The US Senate yesterday voted overwhelmingly for reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, originally passed in 1994, during the Bill Clinton Presidency.
The vote was 68-31, with the opposition all being Republicans!
Those who voted against the legislation included such disgraces as:
Lindsey Graham of South Carolina
Jim DeMint of South Carolina
Tom Coburn of Oklahoma
Charles Grassley of Iowa
John Cornyn of Texas
Roy Blunt of Missouri
Orrin Hatch of Utah
James Inhofe of Oklahoma
Ron Johnson of Wisconsin
Jon Kyl of Arizona
Mike Lee of Utah
Richard Lugar of Indiana
Rand Paul of Kentucky
Mitch McConnell of Kentucky
Marco Rubio of Florida
Jeff Sessions Of Alabama
Richard Shelby of Alabama
John Thune of South Dakota
Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania
These and the others not mentioned are either right wing ideologues, Southerners (heavily), or gutless wonders who refuse to show courage (Hatch and Lugar)!
Those Republicans who voted for the legislation include all five women Senators: Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, Susan Collins of Maine, Olympia Snowe of Maine, and Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas, plus the following and a few others:
Scott Brown of Massachusetts
Lamar Alexander of Tennessee
Bob Corker of Tennessee
Daniel Coats of Indiana
Dean Heller of Nevada
John McCain of Arizona
David Vitter of Louisiana
Rob Portman of Ohio
Some of these voted YES because of upcoming election races, and others because they have a sense of decency on the issue of violence against women.
The opposition rose to the fact that the law would be extended to cover illegal immigrants who are victims of violence and domestic abuse, as well as LGBT victims, and those on Indian reservations who are non Indian being forced to be judged by tribal justice on the reservations.
The Republican majority in the House of Representatives will strip the bill of the new changes, and it will be a massive battle to get the legislation renewed without these modifications.
Its effect, whatever ultimately happens, will make the GOP reassert itself as engaged in a war on women!
The vote by these is absolutely disgraceful. I am not surprised by those who voted against such legislation especially Rubio on Cornyn.
These republicans who shamefully voted against this last week stated to all females in the U.S. that yes, we do discriminate against gender and to really put the fear in minorities, they needed to make us concrete in knowing that they discriminate against race/nationality too? Oh don”t tell me….it was because God told them to vote that way “because the bible tells me sooo”…
Their exact concern was that “creates so many new programs for underserved populations.”
Underserved? That’s precisely why we need those programs! LBGTQ communities, undocumented immigrants and Native Americans already face higher rates of undocumented violence and rape than any other group, and also humiliating opposition from law enforcement agencies that don’t take their plights as seriously (violence occurring between lesbian couples being dismissed as opposed to a man hitting a woman). Native American women have a higher chance of being raped than any other group.
Domestic violence also kills three women a day. No group is undeserving of protection against this. Having had personal experiences with this, that is, accompanying friends to unsuccessful court hearings where they got to watch their victimizers walk free, I am absolutely disgusted with these 31 individuals.
snowrunner51says…
About a month ago a friend of mine was shot in the leg twice by his wife with a 22 hand gun. His wife came home drunk from the bar and demanded more money. When he refused she went to the bedroom and loaded a revolver and shot him. We called 12 organizations that the police gave us to assist. We were told point blank that the services are for woman only. Gee, i thought that goverment funded agencies we not suppose to discriminate.
But alas, do not worry, the woman recieve the full services of the local shelter. She recieves free legal aid. She gets the couples savings account, custody of the children and all the services that the local shelter can provide.
I think it is high time we start to fund organizations that give services to white people only. Since our elected officials believe that discrimination is acceptable on sex, why not race also.
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