Washington, DC- (Thursday, May 17, 2012) – Yesterday, the GOP controlled House voted in favor of H.R. 4970, the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act (VAWA), by a vote of 222 to 204. Congresswoman Johnson issued the following statement:

“It is with great disappointment that the House voted for this measure in its currently flawed form, and that something so important as this has been politicized. The Violence Against Women Act that was considered yesterday is not of the same caliber of legislation as authorized in previous congresses, nor was it drafted with the same bipartisan considerations or support. H.R. 4970 is identical to previous reauthorizations in title only, and will do tremendous damage to the established programs for battered women seeking justice or protection from their abusers.

The issue of defending and caring for battered or abused women should remain a non-partisan issue. Instead, this legislation was seized in order to promote a partisan agenda of excluding immigrants, LGBT individuals, and Native Americans, from protections afforded by the government.

I have always supported programs in the past that have effectively provided victims with the tools they needed to escape their abusers. However, I voted against H.R. 4970 because it falls drastically short of the original intent of the law, and represents an attack on women that no democratic society should ever have to endure.”

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U.S. Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson is the highest-ranking Texan on the House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure and a senior member of the Science Committee. She represents the 30th Congressional District of Texas, which, includes Downtown Dallas, Fair Park, Oak Lawn, Turtle Creek, Old East Dallas, Pleasant Grove, & South Oak Cliff; all of Balch Springs, DeSoto, Hutchins, Lancaster & Wilmer and parts of Cedar Hill, Duncanville, Ferris, Glenn Heights and Ovilla.