Pelosi Remarks at Press Event Ahead of Passage of the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act

Contact: Speaker's Press Office,

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Speaker Pelosi. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I thank the gentleman for yielding. I also thank you for yielding to me on the Floor for the Equal Rights Amendment legislation that we passed here with a deadline, as a point of order.

Mr. – Madam Chair, Sheila Jackson Lee, you have been constant, relentless, strong advocate, champion for both the Violence Against Women Act, and I, every chance I get I want to commend you for that because so many women in America benefit from your advocacy, your relentlessness and your persistence.

I rise here to join you at this press conference in support of this legislation.

Others have referenced the fact that Joe Biden was the author of this in 1994. The distinguished Leader in the Senate, Mr. Schumer was very much a part of passing that legislation as well. And many of us were minions at the time, running around to get the bill passed and then, later, following that as appropriators to get the bill funded, to get the bill funded.

So, this, this has been a priority in every way for a long time. The last time the bill was authorized was 2013, under the leadership of President Obama, and because others had referenced what Republicans have said about this, that and the other thing, how about I just recall how we got this bill passed at that time.

The bipartisan bill passed the Senate, the United States Senate, and when it came to the House, then Speaker Boehner did not bring the bill to the Floor. He did not bring the bill to the Floor. The bill passed in a bipartisan way in the Senate. We, shall we say, had some outside mobilization where people spoke up and wanted the bill to be brought to the Floor. All the Republicans said, ‘You want a VAWA? We'll have a VAWA.' And they had a bill that they advanced. Our pitch as the Minority to the Speaker was to say, ‘Bring both bills to the Floor, and we will have one be pre-eminent on the Floor.'

And the Republican bill, the Republican bill, which they wholeheartedly supported, said, "We're against violence against women, unless you are a Native American woman, unless you are LGBTQ or unless you're an immigrant woman, then you don't have any protection against violence against women.' And that they thought was really a good bill. And they voted with great exuberance and enthusiasm, overwhelmingly, for that bill.

Happily, enough of them also voted for the bipartisan bill that had passed the Senate. And we were able to have a bill passed, signed by the President at the big signing ceremony introduced by a Native American woman and of course, the Vice President of the United States, who had been an early author of the Violence Against Women Act. It was cause for celebration.

Over time, we always want to review acts of Congress to see that laws that are made, to see what can be improved upon. And Congresswoman Jackson Lee has been a master at doing just that. She has been a leader in reviewing it, making positive suggestions about how it all could be changed, and here we are. Now, she tried that, subsequently after five years under the Republican Majority. That didn't work. So, here we are now just on the verge of passing it here, hopefully getting bipartisan support, once again in the Senate, where so much of this started in 2000 – the legislation that became law in 2013.

So, I thank you. It's my honor to join Chairwoman Jackson Lee, of course. Congresswoman Fitzpatrick – no, Congressman Fitzpatrick, Representative Dingell, Chairman Nadler, Leader Hoyer in all of this and so many others.

We – we're wearing white today because on the Floor right now, we're doing an Equal Rights Amendment, and here in this room, we're doing Violence Against Women, at the same time that it is St. Patrick's Day. And I wish you all Happy St. Patrick's Day, white and green.

And as I said to the Taoiseach, who I just had a virtual meeting with, the Prime Minister of Ireland, I don't have Irish grandparents, but I do have Irish grandchildren, Liam, Sean and Ryan. And not only that, grand Labrador, silver, green-eyed lab, with green eyes, as I say, whose name is Shamrock, and today he's wearing a green scarf.

So, on this day of celebration for many reasons, that we're passing the ERA, that we're passing the Violence Against Women Act, that we will also pass immigration legislation. It's wonderful to put our enthusiasm into action, into legislation to make a difference in the lives of the American people. Sheila Jackson Lee does that every single day in the Congress. I'm pleased to yield back to her.