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 22nd. 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.
