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VAWA Passes in Senate

The Senate unanimously voted on Tuesday in favor of the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). The House passed its version on September 29, but the Senate did not vote before VAWA expired on October 1. Tuesday’s vote ensures that programs receiving VAWA funding will be able to continue.

Senator Joe Biden, co-author of the 2005 VAWA and author of the landmark 1994 and 2000 VAWA, called the legislation “critical to ensuring the safety and well-being of our nation’s women and children.” Lynn Rosenthal, president of the National Network to End Domestic Violence says the reauthorization demonstrates “that the nation’s leaders recognize the importance of continuing and strengthening services that support victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking.”

VAWA now moves to conference committee, where differences between the House and Senate versions will be ironed out into a final version.

Sources:

National Network to End Domestic Violence 10/4/05; Press Release from Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, 10/5/05; Press Release from Senator Biden 10/5/05; Feminist Daily News 9/30/05, 10/3/05

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