Jackson Lee: “The effort to pass VAWA represents a commitment to saving lives and recognizing how long we have been suffering and how far we have come. This iteration of VAWA also speaks to the indignities and harms suffered by Native American women who, either through tribal custom, legal strictures or station in life, were not contemplated by past efforts to pass VAWA. And, we cannot forget the victims of domestic violence like Brittany Smith, who was 23 years old and was gunned down last year in Houston, by her boyfriend and San Diego-based Marine; nor can we forget Charlene Caldwell, a mother and grandmother beaten to death last year by a baseball bat at the hands of her boyfriend in Houston. Sadly, their story is representative is too many others.”

WASHINGTON, DC – Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security and Investigations, and senior member of the House Committees on Judiciary, Homeland Security, and Budget, released this statement on the introduction of the Violence Against Women Act of 2019:

“The Violence Against Women Act (“VAWA”) is landmark legislation which—through policy reforms, interstate cooperation and grant allocation—has been pivotal in providing a national response to protecting half of the population. Equally important, it has ushered in a seismic transformation on how society perceives violence against women. The law has enhanced and improved the lives of girls and women, boys and men. Unfortunately, the last authorization for VAWA lapsed last year, and the program requires reauthorization. Today’s hearing of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security, of which I am a senior member—was its first of the new Congress and represents the commitment of the new house majority to protecting women from the scourge of domestic violence.

“The effort to pass VAWA represents a commitment to saving lives and recognizing how long we have been suffering and how far we have come. This iteration of VAWA also speaks to the indignities and harms suffered by Native American women who, either through tribal custom, legal strictures or station in life, were not contemplated by past efforts to pass VAWA. And, we cannot forget the victims of domestic violence like Brittany Smith, who was 23 years old and was gunned down last year in Houston, by her boyfriend and San Diego-based Marine; nor can we forget Charlene Caldwell, a mother and grandmother beaten to death last year by a baseball bat at the hands of her boyfriend in Houston. Sadly, their story is representative is too many others. But, their stories—that of Brittany and Charlene—and the countless others out there are why this effort is so worthwhile.

Yet, while the stories of Brittany and Charlene are reason to contemplate and pause, we can take stock of the work that has been accomplished since VAWA’s initial enactment in 1994. Since VAWA’s codification in 1994, more victims report episodes of domestic violence to the police and the rate of non-fatal intimate partner violence against women has decreased by almost two-thirds. VAWA has also led to a significant increase in the reporting of sexual assault. For example, the percentage of survivors of rape and sexual assault who report the assault to the police increased from 28.8% in 1993—the year prior to VAWA’s initial passage—to 50% in 2010. In the first 15 years of VAWA’s validity, rates of serious intimate partner violence declined by 72 percent for women and 64 percent for men. Research suggests that referring a victim to a domestic violence or sexual assault advocate has been linked to an increased willingness to file a police report – survivors with an advocate filed a report with law enforcement 59% of the time, versus 41% for individuals not referred to a victim advocate. But more has to be done, which is why the time is ripe to pass the Violence Against Women Act of 2019.

“The Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2019 improves current law in several important respects, and takes a holistic approach to the goal of eliminating the harm faced by victims of violence, and making vital services accessible to survivors of this scourge. For example, this iteration of VAWA contains guidance on the use of grants to activate judicial and law enforcement tools to develop and enforce firearm surrender policies; expands permissible use of grant funding for programs focused on increasing survivor/law enforcement/community safety; and provides legal assistance for dependent children in appropriate circumstances. It also updates programs designed to reduce dating violence, help children exposed to violence and engage men in preventing violence against women.

“Additionally, the bill improves services for victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. It provides policies, protection, and justice for young victims of violence, including extending the Rape Prevention and Education grant program, addressing bullying of young people, improving grants focused on prevention education for students, and expanding relevant training for school-based and campus health centers; and reauthorizes and updates programs designed to reduce dating violence, help children exposed to violence, and engage men in preventing violence. This bill also recognizes the cascading ills associated with identifying, eliminating and preventing the reemergence of domestic violence. It expands grants under the Public Health Service Act to support implementation of training programs to improve the capacity of early childhood programs to address domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking among the families they serve; preserves and expands housing protections for survivors; provides economic security assistance for survivors by reauthorizing the National Resource Center on Workplace Responses; protects employees from being fired because they are survivors of sexual assault or domestic violence; and protects survivors’ eligibility to receive Unemployment Insurance.

“Recognizing that many women are victimized at the hands of intimate partners, this iteration of VAWA helps prevent “intimate partner” homicides by including provisions expanding firearms laws to prohibit persons convicted of dating violence from possessing firearms, prohibiting persons convicted of misdemeanor stalking from possessing firearms and prohibiting individuals subject to ex parte protective orders from possessing firearms. Accordingly, the bill helps protect Native American women, by including provisions to improve the response to missing and murdered Native American women, improving tribal access to federal crime information databases and reaffirming tribal criminal jurisdiction over non-Indian perpetrators of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, stalking and trafficking for all federally recognized Indian tribes and Alaskan Natives. Additionally, this bill protects the Office on Violence Against Women in the Department of Justice from being de-emphasized, merged or consolidated into any other DOJ office.

“VAWA is central to our nation’s effort to fight the epidemic of domestic, sexual and dating violence and stalking. This work did not happen on its own. It was the product of a collaborative effort of stakeholders including victim advocates. It was the product of those willing to share their stories of the abuse suffered at the hands of those who were entrusted to love but instead harmed. The courage, strength and resilience displayed by survivors has reminded all that we must continue to foster an environment for victims of violence to come forward and expose episodes of violence against women.

“This bill represents the good that can come when courageous people with a story to tell come forward with the belief that through their pain, the lives of others can be helped. Having listened to concerned stakeholders from all pockets of the country, we have put pen to paper and produced a bill that is endorsed by the bipartisan National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence (NTF), which is a national collaboration comprising a large and diverse group of 35 national, tribal, state, territorial and local organizations, advocates and individuals that focus on the development, passage and implementation of effective public policy to address domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking. Indeed, there is no reason our work on this cannot be bipartisan. as has been the custom of prior Congresses in authorizing this critical piece of legislation. The love for a spouse, the comfort of a mother and the best wishes for a sister know no political allegiance.”