Political Quotes

“I rise today to focus on a serious issue that has plagued our society and impacted the lives of so many people across our great Nation: sexual assault. During my time at Iowa State University, I served as a volunteer counselor at a crisis center that provided shelter and support to survivors of abuse and sexual assault. I heard so many gut-wrenching stories of women and of men fleeing domestic abusers, suffering not just physically but emotionally and spiritually. Taking calls on our hotline from people who had been raped and sexually abused was absolutely heartbreaking. Abuse is not something you can just simply forget; it stays with you forever. And I know this personally. As a survivor and as a Senator, I feel it is important to be a voice for the thousands of victims across Iowa and so many more across our Nation who have fallen prey to sexual assault, to rape, to harassment, and other forms of abuse. Our country is facing a mental health crisis, and one cannot help but feel that these issues are all too often interwoven into the stories of so many Americans. April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. As lawmakers, it is a stark reminder that we must take a long, hard look at how we combat this problem and take real steps to confront sexual assault in our society. Just last week, with my colleagues Senator Grassley, Senator Gillibrand, and others, we reintroduced a bipartisan bill to combat sexual assault on our college and university campuses.…”