A dear colleague of mine, a fellow clinician, who works extensively with survivors of trauma and abuse has informed me that the federal monies which help to support her work and fund much needed services to millions of crime victims every year are in jeopardy. The monies, which come directly from the collection of criminal fines rather than taxpayer revenues, are part of the Crime Victims Fund, which was authorized in 1984 under the Victims Of Crime Act (VOCA). The Bush Administration’s budget for FY 2007 proposes emptying this fund of its accrued reserves of some 1.255 billion dollars, money which has previously been earmarked for future victim services. If Congress were to go along with this proposal, that would mean there would be no funds available for such services at the beginning of FY 2008, putting some 4,400 local programs in jeopardy. We cannot allow this to occur. Please contact your elected representatives in Washington DC and urge them to save the Victims Crime Fund. A sample letter you may wish to copy and send follows…

Dear [Congressional Representative]:

I am writing as a concerned citizen, urging you to reject the proposed budget provision that would rescind funding for the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA)—the Crime Victims Fund. VOCA was enacted by the initiative of President Ronald Reagan to pay for victims’ services and compensations. For more than 22 years, the Fund has operated on money collected from criminal offenders—not taxpayers—that is then placed in the Crime Victims Fund.

In 2000, because of a great increase in deposits into the Fund, Congress began limiting how much of the Fund could be obligated each year in order to stabilize VOCA in years when deposits fall below the annual cap. A “rainy day� reserve is created in those years when amounts deposited exceed the annual cap.

The Bush Administration wants Congress to empty out that reserve. They asked you to do that last year and you overwhelmingly said, “NO!� They are asking again this year, and Congress must again emphatically say, “NO!�

Both the underlying authorizing statute and Congressional appropriators have consistently pledged that all amounts in the Crime Victims Fund be kept there for victims.

The VOCA Fund is a crucial resource many communities and organizations rely on for victims’ services and compensation. It supports rape crisis centers, domestic violence shelters, victims’ compensation for court costs, funeral services, and medical expenses. VOCA is the only Federal program that supports services to victims of all types of crimes: homicide, drunk driving, elder financial exploitation, identity theft, robbery, and rape.

More than 4,400 agencies depend on VOCA funds to provide direct services to 3.6 million crime victims a year. Protecting the Crime Victims Fund is perhaps the most significant thing you can do to fulfill your commitment to help crime victims. I urge you to again reject the attempt to rescind the Fund balance and ensure that the entire Fund is available exclusively for victim services.

Sincerely,

It is worth noting that the conservative columnist, Robert Novak, had something of relevance to say on this matter today, in an article entitled, “GOP Congress in Rebellion Against Bush.� An excerpt follows…

Another Republican rebellion is breaking out on the budget front, where independent-minded Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) is taking on the administration for its budgeting proposal. Bush’s budget zeroes out the so-called “Crime Victims Fund,� which is funded through criminal fines, fees and forfeitures, and thus pays for itself. Coburn is accusing the administration of playing a “budget shell game� by zeroing out the fund in order to make room for more spending elsewhere, but planning to restore the fund later.

Coburn’s hearings, set for today, will include a victim of the Oklahoma City bombing. They are significant because they could be politically damaging for Bush if anyone notices them. More and more conservatives seem emboldened nowadays to snipe at the President, whose poor efforts at reaching out to Congress have not helped his overall cause.

Clearly, supporting the Victims Crime Fund is not a matter of partisan politics. It is a matter of human decency. Please urge your elected officials to do the decent thing and preserve the fund. You never know when you or someone you love might need it. Thank you.