Congress to vote on 'Violence Against Women Act'

WASHINGTON, D.C. (NBC) – As the house prepares to vote to revive the “Violence Against Women Act,” one congresswoman made a personal plea for its passage Wednesday.

Michigan Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (D-MI) recalled her families suffering from the abuse of domestic violence and said its support for domestic abuse, sexual assault and stalking victims is imperative.

“One out of 15 children witness domestic violence, and 90 percent of them experience it in some way. I am one of those children,” Dingell said. “We don’t forget about hiding in closets or a father taking locks off doors. Of grabbing a gun from my father so he wouldn’t kill my mother, and being convinced that we would die. It is time that this bill be reauthorized.”

The 1990’s era law wasn’t passed by the Senate in 2019 after it was extended by the House and therefore lapsed.

After the likely passage in the House Wednesday it goes to the Senate once again for authorization.