Political Quotes

“Let me thank the gentleman from California and applaud the gentlewoman from Maryland for her early, early involvement and leadership on this issue. It was certainly advocates like herself that allowed members of the Judiciary Committee, of which I was a very young member, to be able to draw upon that advocacy and write the VAWA legislation at that time. And I did it with bipartisan support. Chairman Hyde was the chairman of the Judiciary Committee at the time, and I remember distinctly. In fact, I was with Senate Members today who remember us from the House coming down to the swamp on the Senate side in a bipartisan manner to stand and support VAWA and its writing. And it couldn't have been done without the many stories and the many advocates like yourself. And so I'm delighted to serve on the Judiciary Committee on each and every reauthorization that has come about. I have been involved with it and been involved legislatively in a bipartisan manner. The sadness today to all of us is that we're not able to do this in a bipartisan manner. And I will just briefly recount, if I can, what it means to a woman--and the enormous range of ages--and then conclude my remarks by indicating that the legislation that will be on the floor of the House tomorrow, H.R. 4970, is sad because it has not given the opportunity to do the right thing for women in a bipartisan manner. {time} 2050 Just let me cite these stories: Jonathan Barnes, 23, strangled his girlfriend, Jessica, to death.…”