Edited Remarks by John W. Gillis

Director, Office for Victims of Crime

29th NOVA Conference

National Organization for Victim Assistance

New Orleans, Louisiana

August 25, 2003

Thank you for such a warm welcome and good morning. It truly is a pleasure for me to join you here for NOVA's 29th Annual North American Victim Assistance Conference. It is wonderful that so many of you were able to break away from your busy schedules to participate in this worthwhile event. Thanks to all of you for caring about victims.

Let me take this opportunity to recognize Dr. Marlene Young, Mr. John Stein, and the NOVA Board of Directors for the wonderful work they are doing. I also want to commend all of them and the NOVA staff for the great job they have done in putting this conference together.

Let me also take a moment to acknowledge members of the OVC staff. I won't introduce them individually but I will ask them all to stand. These are really dedicated individuals who are passionate about their work. Please feel free to stop and talk with any of them about OVC, our programs, and the work we do. Before I go any further, I would like to introduce the person who has been my co-partner, support system, and best friend for several decades. My wife Patsy.

On a personal note, I'm pleased to stand before you today as the Director of the Office for Victims of Crime and as the first-ever victim of a violent crime to lead the Federal Government's chief office for addressing crime victim issues. While my appointment by President George W. Bush in September 2001 has been the high point in my own personal journey from victim to advocate, like most victims, I would be happy to return to a simpler life if I could have my daughter back. I would love to have shared in her journey through life from a young adult to a mature woman. To share birthdays and the holidays. To share in her joys and disappointments of life. And Patsy and I could look forward to more grandchildren to spoil. But that will never be. Louarna's murder 23 years ago changed our lives and has directed many of my professional and personal choices. But I feel privileged to lead OVC and I recognize that this is a tremendous responsibility. I have a personal commitment beyond my responsibilities to this position and I assure you that I intend to meet those responsibilities head on.

When I first took over the helm at OVC, I made a commitment that I would always put victims first. Every initiative, every grant, everything we would do at OVC would be geared toward "putting victims first." Putting Victims First expresses my vision that OVC's responsibility should be, first and foremost, to the people it was created to serve. No one understands better than victims the pain and injustice caused by crime and violence. No one is in a better position to tell us where the changes are needed in our justice system. My experience as a law enforcement officer, as a parent of a murdered child, as a victim advocate, and as a homicide survivor is a guiding force in the direction OVC is now moving.

We are no longer operating in a vacuum in Washington, D.C. We continue to improve communication, to hear directly from victims, and to put their needs and concerns at the center of OVC's initiatives.

Another focus is the importance of small grassroots organizations that provide services to victims. Grassroots organizations are the pioneers of the victims' movement and much more. Today, many organizations are managed by victims and survivors. These organizations provide invaluable support to victims who need it, and have done so with no help from Washington. In my early work, when Patsy and I started helping other victims, I remember the large sums of out-of-pocket money we spent for newsletters, postage, stationery, etc. But, there was so much more we could have done with just a few extra dollars. In order to help those kinds of grassroots organizations, last year OVC started a grant program called Helping Outreach Programs to Expand, or Project HOPE. Project HOPE gives small organizations an opportunity to apply for up to $5,000 to help them continue assisting victims. To date, OVC has approved 191 grassroots organizations and disbursed nearly $1 million dollars under this program.

Another priority is to foster the creation of collaborative alliances for the benefit of all crime victims. Such alliances have proven effective in past incidents of terrorism and mass victimization. Underlying this priority is the recognition that victim advocates and service providers cannot serve all and do all. It is simply unreasonable to expect otherwise. The needs and challenges of victimization make it imperative that we join forces with our allies in criminal justice and other disciplines. We must enlist the aid of all these professionals.

To this end, we've started working closely with the faith community, supporting chaplaincy training, seminary programs, and projects that create networks of victim assistance and faith-based programs. In general, people in crisis turn to the clergy far more often than any other group or resource. We at OVC understand President Bush's emphasis on faith-based organizations. We fully appreciate the critical role the faith community plays in helping crime victims cope with their victimization and ultimately regain a sense of meaning in their lives. We will continue our search for faith-based organizations that are willing to roll up their sleeves and work with victims. Everybody wants to work with the offender, but I don't believe the victim should have to be part of an offender-based program in order to receive victim services.

It has taken four decades to get victims' issues to the forefront of our Nation, at the cost of many lost and broken lives. But I know each one of you knows that there's still a lot of work to do. True, we can celebrate tremendous statutory gains over the years. The tally of victims' rights laws has surpassed 27,000, and every state has passed a victims' bill of rights. Yet, as we speak, 17 states still lack constitutional amendments for crime victims and the 33 states that do have amendments have constructed them differently. These differences pose serious difficulties for victims, particularly in cases involving more than one state.

Forty years ago, this coming Thursday, the Nation rallied together on the Mall at the Lincoln Memorial to seek equality for African Americans and the Reverend Martin Luther King delivered his vision of what equality would mean for people of color. Twenty-one years ago, President Ronald Reagan's Task Force on Victims of Crime joined forces and issued a report to seek equality for victims of crime. Like Reverend King, the Task Force members were seeking some basic rights and services for victims of crime.

Forty years ago, the struggle was principally to end segregation and secure job opportunities for African Americans. Twenty-one years ago, the struggle for victims' rights was primarily focused on victims of domestic violence, child abuse, sexual assault, and drunk driving. Today, the challenge is to secure rights and services for all victims of crime.

Forty years ago, Reverend King, a faith-based advocate for justice, said, "One hundred years later [after emancipation], the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land." Twenty-one years ago, the Task Force on Victims of Crime said, "The guiding principle that provides the focus for constitutional liberties is that government must be restrained from trampling the rights of the individual citizen. The victims of crime have been transformed into a group oppressively burdened by a system designed to protect them."

Forty years ago, Reverend King said, "When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir." Twenty-one years ago, the Task Force on Victims of Crime said, "The Constitution is the foundation of national freedom, the source of national spirit. But the combined experience brought to this inquiry and everything learned during its progress affirm that an essential change must be undertaken."

Forty years ago, Reverend King said, "This note was a promise that all men would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation." Twenty-one years ago, the Task Force members said, "This oppression must be redressed. To that end it is the recommendation of this Task Force that the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States be augmented."

Reverend King had a dream. His dream was for a Nation undivided. His dream was for a Nation transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. His dream was to let freedom ring! Twenty-one years ago, the Task Force had a similar dream for crime victims. It's a dream that has been deferred. The pursuit of equal rights and fair treatment is a dream that those of us who work for victims must remain resolute to see fulfilled. Our dream is for the rights of victims to be acknowledged in our Nation's highest charter, the Constitution. Our dream is for victims to be heard in a passionate way in every courtroom across the Nation. Our dream is for victims to be at the center of the criminal justice process, not on the outside looking in. Our dream is that victims' rights will be taken just as seriously and treated with the same respect as the rights of the accused.

In the words of Katherine Prescott, former National President of Mother's Against Drunk Driving, "A time came for slavery to be abolished--and the Constitution was amended to assure it. A time came for women to vote--and the Constitution was amended to assure it. The time now has come for victims of crime to have a balanced voice with those of their offenders, and the United States Constitution must be amended to ensure it."

We remain steadfast in our resolve to make the dreams of the Task Force on Victims of Crime this Nation's reality! Thank you. And may God bless all of you!

To Speeches by the OVC Director | To OVC Speeches and Press Releases