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Subscribe to RSSAfter roughly a year and a half after its expiration, the Violence Against Women Act passed the House Thursday by 286-138 vote and will soon be reauthorized once it garners the president’s signature.
Earlier this year, the Senate passed a five-year re-authorization of the act by a bipartisan 78-22 vote. The House initially objected to the legislation, citing constitutional concerns about the prosecution of non-Native Americans on tribal lands.
The House vote was significant, because, for the third time this year, on a significant piece of legislation, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) showed a willingness to bring a bill to the floor without abiding by the unwritten, so-called “Hastert Rule."
The rule, named after former Republican Speaker Dennis Hastert of Illinois, says that a speaker only brings something to the House floor if it has the support of the majority of the majority.
In this case, three-fifths of Republicans voted against the legislation -- 138 against the bill with only 87 in support.
(The other two times Boehner has advanced a bill that won only a minority of the majority -- the fiscal cliff and Sandy relief.)
The vote also divided the House GOP leadership. Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) voted against the bill, whereas Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), House GOP Conference Chairwoman Cathy McMorris-Rodgers, and House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) voted for it.
When asked by NBC News why he declined to support the Senate version of the bill, Cantor did not directly answer, instead touting his support for the House GOP version, which failed.
"I voted for the Violence Against Women Act the way we presented it in the House," Cantor insisted. "This is a bill that provides relief to domestic abuse; it does it in a way that protects the Constitutional rights of all Americans, and it does it in a way that doesn't discriminate where aid goes to in terms of victims of domestic abuse."
Democrats claimed the House GOP bill did not do enough to protect illegal immigrants, gay men and women, or Native Americans.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), who over the last few weeks hammered the GOP for inaction, celebrated the passage of the bill, tweeting: “We did it! Today’s House passage of strong VAWA bill was a hard fought victory to preserve and strengthen security of all American women.”
*** Editor's note *** A previous edition of this story incorrectly noted that the Hastert Rule had been avoided four times instead of the correct three.
Leave a Comment:
good! this bill was long overdue!
I think we need to change the name of the law...Violence Against Women Act? It doesn't sound quite right.
We need to stop some crazy women beaters and wife-killers such as Drew Peterson before they can even commit violence against women.
Oink...
Tomorrow is the National Pig Day. It's my long weekend.
Oink Oink
"In this case, three-fifths of Republicans voted against the legislation -- 138 against the bill with only 87 in support."
What is wrong with these people???
.
Give Boehner credit. We ribs (libs) need to give credit to conservatives where credit is due.
Obama is losing ground with the Armageddon. Secretary of Education lie about " pink slips", Washington Post give him 5 Pinocchio's. Bob Woodward is been threaten for reveal the truth, Sequester was Obama idea. All this "little Chicken" fear mongering is falling apart , to the point that ICE is releasing illegals delinquents from jail to prove their point , but there is 60 millions of dollars to help Syrian rebels.
The House vote was significant, because, for the fourth time this year, on a significant piece of legislation, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) showed a willingness to bring a bill to the floor without abiding by the unwritten, so-called "Hastert Rule."
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You just have to love this at face value. You have a Speaker of the House who is applauded for going out on a limb by not adhering to a process that is unwritten and thus not lawful and not chided enough for not adhering to what is the law of the land in the ACA.
Heaven forbid the Country get an up or down vote on a piece of Legislation no matter what the political make up of it's 435 members.
WTF has the Speakership descended to?
The Hastert rule is only a guide to be guided by, not a law, not definite, and Republicans and Democrats use the rough measures of Hastert to see if it is even worth the time to go through the drill with less than 50 and 50. It is not the only guide, as in this case Boehner knew more about the probable outcome from additional indicaters than Hastert. Discretion is part of the leader's prerogative.
Nobody is in favor of violence against women. This is all about the right way to draw a House bill.
This would be good for Native Women...However, many are afraid to speak...
There has been a group of radical Republicans who call themselves 'Young Guns', inlcuding Eric cantor and Paul Ryan. These are some of the worst crazies.
Boehner is not one of them. And Boehner is less radical than these young guns. Boehner's hands are often tied up because of pressures from these Young Guns.
In this case, the members of young guns voted against the Violence Against Women Act, but Boehner helped to advance this law onto the floor and allowed it to pass. We have to give him credit. We have to unite all of those on our side issue by issue, legislation by legislation.
Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-MO) voted no for this bill.
@Pig,
We have to give him (John Boehner) credit.
Yes we do. The most stones he's shown in a long time.
Rep .Vicky Hartzler
Hartzler Farms Total USDA - Subsidies $820,768
Your tax dollars.
I wonder does she grow tea on her farm?
She like to say "Washington has a Spending Problem."
Why should we even wait for the federal government to act to protect us women?
Why can't we organize our communities into voluntary civic actions to raise awareness?
We need to lobby our state and local government too, to get more assistance.
We can make our case in corporate headquarters to lobby for assistance.
.
My point is we need to organize all levels of the society to raise awareness on this issue. We should act for our self-protection too.
By all levels, I mean we can get help from our sisters and brother, our families, our local community, out state and local government, even our international community because of many immigrants and globalization.
Well good for you John Boehner, I suspect you will have to ignore the Hastert rule more often if you want to preside over a House that actually produces legislation the nation desires. You may have pissed off some in your own caucus but you actually did yourself and the republican party as a whole a big favor.
I doubt he'll admit it until after he retires (or is replaced by a primary challenger), but John Boehner knows that the Tea Party is a disaster for the country legislatively and also for the Republican party politically. He wants them and their brand of right wing extremism out, and he's going to use his position to make them pay for it.
Whew, my wife was really going to get it tonight. She can thank congress for doing something.
Violence Against Women Act should be renamed -
I propose some below:
No More Todd Akin Act
Richard Mourdock Is Dead Wrong Act
End Male Chauvinist Pig Act
Obviously you have no idea what VAWA actually does.
I don't know how to perform domestic abuse any better than beating my wife.....
Da Noid, please enlighten me.
- Created the National Domestic Violence Hotline.
- Created a federal "rape shield" law. A "rape shield" law does two things...it forbids media outlets from publishing the identity of a rape victim in a case and limits the defense's ability to cross-examine an alleged victim for past sexual behavior.
- Mandates that victims of rape can not be forced to bear the cost of their own rape test kits (imagine any other crime where the victim must pay to have the crime investigated).
- Mandates that orders of protection issued in one state or territory are recognized by all states and territories.
- Funds rape and abuse crisis centers and transitional housing for victims.
- Mandates that if probable cause exists to make an arrest for domestic abuse or rape law enforcement does not need victim consent to make the arrest.
Hey NBC/MSNBC, where's the Bob Woodward story?
Is Obama's "lap-dog" media practicing Censorship By Omission?
The Washington Post’s Bob Woodward attacked President Barack Obama on Wednesday, saying thecommander-in-chief’s decision not to deploy an aircraft carrier because of budget cuts is “a kind of madness.”
“Can you imagine Ronald Reagan sitting there and saying, ‘Oh, by the way, I can’t do this because of some budget document?’” Woodward said Wednesday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
“Or George W. Bush saying, ‘You know, I’m not going to invade Iraq because I can’t get the aircraft carriers I need’ or even Bill Clinton saying, ‘You know, I’m not going to attack Saddam Hussein’s intelligence headquarters,’ as he did when Clinton was president because of some budget document?” Woodward added.
“Under the Constitution, the president is commander-in-chief and employs the force. And so we now have the president going out because of this piece of paper and this agreement. ‘I can’t do what I need to do to protect the country.’ That’s a kind of madness that I haven’t seen in a long time.”
Now the WH is threatening Woodward for being critical to the false messiah, and that's not news?
I'm very happy that the bill passed, but it's a sad day when a big deal is made of the fact that a bill is even brought to the floor for a vote. This would happen every day if the GOP wasn't using the "Hastert Rule" (btw Hastert was an idiot) or the lazy filibuster in the Senate. God forbid they should do their 3-day-per-week jobs in between vacations.
RTFS - Hastert was one of the Republicans who was after Clinton while having his own little nasty affair the whole time. Yeah, let's name a "Rule" after a man who has no rules.
A standing ovation for actually (barely) doing the right thing.
It's sad that only a minority of House Republicans are opposed to violence against women. Exactly what was in this bill that they found so objectionable? And don't quote Cantor again, his explanation is feeble.
so Fat B'Hastert's rule is going the way of the Tea Party and Dodo bird? Good!
Steve it included equal right for Gays and Native Americans. The right seems to want equal rights for a few.
Republicans prove once again how big of idiots they are.
"Eric Cantor.... I want the bill passed the way I WANT it passed or I'm not voting for it"
What a jerk !!
Obama & the Lib's...what a joke!! I think he thinks he's a king,..."King Jerk"
In order to be a "King Jerk"...you have to tell the American people.... "You don't want Saddam Hussein smoking gun to be a "Nu-Ku-Lar" mushroom cloud do you?"...and then go start a trumped up trillion dollar war where a 150,000 US soldiers and innocent Iraqi men, women and children die for your bulls-hit war mongering lies.
COMPRENDE ???
G brown - you can be sure kjs1 doesn't comprehend MUCH if anything!
"Hastert Rule"...created by the guy who helped try and cover up Mark Foley's escapades with Congressional Pages.
Does anybody out there think for one minute that this bill will stop violence against women?
Does anybody out there think for one minute that the 6th commandment will stop people from killing?
Apparently you also do not know what VAWA actually does.
Interesting that some folks believe that legislation is useless because it won't prevent evil behavior. Following that flawed logic, there should never be any laws against anything! And anarchy would reign.
"If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination." (Leviticus 20:13).
"You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination. Nor shall you mate with any animal, to defile yourself with it. Nor shall any woman stand before an animal to mate with it. It is perversion. ‘Do not defile yourselves with any of these things; for by all these the nations are defiled, which I am casting out before you." (Leviticus 18:22-24).
"For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due." (Romans 1:26-27).
Jude testifies about God's fiery destruction of Sodom for"sexual immorality":
"as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire." (Jude 7)
Exactly what type of "sexual immorality" and"strange flesh" had the Sodomites "gone after"? It was homosexuality:
"Now before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both old and young, all the people from every quarter, surrounded the house. And they called to Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them." (Genesis 19:4-5)
THAT'S ALL FOLKS!!!!!
monty-us - we have a separation of Church and State! That's all idiot!
See what Lying DemoRat scum did.......they put in stuff on Gay Guys into the "Violence Against Women Act"
They do this a lot, the lying Democrat scum, put a phony title on a bill to get their slackjaws to support it.
I mean I know gay guys creepily try to impersonate women, but they don't officially fall under the "women" label, right, Demoncats?
Because of federal anti-discrimination laws, services authorized under VAWA can not be denied based on gender, religion, race or sexual orientation.
Women are disproportionally the victims of rape and domestic abuse, but it does happen to men as well. Law enforcement statistics say...
...1 in 5 women and 1 in 71 men have been raped in their lifetime.
...1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men have been the target of physical violence from a partner.
...1 in 6 women and 1 in 19 men have been the target of a stalker.
...women are 4 times more likely to be beaten, 6 times more likely to be slammed against an object and 9 times more likely to be choked or suffocated than men.
"Crazy Cantor" is proving that he is Mentally Ill, Cognitively Disabled, Behaviarally Disturbed, and has no common sense at all. "It was mainly "Crazy Cantor's Cronies" voted against this very important legislation. "Crazy Cantor" is proving that he is unethical, inhumane, and just cruel. Again! It is bad enough that "Crazy Cantor" lead the GOP/Teabegger "Caucus Conspiracy" of January 20, 2009. Now he shows America the he is truely insane, and has a very 'cold' insensitive personality. Does America now understand why "Crazy Cantor" has earned his nickname? The "Crazy Cantor" vote of NO is part of a much bigger 'mental' problem concerning the Teabeggers. That is fact!
DaNoid... If your comment was aimed at me I do know what VAWA does, if it wasn't then I apologize for this comment.
mammamoonbeam...If your comment was also aimed at me i do not believe that laws and legislation are useless, all I am saying is that it will not stop the abuser because the abuser doesn't care if there are laws and legislation or not.
Violence Against Women Act by it's own name should protect Women, be they Lesbians, Native American Indians, Women in this country illegally, i.e. WOMEN. What is the fuss?
More importantly why is it needed when it is against the law to assault anyone no matter their age, race, religion and now one must add separately sexual orientation - because that seems to be a whole new race of people!
This is a distraction by politicians to make the electorate think they are being looked after. I'm calling the B.S. card here.
Just google VAW Act
You just might learn something.
It was passed in 1994.
One of the fallacies of our type of Government is that people Like Cantor and Boehner can get to be in such a position to actually pass or originate some of the garbage comes out of THIS house of reps .Hope the people of Virginia vote out this good for nothing JERK Cantor.If Boehner doesnt learn how to control his fallacies he will also be kicked out of his Position which was one of the GOP'S biggest mistakes that shows how really inept they can be.
Funny, from a disciple of Oblunder the Incompetent... ha ha ha ha
We have more political laws to divide men and women .
Hey if you righties want to see all your favorite losers,past and present,maybe watch cpac,I hear the biggest and latest loser,Romney will be there.Also last elections losers,Mcaine,Palin,,,lmao,,,real losers.
Hahahahahahaha
After all is said and done,Obama is Potus.
So suck it up rightards,after all we had to suffer with eight years of a guy who couldent put two words together,to complete a sentence.
Hillary 2016
"Income down to lowest in 20 yrs"... looks like the losers are Oblunder and the Progressive Senate... their "print money" borrow/tax/squander policies have only helped Oblunder's Wall St buddies and creamed the rest of us... Never mind the biggest tax increase in history... Gas prices doubled.... Food prices doubled... housing still in a shambles... Welfare, SSI, and Food Stamps up 50%... 23 million unemployed... $Trillion dollar+ deficits... and a whopping $16.6 trillion debt (and climbing)... Reality is much too scary a place for you Bulletman357 It just might bruise your fragile self esteem.... Perhaps if you weren't a Liberal deadbeat parasite you'd have a different perspective....
Evil imp.
Bohner brings a SECOND bill to the floor in the House that 3/5 of his party is against... hmmm, sounds like working in a bipartisan way... Harry Reid should learn a lesson... and put all those House passed bills up for a vote.... looks like Bohner is the only adult in the room... (go ahead Libs... start slinging your mud and insults... that's what you're good at)
You may a little right about 'ol bohne head but using the word adult to describe a republican is just comical. As is your ignorant assessment of of the meaning of the word Liberal - it is derived from the parent word Liberty, as in someone who believes in it and follows its principals up to and including straightening out morons such as yourself who watch Fox way to much and actually are dumb enough to belive the pure industrialist crap they spew forth as though it were news. Open your eyes and see that you have been lied to about just about everything. Smoke and mirrors, slight of hand and outright deception has enslaved you
How could the Hastert Rule be constitutional? This rule allows a handful of demented Republicans in the House to work in secret and to allow this handful of traiters to this great nation, basically, to control the country for the corporate wealthy, again in secret.
If the Hastert Rule is constitutional it surely isn't within the spirit of checks and balances, put in place by the founders.
Shame.
Good Old Republican Thugs - GORTS lost this one when their poster boy no nuts boene head went rogue. Good citizens who love America and Liberty should hunt these fools down today and decorate trees with their bodies. Then maybe America could advance.