Congressional Record United States Th of America PROCEEDINGS and DEBATES of the 115 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION

E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 115 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION Vol. 163 WASHINGTON, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2017 No. 18 House of Representatives The House met at 10 a.m. and was Victims were people from all types of And let me make it clear once again: called to order by the Speaker pro tem- backgrounds. Mr. Speaker, they all had This is not taxpayer funded money. pore (Mr. BOST). something in common. They were a si- Criminals paid for this. Criminals are f lent group of people who were preyed paying the rent on the courthouse and on by criminals. After the crime was they are paying for the system that DESIGNATION OF SPEAKER PRO over, many suffered for years. they have created. TEMPORE Finally, Congress came up with a So what is the problem? The SPEAKER pro tempore laid be- novel idea, a law that established the Well, the problem is, Mr. Speaker, fore the House the following commu- Crime Victims Fund to support victims only a fraction of that money is spent nication from the Speaker: of crime. But instead of using taxpayer each year for victims, depriving them WASHINGTON, DC, money for the fund, Congress had a dif- of needed services and that money. February 2, 2017. ferent idea. Why not force the crimi- More money continues to go in the I hereby appoint the Honorable MIKE BOST nals, the traffickers, the abusers, and fund every year because less and less of to act as Speaker pro tempore on this day. other folks to pay for restitution for a percentage of it is spent, thus, the $12 PAUL D. RYAN, the victims of crime. They inflicted billion. Speaker of the House of Representatives. pain and suffering on innocent people. Mr. Speaker, the fund, every year, is f They should be the ones to pay for robbed, literally, by Congress to offset the costs of totally unrelated things, MORNING-HOUR DEBATE that. So in 1984, when President Ronald literally stealing money from the vic- The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursu- Reagan was President, he signed the tims and sending that money to the ant to the order of the House of Janu- Victims of Crime Act, otherwise known abyss of the Federal Treasury to offset ary 3, 2017, the Chair will now recog- to us as VOCA. Because of this new special pet projects. That money does nize Members from lists submitted by law, convicted felons in Federal Court not belong to Congress to spend on the majority and minority leaders for are assessed fees and fines and must anything other than victims of crime. morning-hour debate. pay into the Crime Victims Fund. The It belongs to the victims who have en- The Chair will alternate recognition money in this fund is to be used for a dured suffering and abuse. between the parties, with each party wide range of victim services: Victims do not have a high-priced, limited to 1 hour and each Member It establishes and takes care of do- high-dollar lobbyist to come up here to other than the majority and minority mestic violence shelters, where spouses Washington and advocate on their be- leaders and the minority whip limited can hide from their abusers. half to get the money that they are en- to 5 minutes, but in no event shall de- It establishes rape crisis coalition titled to. That is our responsibility, bate continue beyond 11:50 a.m. centers. Congress’ responsibility. They expect f It promotes and sends money to vic- us to be their voice. tim advocates throughout the United JIM COSTA from California and I are DON’T ROB VICTIMS OF CRIME States who go to court with victims of co-chairs of the Victims’ Rights Cau- The SPEAKER pro tempore. The crime, especially violent crime. cus, and we believe the first responsi- Chair recognizes the gentleman from It gives victims restitution and pays bility of government is to protect the Texas (Mr. POE) for 5 minutes. for critical medical and counseling pro- innocent, especially those robbed, pil- Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, be- grams. laged, and sexually assaulted by crime. fore I came to Congress, I spent my It also goes to train police officers. It Congress needs to quit stealing the other life in the criminal justice sys- does a lot of good things and is wisely money from victims and giving it to tem, first as a prosecutor in Texas, and spent by the Angels of Compassion in other projects. We must stop this rob- then as a criminal court judge for over victim services that help restore vic- bing by bureaucrats, taking money out 22 years. I heard about 20,000 to 25,000 tims. of the crime fund, so that we can en- felony cases during that time, every- Over the years, because our Federal sure victims have access to the re- thing from stealing to killing. I saw a judges have continued to fine and as- sources that they need to become sur- lot of people come to the courthouse, sess greater penalties to criminals, the vivors of crime. and most of those individuals did not VOCA fund, as of today, holds approxi- To achieve this goal, Representative want to be there. That included defend- mately $12 billion. That is a lot of JIM COSTA and I have reintroduced the ants, but it also included victims of money, even for Washington, D.C. Crime Victims Fund Preservation Act. crime. What a wonderful idea. This bill creates a ‘‘lockbox’’ to ensure b This symbol represents the time of day during the House proceedings, e.g., b 1407 is 2:07 p.m. Matter set in this typeface indicates words inserted or appended, rather than spoken, by a Member of the House on the floor. H881 . VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Feb 03, 2017 Jkt 069060 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 7634 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\A02FE7.000 H02FEPT1 rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with HOUSE H882 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE February 2, 2017 that money in the fund cannot be used to maintain healthy diets on a con- MUSLIM BAN for anything other than victims’ pro- sistent basis. Without additional bene- The SPEAKER pro tempore. The grams authorized under the law of the fits, we know that people are making Chair recognizes the gentleman from VOCA statute in 1984. very difficult choices. They have to Virginia (Mr. GARRETT) for 5 minutes. Victims must be rescued and taken choose between food or medicine, be- Mr. GARRETT. Mr. Speaker, in 1947, care of. The bill ensures the money tween food for their families or stable Senator Arthur Vandenberg famously that victims are entitled to is in a safe housing. stated that politics stop at the water’s place from pilfering hands. Give the Research from the Center on Budget edge. What that meant was that par- victims a fighting chance, and do not and Policy Priorities has found that in- tisan fighting and attacks should cease continue to victimize them more by creasing SNAP benefits by a mere $30 when they compromise America’s role taking restitution money from them. per month would lower food insecurity, in missions abroad and, indeed, when It is just wrong to play this financial decrease fast-food consumption, and in- they compromise the safety and secu- ledger mumbo-jumbo that Congress crease vegetable consumption. rity of Americans abroad as well. plays every year to take money away Yesterday, Mr. Speaker, I sat in the from victims and give it to other Similarly, USDA’s Healthy Incen- tives Pilot provided SNAP recipients in Homeland Security Committee and projects. heard over two dozen references from Don’t touch victims’ money. It is Hampden County, Massachusetts, with my esteemed colleagues across the just wrong, Mr. Speaker. additional benefits if they purchased aisle to a Muslim ban. When President And that is just the way it is. targeted fruits and vegetables, and it Obama expanded its own screening for f was highly successful. The result was an increase in healthy food consump- refugees for majority Muslim nations, END HUNGER NOW tion. Participants in this pilot con- he said it was because of ‘‘the growing The SPEAKER pro tempore. The sumed 26 percent more targeted fruits threat from foreign terrorist fighters,’’ Chair recognizes the gentleman from and vegetables per day and spent more and nary a peep was heard. Massachusetts (Mr. MCGOVERN) for 5 of their SNAP benefits on these items Our colleagues across the aisle said minutes. than did nonparticipants. this Muslim ban will endanger Ameri- Mr. MCGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, a re- cans and serve as a recruiting tool to We know that low-income families cent USDA report on ‘‘Foods Typically ISIS. Mr. Speaker, I agree, except there who rely on SNAP have to make dif- Purchased by SNAP Households’’ has is no Muslim ban. ficult choices in trying to stretch their sparked conversation in the press and Talk of a Muslim ban makes Ameri- meal budgets and often select cheaper on Capitol Hill about ways to promote cans less safe at home, true; it makes foods that contain refined grains and healthy eating among those who rely Americans less safe abroad, true; and if added sugars and fats. This research on SNAP benefits. Quite frankly, I am politics stop at the water’s edge and from the Center on Budget and the re- troubled by the way the report has there is no Muslim ban, then why use sults of projects such as the one in been characterized and by some of the partisan politics to perpetrate false- Massachusetts confirm what we know responses.

Load more