Violence Against Women Act

VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ACT -- (House of Representatives - June 29, 2005)

(Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)

Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California. Mr. Speaker, this week I and over 60 of my colleagues will introduce a comprehensive reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. VAWA is set to expire on September 30 of this year, so it is vital that this Congress quickly consider and pass the reauthorization.

Since its passage in 1994, VAWA has been a great success. It has provided over $5.5 billion in Federal funding to improve our criminal and community responses to domestic violence. But the statistics remain alarming. One in every four women will experience domestic violence during her lifetime. Last year, California law enforcement received 198,000 domestic violence calls, with weapons involved in over 136,000 of those cases.

The reauthorization that we are putting forward this week will go a long way to stop this troubling reality. And I want to acknowledge particularly the hard work of my colleagues who worked on this bill. It is truly a collaborative effort that includes prevention, not just response. And we must, we must approve reauthorization before the expiration on September 1. It needs to be broad, and it needs to be this bill.

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