Political Quotes

“You hear these continued calls for action. We know the Leahy-Crapo reauthorization bill passed the Senate with a strong bipartisan majority of 68 votes. Every woman in the Senate--Republican and Democrat alike--voted for it. But Republican leaders in both the House and the Senate have hidden behind a procedural technicality. They refuse to allow the House to vote on the Senate bill. Well, that obstruction has to end. Too many lives are on the line to play these political games. Here in the Senate, we have twice asked Republican leaders to agree to take up a House revenue bill, substitute the bipartisan Senate VAWA bill, and send it to the House immediately to overcome this procedural concern. Each time they have refused this commonsense resolution. This contrasts how we moved forward earlier this year using the same process to overcome similar technical hurdles with both the Transportation bill and the FAA reauthorization legislation. So with a little bit of cooperation from the other side we could move VAWA now. People watching this and listening to this might think: Well, these are technical and arcane procedures. They are technical and arcane procedures. But they are stopping us from moving forward with the Violence Against Women Act. We can set them aside for Transportation and the FAA--both important things--but if you are somebody who has been battered and abused, if you are near death, do not talk to that person about technicalities.…”