On the recordNovember 29, 2022
This is an enormously important initiative, and I rise today to support the Pro bono Work to Empower and Represent Act of 2021, or the POWER 2.0 Act. This has to be one of the more important bills on the floor, among many. This is a bill that saves lives, and I certainly want to, at the very beginning, acknowledge certainly the Senator, but as well, I want to acknowledge our friend and colleague in the House and thank her so very much, Congresswoman Peltola, for her great work that has generated something that is very close to my heart. The POWER Act will give a lifeline to domestic violence sufferers, those who have been abused by domestic violence. As the author of the Violence Against Women Act in the House over a number of Congresses, I know how important any legislation is dealing with domestic violence and domestic abuse. I speak to law enforcement and often say to them that domestic violence calls are the most dangerous that law enforcement engage in. Remember, as I started on this floor, I indicated that as Democrats, we know how to bring down crime and also engage in social justice. We understand that it is extremely important that those in the criminal justice system deserve due process. But the victims of domestic violence, more often than not women, suffer greatly. In Texas, 40.1 percent of women and 34 percent of men experience intimate partner physical violence, intimate partner rape, and/or intimate partner stalking in their lifetimes.…
