Amata Radewagen
09/16/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 09/16/2024 16:04
Amata Attends White House 30th Anniversary Celebration of Historic Violence Against Women Act
Washington, D.C. -Congresswoman Uifa'atali Amata attended last week's 30th anniversary celebration of the groundbreaking 1994 Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), which provided protections and support for victims of domestic violence, and is funded by Congress annually with bipartisan support.
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President Biden is in this photo by Congresswoman Amata taken on the White House South Lawn last Wednesday
"We must keep working together to reduce domestic violence in American Samoa and all through the country, but it's appropriate to pause and appreciate the progress of the last 30 years in providing important tools for prevention, prosecution, training for officials, and especially services, shelter and restoration for victims," said Aumua Amata.
Over the past 30 years, the Act has been broadened and strengthened during reauthorizations under majorities of both parties, and a hotline added.
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Congresswoman Amata at the White House 30th Anniversary of VAWA Celebration
President Biden, who passed the bill as a U.S. Senator at the time, led the White House celebration, and gave remarks on the South Lawn, in which he stated, "The Violence Against Women Act broke the dam of congressional and cultural resistance, brought this hidden epidemic out of the shadows, and began to shift the legal and social burdens away from the survivors onto the perpetrators where they belonged."
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