Huffman Applauds Passage of Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act

February 28, 2013

WASHINGTON---The House of Representatives has approved the long-delayed Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 (S. 47). The Act will now be sent to the White House for the President’s signature.

Congressman Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) applauded the legislation’s passage and delivered the following speech on the House floor on Wednesday, arguing against the Republican substitute amendment that would have significantly undermined the protections provided by the legislation:

One Minute Floor Speech on the Violence Against Women Act 

“I rise today to express my grave concerns over the Republican substitute to the Senate-passed Violence Against Women Act. The Senate passed this bill with overwhelming bipartisan support, including a majority of Senate Republicans. But apparently, leadership in the House has decided that this law should protect only some women.

“The substitute that we're being asked to vote on excludes LGBT victims. It weakens protections for women on college campuses, Native American women, and immigrants.

“As a father of a young daughter and a husband, I cannot begin to understand why we would gut commonsense protections for women or why we would pick and choose the type of women that we want to protect from violence.

“A few minutes ago, we swore allegiance to this flag and to a Republic that stands for liberty and justice for all, not for some. In fact, Americans have long fought for equality for women and protecting all women from violence. The Violence Against Women Act has been an important part of that arc of our history. It's not something that should be politicized or used for political games. Let's vote against this substitute.”

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