Patty Murray: “they know what far too often happens to children who are in abusive situations if there are barriers to that woman…”

“they know what far too often happens to children who are in abusive situations if there are barriers to that woman getting to work. We want to make sure that there are no barriers. The CDF explicitly outlines this in their statement today, and I thank them for their support. Mr. President, I have worked on this issue for a number of months--in fact, for a number of years. It has become more critical to me in the last few weeks because of events that happened in my home State. About a week ago a young officer in Takoma, WA, was called to a home where a domestic violence situation had occurred. Unfortunately, he was shot and killed. He has a 1-year-old child. He is gone. I heard from many police officers who tell me how risky it is for them to go to homes where domestic violence calls have been placed. We need to make sure that we allow these women to get out of those situations so we don't have the increased numbers that we today have of domestic violence calls. I am amazed at the increased number.”