Thread by @jbendery

Good morning! ☕️ After months of delays, Senate Republicans finally unveiled their Violence Against Women Act bill.

It rolls back protections for Native women who face unspeakable violence. It also strips out LGBTQ protections + a gun safety provision. huffpost.com/entry/violence…

Here's one way the GOP VAWA bill, led by Sen. Joni Ernst, hurts Native women already facing violence.

It basically gives domestic abusers the ability to say their own civil rights are being violated + blame the victim and tribal govt officials. huffpost.com/entry/violence…

Ernst’s bill also, insultingly, infringes on tribal sovereignty.

It requires new tribal court audits by the AG. It also gives non-Native domestic abusers on tribal land the ability to appeal to a fed court before the tribal govt is done prosecuting them. huffpost.com/entry/violence…

“Placing paternalistic restrictions on tribal courts in the name of ‘due process’ is nothing more than a disguise for prejudice," says Mary Kathryn Nagle of the National Indigenous Women's Resource Center.

So, in sum, Ernst's VAWA bill makes it harder for tribes to prosecute non-Native domestic abusers on their own land as Native women face appallingly high levels of violence at the hands of non-Native domestic abusers.

These stats are heartbreaking.

“As the chairwoman of the Tulalip Tribes, one of the first tribes to exercise criminal jurisdiction over non-Indians for domestic violence-related crimes under the 2013 VAWA...we are deeply disappointed by the VAWA legislation introduced by Senator Ernst." huffpost.com/entry/violence…

Also of note about Ernst's VAWA bill: it only has 11 cosponsors. And it doesn't have all the GOP women on it, namely Lisa Murkowski, a strong voice on tribal issues.

I have a hard time seeing Murkowski backing this bill.

Ernst's bill also leaves out a gun safety provision that was in the House-passed VAWA bill. That provision would close the "boyfriend loophole," preventing people from getting guns who have been convicted of abusing their dating partner.

Why is it gone? The NRA opposed it.

And.... Ernst's bill leaves out a provision that was in the House-passed bill that explicitly states that VAWA grant recipients are allowed to train staff in stopping discrimination against LGBTQ victims of abuse, an area where there has apparently been confusion.

Anyway, you can read Ernst's VAWA bill yourself in here if you want.

But suffice it to say, tribal advocates and domestic violence survivor advocacy groups (57 of them, already) are throwing their support behind Democrats' VAWA bill. huffpost.com/entry/violence…

Here's an overview of Senate Democrats' VAWA bill, which is the same bill that overwhelmingly passed the House in April (with 33 Republicans backing it). huffpost.com/entry/violence…

By the way, these VAWA bills would renew the landmark 1994 law that lapsed in February.

It's an embarrassing failure by Congress that they've let VAWA lapse for this long.