[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 50 (Wednesday, March 17, 2021)]
[House]
[Pages H1483-H1484]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   PROVIDING EQUAL PROTECTION FOR ALL

  (Mr. CASTEN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. CASTEN. Mr. Speaker, during my first month in Congress, I visited 
Family Shelter Service, an organization that provides lifesaving 
counseling, victim protection, and a 24/7 hotline to women and children 
in northern Illinois. They provide nearly 11,000 nights of shelter for 
abused women and children every year.
  To their staff, to their clients, and to the one in three women in 
the United States who experience domestic violence and the one in five 
women who are raped, the Violence Against Women Act has been a lifeline 
since 1994. But it needs to be updated and renewed, and that is what we 
have done today.
  The Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2021 makes crucial 
updates to this landmark bill to address its gaps, expand protections, 
and meet increased needs. We have expanded protections to make the law 
more inclusive of our LGBT communities. We have closed loopholes to 
better protect victims from gun violence, improved victim services to 
help survivors heal and access justice, and increased funding for 
programs to help children who are exposed to domestic violence in the 
home.
  We have made vital new investments in prevention and victim services, 
including an amendment that I introduced to train healthcare providers 
on college campuses so they can better meet the needs of the one in 
four undergraduate women who are victims of sexual assault.
  This is for our mothers, our sisters, our daughters, and our friends. 
But it is also for Americans, regardless of their gender, who aspire to 
live in a country that truly provides equal protection and equal 
opportunities for all.
  We have done our work here today. It is now crucial that the Senate 
do theirs and send this bill to the President's desk.

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