ASSOCIATED PRESS For his final act in Congress, retiring Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) is holding up a bill that would help abused Native women. WASHINGTON ― Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) is single-handedly blocking legislation that would help abused Native women, and from the looks of it, it’s because of a relatively small provision that he’s prepared to kill the entire bill over. Goodlatte, who is retiring this month, is holding up a bill known as Savanna’s Act, which would improve the federal government’s response to the unbelievably high rates of missing and murdered Native women. The statistics on violence directed at Native women are stunning: 84 percent of Native women experience violence in their lifetime, and in some counties, they are murdered at 10 times the national average. But because Goodlatte chairs the Judiciary Committee, which has jurisdiction over the bill, they’re deferring to him.

Source: Huffington Post December 20, 2018 21:56 UTC