Amanda Terkel On MSNBC: How Violence Against Women Act Became Partisan Issue

Protecting women from domestic violence and abuse is one more issue dividing Democrats and Republicans, as The Huffington Post's Amanda Terkel pointed out in a recent story. Terkel appeared on MSNBC Thursday to discuss how the Violence Against Women Act, which has been reauthorized twice with overwhelming bipartisan support since President Clinton signed it in 1994, received no GOP support in the Senate Judiciary Committee this time around.

"Only Democrats, no Republicans supported it," she said. "This is clearly just showing what a partisan Congress this is and how far apart both sides are. Even this legislation is partisan."

MSNBC host Tamron Hall asked Terkel about Republican objections, which include protections for undocumented immigrants who are victims of domestic abuse -- a provision Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) said could lead to "a pathway to U.S. citizenship for foreign con artists and criminals."

"People aren't getting special treatment," Terkel said. "It says you just can't discriminate against anyone if they happen to be gay, lesbian, transgender and a number of undocumented women who get to stay in the country if they're victims of these crimes. It's a pretty small jump, from 10,000 to 15,000 visas. And these aren't new visas, they're just ones that haven't been used in the past."

Read Terkel's piece here.