Episode Details

We take a close look at the Violence Against Women Act re-authorization as the President signs it into law. We also look at the continuing resolution passed by the House, which funds defense while leaving the rest of the government in chaos. S. 47: Violence Against Women Re-Authorization Act of 2013... Was signed by the President! This one is law. President Obama signs VAWA on March 7, 2013 Definition Changes Adds stalking and date rape to the list of offenses. Includes cyber stalking in the definition of stalking. Replaces "spouses" with "parties' Indian Affairs Adds "sex trafficking" and "stalking" to eligible grant programs for Indian women Allows Indian tribes to have jurisdiction over domestic violence crimes unless neither the victim or defendant are Indians. Includes D.C., Indian tribes, and Puerto Rico in the grant funding (decreases funding) Immigrants Allows children to stay in U.S. on their victimized parent's U Visa even if they turn 21 while the VISA is pending New Programs Grants for training programs for law enforcement and medical personnel Funding for pro-bono legal assistance for victims Protects the confidentiality of child victims of domestic violence or sexual assault Protects students from violence stemming from their immigrant status and gender identity Grants for elder abuse training; Defines "elder" as someone over the age of 50 Prevents victims from being evicted from public housing because they were involved in a domestic violence incident, however, the violent person can be evicted. Public housing authorities will need to transfer victims to new housing if their safety is at risk and they request the transfer. Orders an audit of unprocessed DNA evidence for sexual assault crimes that haven't passed the statute of limitations. Program ends 12/31/18. Prohibits any lobbying activity in relation to DNA audit grants and prohibits violators from receiving a grant for at least 5 years. 6 months after President Obama signs the bill, DHS has to publish final standards for the punishment of sexual assault in immigrant prisons, including private prisons. Prevents marriage brokers from providing information on minors Penalty Changes Penalty for assault with intent to murder is limited to 20 years and a fine Penalty for assault by attempted suffocation limited to 10 years and a fine… suffocation is regardless of intent or visible injury Report Comptroller General of the United States will issue a report to Congress in two years on the use of foreign labor contractors by U.S. employers. It will include the role of labor recruiters that provide low-wage foreigners to companies, the effectiveness of current regulators enforcement of laws already on the books, describe the jobs the foreigners are doing and how many of them are here, and identify abuses of foreigners including use of fees and debts. Funding Deletes ''non- profit, non-governmental victim services or-ganizations,'' or "non-profit, private" programs and replaces it with ''victim service providers, staff from population specific organizations,' in a couple of sections; but not all. Prohibits grants from going to non-profits with offshore tax havens Prohibits more than $20,000 of grant money from going towards conferences Vast majority of funding going DOWN Human Trafficking Title 12: Secretary of State will establish a fund (amount unknown) to give to foreign governments to prevent human trafficking. Orders them to come up with a strategy and suggest ways for oversight; very broad. Qualifying gov'ts need to have high prevalence of trafficking and a "demonstrated political motivation" to address it. Funding can be terminated if State determines the country is doing things contrary to our national interest or doesn't "adhere to it's responsibilities" under the agreement. Issues four grants up to $2 million each for combatting sex trafficking of minors. One of the grants needs to go to a small state with less than 5 million people. Most of the m