The First Americans Museum (FAM) officially opened its doors Sept. 18-19, 2021 credit: VisitOKC. com
Lael Brainard At Fed Listens: Roundtable with Oklahoma Tribal Leaders, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
I would like to join Esther George in expressing my appreciation to the leaders of tribal nations assembled here for this opportunity to listen and learn from this afternoon’s conversation. I also want to thank Governor Anoatubby for hosting us.1 I am humbled to be here at the First Americans Museum, which is promoting a richer understanding of Native American history by sharing the cultural diversity, history, and resilience of the 39 Native nations of Oklahoma.
In addition to civic and cultural contributions whose impact reaches far beyond tribal lands, I want to recognize the important economic contributions Native American communities are making, despite daunting impediments that were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. By working together to address economic challenges and improving access to financial services, we can build a more inclusive economy that supports the economic potential of Native communities here in Oklahoma and across the country.
The COVID-19 Pandemic in Indian Country: Challenge and Resilience Tribal nations have long been a critical source of economic opportunity and stability. For the U.S. economy overall, tribes provided over 1.1 million jobs prior to the pandemic.2 Here in Oklahoma, when looking at how the economic activity of tribes compares with different industries in the state, tribes would rank 9th in output, at over $7 billion, and 11th in job creation — greater than either the construction or utilities industries. By one estimate, tribal government activities supported nearly 100,000 jobs in the state and brought nearly $5 billion in wages and benefits to Oklahoma workers as of 2017.3 Oklahoma tribes also contributed nearly $43 million for the construction and maintenance of Oklahoma roads, bridges, and other transportation infrastructure that are used by all Oklahomans.4
The resilience of Native communities was evident in the strong response of tribal nations to the pandemic. As early as April 2020, just a month after the pandemic swept across the U.S., tribal nations were proactively offering COVID-19 testing for the general public. Once vaccines began to roll out in early 2021, tribal nations distributed them under a prioritized and phased timeline developed in accordance with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance. This assistance from tribal nations helped make Oklahoma one of the top 10 states for vaccine rollout.5
But the pandemic added to sharp economic disparities that are longstanding. Prior to the pandemic, the median household income for American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) households was about $20,000 lower than for non-Hispanic White households.6 Native American women faced particularly large disparities with 18 percent living in poverty before the pandemic — about 12 percentage points higher than White women.7 About 59 percent of AI/AN women overall are considered financially fragile.8Such disparities were only exacerbated by the pandemic.9 The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis’s Center for Indian Country Development, a research institute dedicated to tribal economic development, estimates that the employment-to-population ratio for AI/AN households is 2.5 percentage points lower than the national average in August 2021, down from June 2020, when the gap was over 4 percentage points.10
The pandemic also led to significant declines in the revenues of tribal governments and businesses at a time when their services were more important than ever. In recent surveys by the Center for Indian Country Development, many respondents reported large, persistent revenue losses, with only one in five tribal entities indicating they have stable revenues.11 At the same time, they reported facing substantial increases in their operational costs that they expected to remain elevated for at least six months.
I love sweet corn. I remember munching on the kernels when I was a kid and then sucking out the juicy sweetness left on the cob. It was one of my favorite things to eat.
During the growing season, fields are bursting with corn! New Jersey has lots of farms that grow corn. The stalks cover acres of fields but they only produce one or two cobs each so it’s understandable why so much land is needed.
Now, traveling by local farms reminds me that Autumn is here. The cornstalks, so plentiful during growing season, are turning brown and wilting. Farmers are cutting them down, leaving the fields covered with the remains of summer’s corn crop. It’s nature’s reminder that all things flourish for a time and then release their energy. We need to enjoy life in its many forms while we can.
The cleanup from Hurricane Ida continues. Residents of a New Jersey town put out broken chairs and toys, damaged kitchen appliances, split tables, soaked mattresses, wooden slats from porches and shingles off houses. It wasn’t every house that experienced such devastation but enough to emphasize how strong the hurricane was.
Another New Jersey town was hit by an Ida-created tornado that whipped through the town, causing houses and farms to be stripped or even flattened! Sometimes one side of a street was effected while the other side was left alone.
Ida hit lots of places along the eastern coast hard and like all such storms, it was erratic. Some towns were flooded, others just wet from the rain. We were lucky in our area. There were downed trees but nothing disastrous.
Climate change is definitely happening. What we need now is a new way to look at our environment. Perhaps by changing our interference with nature we can modify the strength and number of storms in the future.
Caduceus at the town hall of Neumünster (Germany) by Uwe Barghaan, Wikipedia; Neumünster – Schleswig-Holstein (Germany), Mosaic at the town hall,
Jared W. Klein, MD, MPH Sara L. Jackson, MD, MPH Sigall K. Bell, MD Jan Walker, RN, MBA Tom Delbanco, MD Joann G. Elmore, MD, MPH Show al (Editor’s Note: Researchers at the Univ. of Washington and Harvard Medical School)
Patients have unprecedented online access to their medical records. More than 6 million Americans can now read their doctors’ notes via patient portals, and continued rapid growth is likely.
Sharing notes with patients may yield important health benefits, including increased patient empowerment and improved medication adherence.
Seeing written information, including notes, helps patients remember the plan of care, reinforces patients’ positive behaviors, and strengthens the patient–doctor alliance.
As fully transparent medical records proliferate, many questions remain unanswered (Table 1). Such uncertainties create anxiety and apprehension among doctors at a time when many already feel overwhelmed. In an effort to ease the transition to what we believe will be a widespread and ultimately beneficial practice, we draw on over 5 years of the authors’ clinical experience and conversations with clinicians around the country to offer suggestions for creating notes that can work for all concerned (Table 2).
Table 1: Outstanding Questions About Open Notes
•
Should the content and format of notes be changed?
•
Can the patient’s “story” return to the medical record and if so, how, and to what degree?
•
Which patients may benefit from reading notes, and which may not?
•
Should some notes be hidden, and how can that be explained to patients?
•
Will patients withhold important information if they sense that transparency poses threats to their privacy?
•
Will they uncover errors that could diminish trust and even fuel litigation?
Table 2Suggestions for Implementing Open Notes in Clinical Practice
Suggestion
Examples
Be clear and succinct
•
When possible, enlarge the font size or use boldface text to emphasize important items such as “Check your blood sugar twice a day.”
•
Consider beginning your note with the Assessment and Plan section.
•
Do not import multiple pages of data available elsewhere in the chart; instead, include only pertinent aspects of the current visit.
•
Avoid jargon. Use electronic tools to convert abbreviations to the full spelling. Use dictation or spell checking software to review note content.
•
Caution patients about misspellings and word substitutions or include templated statements explaining the potential sources of typographical errors.
•
Consider using second person instead of third person voice. For example, “Start taking lisinopril and check your blood pressure twice a week,” rather than, “Initiated lisinopril and instructed to check her blood pressure twice a week.” More direct language may help reinforce instructions for patients.
•
Insert links to reliable online resources for educational information and clarification of acronyms or medical terms.
Directly and respectfully address concerns
•
Obese patients. Review their body mass index and the definitions for overweight, obese, and morbidly obese with patients so that they understand why these terms are in the chart.
•
Possible cancer. “You have some symptoms concerning for colon cancer (blood in stool, weight loss, family history of early colon cancer), so I will facilitate an expedited referral to the gastroenterologist. If it is colon cancer, we want to catch it early when there are more treatment options.”
•
Drug use. “Cocaine use is causing your extremely elevated blood pressure and difficulty with relationships.”
•
Mental health. “Increased feelings of worthlessness and thoughts of self-harm. No active suicide plan and willing to seek care if thoughts worsen. Your grandchildren remind you of reasons to live. Check in tomorrow with your counselor and don’t forget the crisis line number.”
•
If documentation could cause harm to the patient (for example, intimate partner violence if access to the patient portal is obtained by abuser), discuss this with the patient in advance. Consult with a social worker or legal counsel and consider blocking this note from the patient portal.
•
Remember that, with rare exceptions, HIPAA protects patients’ right to view records. Shielding notes from an online patient portal does not prevent patients from submitting a written request for their records.
Department of Justice, Merrick Garland, Attorney General
Sunday, October 10, 2021
Jonathan and Diana Toebbe, both of Annapolis, Maryland, were arrested in Jefferson County, West Virginia, by the FBI and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) on Saturday, Oct. 9. They will have their initial appearances on Tuesday, Oct. 12, in federal court in Martinsburg, West Virginia. For almost a year, Jonathan Toebbe, 42, aided by his wife, Diana, 45, sold information known as Restricted Data concerning the design of nuclear-powered warships to a person they believed was a representative of a foreign power. In actuality, that person was an undercover FBI agent. The Toebbes have been charged in a criminal complaint alleging violations of the Atomic Energy Act.
“The complaint charges a plot to transmit information relating to the design of our nuclear submarines to a foreign nation,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “The work of the FBI, Department of Justice prosecutors, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and the Department of Energy was critical in thwarting the plot charged in the complaint and taking this first step in bringing the perpetrators to justice.
Jonathan Toebbe is an employee of the Department of the Navy who served as a nuclear engineer and was assigned to the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program, also known as Naval Reactors. He held an active national security clearance through the U.S. Department of Defense, giving him access to Restricted Data. Toebbe worked with and had access to information concerning naval nuclear propulsion including information related to military sensitive design elements, operating parameters and performance characteristics of the reactors for nuclear powered warships.
The complaint affidavit alleges that on April 1, 2020, Jonathan Toebbe sent a package to a foreign government, listing a return address in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, containing a sample of Restricted Data and instructions for establishing a covert relationship to purchase additional Restricted Data. The affidavit also alleges that, thereafter, Toebbe began corresponding via encrypted email with an individual whom he believed to be a representative of the foreign government. The individual was really an undercover FBI agent. Jonathan Toebbe continued this correspondence for several months, which led to an agreement to sell Restricted Data in exchange for thousands of dollars in cryptocurrency.
https://www.judiciary.senate.gov › imo › media › doc
PDF
Sep 2, 2020 — Subverting. How the Former President and. His Allies Pressured DOJ to. Overturn the 2020 Election. JUSTICE. MAJORITY STAFF REPORT …
OCTOBER 07, 2021
Following 8 Month Investigation, Senate Judiciary Committee Releases Report on Donald Trump’s Scheme to Pressure DOJ & Overturn the 2020 Election
Durbin: America was only a half-step away from a full-blown constitutional crisis
WASHINGTON – Following an eight-month investigation, the Senate Judiciary Committee today released new testimony and a staff report, “Subverting Justice: How the Former President and his Allies Pressured DOJ to Overturn the 2020 Election.” The report and testimony reveal that we were only a half-step away from a full blown constitutional crisis as President Donald Trump and his loyalists threatened a wholesale takeover of the Department of Justice (DOJ). They also reveal how former Acting Civil Division Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Clark became Trump’s Big Lie Lawyer, pressuring his colleagues in DOJ to force an overturn of the 2020 election.
The report sheds new light on Trump’s relentless efforts to coopt DOJ into overturning the 2020 election and Clark’s efforts to aid Trump. The Committee’s interim report is the first comprehensive accounting of those efforts, which were even more expansive and troubling than previously reported.
Based on findings from the investigation so far, the Committee has asked the D.C. Bar to open an investigation into Jeffrey Clark’s compliance with applicable rules of professional conduct. These rules include Rule 1.2, which prohibits attorneys from assisting or counseling clients in criminal or fraudulent conduct, and Rule 8.4, which among other things prohibits conduct that seriously interferes with the administration of justice. The Committee is withholding potential findings and recommendations about criminal culpability until the investigation is complete.
U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, released the following statement on today’s report release:
“Today’s report shows the American people just how close we came to a constitutional crisis. Thanks to a number of upstanding Americans in the Department of Justice, Donald Trump was unable to bend the Department to his will. But it was not due to a lack of effort. Donald Trump would have shredded the Constitution to stay in power. We must never allow this unprecedented abuse of power to happen again.”
Key takeaways from the Committee’s investigation include:
Previously-unreleased transcripts of the Committee’s closed-door interviews with three key former senior DOJ officials: former Acting Attorney General Jeff Rosen, former Acting Deputy Attorney General Richard Donoghue, and former U.S. Attorney BJay Pak. These witnesses cooperated with the Committee, and although their testimony was not under oath, they were obligated by 18 U.S.C. § 1001 to tell the truth.
New details of Donald Trump’s relentless, direct pressure on DOJ’s leadership. This includes at least nine calls and meetings with Rosen and/or Donoghue starting the day former Attorney General Bill Barr announced his resignation and continuing almost until the January 6 insurrection—including near-daily outreach once Barr left DOJ on December 23.
New details of then-Acting Assistant Attorney General of the Civil Division Jeffrey Clark’s misconduct, including his attempt to induce Rosen into helping Trump’s election subversion scheme by telling Rosen he would decline Trump’s offer to install him in Rosen’s place if Rosen agreed to aid that scheme.
New details around Trump forcing the resignation of U.S. Attorney Pak because he believed Pak was not doing enough to support his false claims of election fraud in Georgia—and then went outside the line of succession to appoint Bobby Christine as Acting U.S. Attorney because he believed Christine would “do something” about his election fraud claims.
New details of how, at Barr’s direction, DOJ deviated from decades-long practice meant to avoid inserting DOJ itself as an issue in the election—and instead aggressively pursued false claims of election fraud before votes were certified.
Confirmation that Mark Meadows asked Rosen to initiate election fraud investigations on multiple occasions, violating longstanding restrictions on White House intervention in DOJ law enforcement matters—and new details about these requests, including that Meadows asked Rosen to meet with Trump’s outside lawyer Rudy Giuliani.
A new study highlights stark disparities in caregiver deaths by race and ethnicity, calls for urgent public health response.
One US child loses a parent or caregiver for every four COVID-19 deaths, a new modeling study published today in Pediatrics reveals. The findings illustrate orphanhood as a hidden and ongoing secondary tragedy caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and emphasizes that identifying and caring for these children throughout their development is a necessary and urgent part of the pandemic response – both for as long as the pandemic continues, as well as in the post-pandemic era.
Photo: Pixabay
From April 1, 2020 through June 30, 2021, data suggest that more than 140,000 children under age 18 in the United States lost a parent, custodial grandparent, or grandparent caregiver who provided the child’s home and basic needs, including love, security, and daily care. Overall, the study shows that approximately 1 out of 500 children in the United States has experienced COVID-19-associated orphanhood or death of a grandparent caregiver. There were racial, ethnic, and geographic disparities in COVID-19-associated death of caregivers: children of racial and ethnic minorities accounted for 65% of those who lost a primary caregiver due to the pandemic.
Children’s lives are permanently changed by the loss of a mother, father, or grandparent who provided their homes, basic needs, and care. Loss of a parent is among the adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) linked to mental health problems; shorter schooling; lower self-esteem; sexual risk behaviors; and increased risk of substance abuse, suicide, violence, sexual abuse, and exploitation.
“Children facing orphanhood as a result of COVID is a hidden, global pandemic that has sadly not spared the United States,” said Susan Hillis, CDC researcher and lead author of the study. “All of us – especially our children – will feel the serious immediate and long-term impact of this problem for generations to come. Addressing the loss that these children have experienced – and continue to experience – must be one of our top priorities, and it must be woven into all aspects of our emergency response, both now and in the post-pandemic future.”
The study was a collaboration between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Imperial College London, Harvard University, Oxford University, and the University of Cape Town, South Africa. Published in the Oct. 7 issue of the journal Pediatrics, it was jointly led by CDC’s COVID Response and Imperial College London, and partly funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), as well as Imperial College London.
“The magnitude of young people affected is a sobering reminder of the devastating impact of the past 18 months,” said Dr Alexandra Blenkinsop, co-lead researcher, Imperial College London. “These findings really highlight those children who have been left most vulnerable by the pandemic, and where additional resources should be directed.”
The analysis used mortality, fertility, and census data to estimate COVID-19-associated orphanhood (death of one or both parents) and deaths of custodial and co-residing grandparents between April 1, 2020, and June 30, 2021, for the U.S. broadly, and for every state. “COVID-19-associated deaths” refers to the combination of deaths caused directly by COVID-19 and those caused indirectly by associated causes, such as lockdowns, restrictions on gatherings and movement, decreased access or quality of health care and of treatment for chronic diseases. The data were also separated and analyzed by race and ethnicity, including White, Black, Asian, and American Indian/Alaska Native populations, and Hispanic and non-Hispanic populations.
The study authors estimate that 120,630 children in the U.S. lost a primary caregiver, (a parent or grandparent responsible for providing housing, basic needs and care) due to COVID-19-associated death. In addition, 22,007 children experienced the death of a secondary caregiver (grandparents providing housing but not most basic needs). Overall, 142,637 children are estimated to have experienced the death of at least one parent, or a custodial or other co-residing grandparent caregiver.
“The death of a parental figure is an enormous loss that can reshape a child’s life. We must work to ensure that all children have access to evidence-based prevention interventions that can help them navigate this trauma, to support their future mental health and wellbeing,” said NIDA Director Nora D. Volkow, MD. “At the same time, we must address the many underlying inequities and health disparities that put people of color at greater risk of getting COVID-19 and dying from COVID-19, which puts children of color at a greater risk of losing a parent or caregiver and related adverse effects on their development.”
Racial and ethnic disparities in COVID-related caregiver loss
There were significant racial and ethnic disparities in caregiver deaths due to COVID-19. White people represent 61% of the total U.S. population and people of racial and ethnic minorities represent 39% of the total population. Yet, study results indicate that non-Hispanic White children account for 35% of those who lost a primary caregiver (51,381 children), while children of racial and ethnic minorities account for 65% of those who lost a primary caregiver (91,256 children).
When looking at both primary and secondary caregivers, the study found that findings varied greatly by race/ethnicity: 1 of every 168 American Indian/Alaska Native children, 1 of every 310 Black children, 1 of every 412 Hispanic children, 1 of every 612 Asian children, and 1 of every 753 White children experienced orphanhood or death of caregivers. Compared to white children, American Indian/Alaska Native children were 4.5 times more likely to lose a parent or grandparent caregiver, Black children were 2.4 times more likely, and Hispanic children were nearly 2 times (1.8) more likely.
Overall, the states with large populations – California, Texas, and New York – had the highest number of children facing COVID-19 associated death of primary caregivers. However, when analyzed by geography and race/ethnicity, the authors were able to map how these deaths and disparities varied at the state level.
In southern states along the U.S.-Mexico border, including New Mexico, Texas, and California, between 49% and 67% of children who lost a primary caregiver were of Hispanic ethnicity. In the southeast, across Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi, between 45% to 57% of children who lost a primary caregiver were Black. And American Indian/Alaska Native children who lost a primary caregiver were more frequently represented in South Dakota (55%), New Mexico (39%), Montana (38%), Oklahoma (23%), and Arizona (18%).
The current study follows closely in line with a similar study published in The Lancet in July 2021, which found more than 1.5 million children around the world lost a primary or secondary caregiver during the first 14 months of the COVID-19 pandemic. In both the global and US studies, researchers used the UNICEF definition of orphanhood, as including the death of one or both parents6. The definition includes children losing one parent, because they have increased risks of mental health problems, abuse, unstable housing, and household poverty. For children raised by single parents, the COVID-19-associated death of that parent may represent loss of the person primarily responsible for providing love, security, and daily care.
“We often think of the impact of COVID-19 in terms of the number of lives claimed by the disease, but as this study shows, it is critical to also address the broader impact – both in terms of those who have died, and those who have been left behind,” said study co-author Charles A. Nelson III, PhD. who studies the effects of adversity on brain and behavioral development at Boston Children’s Hospital. “We must ensure children who have lost a parent or caregiver have access to the support services they need, and that this additional impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is comprehensively addressed in both our rapid response and our overall public health response.”
There are evidence-based responses that can improve outcomes for children who experience the COVID-associated death of their caregivers:
Maintaining children in their families is a priority. This means families bereaved by the pandemic must be supported, and those needing kinship or foster care must rapidly receive services.
Child resilience can be bolstered via programs and policies that promote stable, nurturing relationships and address childhood adversity. Key strategies include:
Strengthening economic supports to families.
Quality childcare and educational support.
Evidence-based programs to improve parenting skills and family relationships.
All strategies must be age specific for children and must be sensitive to racial disparities and structural inequalities. They must reach the children who need them most.
In the closing words of the paper, “Effective action to reduce health disparities and protect children from direct and secondary harms from COVID-19 is a public health and moral imperative.”
CDC works 24/7 protecting America’s health, safety and security. Whether diseases start at home or abroad, are curable or preventable, chronic or acute, or from human activity or deliberate attack, CDC responds to America’s most pressing health threats. CDC is headquartered in Atlanta and has experts located throughout the United States and the world.
About the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA): NIDA is a component of the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIDA supports most of the world’s research on the health aspects of drug use and addiction. The Institute carries out a large variety of programs to inform policy, improve practice, and advance addiction science. For more information about NIDA and its programs, visit www.nida.nih.gov.
About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation’s medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.
SeniorWomen.com’s Editor: For you who have been reading SeniorWomen.com for some time, you’ll be familiar with The Scout Report which we usually post several times a year. Now we’ll excerpt some recommended sites that the Report explores regularly.
Fewer topics are more important or more fraught with misinformation than health and medicine. General readers, health care professionals, writers, and journalists who want to get the best scientific perspectives on alternative medicine, miracle cures, medical fraud, and the wellness industry should look no further than Science-Based Medicine (SBM), which promotes scientific reasoning and critical thinking in the evaluation of medical treatments and products. On the page linked above, visitors will find two kinds of helpful resources. First, there are blog-style posts offering the latest evidence about medical claims, news about recent scientific discoveries, and commentary on issues of contemporary and perennial interest. Readers can scroll through the latest posts or find those organized by popular topics such as Chiropractic, Energy Medicine, Nutrition, Health Fraud, and even Veterinary Medicine. Second, in the Reference drop-down menu, SBM offers materials on major topics and issues such as Homeopathy, Vaccines & Autism, and Acupuncture. Each reference page provides a scientific overview of the topic, an index of relevant blog posts, summaries of peer-reviewed research, and links to external resources. The material produced for SBM comes from medically trained professionals who are dedicated to educating the public about science and medicine and advocating for high health care standards. SBM is operated by the New England Skeptical Society, a donor-funded nonprofit pursuing critical thinking and evidence-based reasoning. Follow SBM on Twitter and Facebook (@sciencebasedmed on both platforms). [MJZ]
Attorney General Garland and Deputy General Lisa Monaco arrive at ATF Headquarters to launch five cross-jurisdictional strike forces to help reduce gun violence by disrupting illegal firearms trafficking in key regions across the country
Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Grassley, and members of the Committee. I appreciate very much the opportunity to speak to you today. The Violence Against Women Act has had an enormous impact in combatting domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking, and I am here to urge Congress to reauthorize and to strengthen it.
Before we get started though, Mr. Chairman with your indulgence, I would like to recognize several tragedies that the Department of Justice has suffered in recent days. Yesterday in Tucson, Arizona, a DEA agent was shot and killed, and a second DEA agent and a task force officer were shot and wounded. Separately, last Friday, a Deputy U.S. Marshal succumbed to injuries from a vehicle accident that occurred while he was assisting with a law enforcement operation. These sacrifices remind all of us of the risks law enforcement take every day to protect the communities that they serve. My thoughts and prayers are with their families, and the men and women of the DEA and the U.S. Marshals Service.
Now Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member Grassley, the original passage of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) in 1994, as you have noted Mr. Chairman, had a major impact on my own life. At the time I was a young staff member on this Committee, working for then-Chairman Biden, and one of my responsibilities included responding to letters from people who wrote to the Committee. Time and again, I read firsthand accounts not only about the violence that too many people — mostly women — suffered at the hands of their intimate partners, but also about the lack of accountability for these crimes.
Statistics the Committee reported during that period painted a very grim picture: 98% of rape victims never saw their attacker caught, tried and imprisoned — meaning almost all perpetrators of rape walked free. Fewer than half of people arrested for rape were convicted, and almost half of convicted rapists could expect to serve a year or less in jail.
My conversations with individual survivors, rape crisis centers, domestic violence shelters, emergency rooms and police stations put a tragic human face on those statistics. This experience led me to want to go to law school and it led me into public service; it drew me to a career in law enforcement and criminal justice. With the passage of VAWA, I saw how a law could make a real difference in people’s lives and I saw what Congress could accomplish through thoughtful policy, driven by courageous voices, experts and bipartisan leadership.
Congress reauthorized VAWA in 2000, 2005, and 2013 — each time with bipartisan support. Over the years, we have made substantial progress, but the need for VAWA’s programs and protections is as critical as ever. I would like to highlight just a few of the items the department sees as priorities for a reauthorization bill:
First, reauthorizing VAWA’s vitally important grant programs at the $1 billion funding levels included in the President’s FY 2022 request, this will ensure communities can provide critical services to survivors, as well as the right tools and training to make sure that responses to these crimes are survivor-centered and trauma-informed. I am pleased to announce today that the Office of Violence Against Women has issued this year more than $476 million in grants to help state, local and tribal organizations support survivors as they heal, promote victim access to justice and train professionals to respond to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking.
Second, we need to find new ways to reach and improve services for underserved populations, including culturally specific communities.
Third, expanding the ability of tribes to protect their communities from domestic and sexual violence through expanded jurisdiction.
And fourth, reducing homicides through federal firearms laws, including by closing the so-called “boyfriend loophole” that leaves countless victims at risk.
Chairman Durbin, Ranking Member Grassley, and Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, my name is Kristen Clarke and I serve as the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. Thank you for the opportunity to testify on the department’s work to implement and enforce the Voting Rights Act and the need to revitalize and restore the Act.
The Voting Rights Act is, as President Johnson said “one of the most monumental laws in the entire history of American freedom.” It is a law that has helped to truly transform American democracy.
However, the progress that we have made is fragile. Recently, there has been a resurgence in attacks on voting rights including cuts to early voting periods; burdensome restrictions to register or vote; racially gerrymandered redistricting plans; polling sites eliminated or consolidated in communities of color; eligible voters purged from the rolls, and more.
I am here today to sound an alarm. For the Justice Department, restoring and strengthening the Voting Rights Act is a matter of great urgency. The Supreme Court’s 2013 decision in Shelby County v. Holder suspended the preclearance process – eliminating the Justice Department’s single most powerful and effective tool for protecting the right to vote.
Before Shelby, the preclearance process enabled the department to swiftly block the implementation of many discriminatory and unconstitutional voting practices. Through Section 5, the department blocked over 3,000 voting changes, helping protect the rights of millions of citizens. In over 60% of blocked voting changes, there was evidence of intentional discrimination. We also know that the preclearance requirement deterred many jurisdictions from adopting discriminatory changes in the first place.
Too many jurisdictions have viewed the Shelby ruling as an invitation to adopt rules that disadvantage minority voters. Today, jurisdictions that want to restrict voting rights have what the Supreme Court memorably called the “advantage of time and inertia.” These new laws can be challenged only through long, protracted, resource-intensive, case-by-case litigation which we have pursued in states like Texas and North Carolina.
We are on the cusp of another potentially transformational moment. A new redistricting cycle has commenced. 2020 Census numbers show the U.S. has become an increasingly diverse nation, with population growth attributable to increases in the number of people of color.
Recent Wall Street Journal investigations have revealed troubling insights regarding how Instagram affects teenagers, how it handles children onto the platform, and other consumer protection matters related to Facebook. The hearing will provide an opportunity for a Facebook whistleblower to discuss their perspective and experience with the Subcommittee, including how to update children’s privacy regulations and other laws to protect consumers online.
The Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Data Security is responsible for consumer affairs and consumer product safety; product liability; property and casualty insurance; sports-related matters; consumer privacy and data security protection, and international data transfer issues. The subcommittee conducts oversight of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC), the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), and the Office of the Secretary of Commerce.
Details:
Tuesday, October 5, 2021; 10:00 a.m. EDT
Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Data Security Hearing
Due to current limited access to the Capitol complex, the general public is encouraged to view this hearing via the live stream. Social distancing is now lifted for vaccinated members of the press who wish to attend. The Office of the Attending Physician recommends that all individuals wear masks while in interior spaces and other individuals are present.
