Congress Passes Violence Against Women Act - WTRF 7 News Sports Weather - Wheeling Steubenville

The Violence Against Women Act has passed the U.S. House of Representatives.  The bill authorizes over $650 million over five years for programs dealing with domestic violence, dating violence and stalking.    The new law will renew the one that expired in 2011, plus adds several new provisions. 

Vice President Joe Biden spoke shortly after the House voted to renew the legislation, which he first sponsored when he was in the Senate in 1994. "There's still too many women in this country who live in fear of  violence. There's still too many victims we mourn. There's an urgent need for the bill that got passed and it can't be more obvious in my view," Biden said.

The legislation passed by a vote of 286-138.