The White House
Office of the First Lady

FIRST LADY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON JOINS WITH LAW ENFORCEMENT

TO CALL FOR REAUTHORIZATION OF THE VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ACT

First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton today will join members of the law enforcement community and a bipartisan group of lawmakers to urge Congress to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). She will announce key law enforcement support for reauthorization and will highlight the progress of VAWA, releasing reports from the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services documenting the success of the law. In addition, she will announce that the National Domestic Violence Hotline, established under VAWA, received nearly 500,000 calls from February 1996 to May 31, 2000. Finally, the First Lady will announce that Attorney General Janet Reno and Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala will call on their Cabinet colleagues to use their agency resources to address the problem of domestic violence. The Vice President also is joining the call for reauthorization, sending a letter to every Member of Congress asking them to make reauthorization a priority.

The First Lady will be joined by Attorney General Joseph Curran, Jr. of Maryland; Sheriff Kathy Witt of Fayette County, Kentucky; Rose Pulliam, associate director of the Alabama Coalition Against Domestic Violence; Senator Barbara Boxer; and Rep. Constance Morella.

VAWA'S SUCCESS IN COMBATING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

Over the last seven years, the Clinton Administration has led an historic effort to reduce crime in our nation's communities and, in particular, to recognize and respond to the problem of violence against women. In 1994, with the First Lady's strong support, Congress passed the landmark Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) as part of the Administration's crime bill. The Act established new Federal criminal provisions and key grant programs to improve the criminal justice system's response to domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking, and to direct critical services to victims. Reports released today by DOJ and HHS show that these programs have awarded $1.5 billion dollars in Federal grants to states to help law enforcement agencies and communities across the nation promote the safety of women and hold offenders accountable. These grants have supported the work of prosecutors, law enforcement officials, the courts, victim advocates, health care and social service professionals, and intervention and prevention programs.

A recent report by the Bureau of Justice Statistics shows that domestic violence has declined since 1993 and that VAWA programs are working. For example, the number of women experiencing violence at the hands of an intimate partner declined 21 percent from 1993 to 1998. In addition, in 1996, 1997, and 1998, intimate partners committed fewer murders than in any year since 1976.

VAWA MUST BE REAUTHORIZED

Although tremendous strides have been made, domestic violence still devastates the lives of many women and children. Nearly one-third of women murdered each year are killed by their intimate partners, violence by intimates accounts for over 20 percent of all violent crimes against women, and women were raped and sexually assaulted 307,000 times in 1998 alone. If Congress fails to reauthorize VAWA, many critical programs may lose their funding. Reauthorization will help ensure that we maintain support of existing programs, expand the investigation and prosecution of crimes, provide greater numbers of victims with assistance, maintain and expand the domestic violence hotline, shelter, and rape prevention and education programs, and support creative partnerships between law enforcement, victim advocates and communities that have proven so effective. In addition, reauthorization will:

• Strengthen the VAWA criminal provisions;
• Expand protections of federal criminal laws and grant programs to women in dating relationships;
• Protect immigrant women and children from domestic violence;
• Enhance the full faith and credit provisions;
• Facilitate filing and service of protection orders; and
• Ensure that children remain in the custody of non-abusive parents.

LAW ENFORCEMENT RALLIES BEHIND REAUTHORIZATION

VAWA programs have provided tremendous support to law enforcement in their efforts to combat violence against women. DOJ has awarded more than $800 million dollars in VAWA grants to law enforcement officials, prosecutors, victim advocates, and courts to address the problem of violence against women at the state, local, and tribal levels. These grants have enabled states to train personnel in handling cases of violence against women, increase prosecutions, assist victims, and build innovative partnerships between law enforcement, prosecutors, and victim services providers.

The First Lady today will stand with law enforcement to recognize the importance of VAWA to the law enforcement community. The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG), the National Sheriffs Association, and the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) all support reauthorization. The First Lady also will release a resolution from NAAG in support of reauthorization, and a letter from IACP to President Clinton supporting reauthorization.