There’s a lot of tension and animosity between Republicans and Democrats in Congress these days. Democrats have openly declared that Republicans are racist; they’ve taken shots at conservatives across the nation for trying to uphold voter ID laws and other commonsense election rules.
Meanwhile, Democrats have come under fire from Republicans for the bills they want to pass. For instance, Democrats are trying to pass infrastructure legislation; only more than 90% of the bill has absolutely nothing to do with infrastructure. When Republicans called out Democrats for this, the latter attempted to change the definition of infrastructure.
Despite the very real divides between the right and the left, both sides managed to find common ground this week. That common ground entails the passing of legislation to boost resources for the Crime Victims Fund, as Newsmax documents.
What to Know About the Crime Victims Fund
The Crime Victims Fund dates back to 1984, the period in which Biden worked as a senator in Congress. Ultimately, the purpose of the Crime Victims Fund is to aid individuals who have been victimized by human trafficking, child abuse, sexual assault, domestic abuse, etc.
Happening Now: President Biden delivers remarks and signs H.R.1652, the VOCA Fix to Sustain the Crime Victims Fund Act of 2021 into law. https://t.co/GO8N3k4k5R
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) July 22, 2021
Over the years, however, the Crime Victims Fund has become financially depleted. This inherently means fewer resources are available to aid victims of the aforementioned crimes. Thursday, however, marked a turning point. Every single senator in Congress voted in favor of legislation to move penalties and fines associated with federal cases towards the Crime Victims Fund.
The Crimes Victims Fund is a lifeline serving millions of victims & survivors, including children. That’s why Congress passed legislation to prevent future cuts to this program & deliver immediate relief to those in need. Yesterday we sent this vital bill to @POTUS to become law. pic.twitter.com/kbifGhAUCZ
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) July 22, 2021
Following the unified bipartisan support for this legislation, President Biden signed it into law on Thursday. This happened during a signing ceremony at the White House. Just as the legislation garnered bipartisan senatorial support, Republicans and Democrats both attended the signing ceremony yesterday.
In light of this rare show of bipartisanship, some Americans are now wondering whether they should expect to see any repeats going ahead in the future.
The Odds of Future Bipartisanship in Washington
Future bipartisanship is certainly a possibility; however, it is almost unheard of for legislation to garner support from every single member of the Senate. Whether or not that level of bipartisanship happens again will just remain to be seen.
However, Republicans and Democrats in Congress have been working on getting police reform legislation passed for quite some time. With that said, there are still certain disagreements between the two parties about what should and shouldn’t be included in the bill.
Both parties in Congress and @POTUS came together today to protect the Crime Victims Fund, which provides critical services for crime victims across our country. I’m so proud to be an original cosponsor of the #VOCAfix act & to be a part of this signing ceremony. pic.twitter.com/IRY045ydyG
— Sen. Patrick Leahy (@SenatorLeahy) July 23, 2021
For instance, some Democrats want to scrap qualified immunity for police officers, a change that Republicans are not at all on board with. Whether or not both sides can ultimately come together on police reform will be seen as time passes.
What do you think about Republicans and Democrats uniting to pass legislation for the Crime Victims Fund? Let us know below in the comments section.
