[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 86 (Wednesday, May 22, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3018-S3019]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ACT

  Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, it has been a frightening 2 weeks for 
tens of millions of Americans who support a woman's freedom to make her 
own healthcare choices. Actually, if you believe the polls, there are 
hundreds of millions of Americans in that category.
  Republican legislators across the country have passed some of the 
most extreme restrictions on a woman's right to choose. With 
breathtaking speed, they are trying to take us backward, but they have 
already provoked a fierce reaction among the American people.
  Just yesterday, I stood with hundreds before the Supreme Court to 
speak on behalf of Americans everywhere who believe that women don't 
deserve to be treated this way by their government. Meanwhile, here in 
the Senate, the Republican leader is once again stalling--it seems to 
be his MO--on a bill to improve legal protections for women who are 
victims of domestic abuse, assault, and stalking. This is VAWA, or the 
Violence Against Women Act.
  VAWA has been a landmark piece of legislation, and it has greatly 
reduced the abuse of women. Well, there was an improved and expanded 
VAWA that was passed by the House of Representatives on a bipartisan 
basis. It got significant Republican votes. It brings much needed 
updates to existing Federal law. It finally expands protections to 
women who are victims of violence from domestic partners or former 
partners, not just current or former spouses. It also says that if you 
are known to stalk your partner or have a restraining order against 
you, you shouldn't be allowed to purchase a gun. Thanks to the work of 
some of my colleagues in both Chambers, it also brings renewed 
attention to violence against Native American women who are so often 
overlooked.
  I thank Senators Smith, Klobuchar, and Cantwell for bringing 
attention to this bill later today.
  Unfortunately, Leader McConnell has indicated that he will not bring 
the House-passed VAWA bill to the floor, despite these many commonsense 
reforms. Why not? I hope it is not because the gun lobby reflexively 
opposes any restrictions on gun purchases--even for convicted stalkers. 
I hope that is not the impediment here, because as Senator Klobuchar 
has pointed out, if you are abused by your husband, then, you are 
protected by VAWA. If you are abused by a boyfriend, you are not. What 
is the difference? What is the difference?
  VAWA is yet another example of how Leader McConnell has turned this 
Chamber into a legislative graveyard. Even the most commonsense bills, 
with broad support from one end of America to the other, that are 
passed by the House--here, a bill protecting women from violence--meet 
the grim fate at the hands of the Senate's self-proclaimed Grim Reaper.
  What a shame. The Violence Against Women Act is precisely the kind of 
legislation the American people expect the Senate to consider. During a 
difficult few weeks for women across

[[Page S3019]]

America, the Senate could have sent a strong, positive signal by moving 
forward on the Violence Against Women Act. Instead, Leader McConnell 
carved out another tombstone for his legislative graveyard--another 
popular bipartisan bill buried with no action by the Senate and tied by 
the leader in partisan gridlock.

                          ____________________