05/17/12 Wednesday, Congressman Joe Donnelly announced that he will vote against the House version of the re-authorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), H.R. 4970, because it fails to provide protection for all victims. Donnelly supports the bipartisan Senate version of the bill, S. 1925.
“It is not acceptable that the House version of this bill would protect some women, while weakening protections for other women,” said Donnelly. “That’s why I support the bipartisan Senate version of the bill, which would protect survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking, without playing partisan political games that exclude some women from protections they receive now.”
The House version reauthorizing the VAWA law would take away existing protections for immigrant, LGBT, and Native American victims. The House of Representatives is expected to vote on its version of the bill later this afternoon. The Senate passed their version of the VAWA, by a vote of 68 to 31, in April of this year. Originally enacted in 1994, VAWA is one of the first major efforts at the federal level to reduce incidents of domestic violence.
