General Discussion

riversedge

(70,243 posts) Wed Mar 17, 2021, 12:25 PM Mar 2021

House set to vote to reauthorize Violence Against Women Act & CLOSING the boyfriend loophole.......

The WH strongly supports the bill

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House set to vote to reauthorize Violence Against Women Act

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/violence-against-women-act-house-reauthorization-vote/
By Grace Segers

March 17, 2021 / 9:27 AM / CBS News

Washington — .......................................

VAWA enshrines legal protections for women who have experienced domestic and sexual violence. It was initially passed in 1994, championed by then-Senator Joe Biden, and was updated and reauthorized in 2000, 2005 and 2013. The bill expired at the end of 2018 due to a government shutdown and was briefly renewed by a resolution reopening the government, but expired again in February 2019. Mr. Biden made reauthorizing VAWA a key campaign promise before he was elected.

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The current bill would expand victims services and reauthorize grant programs for the criminal justice response to domestic and sexual violence. It also includes provisions that would expand housing options for survivors, and end immunity for non-Native perpetrators of sexual violence on tribal lands.

It would also close the so-called "boyfriend loophole" to prevent dating partners and stalkers convicted of domestic violence or abuse from purchasing and owning firearms. Previous versions of the bill already prevented spouses convicted of domestic violence or abuse from obtaining firearms.

The House passed a version of VAWA including this amendment in 2019, but it died in the Senate, which was then controlled by Republicans. ...............................

Murkowski told reporters on Tuesday that VAWA had previously been "derailed" because of the provision closing the "boyfriend loophole."
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"On the Equal Rights Amendment, I wish that I could tell you that we had more Republican support for that at this point in time. We continue to work that," Murkowski told reporters.