On the recordApril 19, 2010
I rise today to honor one of Nevada's greatest champions and advocates for victims throughout my home State. In her living room in Las Vegas, NV, in 1974, Florence McClure cofounded Community Action Against Rape, CAAR, with Sandi Petta. Thirty-five years later, CAAR has become the Rape Crisis Center, the largest sexual assault center in Nevada, serving all of Nevada. Florence McClure moved to Las Vegas, NV, in 1966. She was instrumental in the opening of the Frontier Hotel. While making the hotel into a major resort on the Las Vegas Strip, Florence made history as a female executive in the casino industry. She also joined the Las Vegas Chapter of the League of Women Voters and other women's groups in 1967. She returned to college and obtained her bachelor's degree from UNLV in 1971. Florence became a tireless advocate for victims of sexual assault. As the director of CAAR for 12 years, she was instrumental in forcing improvements and system changes in the way sexual assault victims were treated. Not one to shy away from confrontation, Florence worked most often one-on-one with judges, law enforcement officers, and medical personnel to increase the ability of a victim to recover and to be successful in court by providing better care, counseling, evidence collection, support, and privacy for victims.
