'No one should question whether this is needed,' Biden said at the end of his remarks. 'It would have been bad if the law had never been passed. But imagine now, the message it sends if it is not reauthorized. Just ask what message it would send to every one of our daughters, every woman imprisoned in their home.'Republicans'other than the eight who have cosponsored VAWA reauthorization'are arguing that they really want to reauthorize the bill, but it's unfairly political of Democrats (and eight Republicans) to want a bill that extends protections even to groups that Republicans don't like, increasing the number of visas available for undocumented immigrants who have been abused, ensuring nondiscrimination against LGBT victims, and giving Native American tribes more jurisdiction over domestic violence. They'll be glad to reauthorize it and get away from this public opinion nightmare just as soon as protections for those groups are stripped out.
It goes without saying that's unacceptable'the Violence Against Women Act has been enormously successful, but so much remains to be done. Every reauthorization should plug some of the gaps in the law, make services available to more victims, make more people safe.
Republicans plan to try to weaken the law on the Senate floor, but Senate Democrats are standing their ground and VAWA does have 61 Senate cosponsors. Its future in the House is far more in question. Sign our petition calling on Speaker Boehner to bring the Violence Against Women Act up for a vote. We'll deliver it to Democratic Rep. Gwen Moore to help her push for this important vote.
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