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A bipartisan bill to re-authorize VAWA, as it is known, was introduced in the House earlier this month by Democratic Representatives Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas and Speaker of the House Judiciary Jerry Nadler of New York and Republican Brain Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania.
“Domestic violence has increased in this country. And now we have a moment in history,” Jackson Lee told CNN Wednesday before the vote.
“This is a robust bill,” said the congresswoman. “We are making sure that there is federal government armor around these families so that they can survive. We cannot let them down. I think the time is right. I think the passion is there.
According to a fact sheet from the House Judiciary Committee, the bill would improve and expand support and services for victims and survivors. Radical legislation includes provisions to make safe housing more accessible and to strengthen economic security by ensuring that state unemployment benefits cannot be denied to people who leave their jobs due to harassment or assault sexual, domestic or dating violence or stalking.
Biden applauded the VAWA reauthorization effort, saying in a statement on the bill’s recent introduction that Congress should “meet in a bipartisan fashion to ensure the swift passage of VAWA legislation to both the House and the Legislature. Senate”.
Biden went on to say, “Domestic violence is categorized as a pandemic within the Covid-19 pandemic, with growing evidence showing that the conditions of the pandemic have resulted in increased rates of intimate partner violence and , in some cases, more serious injuries. “
The Democratic-controlled House voted in 2019 to re-authorize the legislation after it expired, but the reauthorization was not passed by the GOP-controlled Senate.
Now the Democratic majority in the House is about to pass a new clearance again. This time, Democrats control the Senate, but the effort will still face an uncertain future in the chamber. With a partisan 50-50 split, it is not certain that there would be enough Republican support to overcome a filibuster.
Jackson Lee said of his approach to pushing forward legislation: “I’m going to make it relentlessly. I’m going to charge. I want to have a smile on my face but I’ll never stop, I’ll never stop … . We will not fail women. I will be relentless and I will never give up. “
When asked if he would support the reauthorization bill, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday that GOP Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa “has been our leader on this issue. “.
Ernst later told reporters: “We are working on a bill again, taking what we worked on in the last Congress and we will probably reintroduce it,” adding that “it will be different from the Bedroom”.
The Iowa Republican said she hopes it will be possible to “work on these differences in the two bills, find areas of agreement and move forward with a bill. modernized “.
“We are ready to work with the Democrats on this point and we hope that by joining forces we can get the 60 votes needed,” Ernst said.
Asked about the GOP effort, Jackson Lee said, “We are ready to consider their bill. This is a vigorous bill. We will keep as much of our bill as possible to do so. adopt.”
This story was updated with additional developments on Wednesday.
CNN’s Chandelis Duster and Ashley Killough contributed to this report.
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