Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2021

Floor Speech

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Mrs. FISCHBACH. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

The Violence Against Women Act was first signed into law almost 30 years ago with wide bipartisan support. The law recognizes that Federal laws covering domestic violence could help ease overburdened State and local criminal justice systems. It was narrowly defined and not controversial. Since its passage, it has been reauthorized on a bipartisan basis.

Unfortunately, in recent years, Democrats have politicized the law, straying further and further away from its original intent. This bill, H.R. 1620, is a continuation of the Democrats' politicization, expanding and altering the fundamental nature of the Violence Against Women Act.

The most significant change in this reauthorization effort is that it erases important distinctions between women and men. It replaces violence against ``women'' with ``a person of any gender,'' extending the law's protections well-past the narrowly defined and necessary protection for women.

This rewriting of the Violence Against Women Act not only undermines the original intent of this legislation, but also jeopardizes the safety and well-being of women at risk. It does more to advance the Democrats' progressive agenda than it does to protect women.

It is not just VAWA. The Democrats' entire radical agenda hurts women. Calls to defund, dismantle, and rethink local law enforcement hurt at-risk women. Never-ending government lockdowns that require battered and abused women to stay in violent households hurt women. A southern border open to dangerous drug cartels and human traffickers caused by President Biden's border crisis hurts women. In fact, the Democrats' open border policies incentivize women to make the dangerous trip to the U.S.-Mexico border on which one-third of women report being sexually abused.

Those are not the only problems with this legislation. H.R. 1620 also threatens Americans' constitutional right to religious freedom. The bill denies faith-based exemptions for VAWA grant recipients, prohibiting religious organizations from running shelters and legal aid centers on the basis of their sincerely held religious beliefs. The Democrats' culture war could actually force faith-based centers for abused women to close.

H.R. 1620 also expands the definition of domestic violence to include economic and emotional duress, pulling funding away from combating the severity of violent crimes.

This legislation disregards the well-being of women by promoting lofty concepts, such as restorative justice approaches to crimes against women, which are unproven and could force a woman to confront her abuser.

Democrats know that these are unnecessary additions that jeopardize the bipartisan reauthorization, so why are they choosing to proceed? Why are they putting forward this bill--with no hearings, no markups in this Congress--at the expense of women's safety and well-being?

Any crime or abuse against any single individual is abhorrent. State and Federal laws already protect individuals, women and men, from domestic violence and sexual abuse and any related reprehensible acts like dating violence and stalking. Resources should be targeted to help those women and individuals cope and recover and also prevent further violence and abuse. This bill falls short of that goal and wildly distorts the original purpose of this law.

Madam Speaker, I urge all Members to oppose this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mrs. FISCHBACH. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Good).

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Mrs. FISCHBACH. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Chabot).

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Mrs. FISCHBACH. Madam Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentlewoman from Arizona (Mrs. Lesko).

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Mrs. FISCHBACH.

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Mrs. FISCHBACH. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Georgia (Mrs. Greene).

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Mrs. FISCHBACH. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I reiterate my opposition to H.R. 1620, the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act.

Democrats filled this legislation with politically charged, highly controversial provisions that dramatically expanded its scope, and erased the bipartisanship that originally passed this bill.

Many of those points were pointed out by the speakers on the Republican side, and unfortunately, it does nothing to address the problem of domestic violence, it threatens religious freedom and undermines the legislation's original intent.

Resources should be targeted to help women affected by the horrors of domestic abuse and help prevent further abuse. This bill does neither.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to oppose this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mrs. FISCHBACH. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Burgess).

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Mrs. FISCHBACH. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Georgia (Mrs. Greene).

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Mrs. FISCHBACH. Madam Speaker, I urge opposition to this en bloc amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mrs. FISCHBACH. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

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