Once again politics rears its ugly head to trample on the people. Our Constitution / Bill of Rights guarantees that we all have certain rights. Nowhere does it say that some people have more rights than others. All Americans are considered to be created equal. Yet now in the 21st century, we have our political system deciding who has more rights and who shouldn't have as much. And the group under scrutiny today is "American Women"!!! Yes, after all that has been done to secure the rights of women, we appear to be doing back to square one.
Of the three groups of women mentioned in the discussion, the media may choose to focus on the lesbian and illegal immigrants (Believe me they will) but the actual discussion point of the issue is the most American women of all, the Native American Indians!!
BACKGROUND: The issue under discussion is the Violence Against Women Act of 1994. It became law and has been reauthorized every time with no issues. (I admit to not realizing these Acts had to be reauthorized every five years. That is part of the problem, enacting them gets attention but letting them disappear like the last year of production of the American Motors Pacer gets no attention).
The focus of the Act is to protect women from household / family / domestic violence. It also equips law agencies with the means to fight the abuse that occurs. The abuse continues but not at the levels previously known.
THE PROBLEM: In 2012, re-authorization of the bill passed the Senate 68-31, with 8 Republicans included; surprising in today's partisan politics environment. The only change of significance is that it now includes protection of women who are gay, illegal immigrants, or American Indians living on tribal jurisdictions. That last group - NATIVE AMERICAN WOMEN (you know the Americans who were here before the white man came and took it all away) is the sticking point.
The problem is the re-authorization now includes new protections for Native American women and the House Republicans object. The House striped provisions from the bill that wind up turning the clock back on women's rights. As expected, politics increased the level on squabbling when the White House refused to sign the House version. Reports are that despite efforts to resolve the issues, a deal could not be reached. A deal had to be made to ensure the rights of American Women?? A Deal ahd to be made to ensure people's right??? You have to be kidding!! Eric Cantor seems to be one of the Republican leaders fighting for his party's views.
SPECIFICS: The three new provisions provide more protection for those from the LGBT community, immigrants who may or may not be in this country illegally, and for women on American Indian Reservations. The facts are that women on American Indian Reservations are more more often the victim of domestic violence than those not on the reservations. I.E, they are easier vitims because they lack protection and thus make easier targets. The problem is that the Indian tribal court system are not allowed to hear these cases which often involve non-Native American people. The Senate would finally allow that to happen, the Republicans do not want to allow it. The House Republicans will not publicly discuss their specific reason but it appears that the fear is that if the tribal courts jurisdiction is allowed to be expanded, then bigger issues will come forth. If tribal jurisdiction is allowed to expand to address the issue of white men who attack a woman on the reservation, there might be no limit to how far the authority could expand.
MY COMMENTS: As I see it, the issue boils down to a simple question of do all people in this country deserve equal protection? Especially women on Native American Reservations? I don't recall the US Constitution saying We the certain people who have the power..., I thought it said We the PEOPLE ... When you think about it doesn't this go beyond even American law? Don't all people as human beings have certain rights whether their government choose to grant them or not. America stands on a belief in God and many are Christians and should that Christianity support the rights of women. Apparently not according to the house Republicans. For whatever reasons that they have yet to publicly state, the House does not want to ensure the rights of women on Native American Reservations.
By the way - As I researched this, and I encourage you to do the same, it appears that we are not simply talking about Native American women but ANY woman that happens to be on an American Indian Reservation. So if some white woman (or any other non-Native America woman) is visiting the reservation, she lacks the protection that others enjoy. Interesting.
Please support getting this back on track and the expanded version approved. Please do not let the word "Democrat" or "Republican" have any part of your thinking. I don't care what you think of John Boehner or Nancy Pelosi. Instead Stand up for what is right for a change and support the equal protection of all. This isn't about politics, it's about people's rights.
Here are links to official transcripts of the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights for those that are interested.
U.S. Constitution - http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_transcript.html
Bill of Rights - http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/bill_of_rights_transcript.html
