[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 118 (Thursday, September 28, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9457-S9458]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
THE NEED TO PASS THE VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ACT
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I want to take a moment to once again ask
the majority to immediately bring S. 2787, the Violence Against Women
Act of 2000, VAWA II, to the floor for a vote.
Yesterday the President wrote to the Majority Leader urging passage
of VAWA II this week. This is a top priority not only for the
Administration but for the Nation. The President wrote: ``The Senate
should not delay, and I urge you to pass a freestanding version of the
Biden-Hatch VAWA reauthorization bill this week. The women and families
whose lives have been scarred by domestic violence deserve nothing less
than immediate action by the Congress.'' The President is right.
This Tuesday the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed the
reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act by a vote of 415 to
3. I commend the House for finally acting on this important
legislation. Many of us have been urging Senate action on legislation
to reauthorize and improve the Violence Against Women Act for months.
We have been stymied by the Republican leadership.
I also would like to thank my friend Senator Joe Biden, for his
leadership on this issue. He has been a champion for victims of
domestic violence for many years. He was pivotal in the enactment of
the Violence Against Women Act almost a decade ago. He has been
tireless in his efforts this year. It is time for the Senate to take up
S. 2787, review and accept the consensus substitute and move to final
passage. It could be done this week--today. Senator Biden has offered
to proceed on a clean bill within 10 minutes and he is right.
I regret to have to remind the Senate that the authorization for the
original Violence Against Women Act, VAWA, expires at the end of this
week on Saturday, September 30, 2000. This is outrageous. This should
be consensus legislation, bipartisan legislation. With a straight up or
down vote I have no doubt that our bill will pass overwhelmingly.
Playing partisan or political games with this important legislation is
the wrong thing to do and this is the wrong time to be playing such
games.
``Gotcha'' games have no place in this debate or with this important
matter. The Violence Against Women Act II is not leverage or fodder but
important legislation with 71 Senate cosponsors.
There is and has been no objection on the Democratic side of the
aisle to passing VAWA II. Unfortunately, there have been efforts by the
majority party to attach this uncontroversial legislation to the
``poison pill'' represented by the version of bankruptcy legislation
currently being advanced by Republicans and to other matters.
I received today a letter from the Pat Ruess of the NOW Legal Defense
and Education Fund that emphatically makes the point the VAWA is not
``cover'' for other legislation that hurts women. She is right. The
bankruptcy bill as the Republicans have designed it is opposed by the
National Partnership for Women and Families, the National Women's Law
Center, the American Association of University Women and dozens of
women's organization across the country. I hope that the rumors of such
an effort by the Republican leadership will prove unfounded and that no
such cynical pairing will be attempted. It is destined to fail and only
delays and distracts the Senate from what we should be doing--passing
VAWA II.
I believe the Senate can and should pass VAWA II as a clean, stand-
alone bill, without further delay. That is what Senator Biden urged
Tuesday.
According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, almost one-third of
women murdered each year are killed by a husband or boyfriend. In 1998,
women experience about 900,000 violent offenses at the hands of an
intimate partner. The only good news about this staggering number is
that it is lower than that of previous years when the number of violent
offenses was well past 1 million. I have no doubt this drop in the
numbers of victims of domestic violence is due to the success of the
programs of the Violence Against Women Act. We should be working to
lower that number even further by reauthorizing and expanding the
programs of VAWA. The country has come too far in fighting this battle
against domestic violence to risk losing it because the Senate does not
pass VAWA II or someone wanting to score clever, political points for
short term partisan gain.
There is no reason to make this a political battle. We must act now.
I ask unanimous consent to print in the Record the President's letter
and the September 28 letter from the NOW Legal Defense and Education
Fund and a September 17, 1999 letter from the National Partnership for
Women & Families, National Women's Law Center and other women's
advocacy organizations.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
The White House,
Washington, DC, September 27, 2000.
Hon. Trent Lott,
Majority Leader, U.S. Senate,
Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Leader: I am writing to urge you to bring the
reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) to
the Senate floor this week.
An estimated 900,000 women suffer violence at the hands of
an intimate partner each year, demonstrating the urgent need
for this legislation. Since VAWA was enacted, the Department
of Justice and Health and Human Services have awarded
approximately $1.6 billion in Federal grants to support the
work of prosecutors, law enforcement officials, the courts,
victim advocates, health care and social service
professionals, and intervention and prevention programs in
order to combat violence against women. We must reauthorize
these critical programs immediately.
As you know, yesterday, the House overwhelmingly passed
VAWA reauthorization by a vote of 415-3. In the Senate, VAWA
has similar bipartisan support with over 70 cosponsors. If
Congress does not act this week, however, VAWA's
authorization will expire on September 30, 2000. The Senate
should not delay, and I urge you to pass a freestanding
version of the Biden-Hatch VAWA reauthorization bill this
week. The women and families whose lives have been scarred by
domestic violence deserve nothing less than immediate action
by the Congress.
Sincerely,
Bill Clinton.
____
Now Legal Defense
and Education Fund,
Washington, DC, September 28, 2000.
Dear Senator: The Violence Against Women Act runs out in
two days. The Senate must act immediately! Do not let VAWA
die--pass S. 2787, the reauthorization of the Violence
Against Women Act. The bipartisan VAWA renewal bill,
sponsored by Senators Biden and Hatch, has 71 co-sponsors and
virtually no opposition. The House passed a similar bill on
Tuesday, 415-3. You must demand that this bill comes to the
Senate floor today, freestanding and without harmful riders.
It is unacceptable for the Senate to attach VAWA to or
partner it with any bill that the President has threatened to
veto. One such bill is the Bankruptcy Reform Act, a bill that
threatens women's economic security by:
[[Page S9458]]
Making it more difficult to file bankruptcy and regain
economic stability afterwards.
Pitting women and children who are trying to collect child
support against powerful commercial companies trying to
collect credit card and other debts.
Punishing honest low income bankruptcy filers while
providing cover for individuals convicted of violating FACE
(clinic violence protections).
We cannot support a bill that uses VAWA to provide cover
for legislation that also hurts women. S. 2787 can be passed
under Unanimous Consent today. Please just do it.
Sincerely,
Patricia Blau Reuss,
Vice President, Government Relations.
____
National Women's Law Center, National Partnership for
Women & Families,
September 17, 1999.
Re: S. 625, The ``Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1999''
Dear Senator: The undersigned women's and children's
organizations write to urge you to oppose S. 625, the
``Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1999.''
Hundreds of thousands of women and their children are
affected by the bankruptcy system each year as debtors and
creditors. Indeed, women are the fastest growing group in
bankruptcy. In 1999, over half a million women are expected
to file for bankruptcy by themselves--more than men filing by
themselves or married couples. About 200,000 of these women
filers will be trying to collect child support or alimony.
Another 200,000 women owed child support or alimony by men
who file for bankruptcy will become bankruptcy creditors.
S. 625 puts both groups of economically vulnerable women
and children at greater risk. By increasing the rights of
many creditors, including credit card companies, finance
companies, auto lenders and others, the bill would set up a
competition for scarce resources between parents and children
owed child support and commercial creditors both during and
after bankruptcy. And single parents facing financial
crises--often caused by divorce, nonpayment of support, loss
of a job, uninsured medical expenses, or domestic violence--
would find it harder to regain their economic stability
through the bankruptcy process. The bill would make it harder
for these parents to meet the filing requirements; harder, if
they got there, to save their homes, cars, and essential
household items; and harder to meet their children's needs
after bankruptcy because many more debts would survive.
Contrary to the claims of some, the domestic support
provisions included in the bill would not solve these
problems. The provisions only relate to the collection of
support during bankruptcy from a bankruptcy filer; they do
nothing to alleviate the additional hardships the bill would
create for the hundreds of thousands of women forced into
bankruptcy themselves. And even for women who are owed
support by men who file for bankruptcy, the provisions fail
to ensure that support payments will come first, ahead of the
increased claims of the commercial creditors. Some
improvement were made in the domestic support provisions in
the Judiciary Committee. However, even the revised provisions
fail to solve the problems created by the rest of the bill,
which gives many other creditors greater claims--both during
and after bankruptcy--than they have under current law. The
bill does not ensure that, in this intensified competition
for the debtor's limited resources, parents and children owed
support will prevail over the sophisticated collection
departments of these powerful interests.
This Bankruptcy Reform Act will reduce the ability of
parents to pay their most important debt--their debt to their
children. It is for these reasons that we strongly oppose S.
625 and urge you to oppose it as well.
Very truly yours,
National Women's Law Center.
National Partnership for Women & Families.
ACES, Association for Children for Enforcement of Support,
Inc.
American Association of University Women.
American Medical Women's Association.
Business and Professional Women/USA.
Center for Law and Social Policy.
Center for the Advancement of Public Policy.
Center for the Child Care Workforce.
Church Women United.
Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW).
Equal Rights Advocates.
Feminist Majority.
Hadassah.
International Women's Insolvency & Restructuring
Confederation (``IWIRC'').
National Association of Commissions for Women (NACW).
National Black Women's Health Project.
National Center for Youth Law.
National Council of Jewish Women.
National Council of Negro Women.
National Organization for Women.
National Women's Conference.
Northwest Women's Law Center.
NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund.
Wider Opportunities for Women.
The Women Activist Fund.
Women Employed.
Women Work!
Women's Institute for Freedom of Press.
Women's Law Center of Maryland, Inc.
YWCA of the U.S.A.
____________________