WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) released the following statement after Republicans in the House of Representatives unveiled their version of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA).
“The House Republican VAWA bill removes protections for millions of women in at-risk communities all across the country. It strips the overwhelmingly bipartisan Senate bill’s protections for the LGBT community and drastically reduces protections for women on tribal lands. It’s not a compromise, it’s an unfortunate effort to exclude specific groups of women from receiving basic protections under the law. And we cannot allow that to happen.
“House Republican leadership just doesn’t get it. The protections included in the Senate for new communities of women are not bargaining chips that can be played with in order to appease the far right in their party. These are badly needed new tools to give women an escape from a life stunted by abuse.
“This partisan bill is a non-starter in the Senate. It’s time for moderate Republicans in the House to step up and finally force their leadership to stop ignoring the calls of women across the country. All it will take to get VAWA to the President’s desk is to put the Senate bill, which passed with 78 votes, on the House floor. If they do, I’m confident it will pass. Until then, the leadership in the House will continue to be the only thing standing between 30 million women and the VAWA protections they deserve.”
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