{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.heitkamp.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=6B1F756E-1088-4A2C-B738-7C2FB3C8B34A", "Heitkamp Announces Federal Funding Supporting Victims of Sexual Assault", "2016-09-23", "2016", "2016-09", "Democrat", "House", "ND", "Heidi Heitkamp", "H001069", "www.heitkamp.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "FARGO, N.D. \u2013\u00a0U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp announced two federal grants totaling over $1.2 million for the North Dakota Department of Health to provide vital support services and enhance criminal justice efforts on behalf of victims of sexual and domestic violence.\r\n\u201cIt is critically important that we can deliver quality intervention and support services for domestic and sexual assault victims as well as coordinated criminal justice efforts for those affected by this unacceptable abuse,\u201d said Heitkamp. \u201cThese services can help individuals recover from abuse and remove themselves from dangerous situations. Throughout my time in public service I have been a staunch advocate for better policies, support services, and criminal justice efforts to combat domestic and sexual violence. Today\u2019s federal funds will build on that work by helping the North Dakota Department of Health provide direct intervention services for victims of sexual assault to empower them as they heal and to bring their abusers to justice.\u201d\r\nThese federal funds are made available through two grant programs under the U.S. Department of Justice\u2019s Office on Violence Against Women. The Services, Training, Officers, and Prosecution (STOP) Formula Grant will provide $874,549 and the Sexual Assault Services (SAS) Program will provide $349,368 in federal funding.\r\nIn the Senate, Heitkamp is building on her work as North Dakota\u2019s Attorney General in the 1990s to combat sexual violence and stop those who seek to harm adults and children. Among the first bills Heitkamp cosponsored and helped pass in the Senate was the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). Heitkamp worked to include a key provision in VAWA to address the continuing crisis of violence against women in tribal communities by strengthening existing programs and providing tribal governments with the force they need to prosecute non-Indian perpetrators who commit these crimes on tribal land. As North Dakota\u2019s Attorney General, Heitkamp helped implement the initial VAWA after the bill became law in 1994. Since then, programs supported by VAWA have made drastic changes. According to the Justice Department, the annual incidences of domestic violence have fallen more than 60 percent since 1993.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.heitkamp.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=6B1F756E-1088-4A2C-B738-7C2FB3C8B34A"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.3221008703112602, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}