Fulfills Promise to Sign Child Victims Act—A Central Part of Governor’s 2019 Justice Agenda—Within First 100 Days of New Legislative Session
Legislation Ensures Child Abusers Are Held Accountable Criminally and Civilly
Governor Cuomo: “We are here today because courageous victims who endured great pain and great anger, anguish, and great humiliation, had the courage to come forward and tell their storiesThis bill brings justice to people who were abused. The bill rights the wrongs that went unacknowledged and unpunished…Today says justice is done. Today says nobody is above the law. The bill says for those who are cloaked with authority, that that cloak is not impenetrable.”
Earlier today, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo fulfilled his promise to sign the Child Victims Act, a key component of his 2019 Justice Agenda, within the first 100 days of the new legislative session. The legislation ensures those who abuse children are held accountable criminally and civilly and that survivors of childhood sexual abuse have a path to justice. Governor Cuomo advocated for passage of the Child Victims Act last legislative session but Senate Republicans refused to bring it to the floor for a vote. More information is available here.
VIDEO of today’s event is available on YouTube here and in TV quality (h.264, mp4) format here.
AUDIO of today’s event is available here.
PHOTOS of the event will be available on the Governor’s Flickr page.
A rush transcript of the Governor’s remarks is available below:
Good morning. For me, what a better place to spend Valentine’s Day than with some of my favorite people in the world, who I love so much. It’s a pleasure to be at the Daily News, especially a pleasure to be at the Daily News and not being grilled by the Editorial Board, which is why I’m normally here.
But, first I want to thank Mr. Robert York and I want to thank all the team at the Daily News for giving us this hospitality, let’s give them a round of applause.
I want to thank my colleagues who are joining us here today, our Assembly and Senate members, let’s give them a round of applause.
The victims of child sexual abuse who fought the fight year after year after year, especially Marci Hamilton, let’s give them a round of applause.
And a special welcome to the legislators who started this crusade. First and foremost, Assembly member Margaret Markey, let’s give her a round of applause. And we have Senator Ruth Hassell-Thompson, who was one of the early pioneers also, let’s give Ruth a round of applause. And our current sponsors Linda Rosenthal and Brad Hoylman, who you’ll hear from in a moment.
This is an emotional day for all of us, for different reasons and on different levels. But, there is no doubt that this is truly an emotional day. It’s been a long, it’s been a difficult journey through ugly terrain to reach the light on the other side that we will reach when we sign this bills. And I think there are many lessons that we should remember during this period of time. At a time when people are frustrated and politics is extreme and sometimes irrational, when credibility of government officials is waning, when we see revered institutions crumbling. Today reminds us that we can still do good things when all of us does our job to the best of our ability.
Why are we at the Daily News today? Because one lesson is that true journalism still matters. It’s not enough to have facts and righteousness on your side. If one is trying to take on major institutions and challenge the status quo and raise an ugly reality, the first step is still exposure. The first step is to tell the truth. That citizens must understand the problem. And it’s the citizens that must demand change before the political process will act. Theoretically, traditionally, the way I was raised, that is the role of journalists. To reveal the facts, to paint the picture, to tell the truth even when ugly, even when uncomfortable. To comfort the afflicted and to afflict the comfortable. To challenge the abuse of big institutions. While so much of journalism today has turned into tweets and Facebook and Instagram posts, today says, real journalism still matters. And that’s why we’re here today.
On the issue of the Child Victims Act, it was the Daily News that told the story, that publicized the abuse, victims that came forward. It was the Daily News that started the drumbeat for justice. It happened in this room. And at a time when some think that journalism has been reduced to no more than 280 characters in a tweet, the Daily News wrote 252 articles on the Child Victims Act. Since 2009, the Daily News wrote 223 articles, 29 editorials, 975,000 characters on one issue. One topic over ten years. That, my friends, is real journalism. And that’s how we make change.
It is that tenacity, that stubbornness, that indignation, that exercise of true journalism that New York toughness that brings us here today. Like Jacob Riis and photojournalism and the Pentagon Papers and Watergate and the #MeToo movement covered by New Yorkers Magazine. Like Arthur Brown and Heidi Evans and Beverly Weintraub’s coverage of 9/11 responders so they got the healthcare they so desperately needed. Like Greg Smith’s work exposing the horrendous conditions of NYCHA where children are being poisoned. The Daily News was relentless in their telling of the truth. In many ways in the spirit of the greats, I can only imagine Jimmy Breslin looking down on us today saying, “you did good, kids.” And once the Daily News exposed the facts, then we needed a courageous government official to pick up the baton and force government action. And it was hard. It’s hard to change the status quo. It’s hard to get legislators to take controversial positons. Why should they? Politics is about making people like you, right? It’s about making friends. Why would they take a difficult position? It’s hard. It’s hard to take on your own church.
Well, there are a courageous few for whom it’s not about politics. It’s about making change even when the change will cost you politically. Even when you are ridiculed. Even when you are ostracized by institutions that meant so much to you for so much of your life. Assembly Member Marge Markey goes down in the history books as a courage and profile. Stand up, Marge Markey.
She is with us here today. So is Michael Dowd who has fought this fight for many, many years. Pleasure to be with you, Michael. But justice is not an easy road. The moral arch of the universe is long and it bends towards justice with a caveat. If people work to bend it towards justice. I don’t believe Martin Luther King Jr. was saying it bends automatically; we must bend it. I supported the Child Victims Act every year. Senator Hoylman, Assembly member Linda Rosenthal fought for it. Senator Ruth Hassell-Thompson fought for it. But, we saw major institutions rise up and we saw it fail year after year after year. For the past 13 years the bill died in the State Senate. Not because people voted against it, but even worse. Because they wouldn’t bring the bill to the floor. They wouldn’t tell the people of the state the position of the politicians.
This year, with a new Senate, the bill came to the floor, it passed unanimously 63 to 0 because even the Republicans voted for it. Because once the truth sees the light of day, it is undeniable. And the bill passed. So today we are about to sign a bill, long incoming, that makes history. Why? Because great journalists excelled. Because elected officials persevered and showed courage. But most of all, we are here today because courageous victims who endured great pain and great anger, anguish, and great humiliation, had the courage to come forward and tell their stories. And they sacrificed their personal privacy so that others did not have to feel the same pain. Catherine Robb, who was abused starting when she was nine years old, who became a lawyer so she could use her skills to protect children. Congratulations Catherine Robb. Like Steven Jimenez, who was abused by a schoolteacher from the time that he was 10 to 13 in closets and locker rooms, but who turned his pain into a force for change. Congratulations, Steven, congratulations.
This bill legally changes the law and gives victim until their 55th birthday to bring a civil suit, their 28th birthday to seek felony charges and their 25th birthday to seek misdemeanor charges. It creates a one-year window to revive old time barred cases. And that is all good. But the bill, to me, does something else that is frankly more important. This bill brings justice to people who were abused. The bill rights the wrongs that went unacknowledged and unpunished. And that compounded the pain. To be abused, to suffer in silence for decades and to have society as a whole not even acknowledge your pain and abuse, and in many cases to protect the perpetrator and to demonize the allegation that one would make against the perpetrator, made this situation even more difficult and more horrendous. Today says justice is done. Today says nobody is above the law. The bill says for those who are cloaked with authority, that that cloak is not impenetrable. That if you violate the law, we will find out. And you will be punished.
And I truly hope that for the millions of victims, and there are millions, who have experienced this gruesome crime, they know that it was not their fault. They did nothing wrong. And that this horrific wrong was done to them, not because of anything they did or anything they should have done. And today that wrong is exposed and it is made right, and this is society’s way of saying we are sorry. We are sorry for what happened to you. We are sorry that it took us so long to acknowledge what happened to you. we are sorry that justice took so long. We are sorry to the other victims who in the interim were also violated, because society was slow in acting.
Today after a 13-year ordeal and after decades of personal pain for so many, I hope you can find a slight sense of peace and a slight sense of vindication that you did not endure this pain without reason. You endured this pain so that others will not now feel that same pain. Your suffering will stop others from suffering. You have put the world on notice and you exposed this silent secret scandal so that the generations that follow will be aware. That parents will be on notice. That children will have safe harbors. That wolves in sheeps’ clothing have been revealed and predators will no longer lurk in the shadows. Thank you and God bless you.
