Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) told MSNBC on Monday that she voted against final passage of the Violence Against Women Act late last week in part because of its expanded protections — for gays, Native Americans and undocumented immigrants.
She voted for a more modest House GOP VAWA, but after that failed, she voted against the final Senate version. Along with gripes about the allocation of money and the specifics of trafficking provisions, she had other concerns.
“I didn’t like the way it was expanded to include other different groups,” Blackburn said of the Senate VAWA. “What you need is something that is focused specifically to help the shelters and to help out law enforcement who is trying to work with the crimes that have been committed against women and helping them to stand up.”
