Tag: Violence Against Women Act

Full List of 172 Republicans Who Opposed the Violence Against Women Act

The House voted on Wednesday to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act after 29 Republicans broke with their party to support the bill, which offered women protections from domestic violence, sexual assault and other harassment.

Lawmakers approved the bill in a 244-172 vote following its lapse in late 2018. The Democratic-controlled House sought to renew the bill the following year, but it was held up in the Republican-controlled Senate.

Now the Democrats hold a one-vote majority in the upper chamber and are hoping to garner the Republican support needed for a 60-vote supermajority that negates the threat of the filibuster. Continue reading.

NOTE: Rep. Tom Emmer, Rep. Michelle Fischbach, Rep. Jim Hagedorn were among these Republicans.

House votes to reauthorize, expand Violence Against Women Act

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GOP opposition focuses on gun and LGBTQ provisions

The House voted Wednesday to reauthorize the lapsed Violence Against Women Act, but the proposal was opposed by most Republicans because of provisions dealing with gun rights and LGBTQ victims’ access to services.

The 244-172 vote sent the measure to the Senate for the second time since the law’s authorization lapsed in 2019. 

Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., brought up her own family’s history with domestic violence in pushing for passage of the bill at a press conference Wednesday. Dingell spotlighted sections that would expand provisions in existing law that bar domestic abusers from owning firearms by including some misdemeanors. Continue reading.

House Adds Phillips Provision to Protect Vulnerable Immigrants Who Face Abuse to Historic Violence Against Women Act

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Wednesday, the House of Representatives will vote to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act, a landmark law that combats sexual assault and domestic violence. Included in the bill was an amendment authored by Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN) that would ensure that women and children immigrants who face domestic violence can leave their abuser without losing their legal immigration status.  

“No one—and I mean no one— should be forced to stay in an abusive relationship because they fear deportation,” said Rep. Phillips. “My amendment to the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act would create a pilot program for victims of domestic abuse to apply for independent immigration status. It is that simple, and it is that important.”

Initially passed in 1994, the Violence Against Women Act was reauthorized on a bipartisan basis in 2000, 2005, and 2013. The law expired in 2019.

Remarks as Prepared:

I rise today in support of my amendment and the underlying bill.

No one—and I mean no one— should be forced to stay in an abusive relationship because they fear deportation.

Under current law, if a woman travels to the United States of America with someone on a temporary visa and that relationship turns abusive, they are trapped.

My amendment to the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act would create a pilot program for victims of domestic abuse to apply for independent immigration status

It is that simple, and it is that important.

I yield back.

House set to pass Violence Against Women Act reauthorization, with renewed hope for Senate action

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GOP opposition to gun, LGBTQ provisions remains

The House will vote to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act this week, after standoffs over LGBTQ issues and gun rights prevented an update of the law for years.

Authorization for the law, which provides funding for federal prosecution of domestic violence as well as state and local grant programs, lapsed in 2019. The legislation has support from a handful of Republicans heading into Thursday’s debate, but it has also attracted GOP opposition over provisions that lower the threshold to bar someone from buying a gun based on certain misdemeanors.

House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer said the chamber will likely pass the legislation Thursday and blamed Mitch McConnell for stymieing the process in the last Congress when he was Senate majority leader. Continue reading.

Klobuchar leads call for Biden to prioritize Violence Against Women Act programs in budget

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Biden was sponsor of measure in 1994 when it became law

Senate Democrats are urging President Joe Biden to provide strong backing for the Violence Against Women Act in his fiscal 2022 budget request, in light of increased reports of domestic violence during the pandemic and lack of supplemental funding for the law’s programs. 

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., along with 26 other Senate Democrats sent a letter to Biden on Friday, asking the president to prioritize support for Justice Department programs that provide services for survivors of gender-based violence in his fiscal 2022 budget request to Congress.

“We are very concerned that, as a result of the pandemic, cases of domestic violence and sexual assault have increased in communities across the country. Local law enforcement report more domestic violence-related calls and rape crisis centers are seeing increased need for services,” the senators wrote. “The pandemic has also made it more difficult for service providers to respond to the increased need for crisis intervention, legal services, and transitional housing.” Continue reading.

Senate Democrats pick fight over gun provisions in VAWA

Bipartisan talks broke down over renewing law aimed at curbing domestic violence

Senate Democrats on Wednesday introduced the same Violence Against Women Act reauthorization bill passed by the House, days after they say talks with Republicans about a compromise broke down over controversial gun provisions.

The entire Democratic caucus has backed the bill, which has provisions restricting gun rights of certain convicts that helped spur the split with Senate Republicans. While promoting the measure during a news conference Wednesday, Democrats blamed the National Rifle Association’s sway in the chamber for the Republicans’ reluctance to back the bill.

“We call on our Republican colleagues to not hide in the shadows here … to at least stand up to the NRA on this very focused provision,” Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a presidential candidate, said at the event.

November 13 article by Michael Macagnone on The Roll Call website here.

House Republicans Vote To Let Domestic Abusers Keep Guns

Given the choice between preventing women from being murdered by their partners, or fighting for domestic abusers to keep their guns, Republicans overwhelmingly sided with domestic abusers.

On Thursday, the House of Representatives voted to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) by a vote of 263-158. Only 33 Republicans voted in support of the bill, while one Democrat voted against it.

The bill provides resources and strengthens legal protections for survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, stalking, and sexual assault. In addition, the reauthorization this year contains a provision making it harder for known domestic abusers to obtain guns.

View the complete April 4 article by Dan Desai Martin on the National Memo website here.

Violence Against Women Act clears House

Measure includes firearms restrictions and expansion of transgender rights

The House voted Thursday to renew the lapsed Violence Against Women Act, but the proposal stoked contention over provisions restricting gun rights and expanding rights for transgender individuals.

Lawmakers voted 263-158 to pass the measure, which highlighted divisions within the Republican caucus. While the bill does have one Republican co-sponsor, Pennsylvania’s Brian Fitzpatrick, other House Republicans objected to new provisions included in the VAWA reauthorization measure. In all, 33 Republicans voted for the measure, and one, Jeff Fortenberry of Nebraska, voted present.

The most contentious provision would lower the criminal threshold to bar someone from buying a gun to include misdemeanor convictions of domestic abuse of stalking. The law currently applies to felony convictions.

View the complete April 4 article by Katherine Tully-McManus on The Roll Call website here.

Rep. Phillips Slams the NRA for Influencing Votes on the VioIence Against Women Act Reauthorization

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.