Senate Considers Violence Against Women Act - Women's Congressional Policy Institute

On February 7, the Senate began consideration of the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act (S. 47). The Senate is scheduled to resume consideration of the measure on February 11. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), would authorize about $660 million annually for FY2014 through FY2018 for programs that address domestic and sexual violence in the U.S. The text of S. 47 is available here.

The Senate approved similar legislation (S. 1925) in April 2012 (see The Source, 4/27/12) and the House approved its version of the bill (H.R. 4970) in May 2012 (see The Source, 5/18/12). However, the House and Senate bills both expired at the end of the 112^th Congress.

The table below compares certain provisions in S. 1925 and S. 47.

Provision	S. 1925 (112^th Congress)	S. 47 (113^th Congress)
Authorizes $222 million annually for the STOP [Services-Training-Officers-Prosecutors] grant program for FY2014 through FY2018	YES	YES
Requires at least 20 percent of STOP grants funds be spent on programs that specifically address sexual assault	YES	YES
Authorizes $73 million annually for the Grants to Encourage Arrest Policies and Enforce Protection Orders (GTEAP) program	YES	YES
Authorizes $12 million annually to address violence on college campuses	YES	YES
Requires colleges and universities to distribute procedures and policies regarding dating violence, rape, stalking, and sexual assault	YES	YES
Authorizes grant money to be spent on services for victims who have difficulty accessing traditional services due to their sexual orientation or gender identity	YES	YES
Gives federally recognized American Indian tribes concurrent criminal jurisdiction over non-Native American offenders for cases involving domestic or dating violence if the defendant lived or worked in the Indian country of the tribe, is married to a member of the tribe, or is in an intimate relationship with a member of the tribe	YES	YES
Authorizes $5 million annually to support tribal efforts to combat domestic violence	YES	YES
Increases the number of U visas available for immigrant victims of domestic violence and sexual assault	YES	NO
Requires minimum prison sentence of at least five years for those convicted of sexual assault	YES	NO
Requires 75 percent of grants under the Debbie Smith DNA Backlog Grant Program to be used to reduce DNA evidence backlogs	NO	YES
Requires seven percent of Debbie Smith DNA Backlog Grant Program funding to be used to conduct audits of untested DNA	NO	YES
Requires Department of Justice to establish Sexual Assault Forensic Evidence Registry within one year of bill’s enactment	NO	YES

During consideration of the measure, the Senate rejected, 34-65, a substitute amendment by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) that would make several changes to the underlying bill. The amendment would have:

Required that 10 percent of Violence Against Women Act grantees be audited each year;
Required 30 percent of STOP grants to be spent on programs that specifically address sexual assault;
Removed the provision in S. 47 that would give tribes concurrent criminal jurisdiction over non-Native American offenders for cases involving domestic or dating violence;
Allowed tribes to seek protective orders in federal court;
Authorized up to $25 million for federal prosecutors and magistrates to be placed near tribes for criminal domestic violence and sexual assault cases and to hear tribal motions for protective orders;
Imposed a ten year mandatory minimum sentence for federal convictions for forcible rape, a one year mandatory minimum sentence for possession of child pornography if the victim is under 12 years of age, and a five year mandatory minimum sentence for the crime of aggravated sexual assault;
Allowed an immigrant victim to secure a U Visa only if law enforcement certification confirms that the immigrant has been helpful, the immigrant reported the criminal activity to a law enforcement agency within 120 days of its occurrence, the statute of limitations for prosecuting an offense based on the criminal activity has not lapsed, the criminal activity is actively under investigation or a prosecution has been commenced, and that the immigrant has information that will assist in identifying the perpetrator of the criminal activity and/or the perpetrator’s identity is known; and
Allowed the federal government to deport repeat drunk drivers.