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To the cosponsors of S. 47:
February 1, 2013
Dear Senator:
In the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), we believe that
“domestic violence is always a violation of the power God intended for
good.” We believe that “God the Creator
is preeminently a covenant-maker, the One who creates, sustains, and transforms
the people of God. Domestic violence and abuse destroys covenants in which
people have promised to treat each other with respect and dignity.”*
Because of these convictions, we strongly support a robust
reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, we thank you for
co-sponsoring S. 47, and we trust that you to vote in favor of it when it comes
before the Senate early next week.
Further, we urge you to oppose any weakening, harmful, or non-germane
amendments and only to support changes to VAWA that are endorsed by the bill’s
chief sponsor.
As you know, VAWA’s programs support state, tribal, and
local efforts to address the pervasive and insidious crimes of domestic
violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. These programs have made great progress
towards reducing the violence, helping victims to be healthy and feel safe and
holding perpetrators accountable. This
critical legislation must be reauthorized to ensure a continued response to
these crimes.
Again, we thank you for cosponsoring this bill and look
forward to its passage, so that we can build upon VAWA's successes and
continue to enhance our nation’s ability to promote an end to this violence, to
hold perpetrators accountable, and to keep victims and their families safe from
future harm. For our part, we commit to
continued ministry with victims and survivors of violence and to do all we can,
through our ministries and our advocacy, to end this desperate cycle of
violence and brokenness.
We give thanks for your service to our nation and for your
leadership on this issue.
Sincerely,
The Reverend J. Herbert Nelson, II
Director for Public Witness
* Belief statements are
quoted from Turn Mourning Into Dancing! A
Policy Statement on Healing Domestic Violence, approved by the 213th General
Assembly (2001) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
To Senators who have NOT cosponsored S. 47:
February 1, 2013
Dear Senator:
In the Presbyterian Church
(U.S.A.), we believe that “domestic violence is always a violation of the power
God intended for good.” We believe that
“God the Creator is preeminently a covenant-maker, the One who creates, sustains,
and transforms the people of God. Domestic violence and abuse destroys
covenants in which people have promised to treat each other with respect and
dignity.”*
Because of these convictions, we
strongly support a robust reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, we
ask you to co-sponsor it, and we urge you to vote in favor of S. 47 when it
comes before the Senate early next week.
Further, we urge you to oppose any weakening, harmful, or non-germane
amendments and only to support changes to VAWA that are endorsed by the bill’s
chief sponsor.
VAWA’s programs support
state, tribal and local efforts to address the pervasive and insidious crimes
of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking. These programs have made great progress
towards reducing the violence, helping victims to be healthy and feel safe and
holding perpetrators accountable. This
critical legislation must be reauthorized to ensure a continued response to
these crimes.
Since its original passage in
1994, VAWA has dramatically enhanced our nation’s response to violence against
girls and women, boys and men. VAWA
provides for a coordinated community approach, improving collaboration between
law enforcement and victim services providers to better meet the needs of
victims. And while VAWA has unquestionably improved the national response to
these terrible crimes, much work remains to be done to address unmet needs and
to enhance access to protections and services for all victims. We urge you to sponsor and vote for S. 47
in order to build upon VAWA's successes and continue to enhance our nation’s
ability to promote an end to this violence, to hold perpetrators accountable
and to keep victims and their families safe from future harm.
For
our part, we commit to continued ministry with victims and survivors of
violence and to do all we can, through our ministries and our advocacy, to end
this desperate cycle of violence and brokenness.
We give thanks for your
service to our nation and for your leadership on this issue.
Sincerely,
The Reverend J. Herbert
Nelson, II
Director for Public Witness
* Belief statements are
quoted from Turn Mourning Into Dancing! A
Policy Statement on Healing Domestic Violence, approved by the 213th General
Assembly (2001) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
