By Kaitlan Collins (Brooke Lynch)
Senator Gillibrand's first bill, the “Time to Process Bill", passed through the Judiciary Committee this Monday, October 24. The bill works to lengthen the statute of limitations on sexual assault in states to a minimum of 7 years.
The bill originally required that states enforce a statute of limitations of at least 7 years for crimes related to sexual assault. However, Republican senators seemed very worried about the legality of the bill in regards to the 10th amendment which asserts states’ rights, forcing Democrats to change the language of the bill. As the bill now stands, states will not be required to enforce the recommended 7 years but will receive an extra $5 million in funding if they choose to do so.
Despite being worried about the bill’s legality regarding the 10th amendment, Republican senators were less worried about introducing an amendment that violated the 8th amendment, the right against cruel and unusual punishment. Senator Cornyn introduced an amendment which would allow states to persecute people convicted of sexual assault through the death penalty or castration. While the death penalty is still used by many states in the country, castration is much less common and would likely be determined to be “cruel and unusual” in a court of law.
Senator Cornyn called the bill “legally dubious” in his press release following the bill’s passage through committee but condemned Democrats for rejecting his amendment which would have also made the bill “legally dubious.” Cornyn asked Democrats in his press release “why do you choose the side of rapists over their victims?” Republican Senators Blackburn, Cornyn, Cruz, and Hawley were the only ones to vote in favor of the bill. For more on their response to this amendment, check out my colleague Rachel Maddow’s article.
While the Republicans in the Judiciary Committee assured that castration is an equitable punishment for the crime of sexual assault, their introduction of this amendment could be seen as them trying to quietly kill the bill by making it illegal in a court of law.
Democrats were set on working with the Republicans in order to pass the bill through committee. They compromised on an amendment introduced by Senator Cornyn which gave increased funding to police departments to properly handle and investigate sexual assault. Democrats compromised by ensuring that a majority of the increased funding would go to private and non-profit groups that focus on sexual crimes, with the rest of the funding going to police departments.
In a twist, Senator Mitt Romney who was originally a cosponsor of the bill voted against the bill in committee. When questioned as to why they voted against the bill, Romney explained they originally cosponsored the bill because Senator Gillibrand assured them it would have no cost. After the changes to the bill added $5 million of funding to each state that added the new statutes, Romney decided it would be too costly for him to vote in favor of the bill. Romney stated, “While I did believe in Senator Gillibrand’s bill, I also believe in decreasing our national spending and ending our ever-growing debt.”
While Romney voted against the bill because of the new funding added to it, Romney did vote for the additional funding added to the bill through Senator Cornyn and Markey’s amendments. It leaves us to question whether Romney truly was concerned about national spending, or if he was just playing party lines. It also seemed Romney wasn’t paying the closest attention to the committee’s proceedings, as he was caught on his phone multiple times.
Photo: Senator Romney caught on their phone during committee
Senator Cornyn was especially critical of Gillibrand’s $5 million amendment. Cornyn condemned the amendment calling it “coercive” in committee. It seems the Republicans aren’t aware of the difference between ‘coercion’ and ‘incentivizing.’ The amendment doesn’t take away any funding from states, instead, it incentivizes states to adhere to the bill’s recommendation by offering them increased money for complying.
In fact, Gillibrand told us the amendment was originally Cornyn’s idea to begin with, stating “he did suggest we only give states between $100,000 to $1 million to incentivize them to raise the statute of limitations to seven years.” The Democrats decided to raise it to $5 million due to believing Cornyn’s suggested amount would not be enough to incite action from states.
It seems like no matter what Gillibrand did to the bill, the Republicans would not be happy with it. That was evident in the final vote for the bill, with an 8-7 majority the bill passed through committee, despite all Republicans voting against its passage.
Senator Gillibrand still hopes to work with Republicans on the bill and is looking forward to seeing the bill on the floor. “I am willing to work with [Cornyn] and the rest of the Republican Party to modify this bill so that it can pass, but I am done with the political theater that my Republican colleagues continue to partake in. This bill is extremely important to me and I want it to be taken seriously.”
Yorumlar