Thread by @jbendery

I see Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) has a new op/ed out talking about her fight to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act.

It is so full of mischaracterizations and spin it's hard to know where to begin with this. I will try.

(1/) usatoday.com/story/opinion/…

Ernst says Dems keep trying to "hijack" VAWA "for their own agenda on everything from gun control to sexual orientation."

On the gun control bit, she's referring to Dems trying to update VAWA so someone who has been *convicted* of abusing a person they're dating can't get a gun.

That provision, which would close the "boyfriend loophole," is in the bipartisan VAWA bill that the House passed last month.

It won't be in Ernst's alternative VAWA bill. Why?

The NRA opposes it + has warned a vote for it will negatively effect lawmakers' NRA ratings. (3/)

The sexual orientation bit she's complaining about is referring to a provision in the House-passed bill that states that VAWA grant recipients can train staff to help stop discrimination against LGBTQ victims of abuse, an area where there has apparently been confusion.

(4/)

So, already, Ernst is painting Dems' efforts to protect 1) people from dating partners who have been convicted of abusing other people and 2) LGBTQ people who have been abused from also being discriminated against as trying to "hijack" VAWA.

Okay.

(5/)

Ernst goes on to say that the House passed a "mostly partisan" VAWA reauthorization bill in March.

It's called bipartisan. 😂

29 Republicans voted for it in the House. It's not like it was 1 or 2.

(6/)

Ernst specifically criticizes the House-passed VAWA bill for including a "restorative practice" provision in it.

"This practice shockingly funds programs that allow an abuser to negotiate with their victim," she says.

(7/)

I don't know much about this tbh. But here's the section in the House bill on this provision.

It's a rehab option that people can consider on a *voluntary* basis, and if it is possible, that involves an abuser, the victim, the community and a court. (8/)

Ernst wraps up her op/ed by saying she's committed to reauthorizing VAWA and introduced "a modernized version last Congress and intend[s] to do so again."

This bit is why I'm writing this thread on a sunny Sunday afternoon. Her bill was... not good. (9/)

In the VAWA bill Ernst put forward in 2019, it basically gave non-Native men who abuse Native women on tribal land the ability to say *their* civil rights were being violated, and blame the victim + tribal govt officials.

I wrote about it then. (10/) huffpost.com/entry/violence…

Ernst’s bill also infringed on tribal sovereignty.

It required new tribal court audits by the US atty general. It also gave non-Native abusers on tribal land the ability to appeal to a fed court before the tribal govt is done prosecuting them. (11/) huffpost.com/entry/violence…

Most glaringly, Ernst didn't even have the support of fellow female GOP senators on her last bill.

Only 3 of 8 GOP women backed it. Why? It was too partisan + tribal advocacy groups were furious at how much Ernst's bill weakened protections for Native victims of abuse. (12/)

I wrote about the strong tribal opposition to Ernst's VAWA bill the last time too, and the fact that even female Republican senators wouldn't join Ernst on her bill.

(13/) huffpost.com/entry/violence…

So, now it's 2021 and Ernst is soon planning to introduce a GOP VAWA bill again in the Senate.

She told me a few weeks ago it would be "very similar" to the 2019 bill. If so, it's clear which vulnerable groups of people will be left out of it again. (14/) huffpost.com/entry/violence…

In sum: the biggest difference between the House-passed bipartisan VAWA bill & the bill Ernst put fwd in 2019 (which will resemble what she intros this time) is that Ernst stripped out protections for LGBTQ + Native victims of domestic abuse plus the gun safety provision. (15/)

Anywho, thanks for attending my TED Talk on VAWA reauthorization bills.

It's not in the news much yet, but it will be + could get ugly. Don't forget VAWA is one of Biden's legacy issues. Wouldn't be surprised if he personally gets involved.

(16/16) huffpost.com/entry/violence…