Alan Lowenthal: “I stand here today to urge my colleagues to bring the Senate version of the Violence Against Women Act, or VAWA, a bill…”

“I stand here today to urge my colleagues to bring the Senate version of the Violence Against Women Act, or VAWA, a bill that would provide critical services to all victims of domestic abuse, to the House floor. My friends, my colleagues, my constituents, it is time to reauthorize. I want to applaud all the Senate Democrats, all the female Senators, and the vast majority of Republican Senate Members who believe that VAWA is good for the safety of all women, regardless of their sexual orientation, their ethnicity, or tribal heritage. As for the altered House version, which clearly rejects the equal protections outlined in the Senate version, it is unfair, unjust, and unacceptable. I have a few questions for my colleagues in the House who altered this bipartisan Senate VAWA bill: Why do our LGBT, Native American, and immigrant brothers and sisters not deserve the same protections? Why are they exceptions in your eyes? And why must they continually be denied the same freedoms and liberties that we all enjoy under our Constitution?…”