Pub.L. 108-039 To amend the Communications Satellite Act of 1962 to provide for the orderly dilution of the ownership interest in Inmarsat by former signatories to the Inmarsat Operating Agreement. <> ...

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[[Page 117 STAT. 833]]

Public Law 108-38
108th Congress

                            Joint Resolution


 
 Expressing the sense of Congress with respect to raising awareness and 
   encouraging prevention of sexual assault in the United States and 
supporting the goals and ideals of National Sexual Assault Awareness and 
       Prevention Month. <<NOTE: June 26, 2003 -  [S.J. Res. 8]>> 

Whereas, on average, another person is sexually assaulted in the United 
    States every two minutes;
Whereas, the Department of Justice reports that 248,000 people in the 
    United States were sexually assaulted in 2001;
Whereas, 1 in 6 women and 1 in 33 men have been victims of rape or 
    attempted rape;
Whereas, children and young adults are most at risk, as 44 percent of 
    sexual assault victims are under the age of 18, and 80 percent are 
    under the age of 30;
Whereas, sexual assault affects women, men, and children of all racial, 
    social, religious, age, ethnic, and economic groups in the United 
    States;
Whereas, less than 40 percent of sexual assault victims pursue 
    prosecution by reporting their attack to law enforcement agencies;
Whereas, two-thirds of sexual crimes are committed by persons who are 
    not strangers to the victims;
Whereas, the rate of sexual assaults has decreased by half in the last 
    decade;
Whereas, because of recent advances in DNA technology, law enforcement 
    agencies have the potential to identify the rapists in tens of 
    thousands of unsolved rape cases;
Whereas, aggressive prosecution can incarcerate rapists and therefore 
    prevent them from committing further crimes;
Whereas, sexual assault victims suffer emotional scars long after the 
    physical scars have healed; and
Whereas, free, confidential help is available to all victims of sexual 
    assault through the National Sexual Assault Hotline, more than 1,000 
    rape crisis centers across the United States, and other 
    organizations that provide services to assist victims of sexual 
    assault: Now, therefore, be it

    Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That--
            (1) it is the sense of Congress that--
                    (A) National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention 
                Month provides a special opportunity to educate the 
                people of the United States about sexual violence and to 
                encourage both the prevention of sexual assault and the 
                prosecution of its perpetrators;
                    (B) it is appropriate to salute the more than 
                20,000,000 victims who have survived sexual assault in 
                the United

[[Page 117 STAT. 834]]

                States and the efforts of victims, volunteers, and 
                professionals who combat sexual assault;
                    (C) national and community organizations and private 
                sector supporters should be recognized and applauded for 
                their work in promoting awareness about sexual assault, 
                providing information and treatment to its victims, and 
                encouraging the increased prosecution and punishment of 
                its perpetrators; and
                    (D) police, forensic workers, and prosecutors should 
                be recognized and applauded for their hard work and 
                innovative strategies to increase the percentage of 
                sexual assault cases that result in the prosecution and 
                incarceration of the offenders;
            (2) Congress urges national and community organizations, 
        businesses in the private sector, and the media to promote, 
        through National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month, 
        awareness of sexual violence and strategies to decrease the 
        incidence of sexual assault; and
            (3) Congress supports the goals and ideals of National 
        Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month.

    Approved June 26, 2003.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY--S.J. Res. 8:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

HOUSE REPORTS: No. 108-113 (Comm. on the Judiciary).
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 149 (2003):
            Apr. 11, considered and passed Senate.
            June 10, considered and passed House.

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