Congress cleared legislation to reauthorize the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). On December 16, the Senate approved the conference report by unanimous consent. The House approved it by voice vote on December 17. It will now go to the White House for President Bush’s signature. VAWA (P.L. 103-322) was first enacted in 1994. It was reauthorized in 2000 (P.L. 106-386) and expired on September 30, 2005.
Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Patrick Leahy (D-VT) lauded passage of the bill: “The reauthorization of VAWA is an important part of our efforts to increase awareness of the problem of violence, to save the lives of battered women, rape victims and children who grow up with violence and to continue progress against the devastating tragedy of domestic violence.”
Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) agreed, pointing out the inclusion of the International Marriage Broker Regulation Act (S. 1618/H.R. 3657). “This important piece of legislation, which I introduced with Senator Maria Cantwell…is intended to address Congress’ concerns about a significant and growing problem: the high incidence of violent abuse of foreign women brought to this country as fiancées or spouses by American men whom they meet through for-profit international marriage brokers ‘IMBs,’ commonly known as ‘mail-order bride’ agencies.”
Praising the bipartisan spirit of the bill, Rep. Hilda Solis (D-CA) stated, “I am very happy as Co-Chair of the Congressional Caucus for Women’s Issues that we were able to work together. This is one fine accomplishment that we can go home to our districts with…I am proud to have been able to author two provisions that were included in the final version of this very important act that will help women of color and women who are victims of domestic violence. One provision would provide an outreach campaign to attempt to service those underserved communities where we find a disproportionate number of women who are not in the forefront in terms of receiving this kind of information about prevention activities and domestic violence, and also with respect to court assistance.”
Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite, also co-chair of the Women’s Caucus agreed, “While domestic programs would have continued without this program today, had VAWA not been reauthorized, the new ideas and some of the great programs in there and improvements would not have been instituted for quite some time into the future…Vicious acts of violence can be combated effectively through education, support networks, increased law enforcement programs and family counseling. It has been an honor working with all those involved in this very important legislation.”
DOJ Provisions
As approved by the House, the Office of Justice Programs is authorized at $121.11 million in FY2006, $125.95 million in FY2007, $130.99 million in FY2008, and $132.23 million in FY2009. The Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) is authorized at $14.17 million in FY2006, $15.6 million in FY2007, $16.22 million in FY2008, and $16.84 million in FY2009. Additionally, the sex offender management program is authorized at $5 million in each of FY2006 through FY2010.
Other provisions within the DOJ reauthorization that are specific to women and their families include:
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The bill also merges the Byrne Grant Program with the Local Law Enforcement Block Grant, creating a new Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program, which will provide grants to states or local governments for law enforcement programs; prosecution and court programs; prevention and education programs; corrections and community corrections programs; drug treatment and enforcement programs; planning, evaluation, and technology improvement programs; and crime victim and witness programs. The program is authorized at $1.09 billion in FY2006 and such sums as necessary in each of FY2007 through FY2009.
VAWA Provisions
The bill reauthorizes STOP grants at $225 million in each of FY2007 through FY2011. STOP grant funding can be used for forensic medical exams for victims of sexual assault; however, states cannot require victims to seek reimbursement for such exams from their health insurance, and victims are not required to participate in criminal proceedings in order to receive such exams.
Grants to Encourage Arrests and Enforce Protection Orders are reauthorized at $75 million in each of FY2007 through FY2011. Improvements to this grant program include the establishment of Family Justice Centers. Additionally, the bill requires criminal defendants to be tested for HIV if the crime was a sex crime and could have placed the victims at risk of being infected with HIV, or if the victim requested that the defendant be tested. Under the provision, the defendant is required to undergo follow-up tests, and the victim must be notified of the results. Lastly, states found in noncompliance with the testing after two years are required to forfeit 5 percent of their VAWA funds.
Legal Assistance for Victims is reauthorized at $65 million per year for five years. The bill clarifies that legal assistance may be used for civil and criminal case assistance for adult and youth victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking.
The bill includes a new Violence Against Women Act Court Training and Improvements program, which is authorized at $5 million in each of FY2007 through FY2011. The program will award grants to improve court responses to adult and youth domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking cases. Additionally, the Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) is authorized to develop a national educational curriculum for state and national judicial educators to ensure that all courts and court personnel have access to information about appropriate court responses to such crimes. A separate tribal curriculum also is established for tribal court judges.
H.R. 3402 includes a number of improvements to the enforcement and provision of protection orders, including a clarification that personally identifiable information can not be published on the Internet. Also, a new Grants to Protect the Privacy and Confidentiality of Victims of Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, Sexual Assault, and Stalking program is authorized at $5 million in each of FY2007 through FY2011.
The sex offender management program is reauthorized at $3 million for each of the five years, and the national stalker database is reauthorized through FY2011. The bill authorizes $1 million in each of FY2007 through FY2011 for appointing victim assistants for the prosecution of sex crimes and domestic violence crimes (allows U.S. attorney offices to hire counselors).
Grants for Law Enforcement Training Programs to identify and protect victims of trafficking is authorized at $10 million in each of FY2007 through FY2011. The Court-Appointed Special Advocate program is reauthorized at $12 million in each of the five years. H.R. 3402 also amends current stalking laws to include stalking over the Internet and the use of stalking surveillance equipment and doubles the prison sentence for repeat offenders of interstate domestic violence violations, interstate violations of protection orders, or interstate stalking violations.
H.R. 3402 requires a Government Accountability Office (GAO) study to determine the extent to which men, women, youth, and children are victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. The report also will examine the availability of shelter, counseling, legal representation, and other services to all victims.
The bill authorizes a new Grants for Outreach to Underserved Populations program at $2 million per year for five years to carry out national public information campaigns to address adult, youth, or minor domestic violence, sexual assault, or trafficking crimes within tribal and underserved populations and immigrant communities. Also, the bill establishes a new grant program to enhance culturally and linguistically specific services for victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. Another new grant program designed to provide support for the establishment, maintenance, and expansion of rape crisis centers and sexual assault coalitions in states and territories is authorized at $50 million in each of FY2007 through FY2011. The Rural Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, Sexual Assault, and Child Abuse Enforcement Assistance Program is reauthorized at $55 million in each of FY2007 through FY2011. Grants to provide education, training, and enhanced services to women and girls with disabilities who are victims of violence is authorized at $10 million in each of the five years. Additionally, grants to provide education, training, and enhanced services to women who are 50 years or older are authorized at $10 million in each of FY2007 through FY2011.
H.R. 3402 reauthorizes rape prevention and education programs at $80 million in each of FY2007 through FY2011. Of that amount, a minimum of $1.5 million is allotted to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center annually. A new Services to Advocate for and Respond to Teens (START) program is authorized at $15 million in each of the five years to specifically serve victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking who are between the ages of 12 and 24. The bill also authorizes $5 million in each of FY2007 through FY2011 for a new program called Access to Justice for Teens, which will provide grants to encourage cross training and collaboration between the courts, domestic violence and sexual assault service providers, youth organizations and service providers, violence prevention programs, and law enforcement agencies to establish and implement policies serving youth ages 12 to 24.
Grants to Combat Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, Sexual Assault, and Stalking in Middle and High Schools are authorized at $5 million in each of FY2006 through FY2010. The new program will provide funding to schools that work with domestic violence and sexual assault experts to provide training to school personnel, develop and implement policies to identify and refer students who are experiencing violence, provide support services for students and school personnel, provide developmentally appropriate educational materials, work with student mentors, and conduct evaluation of the programs.
Another new grants program to support efforts by domestic violence or dating violence victim service providers, courts, law enforcement, and child welfare agencies to develop collaborative responses and services where there is both child maltreatment and domestic violence in the home is authorized at $5 million in each of FY2007 through FY2011.
Grants to Combat Violent Crimes on Campuses are reauthorized at $12 million in FY2007 and $15 million in each of FY2008 through FY2011. The Safe Havens for Children program, which provides supervised visitation, is reauthorized at $20 million per year for five years.
A new grant program aimed at mitigating the effects of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking on children exposed to such violence is authorized at $20 million per year for five years. Another $10 million in each of FY2007 through FY2011 is authorized for grants to develop or enhance programs related to building alliances among men, women, and youth to prevent such crimes, and $7 million per year for five years is authorized for home visitation programs to develop and implement model policies and procedures to train home visitation service providers on addressing domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. H.R. 3402 authorizes $2 million for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to study best practices for reducing and preventing violence against women and children. Also such sums as are necessary will be made available for the attorney general to implement a campaign to raise public awareness about domestic violence against pregnant women.
The legislation authorizes a new grants program to develop interdisciplinary training and education programs for health professionals to understand domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. The program is authorized at $3 million in each of the five years. Another $5 million in each of FY2007 through FY2011 is authorized for grants to strengthen the health care response to such violence. In addition, $5 million in each of the five years is authorized for the CDC and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to research effective interventions in the health care setting.
H.R. 3402 includes a number of provisions aimed at improving housing for female victims of violence. Grants to develop long-term housing options for adult and youth victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking who are currently homeless or are at risk of being homeless are authorized at $10 million in each of FY2007 through FY2011. Another $10 million in each of the five years is authorized for grants to combat violence against women in public and assisted housing, and $40 million in each of FY2007 through FY2011 is authorized for transitional housing programs.
The measure makes several changes to existing public housing laws: incidents of domestic violence, sexual violence, or stalking against a public housing leaseholder cannot be used as a “good cause” for terminating a lease; public housing applicants cannot be denied simply because they are victims of domestic violence or stalking; and public housing leases cannot be terminated because the tenant or the tenant’s family member is a victim of such violence. H.R. 3402 clarifies that landlords can terminate a domestic violence victim’s lease for other lease violations not related to the violence, such as nonpayment or criminal activity on the property. Also, victim service providers receiving funding through the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act are prohibited from disclosing victims’ personally identifiable information to the Homeless Management Information System.
H.R. 3402 authorizes $1 million in each of the five years to establish a National Clearinghouse and Resource Center on Workplace Responses to Assist Victims of Domestic and Sexual Violence.
Protections for immigrant women are expanded under H.R. 3402. Currently, T visas are available to trafficking victims who cooperate with law enforcement in the investigation and prosecution of the crime, and U visas are available to victims of certain crimes who cooperate with law enforcement in the investigation and prosecution of the crime. Under the bill, T and U visa holders’ spouses, children, parents, and unmarried siblings under the age of 18 will be allowed entry into the U.S. Additionally, the bill extends the issuance of T and U visas four years. H.R. 3402 also allows T visa recipients to apply for permanent residency after being present in the U.S. for two years. The bill clarifies the definition of “VAWA petitioners” to include individuals who have self-petitioned for permanent residency in the U.S. as the battered spouses and children, as well as battered parents, of U.S. citizens and permanent residents and allows VAWA petitioners who have been approved, as well as T visa recipients, to obtain work permits. Individuals who have filed VAWA petitions, or who have filed for U or T visas, are allowed to remain in the U.S. without being detained while the application is being considered.
H.R. 3402 contains a section dealing with safety on tribal lands. The attorney general is required to consult annually with Indian tribes on the administration of VAWA programs. The National Institute of Justice is charged with conducting a national baseline study to examine violence against Indian women. The study is authorized at $1 million in each of FY2007 and FY2008. Another $500,000 in each of the two years is authorized for a study of the incidence of injuries and homicides resulting from domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking against American Indian and Alaska Native women. The study also will examine the health care costs associated with such injuries. The measure allows Indian law enforcement to enter information into federal criminal information databases and to obtain information from such databases, including identification records, criminal history records, protection orders, and wanted person records. A national tribal sex offender registry and a tribal protection order registry is authorized at $1 million in each of FY2007 through FY2011. In order to better administer grants to Indian Country, the bill establishes a single grant source by combining all Native American set asides throughout the bill. Lastly, the measure establishes a Deputy Director of Tribal Affairs within the OVW to coordinate and guide responses to violence against Indian women.
H.R. 3402 includes provisions prohibiting an international marriage broker (IMB) from providing personal information about individuals under the age of 18. IMBs also are required to obtain background information on criminal activity by individuals using their services and provide that information to the foreign woman, to provide the foreign woman with information regarding the legal rights and resources available to immigrant victims of domestic violence in the U.S., and to obtain a foreign woman’s consent to release her contact information prior to doing so. The bill establishes a civil penalty of not less than $5,000 and not more than $25,000 for each violation and a criminal penalty of not more than five years in prison. Lastly, U.S. citizens are prevented from applying for more than one K visa simultaneously, and the Department of Homeland Security is required to provide background information on the U.S. citizen to the Department of State and the fiancée.
The final bill includes language allowing the attorney general to collect DNA samples from individuals who have been arrested or detained.
