There are few things harder to hear than a woman sharing her experience of being sexually assaulted or raped. Where there is room to be grateful that we live in the United States where women can call for help and for justice to be restored, the horrors of sexual assault still exist and need to be properly addressed. In fact, one out of every six American women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime. Women make up the largest percentage of rape victims, as nine out of every ten victims are female.

Yet despite these abysmal statistics, the Washington, D.C., City Council thought it was a good idea to reduce the maximum penalty of rape in D.C. from life in prison without patrol to a measly 24 years. The D.C. City Council passed their revised criminal code last November that went on to be vetoed by Democrat Mayor Muriel Bowser. This is not to paint Mayor Bowser as a conservative crusader but proves just how radical this revised criminal code is. Despite Mayor Bowser’s veto, which should have given space for her City Council to reevaluate the measure, the City Council overrode her veto with a 12-1 vote. The one no vote was cast by Democrat Trayon White whose ward is riddled with crime.

Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Georgia) was approached by a concerned D.C. resident, Denise Krepp. Krepp, a Democrat, is a neighborhood commissioner who has actively been raising the alarm on this dangerous effort. Because Congress has the constitutional duty to govern Washington, D.C., Rep. Clyde decided to lead the effort against the D.C. legislation. Krepp shared that she has seen firsthand how crime has increased over the past couple of years in the city, like how an armed carjacking happened outside of her house that left her and her neighbors fearful. Another motivator for Krepp is the rape penalties that would have been severely reduced under this legislation. In a recent Fox News interview, she shared that rapists should be serving their sentences and not be released early from prison. It is important we remember that jail time is not only for a criminal to reflect on their crime, but to protect law-abiding citizens from their crimes, like rape.

The morning that Rep. Clyde’s resolution was to be voted on, horrifically, a female member of Congress, Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minnesota), was attacked by a homeless man in her apartment building. Thankfully Rep. Craig was able to escape and suffered little injury. Understandably, she went on to vote in favor of Rep. Clyde’s disapproval of the D.C. revised criminal code. Although, we never wish these attacks on anybody, this is a reality of living in the city and it undoubtedly convinced Democrat members to vote for Rep. Clyde’s resolution. Unfortunately, 173 Democrats still voted against Rep. Clyde’s effort of disapproval. See if your member of Congress voted against the disapproval of D.C.’s revised criminal code here.

In Romans 13 we know that God has ordained government to “bear the sword” to ensure that evil is punished and righteousness is rewarded. However, it seems that there has been a recent movement of people calling for the government to avoid righteous punishment. This only ever hurts those who are law abiding citizens and specifically those who are the most vulnerable, women and children.

Last week, Speaker Kevin McCarthy held an enrollment ceremony for Rep. Clyde’s legislation nullifying the D.C. revised criminal code that the Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee’s Government Relations team was able to attend. View the ceremony here. Sexual exploitation is one of Concerned Women for America’s core issues. We commend Rep. Andrew Clyde for leading this effort and thank all the Members who saw just how radical and dangerous this revised criminal code could have been.