Ted Poe: “Angie described Amherst College as her dream school. A vibrant American teenager, she couldn't wait to start her new…”

“Angie described Amherst College as her dream school. A vibrant American teenager, she couldn't wait to start her new life at the perfect college. Like all universities, Amherst painted itself in a positive light. It had a good reputation. But Angie had no way of knowing the dark reality hiding behind that facade. Her initial memories of her freshman year play along a familiar and happy college narrative. Her life was full of new friends, new experiences, and new challenges. But on May 25, everything changed. That happy narrative came to a screeching halt. An acquaintance of hers invited her over to watch a movie in his campus dorm room. Tired from a long day of classes, Angie finally drifted off to sleep. The next thing she knew, she woke up to find this individual on top of her sexually assaulting her. The morning after the attack, Angie felt that she was in a daze, and she acted like she was in a daze. The illusion of college life filled with smiling faces and good times had been shattered. Mr. Speaker, according to the Department of Justice, one in five women are sexually assaulted during college in the United States--one in five. Of those, less than 25 percent report the sexual assault. So Angie, fearing that she would be ignored, doubted, and dismissed, carried on in hopeless silence. In the 4 months following her rape, she fell deeper and deeper into depression.…”