The Obama administration announced yesterday that it would consider vetoing two bills put forth by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, both of which contain anti-gay provisions. In its one Statement of Administration Policy, the White House outlined numerous reasons it opposes the House version of the National Defense Authorization Act, which contains a military “license to bully” provision and restricts same-sex marriages or similar ceremonies from being held on military bases. The other Statement of Administration Policy addressed the Violence Against Women Act, from which House Republicans stripped all protections for minority groups:

H.R. 4970 retreats from this forward progress by failing to include several critical provisions that are part of the Senate-passed VAWA reauthorization bill.  For instance, H.R. 4970 fails to provide for concurrent special domestic violence criminal jurisdiction by tribal authorities over non-Indians, and omits clarification of tribal courts’ full civil jurisdiction regarding certain protection orders over non-Indians.  Given that three out of five Native American women experience domestic violence in their lifetime, these omissions in H.R. 4970 are unacceptable.

The bill also fails to include language that would prohibit discrimination against LGBT victims in VAWA grant programs.  No sexual assault or domestic violence victim should be beaten, hurt, or killed because they could not access needed support, assistance, and protection.  In addition, H.R. 4970 does not include important improvements to the Clery Act found in the Senate-passed bill that would address the high rates of dating violence and sexual assault experienced by young people in college and other higher education institutions.  The bill also weakens critical new provisions in the Senate-passed bill that would improve safety for victims living in subsidized housing.

Last year, anti-gay provisions that House Republicans had added to the defense budget were dropped in conference. Hopefully VAWA can achieve similar agreement this year.

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), vice chairwoman of the House Republican Caucus, believes that domestic violence in LGBT relationships is a ‘separate issue’ and should not be included in a bill that aims to prevent domestic violence.

In an interview with MSNBC’s Hardball Host Chris Matthews, McMorris Rodgers pushed back against the Democrats’ call for a provision in the Violence Against Women Act that applies to LGBT couples, saying that domestic violence in LGBT couples is a “side issue,” and that Congress should not be addressing LGBT victims until they address the federal status of LGBT couples:

MATTHEWS: Why don’t you cover people who are not in a traditional marriage? Why would you limit it to just traditional marriage folk?

MCMORRIS RODGERS: Well– what I — Those are side issues that have been attached to this bill and I think it’s very important to–

MATTHEWS: Well it’s not side issues if you’re getting beat up by your partner. That’s not a side issue, it’s your life.

MCMORRIS RODGERS: That is an issue — there is nothing under federal law that currently recognizes same-sex couples and so if we’re going to have that debate in Congress is should be a separate debate from the reauthorization of the Violence against women act–

MATTHEWS: But Congresswoman, you write the law. You said there’s nothing in the law, you write the law, you can write it any way you want. Why not write it to include people in these different kinds of relationships that could involve physical violence?

MCMORRIS RODGERS: That’s a separate issue from the Violence Against Women Act and we are committed to getting it — it should be debated separately, if we’re going to change our federal law related to same-sex couples.

Watch it:

Cases of LGBT domestic violence increased 38 percent from last year. Seven people died from same-sex domestic abuse. And of those who sought it, 44 percent of LGBT victims were turned away from traditional shelters. McMorris Rodgers may consider it a separate issue, but abuse is abuse, no matter the victim’s sexual orientation.

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA)

The Senate began debate on Wednesday to reauthorize the landmark Violence Against Women Act, a measure that prevents domestic violence and aids victims of domestic or sexual abuse. Earlier this year, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) led a Republican effort to block renewal of the Act because he objected to the bill’s protections for LGBT individuals, undocumented immigrants and Native Americans, causing every single Republican member of the Senate Judiciary Committee to vote against its reauthorization. House Republicans have also refused to take up the measure earlier this year.

Now, the GOP is crafting watered-down proposals that specifically exclude LGBT people, Native Americans, immigrants, and others:

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, joined by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, is preparing an alternative that would alter several Democratic provisions. Their alternative would cap visas available to legal and illegal immigrants who suffer abuse at 10,000 a year, compared to 15,000 proposed by the Democratic bill offered by Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. It does not specify, as the Democratic bill does, that violence against gays, lesbians and transgenders are part of the act. The Leahy bill expands the authority of Native American officials to handle cases of abuse of Indian women by non-Indians. The Republican substitute permits tribal authorities to go to federal court for protective orders on behalf of abused Native American women.

The base Senate bill would reauthorize VAWA for five years with funding of $659.3 million a year, down $136.5 million a year from the last VAWA act, which expired several months ago. The money goes to such programs as legal assistance for victims, enforcement of protection orders, transitional housing aid and youth prevention programs.

Sponsors of the House bill, which is still being drafted, said it would be close to the Grassley-Hutchison approach. It was introduced by 12 GOP women lawmakers and three members of the Republican leadership, including Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia.

Mitt Romney, the party’s presumptive presidential nominee, has refused to say which version of the Violence Against Women Act he supports, but as Attorney General Eric Holder put it, “For the life of me, I cannot begin to understand why this is something that is a debate within Congress.”

“It is inconceivable to me now that we are in the process of a debate about something that has proven so effective and is clearly so needed for the future,” Holder added. “It must be passed, and it must be passed soon.”

Research indicates that domestic violence among same-sex couples occurs at similar rates as domestic violence among straight couples. Unfortunately, domestic violence victims in same-sex relationships are not receiving the help they need due to the lack of legal recognition of same-sex relationships, law enforcement’s failure to identity and properly handle domestic violence cases involving people of the same sex, and the shortage of resources available to victims of same-sex partner domestic abuse. A 2011 report from the National Anti-Violence Project, however, that rates of domestic abuse and violence have increased among couples in the LGBT community and that support and protections for survivors is low. Reported instances of domestic violence increased 38 percent from last year, including seven deaths, while over 44 percent of survivors were turned away from traditional shelters and over 54 percent who sought court orders for protection from abuse were denied.