Phillips: “That’s exactly why we need to get special interests and big money out of politics.”
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Rep. Dean Phillips (MN-03) co-sponsored and voted in support of reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act. The historically bipartisan effort split along party lines when the NRA announced it would be recommending a “No” vote and scoring members of Congress based on their vote this week.
“The House stood up for women and reauthorized the Violence Against Women Act today,” said Phillips. “But this year the NRA is keeping score. That was enough to take what should be an easy, commonsense, bipartisan bill to protect women and strongarm Republicans into opposing it. That’s inexcusable, and that’s exactly why we need to get special interests and big money out of politics.”
The Violence Against Women Act reauthorization passed the house largely along party lines and included provisions to keep guns out of the hands of convicted domestic abusers for the first time.
In more than half of mass shootings between 2009 and 2016, the perpetrator shot a current or former intimate partner or family member, according to a report by Everytown for Gun Safety. Rep. Phillips is a gun owner who supports keeping guns out of the hands of domestic abusers.