuing dedication to ending violence against women. We especially thank Chairman Specter, Senators Biden and Hatch for their longstanding commitment to this 

issue. 

I really believe that with the support of Congress and particularly with the front-line work of thousands of advocates and criminal justice professionals across this country, Americans can be confident that we will build on the success, expand our reach, and 

work to end sexual assault, stalking, and domestic violence in this 

country. Thank you. 

Chairman SPECTER. Thank you, Ms. Leary. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Leary appears as a submission 

for the record.] 

Chairman SPECTER. We have been joined by Senator Hatch, himself the former Chairman of this Committee. It is worth noting that 

we have many Committees meeting simultaneously, so it is just not 

possible for all Senators to be present at all hearings. I would like 

to yield now to Senator Hatch for an opening statement. He is the 

principal cosponsor of the legislation. 

STATEMENT OF HON. ORRIN G. HATCH, A U.S. SENATOR FROM 

THE STATE OF UTAH 

Senator HATCH. Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman. I welcome 

all of you to the Committee and I apologize I couldn’t be here right 

off the bat because I was over in the energy conference over in the 

House. I did have to appear there for a while, and I got here as 

soon as I could. 

But I want to thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding this hearing. 

This is a very important hearing, as far as I am concerned. I would 

like to say just a few words on behalf of this legislation. 

I would also like to thank my dear colleague, Senator Biden from 

Delaware, without whose leadership we wouldn’t be as far along as 

we are and maybe this Act would never have become law if it 

hadn’t been for his leadership, so I am very grateful to him and for 

all that he has done. We have had a great relationship and a 

friendship through all these years and we are both going to continue to fight together, along with our distinguished Chairman who 

also is a strong supporter of this legislation. 

I might add that Senator Biden’s advocacy has raised the national awareness of these issues very, very much. I proudly cosponsored this legislation with him and have helped to fight it through 

back in 1994 and the year 2000, and because of its successes, we 

worked to reauthorize VAWA as two people, along with a lot of others in the Senate and House who really believe in this work. 

VAWA has succeeded for two very important reasons. First, it 

sends a powerful message that domestic violence is a national problem. And second, it provides a coordinated approach to domestic violence, one respectful of State authority that brings together Federal agencies with local law enforcement and service providers. 

Prior to VAWA, domestic violence and sexual assault were 

under-reported and under-enforced. These were under-reported and 

21 

under-enforced crimes, and I am pleased that VAWA has helped to 

turn that around. It really has made a great difference. I am convinced of that. In short, VAWA has contributed to a sea change in 

our attitude toward these crimes. 

The most recent National Crime Victimization Survey showed 

that non-fatal violent victimizations declined by 49 percent for 

women between 1993 and 2001. Incidents of rape were down 60 

percent since 1992, and attempted rape is down by 57 percent. I 

recognize that there are probably a number of factors that have 

contributed to these steep declines, but there is no doubt in my 

mind that VAWA has been an important one of those factors. 

In my own home State of Utah, our Domestic Violence Council 

recently reported that the State now has 22 local coalitions or coordinating councils addressing domestic violence and covering 

every county in our State. There are now 16 shelter programs and 

40 domestic violence victim advocate programs in my State of 

Utah. We now have 59 licensed domestic violence treatment providers, and in 2004, there were 38 separate programs in Utah supported by VAWA funding. In some of the small communities in my 

State, even limited VAWA assistance can mean the difference between staying in a violent home or being able to go to a shelter for 

the night. 

I started what is known as the Utah Families Foundation. We 

have given millions of dollars over the years to every program for 

women in jeopardy and battered women’s shelter in Utah, as well 

as children’s programs. I feel so deeply about this. 

I have seen what VAWA is capable of doing in my own home 

State and I am convinced that this legislation is deserving of reauthorization and expansion for another five years. But in my opinion, we still have a long way to go. According to the recent Bureau 

of Justice Statistics report, 40 percent of domestic violence cases go 

unreported. And in Utah in 2004, 1,592 families requesting shelter 

had to be referred to other communities because the local shelter 

was full. 

In spite of all of our efforts, in 2004, 23 Utah citizens lost their 

lives to family or dating violence. Now, that is simply unacceptable. 

We have turned the corner, but there is still no doubt in my 

mind there is much heavy lifting to do, and I understand that there 

are some who remain critical of VAWA. They believe that this is 

a State issue. I understand this belief, but I respectfully have to 

disagree. As a conservative, I understand the limits on Federal 

power. I not only believe that the reach of the Federal Government 

is limited by the Constitution, but I also understand that, as a 

practical matter, the Federal Government is not capable of remedying every social ill. Domestic violence remains a State crime 

that requires a local approach and the role of the Federal Government is necessarily limited. But domestic violence remains a serious criminal issue that demands a limited Federal response. 

When people live in fear, when they are not safe in their own 

homes, when they have to worry about their children growing up 

in a violent atmosphere, we do not keep the promise of America. 

We cannot turn our backs on these vulnerable communities and we 

should never turn our backs on the small or weak. 

22 

That being said, I welcome other voices into this debate. VAWA 

has always been bipartisan legislation, but when it first became 

law, there was not as much conservative engagement with the 

issue as there is today. I am glad to see that groups of varying political stripes are becoming involved in this issue. 

Domestic violence is not something that can be solved by any one 

approach. As with most policies, a wide array of ideas contributes 

to better legislation. I welcome, personally, all voices in making 

VAWA a better bill and its programs more effective. 

Finally, I want to welcome all of those testifying today, but I do 

want to single out Diane Stuart. Today, she is the Director of the 

Office of Violence Against Women, but her roots are in Utah. Prior 

to her appointment, Ms. Stuart was the State Coordinator for the 

Utah Domestic Violence Cabinet Council. She has worked as a domestic violence victim advocacy specialist in the Division of Child 

and Family Services for the State of Utah and is the Executive Director of the Battered Women’s Shelter and Rape Crisis Center in 

Logan, Utah, where she had hands-on experience. She worked in 

the trenches trying to combat domestic violence, and I am proud 

of the work that she has done in Utah and nationally. 

I just want to say I am also proud of you, Ms. Rosenthal, for the 

work you are doing, you, Ms. Leary, for the tremendous work you 

are doing, Mr. Carr, all of the law enforcement people who are appearing today, and Salma Hayek. I have been a fan for a long time. 

I just want you to know that it makes a real difference to these 

issues when people like yourself, who are well known, well loved, 

and well respected take the time to come and become an advocate 

for women. So I am grateful to have you here and just want you 

to know that we appreciate you coming, and I am appreciative of 

you, Mr. Chairman, for giving me this time. 

Chairman SPECTER. Thank you very much, Senator Hatch. 

We now turn to Mr. M.L. Carr, former NBA player and coach, 

currently President and CEO of the youth foundation called 

WARM2Kids, a charitable foundation which offers unique celebrity 

visits and lessons for life and rewards for team role models with 

scholarship opportunities. He is also a board member of the Family 

Violence Prevention Fund. 

Thank you for coming today, Mr. Carr, and we look forward to 

your testimony. 

Senator HATCH. Mr. Chairman, can I just say one thing? I have 

been a big fan for years, and I will tell you, you have made such 

a big difference in so many lives. I have watched you a lot of times 

and just want you to know that. 

STATEMENT OF M.L. CARR, PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, WARM2KIDS, AND SPOKESPERSON, FAMILY 

VIOLENCE PREVENTION FUND, SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA 

Mr. CARR. Thank you so much. That is great coming from somebody from Utah. 

[Laughter.] 

Senator HATCH. What do you mean by that? You are not against 

the Jazz, are you? 

Mr. CARR. I thought there would be a comment about Malone— 

23 

[Laughter.] 

Mr. CARR. Thank you so much for that. Good morning. My name 

is M.L. Carr and I would like to thank you, Chairman Specter and 

Senator Biden, for holding this hearing and for allowing me to address this critically important issue. 

I greatly appreciate your efforts, combined with the efforts of 

you, Senator Hatch, to introduce the Violence Against Women Act 

of 2005. I commend all of you on your longstanding commitment to 

ending violence against women. 

Some of you may recognize me from my days with the Champion 

Boston Celtics, but today, I speak to you as President and CEO of 

a company called WARM2Kids. WARM2Kids is an online educational tool based on youth development and mentoring programs. 

Our focus on prevention and active discussion is what brings me 

here. 

Today, I also speak to you on behalf of the Family Violence Prevention Fund. As a board member, I have learned so much about 

the ever-present issue of violence against women. 

WARM2Kids works with Family Violence Prevention Fund and 

the National High School Athletic Coaches Association to create the 

‘‘Coaching Boys Into Men Playbook,’’ a book that details the activism called for in the Coaching Boys Into Men public service campaign, developed in partnership with the Advertising Council and 

the Waitt Family Foundation. 

My focal points today are several new provisions in the Violence 

Against Women Act of 2005, especially those focusing on prevention and the ways in which adults, particularly men, can serve as 

role models to other men and young boys. There are two main 

ideas that seem prominent to me in the new provisions, and they 

are prevention, which I believe means opening active dialogue 

about an issue before it becomes a problem, and adults, especially 

men, as role models. 

The name of my company, WARM2Kids, is an acronym for We 

are All Role Models to Kids. I truly believe that, and that is also 

why I am here today. Some of us have had a greater opportunity 

to shape the lives of young people. As a professional basketball 

player and coach, I saw firsthand the opportunity that sports figures and coaches can have to influence youth, and I saw what can 

happen when they do not have positive role models. VAWA 2005 

aims to open the necessary dialogue and extends the opportunity 

to shape the lives of our children’s future to every concerned adult. 

See, basketball is all about numbers. If you don’t put up impressive numbers, you are not going to be champions. Here are some 

numbers I want to leave with you. Up to ten million children witness domestic violence annually, with tragic results. They are much 

more likely to become both victims and perpetrators of violence. 

They also experience notably increased rates of depression, suicide, 

drug and alcohol use, as well as a higher rate of incarceration. 

Two-thirds of all sexual assaults happen against children under the 

age of 18. The highest rate of domestic violence exists among young 

people between the ages of 16 and 24. These are not good numbers 

that you want to have up on your board. We should find, and we 

need to find champions, like all the people behind VAWA, to work 

against these statistics. 

24 

Our young people are witnessing violence, experiencing violence, 

and in many cases, growing up to perpetrate the same violence 

they witness in their families and in their communities. We can no 

longer be satisfied with locking people up and saying they didn’t 

get away with it. If the violent act did happen, then they have already gotten away with it, according to the victim. We must end 

violence before it starts. 

The new VAWA helps us to do that. It provides program funding 

for children who have grown up witnessing violence, support for 

families at risk for violence, and for the first time, it targets resources toward men and boys to help change the behavior and attitude of other young men. 

See, this is my life’s work. The mission of my company, 

WARM2Kids, is to inform, instruct, and inspire our youth to make 

positive life decisions. But today, you are my focus. We can inform 

the world that violence can be prevented. The Family Violence Prevention Fund is here because VAWA provides a means to instruct 

all of us in the development and support of innovative programs 

that make the connection between adults and children. Together, 

we can inspire our youth and our nation to stop the violence. 

Lives will be changed when we get behind this effort. Let me 

give you some more numbers. In November 2001, 29 percent of 

men were talking to their sons about violence against women. That 

number has increased to 41 percent today. The progress shows that 

efforts like VAWA are working, but no one, not one of us that are 

speaking here today, will rest until that championship number is 

attained, 100 percent. 

We need VAWA to target specific programs to young people and 

give adults in their lives—parents, teachers, coaches, mentors—the 

tools to teach alternatives to violence. Teachers and principals are 

telling us that they don’t know what to do when they witness a violent dating relationship. Parents are telling us that they want to 

talk to their kids, but don’t know how. That isn’t good enough. We 

can no longer ignore the trend. 

I am going to leave you with a few more numbers. Nineteenninety-four, the original legislation was introduced and you got behind it. Two-thousand, adding services for people with disabilities, 

immigrants, rural and elderly women, once again, you got behind 

it. The most important number, 2005—this is your chance to become a champion. 

I urge you to get behind the Violence Against Women Act of 

2005. Get behind this once again. You are all role models, and I 

thank you for allowing me to come speak. 

Chairman SPECTER. Thank you very much, Mr. Carr. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Carr appears as a submission for 

the record.] 

Senator BIDEN. Mr. Chairman, three seconds. I don’t know 

whether you are a Democrat or a Republican, but I hope you choose 

to come up here some day. 

[Laughter.] 

Mr. CARR. I was hoping to run for Vice President along with you. 

Senator BIDEN. Oh. 

[Laughter.] 

Mr. CARR. Thank you for that nice comment. Thank you. 

25 

Chairman SPECTER. Senator Biden has opened the door, Mr. 

Carr. Are you a resident of Massachusetts, before I endorse you? 

Mr. CARR. I am a resident of Massachusetts. 

Chairman SPECTER. Well, let me second Senator Biden’s endorsement. 

[Laughter.] 

Mr. CARR. You have two very able Senators in Senator Kennedy 

and Senator Kerry. 

Chairman SPECTER. We will now turn to our final witness, Ms. 

Salma Hayek, a celebrity, actress, 20 films, an Oscar nomination 

for her performance in ‘‘Friday.’’ She has utilized her status to be 

an advocate in the fight against violent crime. Working with the 

Avon Foundation on the Speak Out Against Domestic Violence Program, she has helped the awareness and prevention and support 

for victims. 

Thank you for joining us, Ms. Hayek, and we look forward to 

your testimony. 

STATEMENT OF SALMA HAYEK, AVON FOUNDATION, NEW 

YORK, NEW YORK 

Ms. HAYEK. Thank you very much. Good morning. First of all, I 

would like to say I am an actress and I really want to thank you, 

Chairman Specter and Senator Biden, for including my voice in 

this hearing. 

Not too long ago, a couple of months ago, I had to do some research for a part and I went to a women’s jail in California. I 

talked to 13 women that were in jail for life. They had a lifetime 

sentence. And my research had nothing to do with domestic violence at all. I was trying to get a little bit in the psychology of a 

criminal mind and murder, all this. And I was very surprised to 

see how crucial it was for every single one of these women, their 

background in domestic violence and sexual abuse—in most cases, 

both—how important those episodes of their lives were in them 

taking the journey that got them there. And I was completely distracted from my research because sitting with them personally, 

hearing them out, it was so moving and compelling. 

And then I asked myself, why am I surprised? I have been working with domestic violence for several years now. As you said, right 

now, I am part of the Avon Foundation in Speak Out Against Domestic Violence. I hear these numbers all the time. I know about 

these issues. Over 90 percent of women in jail are victims of domestic violence or sexual abuse. Over 80 percent of men in jail 

have a background of domestic violence. 

But certainly we hear the numbers, but when we think about domestic violence, the picture in our head, it is a battered woman. It 

is a broken home, a victim that has been beat up many times to 

death. I believe that this is the wrong image for domestic violence 

because the effect of what happens in that house, the violence 

spreads much further than the walls that contain that home. 

A lot of us think, you know—I, personally, I am not a victim of 

domestic violence. It is not in my background. But I care profoundly about this issue because we are all victims of this horrible 

epidemic as long as we live in a society that has such high numbers. One out of every three women has been a victim of domestic 

26 

violence. Imagine how many American families are participating in 

this epidemic. 

So I am a victim. Everybody can be a victim because what these 

kids learn in those homes, what they see, the association with violence and how it becomes part of their normality and later on part 

of their expression of themselves in society affects all of us. You 

don’t know if your child is going to be walking down the street and 

is going to be killed by somebody who had this unfortunate background. 

I believe that America very strongly strives to be a nation of security, safety, so that we hear about safety all the time. Safety, 

progress, and family values. However, one out of three women— 

Chairman SPECTER. Ms. Hayek, may I interrupt you for just a 

moment? They just started a vote, but I think our proceedings will 

be most orderly if I excuse myself and go to vote and return. 

Ms. HAYEK. Yes. 

Chairman SPECTER. Let me yield to Senator Hatch to conduct the 

hearing, calling next on Senator Biden and then Senator Hatch for 

questioning, and I will return momentarily. 

Senator BIDEN. But you can keep going. 

Ms. HAYEK. All right. Thank you. 

How can we feel safe if such a high percentage of American families don’t feel safe in their own home? What kind of values can the 

children of America’s future learn in a home where their mothers 

are broken down to lose completely their self-esteem, they are living in fear. Self-dignity, self-respect, and respect for others—these 

are not values that are taught in these homes. And how can they 

be productive to society when they are part of this background? So 

what I am saying has a lot to do with what you are saying, and 

how can we progress as a country? 

So I think that it is very important that we all participate in the 

fight against domestic violence, that we make these people know 

that we care. The private sector is doing its part and the nonprofit 

organizations are doing their part. It is so important that the government continues to do their part, because I see these as a tripod. 

We need to work in unity to keep it stable and balanced. 

If the government takes away one leg, the efforts of so many people and so much money that has gone in it will fall apart. Without 

the financial backing of the government, VAWA not only cannot 

continue to manage this crisis, but most importantly, it cannot 

transform it into productivity and progress. 

So I believe that to support American families’ right to stability 

and safety and hope and love, we must renew and continue to improve the Violence Against Women Act. Thank you very much. 

Senator HATCH. [Presiding.] Thank you so much. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Hayek appears as a submission 

for the record.] 

Senator HATCH. We will turn to Senator Biden for any questions 

he might have. 

Senator BIDEN. Thank you. I have a couple questions, but I will 

be very brief because your collective testimony was as good as I 

have heard on this subject. 

Salma, your testimony is compelling. At the risk of getting in a 

little bit of trouble, we always welcome the input of celebrities beVerDate Aug 31 2005 10:59 Jan 29, 2009 Jkt 046016 PO 00000 Frm 00032 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 S:\GPO\HEARINGS\46016.TXT SJUD1 PsN: CMORC
27 

cause it attracts attention to our issues that we care deeply about. 

But from my getting a chance to know you a little bit and hearing 

you today, it is obvious it means a great deal to you, and there is 

a big difference, a stark difference between a celebrity using their 

celebrity because they generically want to help and someone who 

feels it in their gut. I want to personally thank you. 

And M.L., you have had a heck of a career, and for you to take 

on this new effort, it is obviously not what you might call a big 

money maker and it is not something that is done for any other 

reason than your observation of what happens. 

The thing that you both said was your recognition of the direct 

connection between living in a home where violence is a daily practice and it becoming a learned behavior. Other than the Lord coming down and changing our brains so that they are not able to be 

stimulated by drugs, the most significant thing that could happen 

to change the culture of violence in the world, and I say the world 

because we have an international treaty which you have been 

pushing, which I won’t get to— 

Ms. HAYEK. Yes. 

Senator BIDEN.—that is in my other hat, my other Committee. 

But it is if we were able to change the circumstances in the home, 

literally. I think you both laid out how clearly there is a correlation 

between us being victims, those of us who, thank God, never were 

personally victims, we are all victims of this violence. 

But let me turn to the two folks I refer to as pros here. I just 

think your testimony about the change that has taken place since 

1994 when you were doing this is really compelling. I would like 

you both, and Mary Lou, you, as well, in the two-and-a-half minutes I have left, yield to you to speak to me a little bit about the 

stalking issue. 

Now, I know there are 100 issues we could talk about, and by 

the way, thank you for your help on the hotline and everything else 

you are doing, but talk to me about stalking, and if you have any 

examples based on States that you have worked in—you have 

worked in all 50—where there may be a better mousetrap that has 

been built than somewhere else and whether or not you think we 

address it sufficiently in this legislation, and I will yield. 

Ms. LEARY. I will speak to that, especially since the National 

Center has a Stalking Resource Center. We do a lot of work in this 

area. You know that one in 12 American women and one in 45 men 

will be stalked in their lifetime. It is really quite astounding. 

I can tell you that oftentimes when victims or concerned friends 

or family members call our help line, they describe behavior that 

makes them anxious, depressed, sick, worried, but they don’t understand what is really happening. They don’t understand that 

what is happening to them is stalking behavior and it is a crime. 

It is just amazing to me how often when we say, this sounds like 

stalking, a victim will say, ‘‘Really? What is that?’’ in terms of a 

legal definition. It is quite astounding. 

I will say that we have also learned that stalking is so much 

more than the ex-boyfriend or girlfriend following an individual victim around, trying to reengage them in the relationship. It takes 

many insidious forms, and increasingly, it has—stalkers are using 

very sophisticated technology in order to stalk—installing spyware 

28 

on your computer so that they can track all of your interactions on 

the Internet, your purchases, your e-mails and so forth, and then 

using that against you, forwarding e-mails to people at your job, 

broadcasting your whereabouts, your purchases, your reading habits and so on, or installing GPS in your car so that you will show 

up at the grocery store, at your local church, wherever and there 

is the stalker and you can’t imagine how the stalker knew that you 

were going to be there. 

It is really terrifying, and I will tell you that as a prosecutor for 

many, many years, I always felt that those criminals were way 

ahead of law enforcement in terms of their sophisticated use of 

technology. We are particularly seeing that in stalking. So I am 

happy that this legislation amends the statute so that prosecutors 

have more effective tools, I think, to address technology through 

VAWA 2005. 

And I am also pleased to see that substantial emotional harm to 

the victim has been added, because it has been my experience, both 

as a prosecutor and a victim advocate, that stalking does take 

many insidious forms, that a victim’s life may be totally disrupted 

to the point where the victim has to move. Fifty percent of stalking 

victims take pretty dramatic physical action in response to stalking, like moving to another place, changing jobs, going to a different church, altering all of their routines. They don’t necessarily 

fear death or bodily harm, and sometimes, in fact, in the average 

case, stalking goes on for almost two years. It goes on and on, and 

they don’t necessarily fear death, but their lives are totally disrupted and they are interfered with in the most insidious and 

frightening ways. 

So just because you don’t fear death or serious bodily harm does 

not mean that you are not a victim. You are being victimized in 

a very serious, disruptive, and harmful way, and so I am glad to 

see that the statute has been amended to allow prosecutors to deal 

with the problem before it gets to the lethality stage. 

Senator BIDEN. Ten more seconds, Mr. Chairman, with your permission. You know, lots of times, men say to me, aren’t you going 

overboard on the stalking area? I say, when you were in sixth 

grade and you got on the school bus and you knew the bully was 

waiting for you in the schoolyard, how did you act, you horse’s tail? 

How did you do it? This is real simple human psychology that is 

devastating many people’s lives. 

My time is up, but Lynn, I guess I have run over the time so you 

can’t respond at this point, but I will ask you later. 

Senator HATCH. Thank you, Joe. 

Before I turn to Senator Schumer, let me just compliment all 

four of you. You have been tremendous witnesses here today. It has 

meant a lot to us and we will pay strict attention to it and I believe 

we will get this bill through, as usual. In fact, they had better stay 

out of our way. We are going to get this through, it is just that simple. I just admire each of you for the work that you are doing. You 

are all pros, as far as I am concerned. And frankly, M.L., to see 

you doing this is a wonderful thing. We need more men like you 

in our society, and we could use a good guard out there in Utah 

right now. We have got a couple young guys that are going to be 

real great someday. 

29 

[Laughter.] 

Senator HATCH. Ms. Hayek, we are grateful for you for your very 

scintillating testimony. It was great testimony that you gave. 

Ms. HAYEK. Thank you very much. 

Senator HATCH. You two have done such great work. We just 

want to pay as much respect to you as we possibly can. We are 

grateful to you. We are grateful for what you do. We are grateful 

for the way that you are advocating these issues that are very important to all of us, and God bless all four of you. 

I am going to turn to Senator Schumer. Joe and I are going to 

have to go vote, and Senator, you will hold the fort until Senator 

Specter returns. 

Senator Schumer. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have not voted, 

either, so I am going to have to be brief. 

Senator HATCH. Oh, I am sorry. 

Senator Schumer. I just wanted to thank all of you for being 

here, Ms. Hayek, a New Yorker, and just—or at least representing 

a foundation in New York— 

[Laughter.] 

Senator SCHUMER.—Avon Foundation. 

I just wanted to say this. Your being here, just talking about this 

problem thoroughly and openly, which always is swept under the 

rug, has huge significance. So many people—I know people who 

lived in households where their mom was abused, and when you 

can’t talk about it and you live with it inside you, you are just 

locked in. The fact that you are all here and the fact that we talk 

about it openly, the great work Senator Biden did in the Senate. 

I carried the bill in the House, although I have to say it was his 

brainchild more than anybody else’s. It is just amazing. 

I just point out, I am from Brooklyn. We had two famous 

Brooklynites write about their experiences just recently that was 

shocking. Joe Torre, the great coach of the New York Yankees, the 

manager, said when he—and he lived a few blocks from me. And 

when he would walk up to his house and see that the car was 

home, he would go back. He wouldn’t go in his house because he 

knew his father was home and might be beating his mom. 

And we had Joe Hines, who is now our District Attorney and has 

done a great job about this, talk about when he was about ten or 

11 years old, he had to tell his father he was going to call the police 

unless the father stopped beating up his mother. 

Ms. HAYEK. We are opening the first Justice Center in Brooklyn. 

Senator SCHUMER. Which is so important. So I am not going to 

ask questions. I will submit them in writing. I want to thank all 

of our witnesses for being here. But just keep talking about this, 

because that is, in part, how we solve the problem. Thank you. 

Senator BIDEN. Mr. Chairman, with your permission, one more 

comment. 

Senator HATCH. Sure. Go ahead. 

Senator BIDEN. The famous Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes once 

said, and it applies here more than any other place, I think, the 

best disinfectant is sunlight. This is what you are doing. It is a big 

deal. Thanks. 

Senator HATCH. Thank you so much. 

Ms. HAYEK. Thank you so much. 

30 

Senator HATCH. I am not sure Senator Specter is going to be 

back here, so I think what we will do is end the hearing and thank 

you all for your participation. 

Senator BIDEN. Thanks for your help. 

Senator HATCH. Thank you. 

[Whereupon, at 12:41 p.m., the Committee was adjourned.] 

[Questions and answers and submissions for the record follow.] 

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Æ 


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