This Independence Day, Tell Congress that We All Deserve Freedom from Violence!

Members of Congress are home in their districts for the July 4^th Recess – and as we celebrate what freedom and independence means for each of us, we must remind Congress that we all deserve to be free from domestic and sexual violence!   

• 1 in every 4 women will experience domestic violence during her lifetime.
• 1 in 6 women and 1 in 33 men have experienced an attempted or completed rape. 
• Every day in the US, three women are murdered by an intimate partner.
• 5.5 million children are exposed to violence annually.
• 26,000 cases of sexual assault related incidences occurred in the military, 3,374 were reported, and just 300 were prosecuted.
• In one 12-month period, 3.4 million adults were victims of stalking.

                        

Despite the progress we have made toward addressing and preventing these crimes, an overwhelming need for survivor services, intervention, and prevention efforts remains.  Congress needs to hear from you that responding to the needs of domestic and sexual violence survivors is still an urgent priority!

A number of key issues impacting victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence and stalking are currently being considered by Congress:

• Immigration Reform – While the Senate recently passed a comprehensive bill that will help bring immigrants out of the shadows, provide a path to citizenship, and strengthen protections for immigrant survivors of violence, the House of Representatives has yet to take up a similar bill.  As the House moves forward on this issue, they must pass legislation that meets the needs of immigrant survivors and grants them access to all the vital safety net programs necessary to escape abusive situations. 
• Gun Safety – Both the House and the Senate must continue to work towards passing legislation that would require background checks for all gun sales in commercial settings.  There are too many loopholes in current law that allow domestic abusers to access firearms and by providing for commonsense additions to the background check system, we can reduce violence against women and save lives.  

• Funding – Local service providers have already experienced years of funding cuts and are struggling to keep their lights on and doors open in order to provide safety and support.  The Congressionally-mandated sequester cuts are further decimating the resources that survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking need to escape and heal from violence and abuse. Congress must end the sequester and invest in VAWA, FVPSA, and VOCA programs to ensure that lifesaving services will continue to be available to survivors of domestic and sexual violence.
• Military Sexual Assault – Our partners at the Interfaith Domestic Violence Coalition will be asking that Senator Gillibrand’s Military Justice Improvement Act, S. 967, be adopted when the Senate takes up the National Defense Authorization Act in the weeks ahead.

ACTION ITEM 1): CONTACT YOUR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS AND ASK THEM TO SUPPORT LEGISLATION AND PROGRAMS THAT HELP SURVIVORS FIND FREEDOM FROM VIOLENCE! 

Contact your Congressional officials here.  Many Members will be out in the community during Fourth of July celebrations, so you can also approach them at events in your area!

Deliver the following message:

• I am a constituent from [city and state] and my name is _________.  
• As we celebrate the fourth of July, with its message of freedom, I urge Senator/Representative [insert name] to support legislation and programs that help survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault find freedom, independence, and safety.
• Some of the issues that are most important to me are [reference immigration reform, gun safety, military SA and/or funding, as detailed above].  
• Ask if your House or Senate Member supports any or all of these important improvements and offer to send information or stories from your program or community.
•  Thank the staffer or Member for their time.  

ACTION ITEM 2): TWEET THESE MESSAGES TO YOUR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS! 

Find your Members’ Twitter handles here, and use the sample tweets below.

[Insert Twitter handle] As we celebrate freedom, remember that all deserve to be free from domestic violence & sexual assault. #endDV #endSA

[Insert Twitter handle] This July 4^th, help survivors of abuse gain independence by investing in the resources programs need to provide safety and support!

[Insert Twitter handle] Freedom means not living in fear of being murdered by an abusive partner. #savewomenslives #DemandAction

[Insert Twitter handle] Freedom means knowing you can escape abuse and still remain in this country safely & legally. #supportCIR

Like us on Facebook  and follow us on Twitter!

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Thanks to our partners at the National Task Force to End Violence Against Women for this content!

For more information, fact sheets, press coverage, support letters and updates visit www.4vawa.org.

Follow them on Twitter at @NTFVAWA and “like” their Facebook page!      

Thanks for your Activism on VAWA

Office of Public Witness Director, J. Herbert Nelson, sent out this message minutes after the House passed the bipartisan, inclusive, Senate-passed Violence Against Women Act.  Congratulations!

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Dear Friends:

We give thanks to God for what seemed at times such an easy decision to make, finally become manifest before our eyes. (See article below) Truly, God is still on the throne and guides the work of our office and the policy of our denomination. This is a victory worth celebrating!

Thank you for your support through responding to action alerts; writing letters, making calls, voting for rich denominational policy and bugging in love our elected officials.

We ask you to pray that God continue to bless our justice advocacy work in Washington while supporting your activism on the ground. It would not have been done without you. Please alert your networks.

In the faith we share,

J. Herbert

J. Herbert Nelson, II

Director of  the Office of Public Witness

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

Compassion, Peace and Justice Ministries

100 Maryland Avenue, NE Suite 410

Washington, DC 20002

phone (202) 543-1126, ext. 231

fax (202) 543-7755

www.pcusa.org/washington

http://officeofpublicwitness.blogspot.com/2012/03/presbyterian-church-u.html

http://www.facebook.com/PCUSAWashington

From the Washington Post:

Congress passes, sends to president, billrenewing Violence Against Women Act

By Associated Press, Updated: Thursday, February 28, 12:31 PM

WASHINGTON — The House on Thursday passed and sent to President Barack Obama a far-reaching extension of the Violence Against Women Act. The vote came after House Republican leaders, cognizant of divisions in their own ranks and the need to improve their faltering image among women voters, accepted a bill that cleared the Senate two weeks ago on a strong bipartisan vote.

The bill renews a 1994 law that has set the standard for how to protect women, and some men, from domestic abuse and prosecute abusers. Thursday’s 286-138 vote came after House lawmakers rejected a more limited approach offered by Republicans.

It was the third time this year that House Speaker John Boehner has allowed Democrats and moderates in his own party prevail over the GOP’s much larger conservative wing. As with a Jan. 1 vote to avoid the fiscal cliff and legislation to extend Superstorm Sandy aid, a majority of House Republicans voted against the final anti-violence bill.

The law has been renewed twice before without controversy, but it lapsed in 2011 as it was caught up in the partisan battles that now divide Congress. Last year, the House refused to go along with a Senate-passed bill that would have made clear that lesbians, gays, immigrants and Native American women should have equal access to Violence Against Women Act programs.

It appeared the scenario would be repeated this year when the House introduced a bill that didn’t mention the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and watered down a Senate provision allowing tribal courts to prosecute non-Indians who attack their Indian partners on tribal lands.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., who has spent months working on the issue, defended the Republican plan: “Our goal in strengthening the Violence Against Women Act is simple. We want to help all women who are faced with violent, abusive and dangerous situations. ... We want them to know that those who commit these horrendous crimes will be punished.”

But the House proposal encountered quick and strong opposition from women’s groups, the White House, Democrats and some Republicans, and on Tuesday, the GOP leadership agreed to give the House a vote on the Senate bill. It passed immediately after the House rejected Cantor’s bill, 257-166, with 60 Republicans voting against it.

The GOP decision to show the white flag came after the party’s poor showing among women in last fall’s election and Democratic success in framing the debate over the Violence Against Women Act as Republican policy hostile to women. President Barack Obama won 55 percent of the women’s vote last November. Republican presidential candidates haven’t won the women’s vote since 1984, when Ronald Reagan held a 12-point lead over Walter Mondale among women.

The anti-violence bill should never have become partisan, said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., a sponsor of the Senate bill. “That is why I applaud moderate Republican voices in the House who stood up to their leadership to demand a vote on the Senate bill.”

The Senate passed its bill on a 78-22 vote with every Democrat, every woman senator and 23 of 45 Republicans supporting it.

A turning point in the debate came earlier this month, when 19 Republicans, led by Rep. Jon Runyan, R-N.J., wrote a letter to their leadership urging them to accept a bipartisan plan that would reach all victims of domestic violence. The letter, Runyan said, was a catalyst in showing the leadership “a willingness of people in the House to really compromise” and see that the Senate “has a pretty good bill.”

Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., a Native American, also wrote his Republican colleagues saying he was voting against the House alternative because “it falls short of giving tribes what they need to keep their women safe.”

Indian women suffer incidents of domestic violence at rates more than double national averages, but Indian courts don’t have jurisdiction over non-Indians, and federal prosecutors don’t take up about half the violence cases on reservations because of lack of resources to pursue crimes on isolated Indian lands. The Senate bill would give Indian courts the ability to prosecute non-Indians for a limited set of crimes limited to domestic violence and violations of protecting orders. Opponents have said that raises constitutional issues.

The Violence Against Women Act is credited with helping reduce domestic violence incidents by two-thirds over the past two decades. The Senate bill would authorize some $659 million a year over five years to fund current programs that provide grants for transitional housing, legal assistance, law enforcement training and hotlines.

The Senate bill adds stalking to the list of crimes that make immigrants eligible for protection and authorizes programs dealing with sexual assault on college campuses and with efforts to reduce the backlog in rape kit analyses. It reauthorizes the Trafficking Victims Protection Act.

Urge House to Pass Inclusive, Bipartisan VAWA; Oppose House Leadership Substitute

 House Leadership introduces partisan VAWA that fails to protect all victims

Legislation will be before the House Rules Committee TODAY and debated on the House floor as early as WEDNESDAY

TAKE ACTION NOW!

The House Leadership’s version of VAWA, which will be substituted for the Senate’s inclusive, comprehensive version of S.47, is a bill that excludes effective protections for LGBT, tribal, immigrant, and campus victims.  It will likely be on the House floor tomorrow or Thursday.  The PC(USA) Office of Public Witness strongly supports a bipartisan, inclusive VAWA reauthorization, such as the bipartisan Senate-passed S. 47, and opposes this House Leadership substitute bill.

Please email your Representatives and urge them to vote against the House Republican Leader’s substitute VAWA and ask them to vote for the field-approved VAWA that passed in the Senate with strong bipartisan support.  Send a message today!

The substitute bill is not the punitive House bill that the OPW opposed last year; nonetheless, this House version of the bill  fails victims in a number of critical ways:

• Fails to include the protections for LGBT victims from the Senate bill

• Removes important provisions added to the Senate bill to protect victims of human trafficking

• Provides non-tribal batterers with additional tools to manipulate the justice system, takes away existing protections for Native women by limiting existing tribal power to issue civil orders of protection against non-Native abusers, while weakening protections for Native women

• Contains harsh administrative penalties and hurdles for small struggling domestic violence and sexual assault programs and an additional layer of bureaucracy through the office of the Attorney General

• Drops the Campus Sexual Violence Elimination (SaVE) Act, which is included in the Senate bill, that improves the handling of sexual violence and intimate partner violence on college  campuses

• Drops important provisions in the Senate bill that that work toward erasing the rape kit backlog

• Weakens protections for victims in public housing

• Drops the inclusion of “stalking” among the list of crimes covered by the U visa (a critical law enforcement tool that encourages immigrant victims to assist with the investigation or prosecution of certain enumerated crimes)

Seventy-eight Senators from both parties and over 1,300 local, state and national professional and policy organizations, including the PC(USA), support the Senate-passed bill as do law enforcement officials, health care professionals, community program and service providers, faith communities, and the tens of millions of survivors and their families, friends, and loved ones who rely on, have benefited from, and used the services and resources provided by the 19-year-old law which has now expired.

We must oppose this partisan substitute and instead pass the bipartisan Senate version of VAWA.  201 Democrats are sponsors of H.R. 11, the House replica of the Senate bill. Nineteen Republican Representatives have asked the House Republican leaders to pass a bipartisan bill that “reaches all victims” and dozens more Republicans support some or all of the Senate provisions that are not included in the Republican VAWA substitute.

Email your Representative Now!

The House Must Take Up the Senate-passed VAWA

Tell the House to take up the Senate-passed VAWA 

Take two VAWA actions today:

On Tuesday, Feb. 12, the Senate passed S. 47, a strong, inclusive bill to reauthorize the landmark Violence Against Women Act sponsored by Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Michael Crapo (R-ID), by a 78-22 bipartisan vote!  Thank you for all of your hard work to make this happen!  And thank you to our Senate champions and the Administration for their unwavering support.  Email your Senators today to say thank you!

Now we need to tell the House of Representatives to bring the bipartisan Senate bill to the House floor for a vote - and to get this done immediately! Email your Representative today! 

Two links:

For thanking the Senate – the alert will tell you how your Senators voted.

For urging action in the House – the alert will tell you if your Representative is a co-sponsor.

Right now the House leadership is pondering about what direction to take on VAWA. Speaker Boehner has given an opening, saying “No decision has been made about…whether we take up the Senate bill or move our own version of the bill.”  We need to help Speaker Boehner and the House decide to take up the Senate bill S. 47.  Email your Representative today! Survivors of violence cannot wait any longer.

Background on the Bill the Senate passed:

On Tuesday, Feb. 12, the U.S. Senate passed the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 (S. 47). This strong and inclusive legislation was championed by lead co-sponsors Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Michael Crapo (R-ID) to a 78-22 bi-partisan victory.

And in addition to the success of an inclusive VAWA, Senators also included a human-trafficking-related amendment that is effectively the same as S.1301, the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA), a positive bill that had broad bipartisan support last year (including from 15 Republicans). For a factsheet on S.1301, click here. For the bill text click here and for a full list of co-sponsors, click here. 

Since its original passage in 1994, VAWA has dramatically enhanced our nation’s response to violence against girls and women, boys and men. More victims report domestic violence to the police and the rate of non-fatal intimate partner violence against women has decreased by 64%.  VAWA provides for a coordinated community approach, improving collaboration between law enforcement and victim services providers to better meet the needs of victims. These comprehensive and cost-effective programs not only save lives, they also save money. In fact, VAWA saved nearly $12.6 billion in net averted social costs in just its first six years.

Bipartisan momentum is also growing in the House of Representatives to swiftly pass a strong VAWA reauthorization bill that will protect all victims.

Representative Gwen Moore (D-WI), herself a courageous survivor of domestic violence and sexual assault, introduced a VAWA reauthorization bill (HR 11; similar to S.47) on January 22^nd. Nearly 200 co-sponsors have joined her in just the last few weeks.

We know that  Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) and Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD) are attempting to find common ground (click here for more), pledging to make VAWA’s reauthorization an early House priority. We hope that they will continue to work together to reach agreement on a bill that includes all victims. A group of 17 Republican House Members also wrote to Speaker John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor on Feb. 11, to urge them to immediately move to reauthorize VAWA; lamenting that reauthorization is “long overdue”; attesting that VAWA programs “save lives” and “have been a success in curbing domestic violence and supporting victims”; and appealing for their swift action to reach “bipartisan compromise” and to find a “bipartisan plan… that reaches all victims.”  See letter and signatories here.

These signs of bipartisan energy and commitment to VAWA’s reauthorization in the House of Representatives are very encouraging. Email your Representative to today – call on the House to follow the Senate’s lead and bring a strong, inclusive, bipartisan VAWA bill to the floor for a vote in the weeks ahead.

ACTION ITEM 1:  THANK YOUR SENATORS WHO VOTED FOR S. 47

Please thank your Senator(s) who voted for the final VAWA.

ACTION ITEM 2:  EMAIL YOUR REPRESENTATIVES TODAY!!! 

Note: both alerts will offer sample language based on your Members’ actions on these bills.

If your Representative is one of the 201 sponsors sponsors (all Democrats) of the House version of the Senate VAWA (H.R. 11), thank them and encourage them to talk to and work with their Republican colleagues to get a bipartisan VAWA passed.  (For further updates on sponsors, go to http://thomas.loc.gov/home/thomas.php, choose Bill number, type in H.R. 11 and search.)

If your Representative is one of the 17 Republicans who signed onto a letter to Republican House leadership urging a bipartisan VAWA that reaches all victims, thank them and urge them to talk to Speaker Boehner and Majority Leader Cantor and suggest to them that the Senate bill should be considered on the House floor.  See letter and signatories here.  Twitter handles for these members are at http://www.tweetcongress.org.

If your Representative is NOT on the sponsor list, call on them to join the movement in the House for an inclusive VAWA.

Two links:

For thanking the Senate – the alert will tell you how your Senators voted.

For urging action in the House – the alert will tell you if your Representative is a co-sponsor.

Senate to vote on VAWA this week!

The Office of Public Witness sent three letters about the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) to the Senate this morning (Feb. 4): one thanking the lead sponsor of the bill, S. 47, Senator Patrick Leahy; one thanking the 59 Senators who have cosponsored the bill; and one to the remaining 39 Senators who have not cosponsored it.   To find the list of current cosponsors, visit the Library of Congress' website. The Senate is expected to begin debating this measure this evening.  Below, please see the letters thanking the cosponsors and urging support from those who have not yet cosponsored the bill.

Click here to send a message to your Senators in favor of S. 47!

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 213^th 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 213^th General Assembly (2001) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

Send your own message today!

INTERFAITH FAITH CALL-IN TO PREVENT GUN VIOLENCE

Monday, February 4 - National Faith Call-In to Prevent Gun Violence

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Office of Public Witness in Washington, DC is working with an Interfaith Group of Organizations to encourage the United States Senate and House of Representatives to enact gun legislation that will reduce and prevent gun violence in the United States.

 

National Call-In Number

Faiths Calling – Interfaith Call-in to Prevent Gun Violence – February 4^th
www.faithscalling.org 1-888-897-0174
Text "FaithsCalling" to 877877 for a reminder message

Ensure that the voices of faithful Americans ring throughout the halls of Congress.

Call your Senators and Representative and insist that they act to prevent gun violence.

We know that among millions of you in the faith community there are differences in viewpoint and we ask you to convey whichever policies with which you are comfortable. The major components of legislation that Congress is considering are listed below. When you call your Senators and Representative, let them know that you are calling as a member of the faith community, and emphasize those of the policies which you support.

• Require universal background checks for all gun purchases
• Ban semi-automatic assault weapons and high-capacity magazines
• Make gun trafficking a federal crime
• Improve access to mental health services

Tell them that gun violence prevention laws work.

We need your support on this important issue!

VAWA Reintroduced - Call on Senators to Co-sponsor!

Action Alert: VAWA Reintroduced This Week – Call on Senators to Co-sponsor

On Tuesday, Jan. 22, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Senator Michael Crapo (R-ID) introduced S. 47, a strong, bipartisan bill that would reauthorize the landmark Violence Against Women Act (VAWA)! This bill closely mirrors the bipartisan legislation introduced by Senators Leahy and Crapo last Congress and would improve VAWA programs and strengthen protections for all victims of violence (see description of legislation below).

In order to build on our incredible momentum from last Congress, please take action TODAY by contacting your Senators to co-sponsor S. 47. The goal is to get 60 co-sponsors by January 31^st so that VAWA can get to the Senate floor for a bipartisan victory. We need to keep the phones ringing and emails starting right now!

** please check the following list and edit the message to your senators if they are already co-sponsor (or better yet, put in a phone call).  Make sure to thank them for their witness on this issue.

So far, the bill has the following co-sponsors in addition to its chief sponsor, Senator Leahy (D-VT): Senators Ayotte (R-NH),  Baucus (D-MT), Begich (D-AK), Bennet (D-CO), Cantwell (D-WA), Cardin (D-MD), Casey (D-PA), Collins (R-ME), Coons (D-DE), Crapo (R-ID), Durbin (D-IL), Feinstein (D-CA), Franken (D-MN), Hagan (D-NC), Heitkamp (D-ND), King (I-ME), Kirk (R-IL), Klobuchar (D-MN), McCaskill (D-MO), Mikulski (D-MD), Murkowski (R-AK), Murray (D-WA), Pryor (D-AR), Reed (D-RI), Shaheen (D-NH), Stabenow (D-MI), Tester (D-MT), Udall (D-CO), Udall (D-NM), Warren (D-MA), Whitehouse (D-RI), and Wyden (D-OR). (as of 9:30am 1/25/13)

Also on Tuesday, Representatives Gwen Moore (D-WI) and John Conyers (D-MI) introduced H.R. 11, a House companion identical to the bipartisan Senate bill.  Call on the House of Representatives to work together in a bipartisan effort reauthorize VAWA as a matter of priority.   This bill has 158 co-sponsors in the House.

Today is OrangeDay,* a monthly action on the 25^th of each month when we lift up issues of violence against women.  Join the global effort to confront violence against women by taking action today!

Action Item:

Send a message to your Senators here; OR

Call the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask the operator to connect you to your Senators. If you don’t know who your Senators are, you can look them up here. When you’re connected to their offices, tell the person who answers the phone:

1)            I am a constituent from (city and state) and my name is _________.

2)            I urge Senator____ to co-sponsor the S. 47, a strong, bipartisan bill that would reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act.

3)            Thank you and I look forward to hearing that the Senator is a co-sponsor.

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Description of legislation: In addition to many important improvements throughout the bill that received bipartisan support last year, this bill also contains enhanced protections for tribal, LGBT and immigrant victims, which were identified as critical priorities by advocates across the country and also received bipartisan support last year. Last year’s bill, however, also included a modest increase in the number of U visas (created by Congress in VAWA 2000) available to immigrant victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and certain other violent crimes who assist law enforcement in the investigation or prosecution of the crime. Increasing the number of U visas helps both victims and law enforcement.  Unfortunately, that provision led to a technical objection from House Republican leaders. 

In the interest of obtaining the swift reauthorization of VAWA, the Senate introduced the new VAWA bill without that provision in order to avoid any initial technical obstacles.  However, this new VAWA bill does recommit Congress to important immigration provisions so that all victims are protected. Senator Leahy will be working hard to include the U visa increase in the comprehensive immigration reform legislation that will soon be considered by Congress. The members of the National Task Force likewise commit to support that effort.

* On January 25 – and the 25th of each month – join people around the world in observing an Orange Day to work for an end to violence against women and girls. SayNO – UNiTE toEnd Violence against Women is a social mobilization platform on ending violence against women and girls related to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon’s campaign, UNiTE to End Violence against Women. The campaign invites us to wear orange and take action on the 25th of each month to end violence against women and girls. Learn more and find ideas for action.

Call Speaker Boehner - Agreement on VAWA is Possible!

Possible agreement on VAWA just hours away

Urgent that all VAWA advocates make one more phone call!

Call immediately and talk to Speaker Boehner’s 202-225-0600 or 202.225.6205 and House Majority Leader Cantor’s office 202-225-2815 or 202. 225.4000 and emphatically urge them to “Be a hero and help pass a VAWA that includes ALL victims and survivors. Your leadership can make this happen.” Then let them know that a final VAWA must protect Native women and hold perpetrators accountable. 

The reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), a legislative priority of the PC(USA), has been held up in Congress over technicalities.  Earlier this year, the Senate passed a VAWA reauthorization that improved protections for immigrants, Native women, and LGBTQ victims of violence.  The House bill did not include these protections, and in fact, rolled back important confidentiality protections for immigrant women.  The PC(USA) supports the Senate-passed bill and urges Congress to complete a VAWA reauthorization this year that protects ALL victims of violence.

Right now, House leadership is in talks with VAWA’s Senate champions to discuss the reauthorization, but House leaders are hesitating about the provisions to protect Native women.  There is a path to bipartisan passage that protects and provides justice for all victims – including Native American women. Under current law, Native victims face dire and life-threatening violence on Tribal lands at the hands of non-Native offenders who cannot be prosecuted by tribal courts.  Neither can these perpetrators be prosecuted in non-Tribal courts because the offense took place on Tribal lands.  The House must agree to include new protections for these victims and ensure that perpetrators of violence can be held accountable.  It’s important for us to tell House leaders that we will stand with them if they do the right thing.

VAWA has bipartisan support and in recent days, dozens of Republican members of Congress have offered real solutions and solid support for the provisions that include all victims.  Last week, Congressmen Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Tom Cole (R-OK) introduced H.R. 6625, a stand-alone bill which contains compromise language to address Republican concerns that the tribal jurisdiction over non tribal defendants is unconstitutional. These good faith efforts to find common ground and a path forward must not be dismissed. 

CALL immediately to Speaker Boehner’s 202-225-0600 or 202.225.6205 and House Majority Leader Cantor’s office 202-225-2815 or 202. 225.4000 and strongly urge House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and Speaker Boehner to seize the moment and get this bill done with the compromise tribal jurisdictional provisions intact.  This is their opportunity to stand firm with victims of violence and we are prayerful and optimistic that they will put politics aside and pass a VAWA inclusive of those who have been left behind so far.  House leadership needs to hear loud and clear that now is the time to pass a VAWA for all victims—Native women included.  And they need to also hear that a VAWA which does not protect Native women and does not hold perpetrators accountable is unacceptable. 

All victims of violence – including Native Women - cannot afford to wait another year for justice.

See previous posts about the Violence Against Women Act:

Sept. 24 - Orange Day: Say NO to Violence Against Women

July 24 - Stand with Presbyterian Women: Take Action for Peace and Justice

May 11 - House Bill (HR 4970) is NOT the Real VAWA

April 24 - Tell the Senate: Vote YES on the Reauthorization of VAWA (S. 1925)