Rep. Moore Supports Clean Reauthorization of VAWA, Democrats Vote No

Statement

Today, Rep. Barry Moore (AL-02) issued the following statement on H.R. 1620, the "Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2021":

"As a husband and a father of two daughters, I believe protecting women from violence is paramount, which is why I voted for an amendment to the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act that fully reauthorized the Violence Against Woman Act's essential programs -- without including politically motivated "reforms.' Instead of joining Republicans to pass this clean reauthorization, Democrats continued pushing their radical agenda," said Rep. Moore.

"This bill jeopardizes the safety and well-being of women by eliminating key protections for victims of domestic violence and promotes unproven methods that could re-traumatize women by forcing them to confront their abusers. I will not support Democrats' efforts to erode critical protections for women for their own political gain."

Background:First signed into law in 1994, the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) established a national approach to improving local, state, tribal, and federal responses to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. In addition to provided grant funding, VAWA has strengthened protections for victims and increased accountability in communities across the United States.

H.R. 1620 is a politicized and expanded reauthorization of VAWA. Under the guise of protecting women, this bill injects radical policies on race and gender into the fight against domestic violence and sexual abuse.

Jeopardizes the safety and wellbeing of women: This bill extends services to men who identify as women, allowing them to use programs specifically designed to protect and assist vulnerable women.
It also promotes lofty concepts such as "restorative justice" approaches to crime, which could force a victim to confront her abuser.
Threatens Americans' constitutional right to religious freedom: this bill denies faith-based exemptions for grant recipients, prohibiting religious organizations from running shelters and legal aid centers on the basis of their conscience and sincerely held beliefs--which could force many of these centers for abused women to close.
These programs will continue to be funded: even though authorization lapsed in 2018, Congress has continued funding VAWA grant programs. For fiscal year 2021, funding levels for VAWA's 19 grant programs were close to $580 million.

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