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Potawatomi Chair Attends VAWA Signing
Posted 03/09/2013
Last week, President Obama signed the Violence Against Women Act. The act had been delayed in the U.S. House by Republicans who initially were concerned about some provisions. It eventually was allowed for a vote and was passed. One of the attendees at the signing was Forest County Potawotami Tribal Chair Gus Frank. Frank says he got invovled to promote a change in the law allowing for non-tribal members to be prosecuted by tribal courts for violence against tribal women...
"...because of the lack of prosecutions among people that are non-tribal coming in and commiting an act of violence against our women...those are the people that could be vulnerable. Could be women, could be somebody that has a different sexual preference..."
Chairman Frank says the measure was a common sense law...
"....it baffled me that we would have to go to this extent to have laws written to have laws written for the most vulnerable...for our mothers, our daughters, our grandmothers. As a society, I just don't know how we can allow for these things to be happening..."
Chairman Frank was sitting in the 30th row when the President signed the bill.
We'll have more with Gus Frank at 7:35 Monday morning.
