House GOP Lets Violence Against Women Act Expire

Public scorn may have saved the vote on emergency aid funding for superstorm Sandy victims, but the same can't be said for the Violence Against Women Act. The Huffington Post reports that the latest version of VAWA—which was originally signed in 1994 and reauthorized in 2000 and 2005—was reauthorized by the Senate in April. But the House balked at new provisions extending protections to undocumented immigrants, Native Americans, and LGBT individuals, and instead passed a version in April without the additions.

But despite a late push by Joe Biden and signs enough House Republicans were ready to support the Senate version for it to pass, House leadership refused to let the measure come to a vote. The Huffington Post earlier spoke with sources who claimed Eric Cantor was particularly opposed to the bill's Native American component, which would have given expanded jurisdiction to tribes. "The Senate bill was already very much a bipartisan compromise, it seems very unfortunate that the House chose to fight the provision," the head of Futures Without Violence told the Guardian. Lawmakers plan to reintroduce the bill in the 113th Congress, which begins at noon today. (More Violence Against Women Act stories.)