Virginia Foxx

Ms. FOXX

Ms. FOXX. Madam Speaker, I continue to reserve.

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Ms. FOXX. Madam Speaker, I now yield 1 minute to our distinguished colleague from Illinois, Congresswoman Biggert.

Ms. FOXX. Madam Speaker, I now would like to yield 2 minutes to our distinguished colleague, the gentlewoman from Wyoming (Mrs. Lummis).

Ms. FOXX. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it really pains me to see my colleagues across the aisle make the kind of accusations that they make about Republicans being unconcerned about the issue of violence against women. How could they possibly accuse us of not being concerned about that issue? All Republicans are concerned about violence against anyone. Violence, we are very concerned about that. I personally won't even watch any kind of movie that has any kind of violence in it because I can't stand to see violence perpetrated on another human being. So Republican men and women both abhor violence against women. But what we have done in the legislation that we are proposing is we are asking for increased accountability and to see that more services are directly offered to women who have violence perpetrated against them. In fact, I would say that we are more concerned about violence for women because we want to see those women served better and we want to see the money spent better. Mr. Speaker, helping victims of abuse and domestic violence is not a Republican or Democrat issue. I have been pleased to work with Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez on H.R. 196, Simplifying the Ambiguous Law Keeping Everyone Reliably Safe, or STALKERS, Act which she has championed for the last two Congresses. The Democrats wouldn't bring this bill up when they were in control of the House. The STALKERS Act updates the Federal stalking statute to include electronic surveillance and other means of cyber-stalking to ensure that potential stalking victims are protected as technology changes. In addition, the STALKERS Act increases criminal penalties by 5 years for offenders who have violated a protective order or whose victims are under the age of 18 or elderly. Congresswoman Sanchez and I worked together regardless of which party was in charge of the House, and I'm pleased that legislation with the original cosponsor, who's a Democrat, has been included in the VAWA reauthorization bill that the House will vote on today. The VAWA reauthorization bill also adds stalking as an allowable grant purpose to continue the work of protecting these victims. As we all know, law enforcement and prosecutors must have the resources they need to pursue violent criminals, and I hope my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will join me in voting for H.R. 4970 after voting for this rule providing for its consideration, or the rule we will consider in just a few minutes. I'm not going to impugn the character of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle. We all want to stop violence against women. That's why Republicans have brought forth this bill. Again, the STALKERS Act could have been brought forward under Democrat control of the House. It was not, and I'm very disappointed. But I'm proud of Republicans, that we're doing it and we're strengthening the Violence Against Women Act, not weakening the act. With that, Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. FOXX. I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from Michigan (Mrs. Miller).

Ms. FOXX. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I believe the gentlewoman's question is a question for the rule and is not relevant to the point of order which she has raised.

Ms. FOXX. I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Buerkle).

Ms. FOXX. Madam Speaker, I now would like to yield 5 minutes to Mr. Nugent from Florida, my distinguished colleague on the Rules Committee.

Ms. FOXX. Madam Speaker, we do have other speakers.

Ms. FOXX. I would like to now yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentlewoman from Missouri, Congresswoman Hartzler.

Ms. FOXX. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Tennessee (Mrs. Blackburn).

Ms. FOXX. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to my colleague from North Carolina, Congresswoman Ellmers.

Ms. FOXX. Madam Speaker, I now would like to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Johnson).

Ms. FOXX. I would now like to yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from Kansas (Ms. Jenkins).

Ms. FOXX. Madam Speaker, House Resolution 656 provides for a closed rule providing for the consideration of H.R. 4970, the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act, and general debate for H.R. 4310, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013. As an original cosponsor of the underlying bill, I am proud to stand with my Republican colleagues in support of the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, otherwise known as VAWA. The House Judiciary Committee-passed version of VAWA before us today is a commonsense proposal to ensure that limited taxpayer dollars are used responsibly and efficiently while also improving access to services for victims. With this bill, we have also worked to add accountability requirements to conduct the necessary oversight of VAWA grant recipients and programs. Our goal is to ensure that more money is spent on direct services and less on administrative bureaucracy. I commend Representative Adams on authoring this legislation, and I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on the rule and the underlying bill. With that, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. FOXX. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks.

Ms. FOXX. Madam Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Polis), pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only. General Leave

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I cannot assume what this body will do in the future. I am one member of the Rules Committee and the Education Committee. I do not have control over that, and I don't believe anybody can predict the future.

Ms. FOXX. I thank the gentlewoman for yielding. None of the amendments were made in order except the manager's amendment, which brings the bill closer to the Senate version of the bill.

Ms. FOXX. The question before the House is: Should the House now consider H. Res. 656? Section 4 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act, or UMRA, excludes from the application of that act any legislative provision that establishes or enforces statutory rights prohibiting discrimination. The Congressional Budget Office has stated that while they have not reviewed a provision in section 3 of H.R. 4970 for intergovernmental or private-sector mandates, since that provision prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, or disability, other provisions of H.R. 4970 would impose no intergovernmental mandates as defined in UMRA. CBO goes on to say the bill would impose private-sector mandates as defined in UMRA on brokers of international marriage and certain supervisors over persons under official control of the United States. However, CBO estimates that the cost of those mandates would fall well below the annual threshold established in UMRA: $146 million in 2012, adjusted annually for inflation. Mr. Speaker, the motion of the gentlewoman is dilatory. In order to allow the House to continue its scheduled business for the day, I urge Members to vote ``yes'' on the question of consideration of the resolution, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I rise to claim time in opposition to the point of order and in favor of consideration of the resolution.

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 656 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Ms. FOXX

Ms. FOXX. Fostering job growth for the American people continues to be the number one job for House Republicans. With unemployment above 8 percent for the past 39 months, the Obama economy continues to produce the Nation's worst jobless record since the Great Depression. By following the House Republican Plan for America's Job Creators, the House has passed more than 30 bipartisan jobs bills on behalf of the American people. Each of these bills is aimed at unleashing the power of our private sector to freely and confidently build, invest, innovate, and expand again--and put millions of Americans back to work. Unfortunately, the vast majority of these bipartisan House-passed jobs bills are being blocked or ignored in the Democrat-controlled Senate. The American people are tired of waiting. It is time for Democrats in the Senate and White House to put politics aside and to support the House Republican Plan for America's Job Creators.