Department of Justice Appropriations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 2006 through 2009
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE APPROPRIATIONS AUTHORIZATION ACT, FISCAL YEARS 2006 THROUGH 2009 -- (House of Representatives - December 17, 2005)
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Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California. Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to be here today in support of this measure. Since its passage in 1994, VAWA has been a success, and this measure, as has been mentioned, does reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act.
Earlier in this Congress, I introduced a comprehensive bill to reauthorize the act. It had over 120 cosponsors, and I would like to publicly express my thanks to all of the cosponsors and especially the women who came forward with their ideas. It really was not my bill so much as it was a compilation of all the creativity of primarily the women of the House of Representatives to put together a bill that really went pretty far in providing assistance to victims of domestic violence. And I want to thank the chairman and ranking member of the Judiciary Committee for including most of that bill in this reauthorization. Along with the prevention programs and the housing grants for battered women, these measures will help ensure that victims have the means to escape the cycle of domestic violence and also to prevent that cycle from happening in the first place.
There are a couple of provisions in the comprehensive bill that are not included. Most importantly, protections for workers and immigrants. And I am hopeful that, working together later in this Congress, we might be able to also address those issues.
We know that domestic violence and sexual assault cause harm not only emotionally and physically but also financially and professionally. Victims of domestic violence lose 8 million paid workdays each year, the equivalent of 32,000 jobs, and almost 50 percent of sexual assault survivors lose their jobs.
So we need to provide emergency leave, emergency benefits, unemployment compensation and job protection to address this important issue, not just the physical harm but the financial burden that accompanies this violence.
I hope that we can address these shortcomings in the future. But, of course, I do not want to detract from celebrating the reauthorization of what we are doing today. It is something that we can be proud of. And I want to especially thank HILDA SOLIS, who is the cochair, I believe, of the Women's Caucus, who put so much time and effort into this along with so many other Members of the House.
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