In mid-March, the US Senate added an amendment to the FY 2009 Federal Budget increasing funding for programs which fall under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). The amendment, proposed by Senator Biden of Delaware, increases the federal budget's funding for VAWA by $100 million, notably more than the Bush administration's proposed $120 million budget decrease for VAWA. Senator Biden quoted the recent CDC report on domestic violence, which says that one-quarter of US women have suffered domestic violence, when proposing his amendment. In his press release, he states: "We cannot afford to turn our backs on women and families in need of protection. We have made too much progress since 1994 to cut off the flow of funding now -- we need to reinvigorate funding for Violence Against Women Act programs today."
The new amendment provides increased funding for training law enforcement officers and to improve the domestic violence programs and services provided to women living in rural areas or on reservations.
Compiled from: "US Senate Votes to Increase Funding for Programs under Violence Against Women Act," Feminist Daily News Wire, 18 March 2008; Press Release: Biden Amendment Boosts Funding for Essential Violence Against Women Act," www.biden.senate.gov, 13 March 2008.