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Excerpt from Witness to Domestic Violence The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:10 a.m., in room SD - 430, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Senator Christopher Dodd (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. Present: Senators Dodd, Wellstone, and Wofford. Opening Statement of Senator Dodd Senator Dodd. The subcommittee will come to order. First of all, let me apologize to everyone for being a couple minutes late, particularly to my colleague, Senator Wellstone; but I was making some remarks on the floor. We are opening up the discussion of me health care reform package this morning. I would like to welcome everyone here this morning to the Subcommittee on Children, Family, Drugs and Alcoholism hearing entitled, "Witness to Domestic Violence: Protecting our Kids." We live in a time when violence is growing more and more prevalent in our streets and in our public areas. For most Americans, entering their homes and closing the door shuts out this violence. But for many, mostly women and children, the door does not shut out the violence because the violence resides behind that door, inside the home. It is estimated that each year, 3 to 4 million women are beaten by their husbands or partners. Spouse abuse is the number one cause of injuries for which women seek medical attention in the United States of America. Spouse abuse causes more serious injuries in women than automobile accidents, muggings, and rapes combined. The statistics tell us that today, like every other day of the year, four women in this country before the day ends will be killed by their male partners. As made eloquently clear at an art exhibit sponsored by Senator and Mrs. Wellstone this week in the Russell Building Rotunda, the victims of domestic violence and their children become silent witnesses to the failure of our society to hear their cries, or indeed, to allow them to cry at all. About the Publisher Forgotten