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VAWA BILL SET FOR VOTE ON MONDAY
– Grassley Substitute Bill defeated –
– Vote No on Coburn Amendment! –
We still have work to do!
S. 47, the Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization, is a strong, bipartisan bill sponsored by Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Michael Crapo (R-ID). S. 47 is very similar to the bipartisan legislation introduced by Senators Leahy and Crapo last Congress and would improve VAWA programs and strengthen protections for all victims of violence.
The bill includes historically important tribal provisions that would enable tribes to address domestic violence in Indian country. Votes on the bill were started yesterday, and are expected to be completed early next week, probably Monday early evening and Tuesday.
In a letter sent to Senators Leahy and Crapo on Thursday morning, the NCAI Taskforce on Violence Against Women expressed strong opposition to any harmful amendments offered to the Senate legislation to reauthorize VAWA. In the letter to the Senate co-authors of the legislation, NCAI expressed unified opposition to amendments to VAWA that would strip tribal jurisdiction provisions or alter the current language in S. 47 in a harmful manner. The letter sent by NCAI Task Force co-chairs Juana Majel Dixon (Pauma Band of Mission Indians, CA) and Terri Henry (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, NC) can be downloaded here and you can read NCAI’s full press release here.
As a result of a lot of hard work by VAWA advocates, a harmful substitute bill proposed by Senator Grassley, that would have removed the tribal provisions and a lot of other good provisions, was defeated on Thursday 65-34.
It was an important moment, but there is more work to do to defeat a Coburn amendment that would strip the tribal provisions.
In anticipation of the impending votes, we urge you to take action this weekend and first thing MONDAY by contacting your Senators to vote against any further harmful amendments and vote for the overall bill!
ACTION ITEM: EMAIL YOUR SENATOR(s)
THIS WEEKEND AND CALL ON MONDAY!!!
“Dear Senator, Monday is an important day, you’ll have a chance to protect all women, including Native women. It’s time to be a hero and pass a comprehensive VAWA – S.47 – including the tribal provisions and I urge you to vote NO on the Coburn Amendment. I urge you to support the Murkowski and Leahy Amendments.”
CALL – On Monday, call the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask the operator to connect you to your Senators. When you’re connected to their offices, ask to speak to the staff person who handles VAWA. Tell them the same thing you wrote in your email over the weekend.
” Today is an important day, the Senator has the chance to protect all women, including Native women. It’s time to be a hero and pass a comprehensive VAWA – S.47 – including the tribal provisions and I urge the Senator to vote NO on the Coburn Amendment. I urge you to support the Murkowski and Leahy Amendments.”
Oppose Coburn Amendment Senator Coburn of Oklahoma has filed an amendment that would strip the tribal provisions from the legislation, and this amendment is scheduled for a vote. This is a critical vote that will show the strength of support for tribes.
As you know, S. 47 contains key provisions that would restore tribal jurisdiction over non-Indians for certain acts of domestic violence and dating violence, as well as for violations of protection orders, in Indian country.
We urge all tribes and advocates to ask their Senators to vote NO on the Coburn Amendment. This vote will be exclusively about the tribal provisions and it is critical to get as many no votes as possible.
Support Murkowski Amendment: Senator Murkowski has offered an amendment that clarifies Section 905 regarding protective orders. The language of Section 905 on Alaska was vague, and could be interpreted to generally exclude Alaska tribes from 18 USC 2265. This is a clarification and it helps Alaska tribes. Although it doesn’t go as far as Alaska tribes would like, it is significantly better than the introduced version. This amendment is scheduled to receive a vote, and can be found here.
Support Leahy Human Trafficking Amendment: Senator Leahy is offering a trafficking-related amendment, which is effectively the same as S.1301, the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA), a positive bill that had broad bipartisan support last year (including from 15 Republicans). For a factsheet on S.1301, click here. For the bill text click here . The National Task Force to End Domestic Violence supports this amendment.
For more information, fact sheets, press coverage, support letters and updates: www.ncai.org and www.4vawa.org.
NCAI Contact Information:Please contact John Dossett,General Counsel jdossett@ncai.org or Derrick Beetso, Staff Attorney, dbeetso@ncai.org if you have any questions.
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