President Biden signed\u00a0a bipartisan bill Thursday to redirect funding for the existing Victims of Crime Act so that more money is allocated to programs for \u2026<\/b>
\nPresident Biden signed a bipartisan bill Thursday to redirect funding for the existing Victims of Crime Act so that more money is allocated to programs for victim support. \u00ab\u00a0When someone commits a crime, it’s not enough to bring the predator to justice. We also need to support the victims,\u00a0\u00bb the president said, reflecting on his time spent visiting victims in domestic violence shelters. \u00ab\u00a0I’m convinced that women who are victims of domestic violence suffer from post-traumatic stress no different than a soldier being shot at regularly,\u00a0\u00bb he added. Biden said the legislation, put forward by Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., changes how criminal fines are deposited federally. \u00ab\u00a0This one doesn’t take a dime of taxpayer\u2019s money. It uses fines and penalties paid by convicted federal criminals,\u00a0\u00bb Biden explained. The majority of funds under non-prosecutorial agreements \u2013 originally deposited in the General Treasury \u2013 will now be redirected to the Crimes Victim Funds (CVF). \u00ab\u00a0Fines from what are called non-prosecutorial agreements or deferred prosecution agreements did not go into this Victim’s Crimes Fund in the past,\u00a0\u00bb Biden said Thursday. \u00ab\u00a0Since there’s been more and more of these agreements in recent years, the fund is being depleted. \u00ab\u00a0That meant dramatic cuts in the funding it could provide for victims and for organizations to support these victims,\u00a0\u00bb he added. More than 13 million people relied on state, local and tribal services provided to victims of crimes during 2018, according to the latest data found by the Bureau of Justice Statistics National Crime Victimization Survey. The legislation signed by the president Thursday received overwhelming bipartisan support and passed in the Senate 100-0 Tuesday. The House also backed the bill largely on a bipartisan basis, passing through the chamber 384 \u2013 38. Republican Alaskan Sen. Lisa Murkowski helped introduce the legislation and gave an impassioned speech from the Senate floor Tuesday. \u00ab\u00a0Alaska Cares saw a 173 percent increase in children hospitalized in the pediatric ICU for serious physical abuse and fatal neglect,\u00a0\u00bb Murkowski said. \u00ab\u00a0I heard about an unprecedented increase in child torture,\u00a0\u00bb she added. \u00ab\u00a0You think about that, it has to just haunt you to the core.\u00a0\u00bb The Alaskan senator said that victims services in her state have seen a 36 percent cut over the last year during the pandemic. \u00ab\u00a0When you think about the role that these victims services, these providers, who are there for truly the most vulnerable\u2026it should make us want to do everything that we can,\u00a0\u00bb Murkowski added.<\/p>\n