Ratcliffe Slams Democrat for Politicizing VAWA

Mr. Radcliffe for his opening statement. Thank you, Chair. I do want to thank each of the witnesses for being here today to testify. As a federal prosecutor, I had the privilege for many years of seeing firsthand the profound impact of the Violence Against Women Act. I saw and I learned so much from working with the Department of Justice's Office on Violence Against Women. But for all the women that I know and that I saw, VAWA has helped. As a prosecutor, I can't help but think about and remember all of the women who weren't so fortunate. Women whose husbands or boyfriends put them in cemeteries because those husbands or boyfriends drank too much, or became jealous too much, or because they just liked to hit women too much. And because of that, I know what's at stake if we don't reauthorize VAWA. VAWA can and should provide all women a safe harbor who need one. It can and should provide a means for all women to leave abusive relationships. It can and should provide the counseling needed by any woman to survive the abuse and violence they have endured. VAWA can and should facilitate and accelerate the prosecution of sexual assault cases so that women, as they wait for their case to go to trial, don't have to live in fear that they might suffer more abuse or violence. Madam Chair, we owe survivors of domestic violence a bill that doesn't water down these services for women. As with any proposal before Congress, we should be vigilant in conducting oversight to ensure the taxpayer dollars are used effectively. And because the principal objectives for VAWA programs are the mitigation, the reduction, and the prevention of the effects and occurrences of domestic violence, then we should target those objectives. We owe it to survivors and victims of domestic violence an obligation to ensure that we're not duplicating grants that are housed at other various federal agencies. We owe them transparency and accountability and support for rigorous evaluations of existing VAWA programs to make sure that these programs are working as intended for those they are intended to help. These policies should be non-controversial. Who would object to requiring greater accountability and increased prioritization of the processing of untested sexual assault kits? Who would object to providing protection for faith-based providers and religious organizations which work with survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking? If we don't protect faith-based providers and religious organizations from being discriminated against, then we are in fact reducing access for survivors of violence. Madam Chair, as a prosecutor in cases involving violence against women, I never once asked a victim if she was a Republican or a Democrat. I never once asked a rape counselor if he or she was a Republican or a Democrat. I never asked the parents of a victim if they were Republican or Democrat. I never asked because some things are more important than politics in protecting women who need protection from violence is one of those things. So it is my hope that this body, that this Congress, can agree on a bipartisan and non-controversial reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. That is my hope. But it is my fear that this committee's majority will instead push forward with a partisan bill that is intended to score political points. That is my fear because when the current reauthorization expired on February 15th of this year, it did so because Democrats now in the majority of this House refused to include a simple extension for the reauthorization of VAWA until the end of the fiscal year. Last month, Madam Chair, Democrats indicated that they wanted to use VAWA as a political bargaining chip. I applaud my colleague, Congresswoman Lesko, herself a survivor of domestic violence for her dedicated efforts to enact a clean extension of the existing law. A clean extension that would have ensured that VAWA and the critically important role that it plays would not have lapsed. So as we move forward with today's hearing, I echo her request for members of this committee and of this Congress to come forward in a bipartisan fashion to pass an extension of VAWA instead of trying to score political points against each other. Instead of trying to score political points for once, it is my hope and it is my plea that maybe this body can speak for all women who need our help to survive the abuse and violence they have suffered and also to speak for those victims who weren't so fortunate. I yield back.