Harley Rouda: “I will point out that lots of times victims do not come forward to the police department and the court system because…”

“I will point out that lots of times victims do not come forward to the police department and the court system because they recognize that they often will not get justice. That could be because of a lack of evidence, or that could be for other reasons. This provides another recourse for them. As the father of a daughter and three sons, I would want to see this available for those kids in that type of a situation, that if the victim felt this was the right course of action for them to address that issue, then I believe this amendment helps them do just that. And while I respect my colleague's comment, again, I would hold the amendment up as is, and I reserve the balance of my time.”