Text Of Speech By Katherine Prudhomme
Source: Press Release - Katherine Prudhomme
Author: Katherine Prudhomme
Saturday August 19, 2000
Good afternoon. My name is Katherine Prudhomme. I am a wife, a mother, the first female graduate of my trade high schools machine shop program and I am a rape survivor. As such I am wearing a dark green ribbon today to tell the world "I am a rape survivor and I will not be ashamed!" I thank all who have chosen to wear light purple ribbons showing that they believe and support Juanita Broaddrick. Thank you also to the many generous volunteers who helped make this happen today.
Last December during the New Hampshire primary I asked V.P Al Gore during a live, televised town hall meeting at WNDS TV studios not far from my Derry home if he believed Juanita Broaddrick. She is the woman who made the highly credible claim of rape against a sitting president, William Clinton.
Juanita Broaddrick was a volunteer on the "Clinton for Governor" campaign when she says she was raped in a Little Rock, Arkansas hotel room. Broaddrick, a successful nursing home owner with nothing but peace of mind to gain from telling her story was interviewed by Lisa Myers in January 1999. The interview aired February 24 of the same year on the Dateline NBC program.
Most people who saw the interview believed Mrs. Broaddrick. President Clinton, responding through his lawyer, has said this claim is false. Havenít we been down this road before with Clinton? And havenít we found out what his word is worth? His word is worth nothing. To not believe Mrs. Broaddrick, to think Bill Clinton is not a rapist is to make a liar out of Mrs. Broaddrick. I wonít do that! I thank all of you who came out here today for saying with me ñ I believe Juanita Broaddrick!
Al Gore told me he did not see the interview and didnít know how to evaluate all the charges. I wonder what made the Anita Hill case so much easier for him to evaluate? Gore went on to tell me how he thought the American people were tired of all these charges and wanted to move on.
That last statement really made me mad. What is he saying to me? That if I donít "want to move on" then I am not one of the American people? Or is he telling those who still think that rape is a crime in this country and believe their president may be a rapist that they are out of touch with everybody else? Are we out of touch ? I say no! We are in fact in touch! WE are in touch with truth, we are in touch with justice, we are in touch with kindness and we are in touch with doing the right thing! And I won't be manipulated by anyone who may try to tell me otherwise!
Gore has an undeniable record of believing women when they make a serious charge of sexual mistreatment by powerful Republican men. He stood up for and defended Anita Hill when she said she was sexually harassed by now Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Why then did he just dismiss Juanita Broaddrick? One would think such a "caring" person as Gore would have at least watched the interview Mrs. Broaddrick gave to Lisa Myers.
But he did not. Mrs. Broaddrick is simply to inconvenient for him to acknowledge. It takes a strong person to stand up for what is right when it is inconvenient and I learned that day last December that Gore is not a strong person.
Letís move on to a women who has been at the forefront of the womenís and human rights crusade for decades. Hillary Clinton is someone that rape survivors such a myself or Mrs. Broaddrick or the brave green ribbon wearers among us should be able to turn to and depend on. But we cannot. Hillary Clinton has betrayed us.
She has words ñ thousands of them ñ that say she is on our side, but is she really? Consider these examples:
In the aftermath of the recent group sexual attacks during New Yorkís Puerto Rican Day Parade Mrs. Clinton called for increased penalties on those convicted of group sexual wilding. Of this incident Mrs. Clinton has said "We all looked on in horror at the videotapes because we know these women. They are wives, and sisters, and daughters. They are friends and neighbors. We know that if it could happen there - in broad daylight ñ it could happen anywhere. This is a crime against all women ñ everywhere. And so we have to say enough is enough. This violence is unacceptable and it must stop."
Well, Hillary I feel your pain, because I too have a videotape, a videotape of Juanita Broaddrick telling her story to Lisa Myers that I will give you today. It is a videotape that I have looked upon in horror. And when it told a tale of disgusting violence committed against a woman in broad daylight... A women who could have been my sister, my daughter or my mother... I too have to say "enough is enough ñ this violence is unacceptable and must stop".
Also consider what Mrs. Clinton said to the Inter-American Development Bank on October 20, 1997, "I am proud that my husband has stood up as President to confront the violence and to protect American women. While grassroots organizing by women is vital to each countryís tackling the crisis, it is only when men ñ from the level of men of the barrio to the level of men of the presidential palaces ñ join hands with us to stand against violence against women that we will know our societies have truly been transformed."
President Clinton has stood up to confront violence and protect American women? Why then has he refused to say anything other than this rape allegation is not true - and with this man we would be foolish to believe his words alone ñ we need proof! Why wonít he tell the American people where he was on the date in question - April 25, 1978? At that time Mr. Clinton was Attorney General of Arkansas. Those records do exist. Why canít he take a stand on this and tell us where he was that morning? Mrs. Clinton you have said you talk with your husband about everything. What have you said to him about this? Because it is only when the men at the highest levels of our society, such as men of the presidential palaces join hands with us to stand against women that we will know our societies have truly been transformed...
That is why I, such a little person from Derry, New Hampshire believe that I truly have no choice today but to resort to this grassroots organizing. Grassroots organizing that I know that you, Mrs. Clinton, deep in your heart would not only approve of but applaud, if only I were not here to stand up for Juanita Broaddrick. For she is someone so totally inconvenient for you to believe. But I think you do.
To this last part I gotta say - Girl ñ get a backbone! We are told over and over that you are a strong woman. Show us some proof. Show us who you are with your actions not just with your words. Because actions beat words hands down every time.
Do the right thing Mrs. Clinton. I know that for you it must be the most difficult thing to do. This occasion demands no lessor action of the good and the brave. In answering .. or not answering the question, Mrs. Clinton, you will tell us loud and clear who you are.
Ask your husband if it is true that he committed this violent hate crime, a felony in all 50 state. Experienced investigators interviewed Mrs. Broaddrick and believed her. Experts in the field of sex offender treatment believe her. United Sates congressman Christopher Shays believes her. Thousands upon thousands upon thousands of Americans believe her. Do not dishonor all them with any further silence on this issue.
Mrs. Clinton, if you don't believe Mrs. Broaddrick, you must tell us why! If you want the honor of representing in the United States Senate my beloved mother, my sister and a true heroic feminist if ever there was one, my young nephew - still learning the lessons of life that children learn simply by watching how adults like you, Mrs. Clinton and me behave, now and last but certainly not least - the millions of wonderful New Yorkers I am honored to be among today.
Mrs. Clinton, donít take us back to the day when women were believed only when they were perfect or only when they were convenient to believe.
Mrs. Clinton, let me be clear, I ask you a question today not about the consensual affair that your husband had with Monica Lewinsky. No kind fair minded person would think to invade the privacy of your marriage in such a way.
I ask only about the charge made by Juanita Broaddrick, that she was raped by your husband. I believe Juanita Broaddrick ñ do you? Rape is not a sin. Rape is not just a mistake. Rape is not just a difficulty in someoneís marriage. Any answer to the question "Do you believe Juanita Broaddrick?" that uses any of these terms to describe rape is unacceptable.
I ask you this one question, Mrs. Clinton not to be mean or cruel to you but to be a good person. I want to be a positive and active member of the larger village. I want to do right by the children of today who sadly, may be the rape victims of the future. I am trying to be a wise village member who hacks away at the roots of the problem of sexual violence while some may be only grasping at leaves. That means I must talk about the violent hate crime against women called rape, not just when it is easy. I must also do it when it is hard.
Mrs. Clinton, I think it is kind to Mrs. Broaddrick that people stand up and say what so many have been thinking all along ...
I believe Juanita ... Do You?