Q: What is National Crime Victims' Rights Week?
A: National Crime Victims' Rights Week, April 26th – May 2nd, is a time to promote victims' rights as well as honor crime victims and those who work on their behalf. Often rallies, candlelight vigils and other activities are held to commemorate and promote victims' rights. National Crime Victims' Rights Week has been led by the U.S. Department of Justice's Office for Victims of Crime every April since 1981. The theme for this year is "25 Years of Rebuilding Lives: Celebrating the Victims of Crime Act."
Q: What is the Victims of Crime Act?
A: The Victims of Crime Act established an innovative method for using fines and penalties levied against federal criminals to fund services for victims of crime. This fund is unique because all the funding comes from fines and restitution paid by federal criminals and not from taxpayers. According to the Department of Justice, the money helps nearly 4,200 local public and nonprofit organizations provide medical care, mental health counseling, lost wages, courtroom advocacy, temporary housing, raise awareness of victims' rights, and much more. Since becoming law, the Victims of Crime Act has distributed more than $6.9 billion from the Crime Victims Fund to states and communities to help support victim assistance and compensation programs. I have long advocated victims' rights, and I was an original co-sponsor of the Victims of Crime Act in 1984. On the 25th anniversary of this program, I'm happy to see it's still working, but it's efficiency has been weakened in recent years. Several years ago, the Senate and House Appropriations Committees placed an arbitrary cap on the Victims of Crime Act fund. This was done to send any additional funds above the cap to the general Treasury to be used by the Congressional appropriators for other projects. The Senate Judiciary Committee will be having a hearing in April about the Victims of Crime Act. I will continue the fight to raise and remove this cap and restore the original intent of the Victims of Crime Act. Every last penny brought into the Victims of Crime Act fund is supposed to help victims rather than be a slush fund for other projects supported by the Appropriations Committee. It's important that we ensure that victims of crime and their families are not forgotten and that they are given the compensation they are rightly owed.