I
107TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4089
To provide grants for public information campaigns to educate racial and
ethnic minorities about domestic violence.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APRIL 9, 2002
Ms. SOLIS (for herself, Ms. LEE, Ms. BROWN of Florida, Mr. CONYERS, Ms.
MCCOLLUM, Ms. WATSON of California, Mr. FROST, Ms. KILPATRICK,
Ms. BALDWIN, Ms. CARSON of Indiana, Mr. UNDERWOOD, Mrs. CAPPS,
Mr. PALLONE, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Mr. HINOJOSA, Mr.
GONZALEZ, Mr. PASTOR, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. STARK, Mrs. MINK of
Hawaii, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD, Ms. DELAURO,
Mrs. MEEK of Florida, Mr. BACA, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. SANDERS, Mr.
CUMMINGS, Mr. HONDA, Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. SERRANO, Ms. WOOLSEY,
and Mr. FARR of California) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To provide grants for public information campaigns to
educate racial and ethnic minorities about domestic violence.
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 ‘‘Multi-Cultural Domes-
tic Violence Minority Education Campaigns Act’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) Nearly one-third of women in the United
States report being physically or sexually abused by
a husband or boyfriend at some point in their lives.
(2) Family violence costs the Nation between
$5,000,000,000 and $10,000,000,000 each year in
medical expenses, police and court costs, shelters
and foster care, sick leave, absenteeism, and non-
productivity.
(3) The United States is becoming increasingly
multicultural, and minorities are expected to con-
stitute approximately 50 percent of the population of
the United States by 2050.
(4) Minority women face unique challenges to
reporting and getting help for domestic violence.
(5) Structural inequalities experienced by mi-
norities, including poverty and discrimination, may
contribute to higher rates of violence.
(6) Many immigrant women refuse to leave a
violent relationship because of fears related to their
immigration status.
(7) Many minority women face cultural barriers
to reporting abuse or seeking help for domestic vio-
lence, including but not limited to strong religious
beliefs that stress the importance of keeping family
intact, fear of dishonor, and a belief that negative
events occur regardless of attempts to prevent them.
(8) Many minority women also face institutional
barriers to reporting abuse or seeking help for do-
mestic violence, including but not limited to a lack
of translators or bilingual professionals, little read-
ing material in the woman’s native language, treat-
ment programs that do not take into account ethnic
and cultural differences, prohibitive fee structures,
and inflexible or inconvenient hours of operation.
SEC. 3. GRANTS FOR PUBLIC INFORMATION CAMPAIGNS TO
EDUCATE RACIAL AND ETHNIC MINORITIES
ABOUT DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General may make
grants to States and public or private nonprofit entities
to carry out public information campaigns for the purpose
of educating racial and ethnic minorities about domestic
violence, including the effects of domestic violence, meth-
ods of preventing or reducing domestic violence, and serv-
ices available to victims of domestic violence.
(b) USE
OF GRANT AMOUNTS.—Grant amounts
under this section may be used only to carry out public
information campaigns for the purpose specified in sub-
section (a).
(c) ELEMENTS OF CAMPAIGNS.—Each public infor-
mation campaign carried out under this section shall con-
sist of one or more of the following elements:
(1) Public service announcements.
(2) Paid educational messages for print media.
(3) Public transit advertising.
(4) Electronic broadcast media.
(5) Any other mode of conveying information
that the Attorney General determines to be appro-
priate.
(d) REQUIREMENTS
FOR GRANT.—The Attorney
General may award a grant under this section to an entity
only if the Attorney General determines that—
(1) the campaign will be carried out in con-
sultation with local domestic violence advocates or
State domestic violence coalitions;
(2) the campaign is designed to be conducted in
a culturally sensitive manner using one or more cul-
turally appropriate languages;
(3) the media organizations and other groups
through which the campaign will be carried out will
continue to provide public service announcements at
current frequencies, without considering the infor-
mational messages of the campaign as public service
announcements;
(4) the applicant has an adequate plan to test-
market the campaign with a relevant community or
group in the relevant geographic area, and will carry
out that plan; and
(5) the applicant will use effectiveness criteria
in carrying out the campaign and an evaluation com-
ponent to measure the effectiveness of the campaign.
(e) AWARD CRITERIA.—In awarding grants under
this section, the Attorney General shall consider the fol-
lowing criteria:
(1) Whether the applicant has, or will be
partnering with an entity that has, a record of high
quality campaigns of a comparable type.
(2) Whether the applicant has, or will be
partnering with an entity that has, a record of high
quality campaigns that educate the communities and
groups at greatest risk of domestic violence.
(f) APPLICATION.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive a
grant under this section, a State or entity must sub-
mit to the Attorney General an application that
meets the requirements of paragraph (2).
(2) REQUIREMENTS.—An application submitted
under this subsection shall be in such form, and sub-
mitted in such manner, as the Attorney General may
prescribe, and shall include the following matters:
(A) A complete description of applicant’s
plan for the proposed public information cam-
paign.
(B) An identification of the specific com-
munities and groups to be educated by the cam-
paign, and a description of how the campaign
will educate the communities and groups at
greatest risk of domestic violence.
(C) The plans of the applicant with respect
to working with organizations that have exper-
tise in developing culturally appropriate infor-
mational messages.
(D) A description of the geographic dis-
tribution of the campaign.
(E) An identification of the media organi-
zations and other groups through which the
campaign will be carried out.
(F) A description of the nature, amount,
distribution, and timing of informational mes-
sages to be used in the campaign.
(G) Such information and assurances as
the Attorney General may require to determine
whether the requirements specified in sub-
section (d) will be satisfied, and whether the
criteria specified in subsection (e) apply.
(H) Such other information and assur-
ances as the Attorney General may require.
(g) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section, the
term ‘‘public or private nonprofit entity’’ includes an ‘‘In-
dian tribe’’ or ‘‘tribal organization’’, as such terms are de-
fined in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and
Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b).
(h) AUTHORIZATION
OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There
are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be
necessary to carry out this Act.
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