Chautauqua County’s representative in Congress says he’s happy to see the federal Violence Against Women Act finally gain approval from both houses. Congressman Tom Reed (R-Corning) made his comments Monday morning during his weekly media conference call.
During the conference, Reed said that he was one of the representatives in congress pushing the house leadership to act on a version that had already been approved in the Senate. However, despite lobbying for the passage of the law, Reed himself was unable to vote because of illness.
By a vote of 166-257, the GOP version of the Violence Against Women Act failed to win a majority after almost 90 minutes of debate last Thursday. The House then voted 286-138 to pass the Senate version, with 87 Republicans joining all 199 Democrats to provide majority support.
While he was unable to vote last week, Reed actually voted against a similar Senate version of the law on May 16, 2012.
As it previously existed, the Violence Against Women Act provided funding to investigate and prosecute violent crimes against women, as well as allowing for civil suits in cases where alleged perpetrators aren’t prosecuted.
The latest version – which was approved by both houses last week and now moves onto the Presidents desk for his signature – also includes protections for partners in same-sex relationships, for domestic abuse victims living on Native American tribal lands and for immigrants.
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