ACTION ALERT: The House is Voting on VAWA 2019 on THURSDAY!
Contact your Representative by 5:00 EST on WEDNESDAY and tell them to support victims and survivors - to pass H.R.1585 with no harmful amendments!
Join our TWITTER STORM at 1:00 EST, Tuesday, April 2!
Add your organization’s name to our sign-on letter in support of H.R.1585!
And you can read our statement in response to attacks on VAWA by the gun industry lobby here.
The House of Representatives will vote on Thursday on H.R.1585 on the bipartisan Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2019, introduced by Representatives Karen Bass (D-CA-37) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA-01). H.R.1585 is a modest reauthorization bill that includes narrowly focused enhancements to address gaps identified by victims and survivors of domestic and sexual violence and the people who work on the ground with them every day.
Right now, opponents of VAWA want to use the “motion to recommit” to add a poison pill to H.R.1585. The “motion to recommit” is a procedural maneuver that would allow a Member who opposes VAWA to submit a last minute amendment after all the regular amendments have been voted on. Members then only have ten minutes to decide whether to support or oppose the measure. Any “motion to recommit” before the vote on VAWA will be used to damage H.R.1585. Please tell your Representative that H.R.1585 is a strong bill that victims and survivors support--it needs no last minute amendment via a motion to recommit before the vote.
Call your Representative and tell them to vote YES on H.R.1585 and NO on the motion to recommit. You can find your Representative and their contact information here. Facebook pages and Twitter handles can be found here. This updated toolkit contains scripts, talking points, a list of key enhancements, Tweets, Facebook posts, graphics, and letter-to-the editor and op-ed templates. If they are already a co-sponsor or have told you they are voting in support of H.R.1585, you can even contact them again to thank them for their support and to urge them to vote NO on the motion to recommit.
Please sign our ORGANIZATIONAL LETTER OF SUPPORT by COB Wednesday, April 3 to show Congress that organizations around the country care about this issue and support H.R.1585.
BACKGROUND:
When H.R.1585 went through the House Judiciary Committee, several Representatives tried to roll back vital VAWA protections by:
● Allowing non-Natives to prey on Native women on Tribal lands with impunity;
● Allowing publicly-funded domestic violence shelters and rape crisis centers to discriminate against survivors and turn away vulnerable victims in need of protection and help; and
● Taking money away from communities and giving it to organizations like the NRA to teach people how to use guns.
Instead of committing to improve VAWA, other lawmakers introduced a year-long reauthorization of VAWA with no improvements to meet the identified needs of survivors. Lawmakers need to take a principled stand and fight for improved access to safety and justice for victims and survivors. A reauthorization of VAWA with no improvements will leave many survivors behind. In the era of #MeToo, we have the opportunity to make meaningful positive change to protect and support all survivors - anything less is unacceptable.
If you have questions or want to report the outcome of your contacts with Members of Congress, please email rgraber@ncadv.org and dkarp@jwi.org.