Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I rise to introduce the Extending Justice for Sex Crime Victims Act, a bill to extend the time for minors to seek justice against their perpetrators. Sex crimes committed against children tragically remain a vile and dangerous reality in communities across this country. Just this past summer, as the world tuned into the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, the Indianapolis Star reported that USA Gymnastics had failed to report to law enforcement allegations of child sexual abuse committed by some of its coaches. Due to these purported failures, athletes as young as 7 years old were reported to have been abused for years, without any action taken to prevent the abuse. Since the initial Indianapolis Star report, more and more young gymnasts have come forward about their abuse. All over the world, and all over this country, sex abuse victims are bravely coming forward to tell their stories of abuse when they were children. In my home state of California, numerous victims have contacted my office. They have shared the amount of courage and strength it took to finally come forward with their experiences. These stories represent an untold amount of pain and suffering. They also represent how difficult it is to come forward until later, in adulthood. It has been estimated that 90 percent of child sex crime victims never go to the authorities concerning their abuse.…”