David Weldon: “In the summer of 1996, a 7-year-old girl was brutally raped by a 57-year-old deranged man. The little girl and her…”

“In the summer of 1996, a 7-year-old girl was brutally raped by a 57-year-old deranged man. The little girl and her 5-year-old brother had been lured to a secluded abandoned building. The man raped and sodomized this little girl. After the man's arrest, the accused refused to be tested for HIV. His refusal to take the test was permitted and protected under the State law. The man later admitted to police that he was infected with HIV. The bill before us would ensure that families like this one, and numerous others, are not forced to endure torture beyond the assault that has already been inflicted upon their child. I urge my colleagues to vote for passage of H.R. 3088, the Victims of Rape Health Protection Act. This bill will save the lives of victims of sexual assault. This bill ensures that the victims of sexual assault or their parents know as quickly as possible the HIV status of the perpetrator of the crime. Sexual assault, sadly, occurs too often in our society. These victims suffer unimaginable cruelties and physical and emotional scars that usually last a lifetime. Furthermore, with the increased incidence of HIV infection in the population, these victims are often forced to wait months or years to know whether or not they were exposed to the HIV virus. This bill puts an end to further torture of the victims and their families.”