Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Tex., chair of the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security, joined at left by Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., speaks at a news conference on reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, March 17, 2021. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 8:23 AM PT – Thursday, March 18, 2021
With bipartisan support, the House has re-approved a 1994 landmark law aimed at protecting women against domestic and sexual violence. The Violence Against Women Act was reauthorized in a 244-to-172 vote on Wednesday.
The bill, which expired two years ago due to a government shutdown, would expand victim services and reauthorize grant programs to respond to these types of crimes. The measure would also close the so-called “boyfriend loophole” to prevent people convicted of domestic violence or abuse from owning a gun.
“87,000 women, according to the UN, are killed every year,” stated Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.). “50,000 of them are killed by an intimate partner or spouse…that means 137 women die every day by a family member.”
It is unbelievable that it has taken this long to reauthorize #VAWA. The Senate must immediately join the House in passing this bipartisan legislation to get it to President Biden’s desk. pic.twitter.com/tt689wdsKb
— Rep. Debbie **Wear A Mask** Dingell (@RepDebDingell) March 17, 2021
Despite passing in the House, the measure may hit a roadblock in the evenly divided Senate.
Today, the House will vote to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act, which I introduced with @JacksonLeeTX18 and @RepBrianFitz. We can and must do more to protect women from sexual assault, domestic violence, and stalking.
Watch our press conference: https://t.co/SC10Um3Lsq
— Rep. Nadler (@RepJerryNadler) March 17, 2021
