Quigley Speaks Out Against Domestic Violence

Video of the speech can be found here

Today, Congressman Quigley delivered the following speech on the House floor:

"Madam Speaker, I rise today to discuss domestic violence, a topic that all too often goes undiscussed.

October is domestic violence awareness month, and now more than ever is the time to draw attention to household violence that results in more than 2 million injuries and 1,200 deaths among women each year.

Estimates of assaults on women by partners range from approximately 2 million to 4 million annually in the U.S.

Sadly, we have no real idea how many incidents of violence actually occur each year because so many go unreported.

Those unreported incidents are the reason domestic violence awareness month is so vital.

Only when we are no longer afraid to speak out about domestic violence will we empower those who currently suffer in silence.

In my state of Illinois alone, there were 114,921 reported cases of domestic violence in 2006.

It is for those thousands of women, and the countless others who suffer silently, that I speak today.

And it is for those women that I encourage my colleagues to pass H.Res. 817, which supports the goals and ideals of National Domestic Violence Awareness Month."