86R30601 BPG-D
 
  By: Reynolds H.C.R. No. 170
 
 
 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
         WHEREAS, The reauthorization of the Violence Against Women
  Act is critical to protecting Americans from gender-based violence,
  including domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and
  stalking; and
         WHEREAS, Gender-based violence has a devastating impact on
  survivors, their families, and their communities; such assaults can
  have serious health consequences for survivors and can disrupt
  their education, undermine their ability to work, and jeopardize
  their ability to maintain stable housing for themselves and their
  children; and
         WHEREAS, Since Congress passed VAWA in 1994, rates of
  violence, on average, have decreased; the act has been reauthorized
  three times, and H.R. 1585, the Violence Against Women
  Reauthorization Act of 2019, introduced in the 116th Congress, is a
  bipartisan bill that strengthens VAWA with modest yet important
  upgrades grounded in a modern understanding of gender-based
  violence and the needs of survivors from all backgrounds; and
         WHEREAS, The VAWA Reauthorization Act would improve services
  for victims and responses by health care systems; in addition, it
  includes provisions to combat online predators of the young,
  prevent campus violence, and reduce homicide rates by lawfully
  protecting survivors from abusers with firearms; it would also
  enhance legal tools to hold perpetrators accountable and increase
  access to justice and safety for American Indian and Alaska Native
  women; moreover, it would help mitigate the detrimental impact of
  gender-based violence on the economic security of survivors and
  support the ability of survivors to maintain or secure safe housing
  in public, subsidized, and assisted housing; and
         WHEREAS, All Americans deserve to live their lives in safety,
  free from the threat of violence, and although the nation has made
  significant progress in recent years, it can and should do more to
  protect the vulnerable and ensure availability of vital resources;
  now, therefore, be it
         RESOLVED, That the 86th Legislature of the State of Texas
  hereby respectfully urge the U.S. Congress to pass H.R. 1585, the
  Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2019; and, be it
  further
         RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
  copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to
  the president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of
  Representatives of the United States Congress, and to all the
  members of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that
  this resolution be entered in the Congressional Record as a
  memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.