I
106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4663
To provide civil legal assistance for victims of domestic violence and sexual
assault.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 14, 2000
Mrs. LOWEY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To provide civil legal assistance for victims of domestic
violence and sexual assault.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
TITLE 
I—ACCESS 
TO 
SAFETY
AND ADVOCACY FOR VICTIMS
OF 
VIOLENCE 
AGAINST
WOMEN ACT
SEC. 101. SHORT TITLE.
This title may be cited as the ‘‘Access to Safety and
Advocacy for Victims of Violence Against Women Act’’.
SEC. 102. PURPOSE.
The purpose of this title is to enhance safety and jus-
tice for victims of sexual assault and domestic violence in
every State, jurisdiction under military or Federal control,
tribal land, territory, or commonwealth, through access to
the justice system and improved civil legal assistance.
SEC. 103. GRANTS TO IMPROVE ACCESS TO THE CIVIL JUS-
TICE SYSTEM.
(a) ELIGIBLE GRANTEES.—To be eligible for a grant
under subsection (c) an applicant shall be a—
(1) nonprofit domestic violence victim service
program;
(2) nonprofit sexual assault victim service pro-
gram;
(3) State, tribal, or local coalition of domestic
violence programs;
(4) State, tribal, or local coalition of sexual as-
sault programs;
(5) State, tribal, or local bar association;
(6) law school program;
(7) nonprofit legal service provider;
(8) court-based pro se program; or
(9) tribe or tribally recognized organization.
(b) ELIGIBLE SERVICES.—
(1) Activities funded under grants under sub-
section (c) shall be designed to further the health,
safety, and economic needs of victims of domestic vi-
olence and sexual assault through legal assistance in
any civil case, clemency proceeding, or violation or
enforcement of a protection order.
(2) Activities funded under subsection (c) shall
include civil legal assistance on behalf of persons
who have inadequate access to sufficient financial re-
sources to secure appropriate legal assistance.
(c) GRANT AUTHORITY.—The Attorney General may
make grants to enhance the availability and quality of civil
legal assistance for victims of domestic violence and sexual
assault through—
(1) efforts to further the health, safety, and
economic needs of victims of domestic violence and
sexual assault;
(2) the provision of comprehensive legal services
to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault,
including assistance in family law, protection order,
violation of protection order, dependency, abuse and
neglect, foster care, clemency, housing, landlord-ten-
ant, consumer credit, public benefits, immigration,
administrative, bankruptcy, property, estate, civil
rights, employment, disciplinary, civil relief, restitu-
tion, and any civil legal matters arising from the ef-
fects of the assault or abuse or otherwise related to
the health, safety, or economic well-being of the vic-
tim;
(3) the development of partnerships between
domestic violence and sexual assault programs and
civil legal assistance providers, including bar-spon-
sored pro bono projects and low-cost representation
programs designed to serve victims of domestic vio-
lence and sexual assault;
(4) the improvement of court and administra-
tive handling of pro se cases involving victims of do-
mestic violence and sexual assault;
(5) efforts to enhance the availability and qual-
ity of civil legal representation through increasing
law school programs on domestic violence and sexual
assault;
(6) the development of training or technical as-
sistance programs on State, tribal, or local levels to
improve the civil justice system’s response to domes-
tic violence and sexual assault; and
(7) the provision of civil legal assistance for the
nonabusive parent in cases where the custody and
visitation of children subjected to child sexual abuse
is sought or challenged by the abusive parent or pro-
vision of civil legal assistance for the nonabusive
parent in any child welfare or abuse and neglect pro-
ceedings involving children subjected to sexual
abuse.
SEC. 104. APPLICATION.
To be eligible for a grant under section 103(c), appli-
cants shall comply with the following:
(1) For entities primarily serving domestic vio-
lence victims, offer comprehensive family law serv-
ices at a minimum and may also provide a broader
range of civil legal services. Applicants that have not
previously provided family law services may partner
with any other eligible grantee with the capacity to
provide these services in order to satisfy this require-
ment.
(2) For entities described in paragraphs (5)
through (9) of section 103(a), consult and coordi-
nate with a nonprofit, nongovernmental victim serv-
ices program including a local, State, or tribal sexual
assault or domestic violence victim services program.
(3) Certify in writing that—
(A) any person providing civil legal assist-
ance through a program funded under section
103(c) has completed or will complete training
on the dynamics of domestic violence or sexual
assault and related legal issues;
(b) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.—Of the total amounts
appropriated under subsection (a) in any fiscal year—
(1) at least 65 percent shall be allocated to
projects that provide direct services to victims of do-
mestic violence and sexual assault;
(2) at least 5 percent shall be used for grants
for tribes and tribally recognized organizations;
(3) no more than 10 percent shall be awarded
to technical assistance and training initiatives;
(4) no more than 5 percent shall be awarded to
evaluation;
(5) 5 percent shall be utilized for the costs of
administration of this program; and
(6) at least 25 percent of the funds used for di-
rect services, training, and technical assistance shall
be used to support projects focused solely or pri-
marily on civil legal assistance for victims of sexual
assault.
(c) DISCRIMINATION.—Activities funded under sec-
tion 103(c) shall be conducted pursuant to any applicable
Federal, State, or local law governing discrimination on
the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, or
disability, and shall be subject to section 307(a)(2) of the
Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (42 U.S.C.
10406(a)(2)). Entities funded under section 103(c) shall
not be restricted from providing services because of the
age, immigration status, or sexual orientation of the per-
sons seeking services.
SEC. 106. EVALUATION OF ACCESS TO SAFETY AND ADVO-
CACY GRANTS.
The Attorney General may evaluate the grants fund-
ed under section 103(c) through contracts or other ar-
rangements with entities expert on sexual assault or do-
mestic violence and evaluation research.
SEC. 107. DEFINITIONS.
For purposes of this title:
(1) DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.—The term ‘‘domestic
violence’’ includes acts or threats of violence, and
stalking, not including acts of self-defense, com-
mitted by a current or former spouse of the victim,
by a person with whom the victim shares a child in
common, by a person who is cohabiting with or has
cohabited with the victim, by a person who is or has
been in a social relationship of a romantic or inti-
mate nature with the victim, by a person similarly
situated to a spouse of the victim under the domestic
violence or family violence laws of the jurisdiction, or
by any other person against a victim who is pro-
tected from that person’s acts under the domestic or
family violence laws of the jurisdiction.
(2) NONPROFIT
DOMESTIC
VIOLENCE
VICTIM
SERVICE PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘nonprofit domestic
violence victim service program’’ means a nonprofit
nongovernmental organization, the primary purpose
of which is to provide advocacy on behalf of and
comprehensive services to victims of domestic vio-
lence, including some combination of the following:
crisis hotlines, shelter or safe homes, transitional
housing, counseling, systems advocacy, safety plan-
ning, information and referral, and legal assistance.
(3) SEXUAL ASSAULT.—The term ‘‘sexual as-
sault’’ means any conduct proscribed by chapter
109A of title 18, United States Code, whether or not
the conduct occurs in the special maritime and terri-
torial jurisdictions or tribal jurisdictions of the
United States or in a Federal prison and includes
both assaults committed by offenders who are
strangers to the victim and assaults committed by
offenders who are known to the victim or related by
blood or marriage to the victim.
(4) NONPROFIT SEXUAL ASSAULT VICTIM SERV-
ICE PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘nonprofit sexual assault
victim service program’’ means a nonprofit, non-
governmental organization, the primary purpose of
which is to provide advocacy on behalf of and com-
prehensive services to victims of sexual assault in-
cluding some combination of the following: crisis
hotlines; counseling; systems advocacy; transpor-
tation; safety planning; information; and referrals to
legal assistance.
(5) LAW SCHOOL PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘law
school program’’ means an internship, externship,
clinic, or other legal representation program or ini-
tiative located at an accredited school of law which
has as its primary purpose the provision of civil legal
representation, information, or assistance to victims
of domestic violence and sexual assault;
(6) STATE OR LOCAL COALITION OF DOMESTIC
VIOLENCE PROGRAMS.—The term ‘‘State or local co-
alition of domestic violence programs’’ means a pri-
vate, nonprofit, nongovernmental membership orga-
nization of domestic violence programs that, among
the other activities, provides training and technical
assistance to domestic violence programs within the
State, commonwealth, territory, local government, or
lands under military or Federal authority.
(7) STATE OR LOCAL COALITION OF SEXUAL
ASSAULT PROGRAMS.—The term ‘‘State or local coa-
lition of sexual assault programs’’ means a private
nonprofit, nongovernmental membership organiza-
tion that, among other activities, provides training
and technical assistance to sexual assault programs
within the State, commonwealth, territory, or lands
under military, Federal, or tribal authority.
(8) TRIBALLY
RECOGNIZED
ORGANIZATION.—
The term ‘‘tribally recognized organization’’ means a
tribally chartered organization or a nonprofit organi-
zation operating within the boundaries of an Indian
reservation or serving primarily Indian or Alaska
Native populations whose governing body reflects the
populations served.
(9) TRIBAL COALITION OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
PROGRAMS.—The term ‘‘tribal coalition of domestic
violence programs’’ means a private nonprofit coali-
tion whose membership includes representatives
from a majority of the programs for victims of do-
mestic violence operating within the boundaries of
an Indian reservation and programs whose primary
purpose is serving the population of such Indian
country, and show board memberships representative
of such programs.
TITLE II—ACCESS TO SAFETY
AND 
ADVOCACY 
FOR 
BAT-
TERED IMMIGRANTS
SEC. 201. BATTERED IMMIGRANTS.
Section 1006 of the Legal Services Corporation Act
(42 U.S.C. 2996e) is amended by adding at the end the
following:
‘‘(g) A recipient of funds from the Corporation shall
not be prohibited from—
‘‘(1) using funds derived from a source other
than the Corporation to provide legal assistance to
any alien who has been battered or subjected to ex-
treme cruelty to prevent or obtain relief from such
battery or cruelty; and
‘‘(2) using Corporation funds to provide legal
assistance to any alien who has been battered or
subjected to extreme cruelty who qualifies for classi-
fication under clause (iii), (iv), (v), or (vi) of section
204(a)(1)(A) of the Immigration and Nationality
Act (8 U.S.C. 1154(a)(1)(A)), clause (ii), (iii), or
(iv) of section 204(a)(1)(B) of such Act (8 U.S.C.
1154(a)(1)(B)), or subsection (b)(2) of section 240A
of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1229b) or section 244(a)(3)
of the Immigration and Nationality Act (as in effect
before the title III–A effective date in section 309 of
the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Re-
sponsibility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1101 note) to
prevent or obtain relief from such battery or cru-
elty.’’.
SEC. 202. PRIOR GRANTEES OF CIVIL LEGAL ASSISTANCE
PROGRAM
(a) SECTION 502.—Section 502 of the Departments
of Commerce, Justice and State, the Judiciary, and Re-
lated Agencies Appropriations Act, 1998 (Public Law
105–119; 111 Stat. 2440, 2453 (1997)), is amended by
adding inserting ‘‘, including civil legal assistance for any
alien who has been battered or subjected to extreme cru-
elty to prevent or obtain relief from such battery or cru-
elty’’ after ‘‘$12,000,000 which shall be used exclusively
for the purpose of strengthening civil legal assistance for
victims of domestic violence’’.
(b) SECTION 1201.—Section 1201(b) of the Omnibus
Consolidated and Emergency Supplemental Appropria-
tions Act, 1999 (Public Law 105–277; 112 Stat. 2681–
62 (1998)), is amended by adding inserting ‘‘, including
civil legal assistance for any alien who has been battered
or subjected to extreme cruelty to prevent or obtain relief
from such battery or cruelty’’ after ‘‘$23,000,000 which
shall be used exclusively for the purpose of strengthening
civil legal assistance for victims of domestic violence’’.
(c) APPENDIX.—Appendix A of the Consolidated Ap-
propriations Act, 2000 (Public Law 106–113; 113 Stat.
1501, 1501A–15 (1999)), is amended by adding inserting
‘‘, including civil legal assistance for any alien who has
been battered or subjected to extreme cruelty to prevent
or obtain relief from such battery or cruelty’’ after
‘‘$28,000,000 which shall be used exclusively for the pur-
pose of strengthening civil legal assistance programs for
victims of domestic violence’’.
Æ