By Ashley Parker 

 

A day after the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act was reintroduced in the Senate, House Democrats declared that they would do everything in their power to ensure that it also passes the House.

 

The bill, which reauthorizes a 1994 law that assists victims of domestic and sexual violence, is similar to a bill that the Senate passed last year with bipartisan support, but which foundered (and ultimately expired) in the House when the Republican conference refused to support it. House Republicans offered their own bill, which excluded protections for gay, bisexual or transgender victims of domestic abuse and stripped certain provisions related to undocumented immigrants and Native American women on reservations.

 

“Today House Democratic leaders are here to fulfill that promise to protect the lives and secure the liberty and happiness of America’s women and families by reauthorizing and strengthening the Violence Against Women Act,” said Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the House Democratic leader. “For nearly two decades, the Violence Against Women Act has helped ensure that no victim of domestic violence has to suffer in silence or in the shadows.”

 

Referring to the reintroduced Senate bill, she added, “It is time for their House Republican colleagues to follow suit and join the Senate in a bipartisan backing of this measure.”

Ms. Pelosi, flanked by roughly two dozen congresswomen and a handful of her male colleagues, said the bill currently had “158 and counting” co-sponsors in the House, including every female Democratic member.

 

Although the bill is typically reauthorized with the little fanfare, House Republicans of the previous Congress were particularly worried about a provision that granted undocumented immigrants who were victims of abuse a temporary legal status, intended to encourage them to come forward and report the assault.

 

Representative Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland, the No. 2 House Democrat, said the issue of violence against women transcended any one group.

 

“This is not just a women’s issue, this is not just a men’s issue or a children’s issue,” he said. “This is an issue of safety, this is an issue of security, this is an issue of health. This is an issue of family, solidarity and security.”

 

He said he expected the bill to be successful this time, because he could not fathom anyone objecting to protections for those three key constituencies.

 

“I can’t believe that there is any House member who’s going to get up and say there is somebody who lives in America who I do not believe ought to not be protected from domestic violence,” he said.

Representative Gwen Moore of Wisconsin, a victim of domestic violence and sexual assault herself, began by thanking the members who had helped pass the original law in 1994.

 

“I just want to thank them for being here in 1994 when this was passed, because I was one of the people who was kind of out there getting beat up and sexually assaulted, and one of those faceless, nameless women who really needed advocates and law enforcement and people on the other end of the telephone to be there, and I am so proud to be here today,” she said, before turning her attention to her Republican colleagues: “This is our call to action, our clarion call to action to the House G.O.P. leadership, to make it crystal clear that we’re ready and prepared to make this a priority.”

 

However, despite the confidence of the House Democrats, the bill currently has no Republican co-sponsors in the House.

 

To view this article online, please click here.