Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2019

Floor Speech

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Mrs. DINGELL. Madam Speaker, I have nothing but great respect for my colleague who offered this; and I do wish that we could do this together and not politicize it. But that is exactly what we are doing.

This motion to recommit would just totally undermine this bill because it is a short and incomplete reauthorization; and it undermines the Violence Against Women Act and this important effort to reauthorize it.

This bill takes out things that have become so basic, like the Rape Prevention Fund, testing of rape case kits, which is a horror across this country in how many haven't been tested.

It takes away child abuse training. None of that is in this motion to recommit.

And what makes me really sad is that this bill is one of the most successful laws this House has passed. In the 25 years since it was enacted, violence against women by a spouse, or an intimate partner, has dropped by 65 percent. We need to build on that progress.

Since then, victims, survivors, and the communities where we live have relied on the Congress to help provide resources needed to prevent and investigate these crimes and to assist survivors.

I remember what it was like. I remember what it was like when you called the police and they didn't come because your father was an important man in town.

I remember what it was like when someone on our college campus was raped, and the police came to them and said: ``It's your fault'' and would do nothing.

And I don't want anybody in this House to forget that Michigan State University, with hundreds of victims, was only brought to the forefront last year, when hundreds of victims tried to tell people something was happening, and nobody would listen. We cannot go back to those days. Since the original passage of this bill, we have learned from experience and from the unfortunate continued perpetuation of these crimes.

This House, together, on a bipartisan basis, we authorized VAWA in 2000, 2005, and 2013. This bill builds on our progress and success. We must not only reauthorize it, but make its programs even more effective, and help survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence, and other forms of harm with issues that they face.

Women are staying in these situations because they need to go to the doctor and they can't afford healthcare; they can't find a place to live; they don't have economic security. These are among the issues that this bill is trying to address.

This motion to recommit would kill the bill, and it leaves victims vulnerable.

I do volunteer work at these domestic--at places where people go for domestic abuse.

Have you talked to anybody there? Do you know how scared they are because funding is already being impacted?

Stepping back means looking the other way when victimization is taking place; and they are counting on us to do something. That is why we cannot undermine this important law.

And I am going to say one other thing. Do not let the NRA bully you. This is not a poison pill. The provision in this bill--don't forget who I was married to. John Dingell was on the NRA board. Hell, he helped start it. But all this does--we are not taking away due process. All this does is say that if someone has been convicted, convicted, as an intimate partner, that they would not have access to a gun. And if someone has been convicted of stalking--

You know what I would say to all of you?

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