On the recordSeptember 27, 2016
Mr. President, I come to the floor to speak about an overwhelmingly bipartisan piece of legislation. I had hoped to be on the floor today to celebrate the passage of the Survivors' Bill of Rights; however, as is the case far too often here in Washington, political gamesmanship is taking precedence over sound policy. The Democratic leadership is holding up this bill for purely political reasons. The Democratic leadership is delaying passage of this noncontroversial bill despite the fact that it enjoys broad bipartisan support. They are holding up this bill despite the fact that it is critical to help victims of sexual violence. They are holding up this bill despite the fact that the same language passed the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously. They are holding up this bill despite the fact that it passed the Senate 89 to 0 and the House of Representatives 399 to 0. The Survivors' Bill of Rights has been championed by a courageous rape survivor named Amanda Nguyen. Amanda is the founder and president of an organization that goes by the acronym RISE, a group that worked closely with me on the development of this survivors' rights package to establish new rights for survivors of sexual assault. Amanda was the victim of sexual assault as a college student. Her struggle with the criminal justice system in the aftermath of this event transformed her into a tireless young advocate for survivors of sexual violence.…





