[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 5]
[House]
[Pages 6901-6902]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               I STAND WITH VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

  (Ms. WATERS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, today I stand with my Democratic colleagues 
and victims of domestic violence across our Nation in strong opposition 
to H.R. 4970, the House Republican alternative

[[Page 6902]]

to the Violence Against Women Reauthorization bill. This bill severely 
undermines vital protections available to victims of violence and 
places those victims in danger of continued abuse.
  Since its enactment in 1994, the Violence Against Women Act, known as 
VAWA, has a long history of uniting lawmakers with the common purpose 
of protecting survivors of domestic violence.
  Each year across the Nation, thousands of women, children, and men 
who fall victim to domestic violence, human trafficking, sexual 
assault, dating violence, and stalking no longer have to live in fear 
because of important victim protections under this law.
  This Republican alternative bill threatens to dismantle this progress 
by deliberately placing domestic violence victims from LGBT, immigrant, 
tribal, and other marginalized communities in harm's way.

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