Zoe Lofgren: “no person should be a victim of crime particularly a crime of violence. But we are particularly offended when a victim…”

“no person should be a victim of crime particularly a crime of violence. But we are particularly offended when a victim is especially vulnerable, when that victim of violence crime is a child, when that victim is a frail person or another person who is particularly unable to protect themselves. I think this bill speaks to that and says that as a society we are going to make sure that we have raised the standard of protection for the most vulnerable among us. Although criminal law serves many purposes, one of the functions of criminal law, be it at the State or Federal level, is to set the standards for what society expects of each of us. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased that I was able to work on a bipartisan basis with members of the committee to strengthen the bill, to broaden the definition of violent crimes as suggested by the Justice Department, to raise the definition of the child from 11 to 14 so it would include those up to but not including 15-year-olds, as well as to add a provision about other vulnerable persons. This bill would help remedy that anomaly.”