In oversight hearing, Attorney General Holder talks VAWA and synthetic drugs
Today, Attorney General Eric Holder testified at a Senate Judiciary Committee oversight hearing on the Department of Justice attended by Senator Coons. The hearing gave Holder an opportunity to answer questions on a broad range of issues, including two of Chris’ top priorities – reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act and legislation banning the sale of harmful synthetic drugs, including “bath salts.”
Holder responded to questions about the importance of reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act, including a provision in the Senate bill that would allow prosecution of domestic violence in tribal territories. Chris spoke on the Senate floor earlier this year, urging swift passage of the Violence Against Women Act reauthorization.
The Attorney General commented on the importance of the provision and stated his hope that the bipartisan Senate version of VAWA would pass. “I think that the bill that the Senate has passed, as a whole, is the best way in which VAWA can be reauthorized,” Holder said. “I think that that particular provision is an important one, given the rates of violence that we see that women, girls are subjected to in terms of domestic violence on tribal lands, the ability to have those cases tried in tribal courts I think will go a long way to serving as a deterrent and preventing reoffending and changing the culture of what we have seen on tribal lands.”
Holder also said that legislation banning the sale of synthetic drugs, which Chris strongly supports, addressed a real concern and urged Congress to take swift action. “What we have seen in the last few weeks with regard to people who potentially own bath salts—those are issues we need to deal with as quickly as we can, so I applaud the effort that has been made, and I would hope that there can be some kind of coming together and passing that legislation as quickly as possible,” he said.
To learn more about Chris’ work on the Senate Judiciary Committee, click here.