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Excerpt from A Proposed Constitutional Amendment to Establish a Bill of Rights for Crime Victims: Hearing Before the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, One Hundred Fourth Congress, Second Session, on S. J. Res, 52 April 23, 1996 The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:08 a.m., in room SD-226, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Orrin G. Hatch (chairman of the committee), presiding. Also present: Senators Grassley, Brown, Kyi, Leahy, and Feinstein. Opening Statement Of Hon. Orrin G. Hatch, A U.S. Senator From The State Of Utah The Chairman. We are happy to welcome all of you to the Judiciary Committee here today. Today, the committee is convened to take testimony on a proposed amendment to the Constitution of the United States that would adopt into our fundamental law the following proposition: The interests of the victims of crime are entitled to the same respect as the interests of those charged with crime. That goal is as worthy of our consideration - indeed, it is as noble as any goal that the Congress could strive to accomplish. After all, only a victim can truly understand the pain that crime causes. It is the victim more than anyone else who is cheated or robbed or assaulted. It is the victim whose wounds must be healed and it is the victim above all else who is most deserving of our efforts to eliminate the violence that plagues our communities. We and all other responsible Government officials should do our utmost to ensure that the criminal justice system serves the interests of victims as well as the public generally. To ensure that the criminal justice system treats crime victims with fairness, decency, and compassion, and to ensure that the criminal justice system never exults the rights of criminals over the interests of victims, we are holding this nearing today. I want to thank my colleague on this committee, Senator Jon Kyl, for all of his hard work on this proposal. I also want to thank my colleagues in the House of Representatives and the sponsor of the House companion of this amendment, Judiciary Committee Chairman Henry Hyde, for all the time he has spent on this issue and for his willingness to appear before the committee today. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

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