I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 394
To restore the Federal civil remedy for crimes of violence motivated by 
gender. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 28, 2003
Mr. CONYERS (for himself, Mrs. MALONEY, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. 
BOUCHER, Mr. NADLER, Ms. LOFGREN, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. 
MEEHAN, Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr. WEXLER, Mr. WEINER, Mr. ABER-
CROMBIE, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. ANDREWS, Ms. BERKLEY, Mr. BRADY of 
Pennsylvania, Mr. BROWN of Ohio, Mr. CARDIN, Ms. CARSON of Indiana, 
Mr. CASE, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, Mr. COOPER, Mr. CROWLEY, Mr. 
CUMMINGS, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. DICKS, Mr. 
DOOLEY of California, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. ETHERIDGE, Mr. FARR, Mr. FIL-
NER, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Ms. HAR-
MAN, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. HINOJOSA, Mr. 
HOEFFEL, Mr. HOLT, Mr. HONDA, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of 
Texas, Mrs. JONES of Ohio, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. 
LARSON of Connecticut, Ms. LEE, Mr. LEVIN, Mrs. LOWEY, Ms. MCCAR-
THY of Missouri, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. MCNULTY, Mr. 
MENENDEZ, Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of Cali-
fornia, Mr. MOORE, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. NORTON, Mr. OWENS, Mr. 
PALLONE, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. RYAN of Ohio, Ms. LINDA T. SA´NCHEZ of 
California, Mr. SANDERS, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SERRANO, Ms. 
SLAUGHTER, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. THOMPSON of California, 
Mr. TIERNEY, Mr. TOWNS, Ms. WATSON, Mr. WAXMAN, Ms. WOOLSEY, 
Mr. WU, Mr. WYNN, and Mr. UDALL of New Mexico) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To restore the Federal civil remedy for crimes of violence 
motivated by gender.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Violence Against 
Women Civil Rights Restoration Act of 2003’’.
SEC. 2. FEDERAL CIVIL REMEDY FOR CRIMES OF VIO-
LENCE MOTIVATED BY GENDER. 
Section 40302 of the Violence Against Women Act 
of 1994 (42 U.S.C. 13981) is amended—
(1) so that subsection (c) reads as follows: 
‘‘(c) CAUSE OF ACTION.—
‘‘(1) 
GENERALLY.—Whoever, 
in 
any 
cir-
cumstance described in paragraph (2), commits a 
crime of violence motivated by gender and thus de-
prives another of the right declared in subsection (b) 
shall be liable to the party injured, in an action for 
the recovery of compensatory and punitive damages, 
injunctive and declaratory relief, and such other re-
lief as a court may deem appropriate. 
‘‘(2) CIRCUMSTANCES.—The circumstances re-
ferred to in paragraph (1) are that—
‘‘(A) in connection with the offense—
‘‘(i) the defendant or the victim trav-
els in interstate or foreign commerce;
‘‘(ii) the defendant or the victim uses 
a facility or instrumentality of interstate or 
foreign commerce; or 
‘‘(iii) the defendant employs a fire-
arm, explosive, incendiary device, or other 
weapon, or a narcotic or drug listed pursu-
ant to section 202 of the Controlled Sub-
stances Act, or other noxious or dangerous 
substance, that has traveled in interstate 
or foreign commerce; 
‘‘(B) the offense interferes with commer-
cial or other economic activity in which the vic-
tim is engaged at the time of the conduct; or 
‘‘(C) the offense was committed with intent 
to interfere with the victim’s commercial or 
other economic activity.’’; and 
(2) by inserting after subsection (e) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(f) DISCRETIONARY
AUTHORITY
OF
ATTORNEY 
GENERAL.—Whenever the Attorney General has reason-
able cause to believe that any State or political subdivision 
of a State, official, employee, or agent thereof, or other 
person acting on behalf of a State or political subdivision 
of a State has discriminated on the basis of gender in the 
investigation or prosecution of gender-based crimes and
that discrimination is pursuant to a pattern or practice 
of resistance to investigating or prosecuting gender-based 
crimes, the Attorney General, for or in the name of the 
United States, may institute a civil action in any appro-
priate United States district court against such party for 
such equitable relief as may be appropriate to ensure the 
elimination of such discriminatory practices.’’.
Æ