Pelosi Statement on Passage of Debbie Smith Reauthorization Act

Contact: Speaker's Press Office,
202-226-7616

Washington, D.C. – Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued this statement on the passage of H.R. 777, the Debbie Smith Reauthorization Act, one part of the bipartisan Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act that the House passed in the spring:

"This important legislation, which House Democrats already passed in the spring as part our bipartisan, commonsense Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act, is only one step in the fight to combat domestic violence and sexual assault in our country. Victims and survivors deserve real, effective solutions to recover, heal and seek justice – not just the ability to identify their attackers.

"One in three women faces domestic violence or sexual assault today in America, yet the Senate GOP still refuses to take up the bipartisan VAWA legislation that passed in the House. That life-saving legislation preserves our vital progress to protect LGBTQ, Native American and immigrant women, and contains new, urgently-needed and evidence-backed updates – including empowering law enforcement, investing in prevention, improving services for victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking, and protecting survivors from discrimination in the workplace. That legislation also closes dangerous loopholes in our laws that allow those who have been convicted of stalking or of dating violence to obtain firearms.

"House Democrats join victims and survivors to demand that Senator McConnell give us a vote. We will not go away until this is done – because every woman, everywhere, has the right to live free from abuse."

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