Nancy Pelosi pushes Paul Ryan to hold vote on landmark domestic violence law before it expires

'We urge Republicans to end their assault on the rights and safety of women,' House minority leader says

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi has asked Speaker of the House Paul Ryan to hold a vote on the Violence Against Women Reauthorisation Act (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

The top Democrat in the House of Representatives had called on Speaker Paul Ryan to hold a vote on the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), calling it “shocking and shameful” that he has so far refused to do so.

Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi urged Mr Ryan on Monday to hold a vote on the bill, which would extend the landmark legislation another five years, while expanding on some of its existing protections.

Ms Pelosi also pushed back on plans to include a short-term reauthorisation in a larger spending bill, calling it “an abdication of our responsibilities to women in our country”.

“We urge Republicans to end their assault on the rights and safety of women, and immediately begin working with Democrats to pass the VAWA Reauthorization Act swiftly and on a bipartisan basis,” she wrote in a letter to Mr Ryan.

A spokeswoman for Mr Ryan responded by saying that an extension was necessary to prevent a lapse in the programme while Congress works towards “a larger agreement”.

“We are confident our Democratic colleagues will join us in ensuring that doesn’t happen,” spokeswoman AshLee Strong said in a statement to The Independent.

If congress fails to act, the decades-old domestic violence bill will expire on 30 September. The legislation – which strengthened sentences for sex crimes and provided more funding for victims’ services – has generally been reauthorized without issue since its introduction in 1994.

But the latest version of the bill contains some controversial additions, and has so far secured only Democratic cosponsors. The new legislation would strengthen protections for domestic violence victims who use housing grants, increase funding for rape crisis centres, and give law enforcement more power to take firearms from domestic abusers, among other things.

Republican Representative Elise Stefanik filed legislation last week that would extend the current act for six months, in order to give Congress more time to negotiate the changes. Ms Stefanik was one of nearly 50 House Republicans who signed on to a letter to Mr Ryan last week asking for a vote on VAWA.

“This landmark legislation has drastically improved our nation’s response to these crimes and has contributed to the overall declining rates of domestic abuse since its enactment,” the representatives wrote.

“This is not a partisan issue,” they added. “VAWA has been continually reauthorised on a bipartisan basis in Congress. We must act now to maintain and strengthen this critical law.”