This amendment I have offered in conjunction with Senator Vitter, Senator McConnell, Senator Michael Bennet from Colorado, and others is a bipartisan amendment which will make sure that more of the money contained in the funds the Congress…

Thank you, Mr. President. The Violence Against Women Act will be reauthorized, at least in the Senate, by bipartisan consensus today. There are some different versions that will be offered. I am sure each side thinks theirs is an…

I ask unanimous consent to reserve 15 minutes for my remarks out of the 24 available, and if I could get some notice from the chair when we approach that. I may not use that much; I may yield it back. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without…

Mr. President, may I inquire as to how much time remains on this side of the aisle? The PRESIDING OFFICER. There is 24 minutes remaining.

I ask unanimous consent that the reading of the amendment be dispensed with. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. (The amendment is printed in the Record of Wednesday, April 25, 2012, under ``Text of Amendments.'')

With that, Mr. President, I reserve the remainder of my time and yield the floor.

I will not read the whole letter, which is addressed to me, but I will read parts of it: I am writing to express RAINN's concern with the draft VAWA amendment by Sen. Klobuchar. Unlike the Cornyn amendment, we do not believe this draft…

I ask for the yeas and nays. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second? There appears to be a sufficient second. There is a sufficient second. The clerk will call the roll. The assistant legislative clerk called the roll.

Madam President, for those who supported the Klobuchar amendment, here is your last chance to make sure more money under the Debbie Smith Act is appropriated and directed toward solving the 400,000 untested rape kits backlogged in this…

Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Minnesota for her leadership on this issue and for her great service on the Senate Judiciary Committee. I know she, as a former prosecutor, has provided a great deal of leadership on many issues, but…

Mr. President, as we speak, the Alaska Network on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault's 24-hour hotline that allows folks to seek assistance--their numbers are ringing. This evening, 363 Alaskans will spend the night in an emergency…

the measures proposed in the Park Service plan represent the most extreme tools available for making fishery management modifications to Biscayne National Park, ignoring alternative ways to achieve the desired resource improvements without…

Mr. President, I am here today to speak in support of S. 1925, the Reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, and I want to thank Senator Leahy and Senator Crapo for their leadership on this important issue. Originally passed in…

Madam President, how much time is remaining on each side? The PRESIDING OFFICER. There is 6 minutes 20 seconds for the majority.

And it also does what the Cornyn and Klobuchar amendments attempted to do and assure that we get this backlog of people who have committed rape off the streets. Please support this amendment. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Vermont.

I yield back time on our side. The PRESIDING OFFICER. All time has been yielded back. The bill having been read the third time, the question is, Shall the bill pass? The yeas and nays have been ordered. The clerk will call the roll.

Mr. President, No. 2095 takes the part of the bill that reauthorizes the Violence Against Women Act and continues those, but it does important things that are not in the underlying bill: No. 1, a mandatory minimum sentence of 5 years for…

I thank the Senator. I would just say I have had a long record in this area. When I was a member of the State legislature, Texas passed the most far-reaching protection for victims of rape in the whole country. I was the lead sponsor of…