Charleston Rep. John Graham Altman finally apologized Tuesday in the S.C. House for offensive remarks he made in an interview with a Columbia television reporter last week. Even those who find that apology insufficient should focus on a welcome end to this controversy, thanks to the almost certain probability that the state's penalties for criminal domestic violence will be strengthened this year.

As House Speaker David Wilkins pointed out Tuesday on his weekly telecast sponsored by S.C. ETV and the S.C. Press Association, a new bill drafted since last week's controversy should send "a strong message that we take CDV [criminal domestic violence] seriously in South Carolina and we won't tolerate it."

Nor, apparently, did Speaker Wilkins tolerate Rep. Altman's initial reluctance to acknowledge his blame for seeming to fault domestic-violence victims last week. During that TV interview, the Charleston Republican said: "The woman [who is abused] ought not be around the man. I do not understand why women continue to go back around men who abuse them. And I've asked women that and they all tell me the same answer, 'John Graham, you don't understand.' And I say, 'You're right, I don't understand.' "

The speaker said he since has had a number of discussions with Rep. Altman and made his displeasure clear. Not only is Rep. Altman now one of many co-sponsors of the new bill, but he expressed to his colleagues on the House floor "regret, real regret, and real sorrow over the publicity that this House has gotten in the last week," along with an oddly worded apology for offenses real or imagined. Rep. Altman later told us he had gotten a "very positive" reaction from his colleagues, saying: "I had Democrats hugging me."

But you don't have to embrace Rep. Altman, or accept his apology, to recognize that as a result of his remarks the chances of passing a tougher CDV bill have been dramatically enhanced. Rep. Altman's comments last week came after the House Judiciary Committee detected legal problems in a CDV bill introduced by Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, D-Orangeburg, particularly its expansion of grounds for divorce, which requires a constitutional amendment.

To allegations that the state has ignored domestic abuse, Speaker Wilkins pointed out that two years ago the Legislature made CDV of a high and aggravated nature -- any assault with reasonable fear of serious injury or with a deadly weapon -- a felony with a 10-year sentence, 85 percent of which has to be served. Other domestic violence cases, on first, second and third offenses, are now misdemeanors. The new bill would increase those penalties and upgrade the third offense from misdemeanor to felony. It would also broaden CDV of a high and aggravated nature to include "assault and battery in the physical presence of a minor child."

The speaker emphasized the primary role Rep. Cobb-Hunter played in putting the issue before the House this year. Even if she persists in her refusal to be a sponsor of the new legislation amid her allegations of a Republican "whitewash," she is due the lion's share of the credit for the tougher new measure.

While Rep. Wilkins said Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Harrison conferred with Rep. Cobb-Hunter on adjustments to her bill before the Altman remarks, there's no question that the subsequent outrage led to the Republican leadership's speedy redrafting of the legislation and expedited committee action. Otherwise, it could have well been next year before the revised bill got to the Senate.

As it now stands, we soon should have a new law that serves unmistakable notice to both abusers and abused that South Carolina is cracking down further on domestic violence. Long after the furor over Rep. Altman's remarks subsides, that would be a positive outcome to a negative situation.