I support the Violence Against Women Act of 2000 (VAWA II) and am proud to be a co-sponsor of this important legislation. As we head into the 21st century, violence against women continues to affect millions of women and children in this country. Whether you live in a big city or a rural town, domestic violence can be found anywhere.

I witnessed the devastating effects of domestic violence early on in my career, when I was the Vermont State’s Attorney for Chittenden County. In those days, long before the passage of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), there were not support programs and services in place to assist victims of these types of crimes. Today, because of the hard work and dedication of those in Vermont and around the country who work on these problems every day, an increasing number if women and children are seeking services through domestic violence programs and at shelters around the nation.

Since the passage of VAWA in 1994, I have been privileged to work with groups such as the Vermont Network Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault and the Vermont Center for Crime Victim Services who have worked to help put a stop to violence against women and provided assistance to those who have fallen victim to it. I am proud today to support the Violence Against Women Act of 2000, a Federal initiative designed to continue the success of VAWA by reauthorizing Federal programs to prevent violence against women.

Six years ago, VAWA passed Congress as part of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act. That Act combined tough law enforcement strategies with safeguards and services for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. I am proud to say that Vermont was the first State in the country to apply for and receive funding through VAWA. Since VAWA was enacted, Vermont has received almost $7 million in VAWA funds.

We have tolerated violence against women for far too long and this bill continues to move us toward reducing violence against women by strengthening law enforcement through the extension of STOP grants, which encourage a multi-disciplinary approach to improving the criminal justice system’s response to violence against women. With support from STOP grants, law enforcement, prosecution, courts, victim advocates and service providers work together to ensure victim safety and offender accountability.

Passing VAWA II will continue grants which strengthen pro-arrest policies and enforcement of protection orders. In a rural state like Vermont, law enforcement agencies greatly benefit from cooperative, inter-agency efforts to combat and solve significant problems. Last year, approximately $850,000 of this funding supported Vermont efforts to encourage arrest policies.

I am also pleased to see the extension of Rural Domestic Violence and Child Victimization Enforcement Grants under VAWA II. These grants are designed to make victim services more accessible to women and children living in rural areas and will are extremely beneficial to states like my own. I worked hard to see this funding included in the original VAWA in 1994, and I am proud that its success has merited an increased authorization for funding in VAWA II. Rural Domestic Violence and Child Victimization Enforcement Grants have been utilized by the Vermont Network Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, the Vermont Attorney General’s Office, and the Vermont Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services to increase community awareness, to develop cooperative relationships between state child protection agencies and domestic violence programs, to expand existing multi disciplinary task forces to include allied professional groups, and to create local multi-use supervised visitation centers.

As we work to prevent violence against women, we must not forget those who have already fallen victim to it. This bill recognizes that combating violence against women includes assistance measures as well as preventive ones, providing assistance to victims of domestic and sexual violence in a number of ways.

The National Domestic Violence Hotline, which has already assisted over 180,000 callers, will be able to continue its crucial operation. Much like the state hotline that the Vermont Network Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault helped to establish in Vermont, the National Hotline reaches victims who otherwise have nowhere to turn.

I am particularly pleased to see that VAWA II will also authorize a new grant program for civil legal assistance. In the past, funding for legal services for victims of domestic violence was dependent on a set-aside in the STOP grant appropriation. This separate grant authorization will allow victims of violence, stalking and sexual assault, who would otherwise be unable to afford professional legal representation, to obtain access to trained attorneys and advocacy services. These grants would support training, technical assistance and support for cooperative efforts between victim advocacy groups and legal assistance providers.

As enacted, the Violence Against Women Act has funded programs that provide shelter to battered women and children. I am pleased to see that VAWA II expands this funding, so that facilities such as the Women Helping Battered Women Shelter in Burlington, Vermont, will continue to be able to serve victims in their most vulnerable time in need of shelter.

In addition to this funding, I am excited to see the addition of a provision for transitional housing assistance in VAWA II. This grant for short-term housing assistance and support services for homeless families who have fled from domestic violence environments was one of the biggest priorities for my State and I am pleased to see its inclusion in this legislation.

I was also pleased to see a new provision in VAWA II that would enhance protections for older women from domestic violence and sexual assault. Last year I introduced the Seniors Safety Act which would enhance penalties for crimes against seniors. This provision in VAWA II is an important complement to that legislation and I am glad to see we have been able to generate wide support.

The bill is also designed to help young victims of crime through funding for the establishment of safe and supervised visitation centers for children in order to reduce the opportunity for domestic violence. Grants will also be extended to continue funding agencies serving homeless youth who have been or who are at risk of abuse and to continue funding for victims of child abuse, including money for advocates, training for judicial personnel and televised testimony.

Despite the overwhelming benefits of this legislation, I do think there are some problems with this bill and it is my hope that we can work to fix them. For example, this legislation does not go far enough in providing the comprehensive housing assistance that state and victim’s coalitions need in combating this problem. In Vermont, the availability of affordable housing is at an all time low. Providing victims of domestic violence with a safe place to reside after a terrifying experience should be a priority. I would like to see additional support for groups that addresses the need for funding for underserved populations. I had proposed a more extensive program of transitional housing assistance than we were able to keep in the bill. It is my hope that we can continue to work to expand these transitional living opportunities in the coming weeks as Congress takes up this bill.

In addition, I am concerned over a highly objectionable provision that prohibits any expenditure of the civil legal assistant grant funds to support litigation with respect to abortion. Currently, the Legal Services Corporation operates under two abortion-related restriction provisions: The 1974 LSC statute bans the use of federally appropriated Corporation funds for legal assistance for any abortion-related proceeding or litigation. Additionally, an appropriationsrider to the Commerce-Justice-State appropriations bill restricts Legal Services Corporation funds from use by any person or entity that participates in abortion-related litigation

The language in the Senate VAWA bill reaches further, in the sense that it would ban more entities than just Legal Service Corporation organizations from spending funds on abortion-related litigation. Under the proposed Senate language, grants can be made to private, nonprofit entities, Indian tribal governments, and publicly funded organizations such as law schools. These grantees are certainly worthy and appropriate to provide these services generally; the objection is solely that they should not be gagged from providing abortion related legal assistance. I am concerned about the precedent this provision would set in expanding the restriction on abortion-related litigation to other programs and organizations. I think this kind of language should give us pause as we consider the effect it would have on victims who, in the face of domestic violence, sexual assault in family relationships, incest or rape - must run a gauntlet of congressionally imposed barriers in order simply to obtain full and complete information about their comprehensive health-care options.

Another area of concern that I wish to see addressed in this bill is the absence of a redefinition of “domestic violence” to include “dating relationships” in its provisions and grants. As written, VAWA II amends the definition of “domestic violence” for grants to reduce violence against women on campus to include dating relationships. I would like to see this definition amended to include all women. The Bureau of Justice Statistics report indicates that more than four in every 10 incidents of domestic violence involves non-married persons, and further, that the highest rate of domestic violence occurs among young people aged 16-24. Yet, VAWA, as currently enacted, does not authorize prosecution of their offenders. We cannot ignore this increasingly at risk segment of the population.

Many of the most successful services for victims start at the local level, such as Vermont’s model hotline on domestic violence and sexual assault. The Violence Against Women Act II recognizes these local successes and continues grant funding of community demonstration projects for the intervention and prevention of domestic violence.

When VAWA passed Congress, it was one of the first comprehensive Federal efforts to combat violence against women and to assist the victims of such violence. Today’s bill gives us an opportunity to continue funding these successful programs, to improve victim services, and to strengthen these laws so that violence against women is eliminated. I am proud to be an original cosponsor of this legislation and hope we can work together to ensure the swift passage of the Violence Against Women Act of 2000.