RADAR ALERT:
Want a Good Laugh? Check Out the SAFE Act!

What if you knew a bill had been introduced in Congress in which most of the findings were misleading, outdated, or simply false? Welcome to wonderful, wacky world of HR 739, the Security and Financial Empowerment Act (SAFE).

The bill contains 53 different claims. Only 4 of those claims can be verified as accurate, current, and truthful. As for the remaining 49 claims, whoever dreamed up this stuff has an incredible sense of humor!

The following bold-faced quotes come straight from the SAFE Act findings. They are followed by the actual facts. So get ready for some side-splitting humor:

1. "Violence against women has been reported to be the leading cause of physical injury to women."

   Here's what the website of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services shows (http://mchb.hrsa.gov/whusa08/hstat/hi/pages/226i.html):

   

   Under the graph the DHHS states, "All of the leading causes of injury in 2006 were unintentional." But domestic violence is an intentional cause of injury. In other words, DV is not even on the list of leading causes of injury.

2. "According to recent Government estimates, approximately 987,400 rapes occur annually in the United States"

   Here's what the FBI really says: "In 2007, the estimated number of forcible rapes (90,427) decreased 2.5 percent from the 2006 estimate." http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2007/offenses/violent_crime/forcible_rape.html So the SAFE number is off by about 900,000. We'll just call it a rounding error.

Now ready to have a real belly laugh? Check out RADAR's critique of the SAFE findings: http://www.mediaradar.org/docs/RADARanalysis-HR739Findings.pdf

After you see all the misleading claims, misrepresentations, and outright falsehoods, tell your Representative that people shouldn't be making a joke of domestic violence.

Tell your congressman to vote 'No' against the SAFE Act. As always, please remember to be polite.

To find your Representative's contact information go to http://www.house.gov and enter your zip code in the upper left corner.

Date of RADAR Release: May 4, 2009

R.A.D.A.R. – Respecting Accuracy in Domestic Abuse Reporting – is a non-profit, non-partisan organization of men and women working to improve the effectiveness of our nation's approach to solving domestic violence. http://www.mediaradar.org