Return-Path: <nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id e95E8o903873; Thu, 5 Oct 2000 10:08:50 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 5 Oct 2000 10:08:50 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <v04210112b60239c2250a@[128.148.147.35]> Errors-To: alcrsb@langate.gsu.edu Reply-To: nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: Janet Isserlis <Janet_Isserlis@Brown.edu> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-WOMENLIT:1038] violence against women act X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" ; format="flowed" Status: RO Content-Length: 9699 Lines: 217 Dear all, As some of you may know, the US Violence against women act is at risk of not being reauthorized. With apologies to our colleagues outside the US, I'm asking those who are in the country to consider the impacts of VAWA's *not* being reauthorized and to act, if you feel you can in ways suggested in the longer message below. Some of the impacts of losing VAWA include: - literacy / adult ed learners and practitioners who may have been or could be beneficiaries of many of the programs supported through VAWA will risk losing needed support for addressing their own issues related to violence -- collective awareness of violences against women and violence generally could fade from the screen, thereby increasing barriers to attendance - -everything from child care to support services for victims of abuse could be gradually -- or not so gradually cut back. Attendance is only the tip of the iceberg, as we've discussed... without support, many women will be unable to be present to learning, because everything from welfare/child care issues will resurface if VAWA is gone and because the stresses placed on agencies providing assistance will likely make it difficult for them to serve all the women needing assistance.. I'd sent this post to Daphne to see if it would be appropriate to share with ths list; Daphne suggested that i connect the issue to adult literacy. I think it's well connected - our colleagues in Ontario know what it means see the government ignore the rights and needs of women and children; here in the States we're at risk of the same and more. This legislation is critically connected to adult learning. If you can, please pass it along to others, make calls and do what you can. If not, please delete this message with my apologies thanks Janet Isserlis From: sfvo_members@mailmanager.net To: sfvo_members@mailmanager.net Date: Tue, 03 Oct 2000 09:05:41 -0400 Subject: VAWA tidbits and a challenge! Hello VAWA supporters! A few quick tidbits, a news article, an action item for tonite's presidential debate, and then a challenge for you today! First, thanks to the many, many of you who have been writing and phoning Congress these past few days. Getting this legislation passed is much more work than it ought to be, and I appreciate your stepping in to do what it takes! Next, a bit of clarification. Some of you wrote and asked why last week I said the bill was passed, and this week, I said it wasn't voted on yet. The answer it this: there are 2 bills! The bill in the House of Representatives (HR 1248), was voted on and passed last week; The Senate bill (S 2787) has yet to make it to the floor for a vote. Both bills will need to be passed, and then merged into one before VAWA becomes law. On the legislation page at http://www.stopfamilyviolence.org there is a side by side comparison of the two bills if you are interested. No real news about VAWA in the Senate. Yesterday, Senator Lott began to see if he could attach VAWA to an anti-assisted suicide bill. I don't think he'll have much luck with this strategy either. There is a bit of news about VAWA in the news, however. Look what was in the New York Times editorial this morning! Congressional Do's and Don'ts October 3, 2000 Congress is planning to adjourn in two weeks so that members can do some last-minute campaigning before Election Day in November. Before it leaves, it ought to pass some important legislation that should not be allowed to spill over into a new administration and a new Congress next year, thus robbing the bills of legislative momentum. At the same time, Congress should refrain from its traditional end-of-session mischief. Here is an abbreviated list of good legislation that should be enacted, followed by some bad legislation that should be made to vanish. Land Conservation. The White House and Congressional negotiators reached agreement last Friday on a plan to set aside some $12 billion over six years for a range of federal and state land conservation programs. It is the most important land conservation bill in many years, and deserves prompt approval on the House and Senate floors. Budget purists are annoyed that the money will be fenced off in a special conservation account similar to the Highway Trust Fund. But open space has been shortchanged for years, and this is a way to make restitution. The Everglades. A bill authorizing a 20-year, $7.8 billion program to rescue the South Florida ecosystem was approved last week by the Senate with only one dissenting vote. The only remaining obstacle is the House, where a similar measure is attached to a water resources bill that is bogged down in unrelated partisan disputes. If necessary, the House should pass a free-standing bill that could then be melded with the Senate's. The Everglades restoration measure is the result of seven years of work by the administration, conservationists and other stakeholders, and it would be unthinkable to lose it this late in the game. Domestic Violence. By a 415-to-3 vote last week, the House reauthorized the Violence Against Women Act, a 1994 law that helps states and localities combat domestic violence. A companion measure in the Senate, sponsored by Joseph Biden, a Democrat, and Orrin Hatch, a Republican, has more than 70 co- sponsors. But Trent Lott, the majority leader, has not scheduled a vote. Failure to move forward would jeopardize financial assistance that has helped pay for the prosecution of domestic violence cases and provided safe havens and other services for victims of abuse. Education. A bill that would enable the federal government to pay the interest on $25 billion in school construction bondsÝÝ a cost usually borne by states and localitiesÝis bottled up in both the House and Senate. The bill would help the country's school districts, including New York City, rebuild crumbling schools. President Clinton will need help from a reluctant Republican leadership. Welfare. The Senate needs to approve a measure overwhelmingly passed by the House allowing welfare mothers to keep more child support payments from noncustodial fathers. Under current law, some of these payments are used to repay state and federal governments for welfare payments made to the same mothers. The bill would put an extra $1 billion in their hands. To view the complete editorial, go to http://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/03/opinion/03TUE2.html To see how your representatives vote on all this legislation and more, sign up for "megavote" at the bottom of the legislation page at http://www.stopfamilyviolence.org To send letters to the editor about VAWA to newspapers in your home state, go to the "tell the media" page at http://www.stopfamilyviolence.org Feel free to use any material from the website, or my newsletters in your letters to the editor. TONITE IS THE FIRST PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE. Let's try to get Jim Lehrer to ask a question about what the candidates would do to stop family violence. You can e-mail your questions to mailto:newshour@pbs.org In the subject heading, write Question for Presidential Candidates. Good luck! I'll be listening for our question!! OK. HERE IT IS. THE CHALLENGE YOU'VE BEEN WAITING FOR.... Let's increase our mailing list to 100,000 by the end of the week!! Here's why: The greater our numbers, the louder our voice. We need to keep raising our voice against family violence until it stops! Every day, 9000 children witness their mothers being abused -- children who grow up at higher risk for school failure, substance abuse, juvenile delinquency, adult criminality; and are most likely to be in abusive relationships as adults. Raise your voice against the violence that is destroying our children's future! Raise your voice against the violence that ruins women's lives! Here's how: There are nearly 33,000 of you now. If you each direct 2 people you know to the http://www.stopfamilyviolence.org website to send a free-email to congress and to sign up for the mailing list, we will have met the challenge. Contact your friend, families, co-workers TODAY. Act NOW! We don't have time to lose! Congress could end as early as this week. Women's and children's lives are at stake every minute of every day! Together, we really can... http://www.stopfamilyviolence.org talking about it to others is the first step! Irene Weiser ______________________________________________ This mailing list is strictly confidential. I will not give your name or information to any person or any organization for any purpose. If you're interested in learning more about VAWA, domestic violence, or the legislative process, visit http://www.stopfamilyviolence.org I will continue sending periodic updates about VAWA, and additional information about actions you can take throughout this congressional session. I enjoy reading your comments, and hearing the actions you are taking to get VAWA passed. Please send comments to mailto:ActNow@stopfamilyviolence.org If you received duplicate copies of this message mailto:ActNow@stopfamilyviolence.org In the subject area, type "duplicate", followed by the number of duplicates you received. (example: duplicate 4 ) Leave the body of your message blank. Please be patient as I search the mailing list to remove your extra listings. If you do not wish to receive further mailings mailto:sfvo_members@mailmanager.net and type "unsubscribe" in the subject line. Leave the body of your message blank. Thanks again for your support. Together, we can..... http://www.stopfamilyviolence.org Irene Weiser
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