The process of putting her life and the lives of her children back together can be slow. As a community. we need to encourage women and children recovering from an abusive situation to become a strong. healthy. independent family. To set "one size fits all" provisions and arbitrary time limits for immigrant women is unfair. unreasonable and unconscionable. It shows no understanding of the trauma that a women go through. Just think of Monica Seles. the tennis star who was stabbed while on the tennis court. It took her 2 years to return to tennis due to the post traumatic stress disorder caused by a single attack. Although this was indeed a terrible. terrible trauma. consider the effect of years of battering and abuse some women suffer in their own homes. and think what it must take to recover from that kind of abuse. As we strive to reform our immigration policies in a thoughtful. and not punitive manner. we must be careful that proposed reforms dont eliminate protections that help women and children. particularly vulnerable women and children. escape dangerous. violent homes. Mr. President. all of the amendments I have offered today relating to domestic violence have been offered for the purposes of keeping the landmark legislation. the Violence Against Women Act. the strong protection for abused women and their children that it was intended to be.
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