VAWA Passes in Congress, Ready for President's Signature

December 20, 2005

Thanks to activists across the country and our hearty allies in Congress, the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, H.R. 3402, has passed both the House and Senate and awaits Bush's signature.

VAWA passed in the Senate Friday evening, December 16, by unanimous consent (which means no Senator objected) and in the House on Saturday afternoon, December 17, by a voice vote.

VAWA 2005 reauthorizes existing programs and creates new ones to prevent violence, expands programs and services, and deals with emerging needs in the areas of housing, dating violence and others.

Details on the passage of the final VAWA, which is included in the Department of Justice authorization and funding bill H.R. 3402, are available through the NOW website. The full text of the bill is also available online: enter the bill number, H.R. 3402, in the search box - you'll want the final version of HR 3402 as passed by BOTH the House and Senate. NOW will provide a full analysis of the bill in the weeks ahead.

Again, we thank all of our determined activists and coalition allies who worked non-stop to ensure VAWA's passage.

Our work to stop violence against girls and boys, women and men, is not over, but VAWA 2005 at least recognizes the importance of this effort and ensures our national commitment will continue for another five years.

Enjoy the winter holidays and get ready to roll up your sleeves for next year, both to keep VAWA funded and also to promote policy initiatives that were dropped from the final VAWA this year but still need our support and advocacy in the years ahead.