Violence Against Women Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. ERNST. Mr. President, one of my top priorities has been to reauthorize and modernize the Violence Against Women Act. A survivor myself, I recognize that VAWA provides the right resources to tackle head-on domestic violence and sexual abuse in our communities in Iowa and throughout the United States.

My good friend and colleague Dianne Feinstein, ranking member on the Judiciary Committee, agreed to work with me on this important topic. For months, Senator Feinstein and I and our staffs have worked closely and in good faith with one another with this shared goal in mind. We have met numerous times, held discussions, and negotiated in a way that has produced real progress.

But just this week, after months of work and mountains of effort toward a bipartisan bill, it all came to a screeching halt. Once again, the Democrats are putting politics ahead of people and have decided to move forward on the House-passed VAWA bill. The House bill is a nonstarter and is chock-full of partisan political talking points that take us further away from rather than closer to a bill we can get over the finish line.

I am all too aware of how this town works. Election-year politics are in full swing, and the grim reality is Democrats cannot afford to be seen giving Republicans a win. The far-left agenda of the House has hijacked the process. It sounds petty and it sounds unbelievable, but, folks, that is the reality.

You would think that supporting survivors and preventing abuse would be placed ahead of petty politics.

I want to be clear. I remain hopeful that we can continue to work in a bipartisan way to get this law reauthorized.

Soon, I plan to respond with a good-faith proposal of my own. This bill will support survivors and hold abusers accountable. It is also a bill that I believe can pass the Senate and get the President's signature.

I invite my colleagues across the aisle to join me in this very, very important effort.

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