On the recordMay 16, 2012
I thank the gentlelady from North Carolina for yielding to me, and I rise to support the Violence Against Women Act. I did so when it was reauthorized in 2005, I believe it was, and we're here today in this debate on the rule, not so much the bill. I come to the floor to raise a point that constantly in the debate in the Judiciary Committee there was an effort to divert the subject matter over to other things, sexual orientation, gender identity, immigration, a lot of focus on immigration. And one of the things that's happened to the bill since it left the committee was to change the language, through this manager's amendment, that's essentially deemed passed by the Rules Committee that changes the value of evidence of abuse of, say, a female immigrant who can get a U visa if she has determined as having been victimized, especially sexually victimized. That was a clear and convincing evidence standard. This rule that's written in by the Rules Committee changes it to the preponderance of the evidence. I support the decision of the Judiciary Committee. It also changes the investigative component of this from USCIS, which are trained investigators. They'll only see the evidence that's offered to them by Federal prosecutors. So I am going to oppose the rule and support the bill.
