#ProLife implications of #HR2119, the Family Violence Prevention and Services Improvement Act of 2021

Today, October 26, 2021, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 2119, the “Family Violence Prevention and Services Improvement Act of 2021,” by a vote of 228 – 200.

Background: The Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (FVPSA), which was enacted as Title III of the Child Abuse Amendments of 1984 (P.L. 98-457), is one of two main pieces of legislation used to provide federal support for preventing and responding to domestic violence. H.R. 2119 would reauthorize FVSPA through fiscal year 2026. More information on the FVPSA is available in this report by the Congressional Research Service and in the attached resources from the Education and Labor Committee.

Because previous iterations of the law stated that the assistance provided did not allow “reimbursement for any health-care services,” it was clear that abortion would not be funded through this program.

H.R. 2119 removes that prohibition and fails to include Hyde protections to prevent the funding available through the FVPSA from paying for elective abortion.

In Context: Progressive Learning

The pro-life movement has patiently worked for years to be in a position to overturn Roe v. Wade and enact pro-life legislation into law to punish the evil of taking human life through abortion. Along the way, they've learned that a party majority doesn't necessarily mean there is an ideological majority.

Some criticize Republicans for doing nothing to protect human life during the Bush 43 years when Republicans had control of the Legislative and Executive Branches of government. They never had, however, a 60-vote majority in the Senate to overcome the filibuster. Democrats had that briefly a few years later which is how we ended up with the Affordable Care Act.

Progressives have been ascendant in the Democratic party, and are beginning to wield sizeable clout within the Democratic party. Some have been disappointed to learn that a party majority doesn't necessarily mean there is an ideological majority.

Congress Update

Daily Digests – House • Senate — Prayers — Committee Reports

Related Headlines:

Senate — Daily Leader Remarks • Actions begun, passed, declined, summarized

U.S. Senate confirms Gelpí and O’Hearn to federal judgeships

Senate Narrowly Confirms Due Process Foe Catherine Lhamon To Education Department

GOP blocks Senate Democrats' revised elections bill


House — Weekly Leader Colloquy • Actions passed, summarized

Jan. 6 Committee, House votes to hold Trump ally Steve Bannon in contempt

House passes bill to expand workplace protections for nursing mothers

In Context: The Intervening Election

The Senate often has an “intervening day” in between when intended action is filed and when votes are taken. Give the cooling saucer a chance to cool.

Going up an order of magnitude on the time scale, Congress is in a two-month intervening period between debt limit actions. While the two sides remain at heated odds, there is a factor that could have a cooling effect: Virginia.

Congress Update

Daily Digests – House • Senate — Prayers — Committee Reports

Related Headlines:


House of Representatives

House votes to raise debt ceiling

In Context: Strategic Pause

After rejecting a request for a strategic pause from a Senator from his own party a month ago, Majority Leader Schumer this week accepted an offer for a pause from Republican Leader McConnell. Wall Street was getting nervous and credit rating agencies were announcing intended changes if the debt ceiling was not raised.

While Republicans felt they had a strong case for having nothing to do with a debt limit increase, they gave a temporary reprieve to ensure their case was airtight. Make no mistake, if they are not taken seriously, if the U.S. hits a hard fiscal limit, and Members of Congress start taking incoming from all corners of the economy, the pressure to “do something” will be immense, unlike anything yet seen.

Congress Update

Daily Digests – House • Senate — Prayers — Committee Reports

Senate — Daily Leader Remarks • Actions begun, passed, declined, summarized

Related Headlines:

Senate

Executive Session

Lauren King confirmed to U.S. district court

Legislative Session

Congress sends 30-day highway funding patch to Biden after infrastructure stalls

S. 1301, the legislative vehicle to suspend the debt limit
Senate approves short-term debt ceiling increase

Schumer Gloats (Full Speech), Senate Democrats are still vowing not to act later via reconciliation

Biden Warned In Letter Ripping Schumer’s Speech: ‘Even Democratic Senators Were Visibly Embarrassed’

Why the Senate blinked — and stepped back from the brink of a federal default

In Context: Legislative Rock Paper Scissors

There are three items at hand in Washington right now, each of which has similarities to items in the zero-sum game Rock Paper Scissors: the bipartisan infrastructure bill (rock), the partisan budget reconciliation option (paper), and the debt limit (scissors). Each one of these items is functioning as leverage over another.

Congress Update

Daily Digests – House • Senate — Prayers — Committee Reports

Related Headlines:

Senate

Executive Session

Schumer moves to break Cruz’s vise on diplomatic nominations

Parsing the drama in the Senate over Biden’s nominations

Senate votes to confirm Warren ally Rohit Chopra as CFPB chief

Tracy Stone-Manning, of Montana, to be Director of the Bureau of Land Management
Senate confirms eco-terrorist-linked Biden nominee who endorsed population control

Legislative Session

H.R. 5305, Extending Government Funding and Delivering Emergency Assistance Act
Senate Republicans thwart legislation pairing government funding with debt limit increase • Senate Votes Down Republican Amendment to Block Biden Vaccine Mandate (Still No Timeline for Implementing OSHA Vaccine Rule)

Unanimous Consent

Senate stalls borrowing limit increase


House of Representatives

Suspension of the Rules

US House passes Libya sanctions bill after blow to unity government

House passes bill to end crack and powder cocaine sentencing disparity

House passes legislation to strengthen federal cybersecurity workforce

Considered Pursuant to a Rule

NDAA Amendment (prior week)
House Votes to End Support for Long Entanglement in Yemen

S. 1301 (legislative vehicle)
House Passes Debt Ceiling Bill to Suspend Limit • Two Dems, one Republican vote against parties on debt ceiling

In Context

Three issues of national importance are rising to a climax as September 2021 comes to an end: • how much innocent red blood will be shed, • how much red ink its finances can endure, and • how much of a red agenda it will pass.

Sometimes people say things that communicate more than they intend. This week, as part of his efforts to justify yet another increase, Senate Majority Leader Schumer noted Congress has previously raised the debt ceiling about 80 times. In other words, the debt limit has not done much limiting. Now, Republicans have found a use for the debt ceiling: stopping a $3.5 trillion spending bill full of a leftist, trajectory-changing agenda. Leader Schumer has filed cloture on H.R. 5305, the bill to fund the government and raise the debt limit (yes, as recorded on page S6666 of this year’s Congressional Record).