As legislators and as Members of Congress, it is our obligation to speak up for those who are being ignored in our society. The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) does just that.
Violence against women is as American as apple pie.
It is only with the passage of the Violence Against Women Act in 1994 that we have been able to put a dent in violence against women, and women have had a place to go.
There's a huge cost in being bipartisan, a tradition started by Newt Gingrich when he took over the House in 1994 and has continued forward, that you dare not vote against the Republican Party even if you're voting against your own initiatives and your own interests.
Violence against women in this country is not levied against just Democrats, but Republicans as well... not just rich people or poor people. It knows no gender, it knows no ethnicity, it knows nothing.