Mr. NADLER. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.
The CHAIRMAN. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The Clerk designated the amendment.
Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent that the amendment be read.
The CHAIRMAN. Without objection, the Clerk will report the amendment.
There was no objection.
The Clerk read as follows:
Amendment offered by Mr. Nadler:
At the end of the bill (before the short title), add the following:
TITLE VIII--ADDITIONAL GENERAL PROVISIONS
SEC. 801. For ``
OFFICE ON VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN--VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN PREVENTION AND PROSECUTION PROGRAMS'' for the Jessica Gonzales Victims Assistants program, as authorized by section 101(b)(3) of the Violence Against Women and Department of Justice Reauthorization Act of 2005 (Public Law 109-162), and the amount otherwise provided by this Act for ``
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE--GENERAL ADMINISTRATION--SALARIES AND EXPENSES'' is hereby reduced by, $5,000,000.
The CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to the order of the House of Tuesday, June 27, 2006, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Nadler) and a Member opposed each will control 5 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New York.
Mr. NADLER. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
First of all, I want to make it clear, I am just reading this revised amendment. This should increase the Jessica Gonzales program. It should put money into that by $5 million and reduce by $5 million the general administration salaries and expenses. I want to make clear that that is the intent of the amendment.
The Nadler-Capps amendment will increase the funding for the Jessica Gonzales Victim Assistance Program by $5 million. The offset is from the Department of Justice general administration account.
The Jessica Gonzales program places special victim assistants to act as liaisons between local law enforcement and victims of domestic violence in order to improve the enforcement of protection orders.
The current system has undermined the effectiveness of protective orders. Last year, the Supreme Court decided the case of Jessica Gonzales, who had obtained an order of protection against her violent husband. Despite Ms. Gonzales' numerous pleas to the police to arrest her husband for violating the order, even providing the police with information on his whereabouts, the police failed to do so. Mr. Gonzales then murdered their three children. When Ms. Gonzales sued the police for their failure to protect her and the children by enforcing the protective order, the Supreme Court ruled the police did not have the mandatory duty to enforce the order by making an arrest. The Jessica Gonzales Victim Assistance Program restores some of the effectiveness of restraining orders that the Supreme Court destroyed with this ruling.
This is the first opportunity to fund this program which was authorized last year in the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act.
The Jessica Gonzales Victim Assistance Program will help enforce restraining orders and protect women who are victims of domestic violence. I, therefore, urge my colleagues to support the Nadler-Capps amendment to provide it with more adequate funding.
Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, we accept the amendment.
Mr. NADLER. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman, and I yield 2 1/2 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Capps), the cosponsor of the amendment.
Mrs. CAPPS. Mr. Chairman, I thank my colleague, and I also thank the chairman very much for his acceptance of this amendment already.
But I want our colleagues to know how much we all appreciate the fact that there was a tremendous bipartisan victory this past year with the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. In VAWA 2005, we were able not only to keep in place the successful programs of the past 11 years but also to initiate new programs to serve victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking.
One such program is the Jessica Gonzales Victim Assistance Program, which improves our local law enforcement agencies' effectiveness in complying with restraining orders.
Now that we have taken the initiative and instituted this program, we must also now take that next step and properly fund this program. That is why I thank the chairman very much.
Nearly one in three women experiences at least one physical assault during her adulthood, assaults by a partner, but far too many of these cases go unreported, often because victims are skeptical about receiving adequate protection against their attackers. Not surprisingly, nearly half of all victims who obtain restraining orders are abused again.
What kind of message does that send about our Nation's ability to protect victims of domestic violence? This newly authorized program to address the shortfalls of restraining order enforcement is named after, as my colleague has said, Jessica Gonzales who, as many of you may remember, was ignored when she informed police that her estranged husband had violated his restraining order and kidnapped their three children. Ms. Gonzales' three children were murdered that night by her husband, even though the police had been informed about Mr. Gonzales'
whereabouts with the children. We must vow not to let this happen again.
I urge my colleagues to support this amendment so that we can properly fund the Jessica Gonzales Victim Assistance Program. We owe victims enforced protection against their attackers, and we must ensure that the next time a woman is attacked, she knows that reporting a crime and obtaining a restraining order are not fruitless gestures.
I thank the chairman, and I thank my colleague.
Mr. NADLER. Mr. Chairman, I yield back my time.
The CHAIRMAN. The question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from New York (Mr. Nadler).
The amendment was agreed to.