Congressman Kim Votes to Reauthorize
the Violence Against Women Act

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congressman Andy Kim (NJ-03) voted to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act, a landmark anti-violence bill that expired in 2018 and whose previous reauthorization was blocked by Senate Republicans in 2019. The bill passed with bipartisan support.

“The events of the past 24 hours are a stark reminder of the constant threat of violence women across our country face; it’s a threat that demands the actions and resources provided by the Violence Against Women Act,” said Congressman Kim. “As we saw by today’s vote, these solutions aren’t partisan – in fact they have broad bipartisan support – and they show that we can truly come together in the face of a crisis. I hope the Senate follows our lead and passes this bill as quickly as possible so we can restore the protections and funds necessary to address the issue of violence against women head on.”

The Violence Against Women Act was originally passed in 1994 and ushered in transformative progress by calling for the protection of all Americans from violence and abuse and working to ensure survivors had access to essential services and to justice. Since its passage, the rate of domestic violence has declined by 63 percent. However, the extent of domestic violence remains way too high. Experts estimate that one in three women in the U.S. still experience domestic violence.

The Violence Against Women Act addresses these issues by:

• Increasing the authorization for the Rape Prevention & Education Program (RPE) to $110 million a year from $50 million a year and specifically including prevention of sexual harassment to its authorized uses.
• Reauthorizing the critical STOP (Services, Training, Officers, and Prosecutors) grants and allowing the grants to be used to develop law enforcement tools and protocols for preventing domestic violence homicides.
• Protecting victims of dating violence from firearm homicide by closing some loopholes in current firearms laws in order to help prevent intimate partner and stalking homicides.
• Improving the health care system’s response to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking.
• Improving access to housing for survivors and victims by strengthening the enforcement of housing rights for survivors and victims and creating a Violence Against Women Director at the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The Violence Against Woman Act reauthorization is supported by a coalition of more than 200 organizations, known as the National Task force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence Against Women. This coalition includes such groups as the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, National Network to End Domestic Violence, National Alliance to End Sexual Violence, National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs, Break the Cycle, Legal Momentum, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, National Organization for Women, MomsRising, Feminist Majority, YWCA USA, AAUW, Business and Professional Women’s Foundation, National Partnership for Women and Families, National Women’s Law Center, National Association of Hispanic Organizations, AFL-CIO, UAW, NAACP, Human Rights Campaign, National Council of Churches, and National Congress of American Indians.

Congressman Kim is a member of the House Armed Services Committee, the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the House Committee on Small Business. More information about Congressman Kim can be found on his website by clicking here.