Bravo to the House of Representatives for passing a reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act! It is so utterly important to continue assisting victims of domestic and sexual violence. Violence and abuse come in all forms — domestic, physical, verbal, sexual and more — and unfortunately occur across all races and sexes. There should be no question that we as a united nation should stand behind this Act. Read more about how the Violence Against Women Act reauthorization passes in the just posted breaking news item from The New York Times (below).
In Victory for Obama, House Backs Domestic Violence Law
By ASHLEY PARKER 12:31 PM ET; Published: February 28, 2013
WASHINGTON — The House voted on Thursday to pass the Senate’s bipartisan reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, in a big victory for President Obama and Democrats in Congress.
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Drew Angerer for The New York Times
Though the reauthorization passed the Senate earlier this month with 78 votes — including those of every woman, all Democrats and just over half of Republicans — a version unveiled by the House last Friday immediately came under sharp criticism from Democrats and women’s and human rights groups for failing to include certain provisions offered in the Senate bill.
The House bill excluded specific protections for gay, bisexual or transgender victims of domestic abuse — eliminating “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” from a list of “underserved populations” that face barriers to receiving victim services — and stripped certain provisions regarding Native American women on reservations.
Representative Eric Cantor of Virginia, the majority leader, had committed to passing the legislation in the House only with bipartisan support. On Tuesday night, with House Democrats firmly united against the Republican version, the House Rules Committee approved a bifurcated process to consider the Senate legislation; on Thursday, the House first voted on its substitute amendment and then, when that version failed to pass, it took up and passed the Senate version.
On Thursday, Democrat after Democrat stood on the House floor, urging their colleagues to reject what they said was the weaker House version and to vote for the underlying Senate-passed bill.
Representative Gwen Moore, Democrat of Wisconsin and a victim of domestic and sexual violence herself, spoke passionately about the need to pass the Senate’s reauthorization bill.
“I pray that this body will do as the Senate has done and come together as one to protect all women from violence,” Ms. Moore said. “As I think about the L.G.B.T. victims who are not here, the native women who are not here, the immigrants who aren’t in this bill, I would say, as Sojourner Truth would say, ‘Ain’t they women?’”
“Ain’t they women?” she repeated, emphatically…read more
