Political Quotes

“I thank the gentlelady from Minnesota for her well-known advocacy on this issue. Her advocacy was well known in Minnesota. Her work as a prosecutor brought her in contact with many of these women and making sure they got a fair shake in the system was well known and well appreciated. I am here to be a strong supporter for the Violence Against Women Act, and I hope this bill passes and that this bill passes today. It is because Senator Leahy has worked on a bipartisan basis in his committee that we were able to bring out this bill. This bill was first passed in 1994 under the leadership of our Vice President, then-Senator Joe Biden, who is well known for his strong, muscular, robust approach to law enforcement. What he saw was that so many of the victims of crime were women and that they were victims both in streets and neighborhoods. They were also terrible victims in their own home where they were battered and abused. They found that when they came to the judicial system, they were battered again because they were ignored and had no one to stick up for them and were always told: Oh, it is your fault. What are you doing? Joe Biden changed the law, and we worked on a bipartisan basis. Ever since 1994 we have continually reauthorized this legislation, looking at new needs and new technology and new creative ways of responding to these needs for prevention, intervention, and even prosecution.…”