Protecting women and victims of domestic abuse is a deeply important issue, and it is important that readers understand the facts surrounding this issue and the House plan voted on by U.S. Rep. Chip Cravaack.
The House version of the Violence Against Women Act supported by Cravaack provides $660,000 for the next fiscal year and $2.2 billion over the course of the authorization, the exact same amount as the Senate version. What's important about this bill is that it brings transparency to the funds by focusing directly on the victims of these crimes. H.F. 4970 also includes language that guarantees all members of these crimes are protected and expands coverage for Native American women and others. Under the House version of the bill, those who need help would receive it without putting women into separate victim groups like the Senate language does.
It is also important to note that the House sponsor of the bill is U.S. Rep. Sandy Adams, a female member of Congress from Florida who was a victim of violence as well as a former 17-year sheriff's deputy.
Referring to this bill as a "fake" or "insufficient," as some letter writers have, is not only disingenuous it undermines the hard work our congressman and others have done to protect women from violence.
This is one issue too important to ignore. I urge people to read the bill and examine the key issues in the House version. We need to put an end to these violent crimes, and the bill Rep. Cravaack supports takes a step to do just that.
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Mary Jaap
Duluth
