A legitimate bill to re-authorize the VAWA was, as it is known, introduced in the House by Democratic representatives earlier this month. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas and Judiciary Judge Jerry Nadler of New York and Republican Rep. Brain Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania.
“Domestic violence has increased in this country. And we now have a moment in history,” Jackson Lee told CNN before the vote Wednesday.
“This is a robust bill,” the congresswoman said. “We’re making sure there’s a federal armor around these families so they can survive. We can not let them down. I think the moment is here. I think the passion is here.”
According to a fact sheet from the House Judiciary Committee, the bill will improve and expand assistance and services for victims and survivors. The comprehensive legislation contains provisions to make safe housing more accessible and strengthen economic security by ensuring that unemployment benefits from the state cannot be denied to individuals leaving work due to sexual harassment or assault, domestic or alienated violence or persecution.
Biden applauded the effort to re-authorize VAWA, saying in a statement on the recent bill that Congress “should come together in a two-pronged way to ensure VAWA legislation quickly in the House as well as in the Senate.”
Biden added: “Domestic violence is being called a pandemic in the Covid-19 pandemic, with growing evidence showing that the conditions of the pandemic have led to an increase in intimate partner violence, and in some cases worse injuries.”
The Democratic-controlled House voted in 2019 to re-authorize the legislation after it expired, but the re-authorization did not pass by the IDP-controlled Senate.
The House Democratic majority is now ready to accept an authorization again. This time, the Democrats control the Senate, but the effort will still face an uncertain future in the chamber. With a 50-50 party split, it is not clear that there would be enough Republican support to overcome a filibuster.
Speaking about her approach to bringing the legislation to the fore, Jackson Lee said: “I’m going to talk about it incessantly. I’m going to sue. I want a smile on my face, but I’ll never stop, never stop. “I will not let women down. I will be relentless and never give up.”
Asked if he would support the bill on empowerment, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday that Iowa GOP Senator Joni Ernst “was our leader in the matter.”
Ernst later told reporters: “We are working on a bill again and taking what we worked on in the previous Congress and will probably propose again,” adding that “it will be different from the House Bill.”
The Iowa Republican said he hopes it will be possible to “work through the differences between the two bills, find the areas of agreement and move forward with a modernized bill.”
“We are prepared to work with Democrats on this, and hopefully we can get the 60 votes we need by joining forces,” Ernst said.
Asked about the GOP effort, Jackson Lee said: “We are prepared to look at their account. It is a powerful account. We will love our account as much as possible to make it a success.”
This story was updated on Wednesday with additional developments.
CNN’s Chandelis Duster and Ashley Killough contributed to this report.