RADAR Alert: Don't Let N.O.W.'s Voice Be The Only One Congress Hears On VAWA

	posted by Matt on 12:41 PM November 29th, 2005
	In late September, different bills to reauthorize VAWA for the next 5 years were passed by the House and the Senate. The House bill includes language stating that VAWA is gender neutral. Separate from that, a bill to provide continuing funding for VAWA programs for the next year has now passed both the House and the Senate and was signed into law by the President on November 22nd. This one year continuing funding bill contains no mention that Congress intends VAWA to be gender neutral. Click "Read more..." for more.

	Don't Let N.O.W.'s Voice Be The Only One Congress Hears On VAWA Meanwhile, the differing versions of the 5 year reauthorization bills must still be reconciled in conference committee before a final vote to make them law. N.O.W. recently called on their members to launch a massive telephone campaign urging Congress to form the conference committee when they reconvene in early December, and even though the current levels of funding provide women's advocacy programs nearly a billion dollars per year, N.O.W. is instructing their members to ask for still more programs. It's a safe bet that N.O.W.'s members will not be asking Congress to make sure the bills allocate funding to programs that focus on male victims of domestic violence, or that the 835,000 men victimized per year should be included in the list of underserved populations. Only you can do that. It's also a safe bet that N.O.W.'s members will not be objecting to provisions which deny new organizations funding unless they partner with currently-funded women's organizations. These provisions give organizations that are unsympathetic or outright hostile to male victims, a virtual lock on all funding. And finally, it's a safe bet that N.O.W.'s members will not be demanding that Congress prohibit VAWA funds from being used for any political purpose. Congress will be hearing from N.O.W.'s members. They need to hear from you too. If your own legislators are included in the list below, please call them. Otherwise, please call the Senate and House leadership. Tell them: "Since HR2682, providing basic funding for VAWA, was signed into law on Nov. 22, it's far more important for the conference committee to fix what's wrong with VAWA than to rush it through. Please make sure the final bill allocates funding to programs that focus on male victims of domestic violence, without requiring them to partner with the established male-hostile organizations. And please make sure the final bill explicitly prohibits any recipient of VAWA funds from using those funds for any political purpose whatsoever." As always, be courteous and respectful when you call. If Congress doesn't hear from you NOW, there's no reason for them not to do N.O.W.'s bidding. So don't put this off. Make the call today! It's particularly important for legislators to hear from their own constituents. So if any Congressman or Senator in the list below represents your district, call your own legislator. If not, call the Congressional leadership, whose names are marked with an asterisk. Jeff Sessions   202/224-4124 Alabama Senate Judiciary Committee Ted Stevens   202/224-3004 Alaska Senate President Pro Tempore Jeff Flake   202/225-2635 Arizona House Judiciary SubCommittee on Crime Jon Kyl   202/224-4521 Arizona Senate Judiciary Committee Dan Lungren   202/225-5716 California House Judiciary SubCommittee on Crime Ric Keller   202/225-2176 Florida House Judiciary SubCommittee on Crime Tom Feeney   202/225-2706 Florida House Judiciary SubCommittee on Crime Dennis Hastert *** 202/225-2976 Illinois Speaker of the House Mike Pence   202/225-3021 Indiana House Judiciary SubCommittee on Crime Charles E. Grassley   202/224-3744 Iowa Senate Judiciary Committee Sam Brownback   202/224-6521 Kansas Senate Judiciary Committee Mitch McConnell *** 202/224-2541 Kentucky Senate Assistant Majority Leader Roy Blunt *** 202/225-0197 Missouri House Majority Whip Howard Coble   202/225-3065 North Carolina House Judiciary SubCommittee on Crime Chairman Mike DeWine   202/224-2315 Ohio Senate Judiciary Committee Steve Chabot   202/225-2216 Ohio House Judiciary SubCommittee on Crime Tom Coburn   202/224-5754 Oklahoma Senate Judiciary Committeea Arlen Specter   202/224-4254 Pennsylvania Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham   202/224-5972 South Carolina Senate Judiciary Committee Bill Frist *** 202/224-3344 Tennessee Senate Majority Leader John Cornyn   202/224-2934 Texas Senate Judiciary Committee Louie Gohmert   202/225-3035 Texas House Judiciary SubCommittee on Crime Tom DeLay   202/225-5951 Texas House Majority Leader Orrin G. Hatch   202/224-5251 Utah Senate Judiciary Committee Randy Forbes   202/225-6365 Virginia House Judiciary SubCommittee on Crime ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Date of RADAR Release: November 28, 2005 R.A.D.A.R. – Respecting Accuracy in Domestic Abuse Reporting – is a network of concerned men and women working to assure that the problem of domestic violence is treated in a balanced and effective manner: http://www.mediaradar.org/.

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Where is Info. on H.R. 2682 VAWA Funding in Bill? (Score:2) by Roy on 05:57 PM November 29th, 2005 EST (#1) I am again confused about all the various bills containing possible reauthorizations of VAWA, not the least being the never-before-mentioned H.R.2682. Looking up this bill on thomas.gov provided only the following: H.R.2682 Long-Term Care and Retirement Security Act of 2005 (Introduced in House) To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow individuals a deduction for qualified long-term care insurance premiums ... Latest Major Action: 5/26/2005 Referred to House committee. Status: Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means. http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:h.r.0 2682: Can anyone provide a web link describing how an amendment funding VAWA for a year was introduced, attached, and approved? Also, is there a web site that lists bills the President has signed into law? (This info does not seem to be on whitehouse.gov.)

I had a good day (Score:1) by MR on 11:49 PM November 29th, 2005 EST (#2) I sent 27 Faxes today. I Faxed: my elected representatives, 23 of the 25 names on RADAR's list, and all of the names that NOW recommended be contacted. I have two more people to contact whose Fax machines didn't pick up before I ran out of time today. No matter what happens, I just don't want to feel that if only I had made a little more effort things might have been better for men who are abused by intimate female partners and misandrist VAWA.

Re:I had a good day (Score:1) by Boy Genteel on 08:43 PM November 30th, 2005 EST (#4) "I Faxed: my elected representatives, 23 of the 25 names on RADAR's list, and all of the names that NOW recommended be contacted." What names are these? Whom is NOW contacting? bg Men are from EARTH. Women are from EARTH. Deal with it.

Re:I had a good day (Score:1) by MR on 01:40 PM December 4th, 2005 EST (#5) I contacted all the names on the list above, my two CA senators, my CA representative, and those people that NOW said to contact in their canned email form page. Of course I sent my message (Faxes and letters) instead of NOW's, and my message was based on RADAR's release.

Time To Step Up To The Plate (Score:2) by Luek on 08:07 AM November 30th, 2005 EST (#3) Okay guys it is time to stop being just keyboard commandos and start doing some deeds. Here is a golden opportunity to advance our cause and not just post horror stories about misandric injustices. Don't misunderstand me about posting. This mode of communication is essential but I suspect not many Congress critters read Mensactivism.Org unfortunately. Even though the Clinton Era Marxist-Socialist legislation called VAWA did get reauthorized there is still time to amend the worst aspects of this nefarious bill. Getting Congress to authorize less funding and making it gender neutral will do this. But you have to actually call in and make your voice heard about this. I have known and read about men who get nailed by VAWA and have that "deer in the headlights" look when it happens. They act like they never noticed this elephant in their bathroom before. It has only been in force since the early 1990's! Even live in girlfriends can have you locked up for days in many states before you can make bail just for getting into a verbal argument with her! So get on the phone and just do it!

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