House Inaction Sends Wrong Message to Women, Victims
Assembly Women and Children Committee Chairwoman Pamela Lampitt (D-Camden/Burlington) released the following statement in reaction to news that the Republican-controlled House of Representatives allowed the landmark 1994 Violence Against Women Act to expire yesterday:
“Just when it seemed the Republican Congress could sink no lower in putting politics over people’s lives, they managed to dig themselves even deeper by killing the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. As a woman, as a mom, and as a legislator who has fought to curb domestic violence, I find the Republican Congress’s failure to renew critical protections for women to be inexcusable and disgusting, in addition to sending the wrong message to women and victims of domestic violence.
“Domestic violence strikes women of all ages, races, regions, religions, and political affiliations. Protecting women from domestic violence should not be a partisan issue, and in fact, that is why the reauthorization bill passed the Senate with bipartisan support. Unfortunately, the Republican House majority ignored this reality, allowing vitally important legislation to lapse.
“I call on New Jersey’s Republican House members to publicly affirm their support for reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act and to urge Speaker Boehner and House leadership to take up this critical issue without delay.”