Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman for yielding. I thank him for his leadership on this important issue, not only as this legislation comes to the floor, but for the past couple of decades on the subject. I commend the maker of our motion to accept the Senate bill, Congresswoman Gwen Moore, for her sincere leadership on this issue as well. Madam Speaker, 18 years ago, Members of Congress came together--some of us gathered in this Chamber right now--came together to make history with the original passage of the Violence Against Women Act. We helped ensure that no victim of domestic violence has to suffer in silence. I want to especially salute our Vice President, Joe Biden, who was chairman of the Judiciary Committee in the Senate at the time, who worked with our chairman and many Members on both sides of the aisle to pass that legislation, again, making history. {time} 1620 The original Violence Against Women Act took domestic violence out of the shadows and shone bright sunshine on it. In the years since, domestic violence has decreased by more than 50 percent--more than 50 percent. What a remarkable outcome. Twice in the intervening years we have come together in a bipartisan way to reauthorize and strengthen the law. This year our colleagues in the Senate acted similarly, passing a strong bill with a strong bipartisan vote of 68 1, including the support of every single woman in the Senate, Democratic and Republican alike.…”