Senator’s Letter Follows Bipartisan Letter By 16 Women Senators Urging Commissioner Goodell to Send a Strong Message by Committing to Zero Tolerance for Domestic Violence
September 22, 2014 - Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) wrote the following letter to Cynthia Hogan, the National Football League’s newly named Senior Vice President of Public Policy and Government Affairs, in response to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell’s comments at a press conference in New York on Friday.
Senator Boxer’s letter follows a bipartisan letter that she led along with 15 of her female Senate colleagues that called on Commissioner Goodell to institute a real zero-tolerance policy for domestic violence.
The full text of the Senator’s letter follows:
September 22, 2014
Ms. Cynthia C. Hogan
Senior Vice President of Public Policy and Government Affairs
National Football League
1201 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Suite 645
Washington, DC 20004
Dear Cynthia: I well remember the days when we worked together on the first Violence Against Women Act and I know how hard you have worked throughout your entire career to combat domestic violence. I was heartened to hear that you will be starting your job with the National Football League today and that you will be there to help the NFL change its domestic violence policies. You arrive at this job at a pivotal moment in history, and have the chance to make lasting and lifesaving changes in the days and months ahead.
As you well know, more than 1 in 3 women and more than 1 in 4 men in the United States have experienced rape, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime.
I listened with great interest to Mr. Goodell’s press conference and was concerned about two glaring omissions that I wanted to write to you about today.
First, I never heard Mr. Goodell mention “zero tolerance” for violence against women. Last week, 16 women in the United States Senate wrote to Mr. Goodell and asked that he institute a zero-tolerance policy for domestic violence in the NFL. Mr. Goodell talked about a process to change the NFL’s policies regarding domestic violence, but he never mentioned zero tolerance as a goal or guiding principle. You need to have zero tolerance as a stated goal in order to have policies that achieve it.
Second, Mr. Goodell referred often to the role of law enforcement and our overall judicial system. However, as you know, most of these incidents are never reported to law enforcement. It is therefore imperative that the NFL make a real commitment to prevent domestic violence in its ranks, encourage victims to come forward, and punish all those responsible, regardless of the level of involvement by law enforcement officials.
I look forward to hearing back from you and to working together again to combat violence against women in the NFL and throughout our society.
Sincerely,
Barbara Boxer
United States Senator
Senator Barbara Boxer Writes to NFL's New Senior Vice President of Public Policy Urging Focus on Real Zero-Tolerance Policy for Domestic Violence
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