Michelle Fischbach: “I thank my colleague from the Rules Committee, the Representative from California, for yielding me the customary 30…”

“I thank my colleague from the Rules Committee, the Representative from California, for yielding me the customary 30 minutes, and I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise in opposition to the rule, a continuation of the Democrats' weeks-long partisan push to fulfill their partisan wish list. First up is H.R. 1620, the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act, which is a highly divisive distortion of the original Violence Against Women Act, that will jeopardize the safety of women. By extending services to men who identify as women and allowing them to utilize programs that were designed to protect vulnerable women, the bill puts the safety of women at risk. The bill expands the definition of domestic violence to include economic and emotional duress, driving needed resources away from combatting violent crimes against women and promoting an unproven restorative justice approach instead. Democrats have told us again and again that it is time to rethink our approach to law enforcement. But the same Democrats who want to defund the police are now pushing this unfunded mandate, to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars, upon law enforcement. That doesn't help anyone. Next is H.J. Res. 17, which removes the established deadline for the ratification of the equal rights amendment. As the deadline for States to ratify the ERA has long passed, the constitutionality of this legislation is suspect, at best.…”