VAWA Reauthorization Revisited
Vice President Joe Biden, an original sponsor of the 1994 Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), reportedly has been working behind the scenes with House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (VA-R) to arrive at a compromise that would lead to passage of VAWA reauthorization legislation. The Senate passed a bipartisan reauthorization bill in April, with additional protections for three particularly vulnerable groups: undocumented immigrants, same-sex couples, and Native Americans; however, House Republicans passed a different version in May omitting those provisions. (See the June 2012 Congressional Digest on “Violence Against Women.”) Although Congress had consistently reauthorized VAWA for 18 years, the law was…
