[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 5]
[House]
[Pages 6900-6901]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1220
                       VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ACT

  (Ms. HAHN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Ms. HAHN. Mr. Speaker, the Violence Against Women Act has saved 
lives, reducing domestic violence by half. Our colleagues in the Senate 
have embraced this fact and passed a bipartisan reauthorization bill 
that makes sense. Unfortunately, I can't say the same thing about H.R. 
4970.
  My Republican friends have good intentions. I believe they want to 
protect victims of domestic violence just as much as I do, but to be 
effective, however, our legislation has to address the problems as they 
exist. H.R. 4970 does not. The bill makes reporting abuse more 
difficult, forces shelters and

[[Page 6901]]

counselors to spend more of their precious resources on unnecessary 
paperwork, and fails to extend protection to the LGBT Americans. One of 
the most striking deficiencies is its failure to protect immigrant 
victims of abuse.
  Because of their status, immigrants are often scared to report crimes 
of violence. This fear results in more damage to their communities as 
the violence escalates. But law enforcement has the powerful tool to 
combat these crimes--the U visa program, which protects immigrants if 
they report abuse.

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