Tea Party darling and Florida Senator Marco Rubio, who will give his State of the Union rebuttal Tuesday night, voted today against the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), again.
The bill passed the Senate in a 78-22 vote with overwhelming bipartisan support. Now it’s up to the U.S. House to schedule a vote on the bill.
Rubio, who issued a statement following the bill’s passage said, he was unable to support VAWA because “this bill would mandate the diversion of a portion of funding from domestic violence programs to sexual assault programs, although there’s no evidence to suggest this shift will result in a greater number of convictions.”
Last April, Rubio, who also voted against a similar bill, faced significant blow back particularly from women’s groups in Florida. At that time, many expressed their disappointment and frustration that the Senator couldn’t see the importance of VAWA to individual victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking, on the one hand and its importance to the nation’s response to such devastating crimes on the other.
“The bill passed by the Senate will help reduce homicides that occur from domestic violence, improve the criminal justice response to rape and sexual assault, address the high rates of dating violence experienced by young women, and provide justice to the most vulnerable among us,” said President Barack Obama in a statement “…It’s now time for the House to follow suit and send this bill to my desk so that I can sign it into law.”
See Senator Marco Rubio’s full statement as to why he voted against VAWA HERE.
