FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                          AG
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1995                        (202) 616-0189
                                               TDD (202) 514-1888

     STATEMENT OF SECRETARY SHALALA AND ATTORNEY GENERAL RENO
             ON CONGRESSIONAL ATTEMPTS TO DEFUND THE
                NATIONAL DOMESTIC VIOLENCE HOTLINE

     "Last night, Congress took a giant step backwards in the fight against domestic violence.

     "By voting to eliminate the $1 million in funding for the Crime Bill's National Domestic
Violence Hotline, the House of Representative's Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor-HHS
threatens to squash one of the crime bill's most promising initiatives for fighting the abuse faced
by millions of women.

     "More than one million women are victims of domestic violence every year.

     "This toll-free, 24-hour hotline -- which a bipartisan majority passed as part of last year's
crime bill -- will offer crisis counseling, problem-solving techniques, and referrals for battered
women, their families, and advocates.

     "The subcommittee's vote is not even penny-wise.  At a cost of less than one fourth a
penny per American, this hotline is a bargain, not a luxury.  It is a model of how a reinvented
government can help millions of battered women to prevent further abuse and to start
reconstructing their lives."

     "Now is not the time to break our contract with the women of America."

     "We urge Speaker Gingrich and Chairman Porter -- both of whom cosponsored the hotline
legislation last year -- to reconsider their decision and fully fund the domestic violence hotline.

     
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95-104