KANSAS CITY - Following passage in the U.S. Senate of legislation renewing the Violence Against Women Act, former Jackson County Prosecutor and U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill-alongside current Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker and Boone County Prosecutor Dan Knight-appeared in Kansas City and Columbia to call on the U.S. House to end its nine-month delay and pass the critical legislation.

"The Violence Against Women Act provides prosecutors and law enforcement the resources they need to protect Missourians from domestic abuse and to assure offenders are held to account," McCaskill said. "This reauthorization has now passed two times in the Senate-the President is waiting to sign it-we're all waiting for action in the House. They need to act."

At today's events, McCaskill discussed her work with victims of domestic violence as the first female prosecutor for Jackson County. As head of the largest prosecutor's office in the state, McCaskill established a special Domestic Violence Unit to combat domestic violence and child abuse.

The Violence Against Women Act reauthorization passed the Senate this week with a strong bipartisan vote of 78-22, and now awaits consideration in the U.S. House. A similar measure passed the Senate last year, but never received a vote in the House. Originally passed in 1994, support for the legislation's renewal in 2000 was passed with a 95-0 vote in the Senate, and a 371-1 vote in the House. An even stronger consensus emerged in 2005, with unanimous approval in the Senate, and a 415-4 vote in the House.

Last year, McCaskill was joined by every Democratic woman in the U.S. Senate as they signed a letter sent to all the women in the U.S. House, encouraging them to pass the languishing VAWA reauthorization.

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