Amy Klobuchar: “I am honored to be here today with the women Senators to talk about the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women…”

“I am honored to be here today with the women Senators to talk about the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act--a law that has a history of passing this Chamber with broad bipartisan support. I would note that there are many authors of this bill--I think up to something like 58 authors currently--and the women who are speaking today include myself and Senators Feinstein, Hagan, Murkowski, Shaheen, Murray, and Boxer. Also sponsoring the bill are Senators Collins, Snowe, McCaskill, Gillibrand, Cantwell, Landrieu, Mikulski, and Stabenow. The bill is led by Senator Leahy and Senator Crapo. So we are here today to pledge our support for this bill and to ask our colleagues to move forward with this bill. The Violence Against Women Act was a landmark bill when it first became law back in 1994. Back then, it started a sea change in attitudes about violence against women, and it sent a strong message to the country saying that sexual assault and domestic violence are serious offenses that will not be tolerated. We heard that message loudly and clearly in my State, and I am proud to say that our State has always had a strong tradition of standing against these crimes. In fact, no conversation in our State about domestic abuse would be complete without mentioning former Senator Paul Wellstone and his wife Sheila, whom we miss dearly.…”