Political Quotes

“I rise to introduce the Violence Against Women Act II. I am pleased to be joined by several of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle who are co-sponsoring this legislation. Nearly 9 years ago when I first introduced the Violence Against Women Act, it was by no means a given that this body would consider it, let alone pass it. Although it may seem hard to believe now, at that time-- less than a decade ago--few thought it either appropriate or necessary for national legislation to be enacted to confront the very serious problem of domestic violence and sexual assault. The road to enactment was a long one. As Chairman of the Judiciary Committee in the early 1990's, I convened several hearings on the bill and released many reports on the problem of violence against women. Three times I convinced the Judiciary Committee to favorably report the bill to the full Senate. Twice, I had to re-introduce the bill. Nearly 4 years passed from the original Violence Against Women Act's first introduction before the Senate fully considered it. But at last-- in September of 1994--the Violence Against Women Act became the law of our land.”