Victims' Rights

Protecting victims of crime should be a top priority for legislatures at all levels of government. When Congressman Costa first came to Washington in 2005, there was a void in leadership on issues related to crime victims and survivors. This led him to create the first Congressional Victims' Rights Caucus, which is now the Crime Survivors and Justice Caucus. This is a bipartisan caucus that seeks to represent crime survivors in the United States through legislation that reflects their interests, rights, and needs.

Crime survivors are our sons and daughters, husbands, brothers, wives, and mothers struggling to survive in the aftermath of crime and they deserve our help. Costa is committed to continuing to advocate on behalf of victims as the co-chair of the Congressional Crime Survivors and Justice Caucus, enacting compassionate policy and raising awareness of these crucial issues. Learn more about the Crime Survivors and Justice Caucus here.

Protecting Victims of Crime

Victims and survivors of crime deserve justice. Addressing these cases can be very difficult, but we know that social programs like Children's Advocacy Centers are effective at bringing together community and government resources to support victims.

Throughout his service in Congress, Costa has led several efforts to appropriate and increase funding levels for the Victims of Child Abuse Act (VOCAA), Crime Victims' Fund, and the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), ensuring that national sexual assault, child abuse, and domestic violence programs have adequate funding to continue helping our most vulnerable in our communities. He has led the reauthorization of the Victims of Child Abuse Act (VOCAA) in 2018, and 2022.

In 2022, Costa along with a bipartisan group of Representatives and Senators introduced the Respect for Child Survivors Act, which was signed into law by President Biden. This law now requires the FBI to use multidisciplinary teams when investigating child sexual abuse, misconduct, and exploitation cases. This legislation was inspired by the FBI’s failings during the Larry Nassar investigation.

Tackling Gun Violence

There is a severe gun epidemic in the United States - it's plaguing our country from our schools, places of worship, and grocery stores to public spaces. It’s horrific, Americans don’t want thoughts and prayers - they want action. That is why, Congressman Costa has made it a priority to enact common-sense policies to save lives and reduce gun violence in our communities.

As a gun owner himself, Costa supports the right to keep and bear arms, as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to our Constitution. The Constitution provides each of us the right to protect ourselves and our homes. But this comes with great responsibility, and sadly weapons have ended up in the wrong hands that have brought a nearly unbreakable cycle of violence in communities across America.

Common-sense policies can help reduce this cycle by enacting background checks, gun safety storage laws, and tackling ghost guns and weapon smuggling, among other policies. Costa is a cosponsor of the Bipartisan Background Checks Act, which would expand background checks to cover all sales and most transfers - because it works. It would close current loopholes, greatly reducing the number of places criminals and dangerously mentally ill individuals can get a firearm.

The Every Town Alliance found that between 2009 and 2018, assault weapons accounted for 25% of deaths and 76% of nonfatal injuries. A study from the New York University School of Medicine estimated that if our country still had a federal assault weapon ban, we'd see 70 percent fewer mass shooting fatalities. Congress must do better - that is why, Costa is a co-sponsor of the Assault Weapons Ban Act of 2021 which would ban the sale, import, manufacture, or transfer of certain semi-automatic weapons.

In 2022, Costa voted to enact the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the first time that Congress passed gun safety reform in nearly three decades. The law enacted several changes to the mental health system, school safety programs, and gun safety laws; including extended background checks for firearms purchases under the age of 21, funding for red flag laws, tackling arms trafficking and straw purchases, and partial closure of the boyfriend loophole.