Pelosi calls on Ryan to bring long-term Violence Against Women Act to floor

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif) called on Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) to bring a new, long-term Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) introduced by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) to the floor before the current law expires on Sept. 30. 

In a letter sent to Ryan on Monday, Pelosi argued the short-term extension that Congress is expected to pass is insufficient and called on the GOP to bring Jackson Lee’s bill to the floor.

{mosads}“Republicans’ decision to include only a short-term VAWA reauthorization in the must-pass minibus spending bill is nothing short of an abdication of our responsibilities to women in our country,” she said in her letter. 

She urged the GOP to “immediately begin working with Democrats to pass the VAWA Reauthorization Act swiftly and on a bipartisan basis.”

Pelosi blasted the six-month extension introduced by Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), arguing it doesn’t do enough to provide protections for certain communities that she feels are better addressed under Jackson Lee’s proposed legislation. 

“As Members of Congress, it is our responsibility to ensure that every woman, in every part of our society, can live free from violence,” the letter reads. 

“Yet, the continued refusal over many years of House Republicans to extend VAWA’s critical protections to include vulnerable communities, particularly Native American, immigrant and LGBTQ communities, represents a blatant dereliction of that duty.”