{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://gwenmoore.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=49&itemid=934", "Gwen Moore Mourns Nelson Mandela", "2013-12-05", "2013", "2013-12", "Democrat", "House", "WI", "Gwen Moore", "M001160", "gwenmoore.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "By Derek Wallbank - May 16, 2012 5:46 PM ET\r\n\r\n\t\u00a0\r\n\r\n\tThe U.S. House of Representatives passed its version of legislation to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act.\r\n\r\n\t\u00a0\r\n\r\n\tThe House today passed the bill, 222-205, on a mostly party-line vote. Democrats criticized the Republican-written measure as part of the party\u2019s \u201cwar on women.\u201d\r\n\r\n\t\u00a0\r\n\r\n\t\u201cThey don\u2019t want to hear us talk about the war on women, but this is a direct assault on women\u2019s lives,\u201d Gwen Moore, a Wisconsin Democrat, said before the vote. Moore, who sponsored a proposal similar to a bill passed by the Democratic-dominated Senate, said she was once raped. Democrats said the Republican proposal would force immigrant victims to choose between staying with their abusers and risking deportation.\r\n\r\n\t\u00a0\r\n\r\n\tPresident Barack Obama\u2019s administration prefers the Senate- passed version, S. 1925, and his administration threatened a veto of the House bill. Six Democrats joined 216 Republicans in voting for the House bill, while 23 Republicans and 182 Democrats opposed it.\r\n\r\n\tBoth parties put female lawmakers at the forefront of the debate. Republican Sandy Adams, a freshman lawmaker from central Florida who was a deputy sheriff before coming to Congress, sponsored the House bill. Adams said she had personal experience with the victims the bill is meant to aid, and that her first marriage was an abusive relationship from which she escaped.\r\n\r\n\t\u00a0\r\n\r\n\t\u2018I Am Offended\u2019\r\n\r\n\t\u201cI have sat quietly and tried to behave here but I am offended when I hear that this does not protect victims,\u201d Adams said. \u201cAs someone who has been in the situation, who has been on the scenes of these crimes, we are trying to reauthorize something that\u2019s very important to victims. Victims, not politics.\u201d\r\n\r\n\t\u00a0\r\n\r\n\tThe 1994 Violence Against Women Act and later reauthorizations of the law have easily passed both chambers of Congress.\r\n\r\n\t\u00a0\r\n\r\n\tThe grants to women\u2019s shelters and police training weren\u2019t at issue, as the House and Senate versions would authorize spending of about $660 million annually. Instead, the debate centered on immigration visas for victims of domestic violence, gay rights and which party would be the best choice for women voters.\r\n\r\n\t\u00a0\r\n\r\n\tThe House bill would curtail special visas reserved for immigrant victims of abuse who cooperate with law enforcement. Current law allows such visas to be used as a start toward legal permanent residence or citizenship. The House measure would block that path to citizenship in almost all circumstances unless the accused person is deported.\r\n\r\n\t\u00a0\r\n\r\n\t\u2018Inexcusable\u2019\r\n\r\n\tIn the Senate, a group of Senate Democrats joined with House colleagues in calling for action on the Senate bill, which passed that chamber on a 68-31 vote April 26. Every woman in the Senate, and almost a third of Republicans, supported it.\r\n\r\n\t\u00a0\r\n\r\n\t\u201cWhat is happening in the House is inexcusable,\u201d said Senator Barbara Boxer, a California Democrat. She said the House bill wouldn\u2019t provide adequate help for groups including immigrants, gays and college students.\r\n\r\n\t\u00a0\r\n\r\n\tWith each chamber rejecting the other\u2019s plan, the competing Violence Against Women Acts would have to be merged before becoming law.\r\n\r\n\tThe House bill is H.R. 4970.\r\n\r\n\t\u00a0\r\n\r\n\tTo view this article online, please click here.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://gwenmoore.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=49&itemid=934"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7947749691084027, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}