Violence Against Women Act in the context of "Joe Biden"

Joe Biden served as a United States Senator representing Delaware from January 3, 1973, to January 15, 2009, then served as Vice President of the United States from January 20, 2009 to January 20, 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Biden was narrowly elected to the Senate in 1972 and won re-election six other times; having served for 36 years, he remains Delaware's longest-serving U.S. senator. As a senator, Biden drafted and led the effort to pass the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act and the Violence Against Women Act. He also oversaw six U.S. Supreme Court confirmation hearings, including the contentious hearings for Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas. He resigned from his seat to serve as Vice President of the United States under President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2017; making him Senate President.

As a county councilor, Biden ran against incumbent Republican J. Caleb Boggs in 1972, after facing no Democratic rivals. He ran under a small-scale family-run campaign, but his energy and voter connectivity appealed to the public. After Biden was elected, his wife and infant daughter died in a car accident. Biden was persuaded not to resign and commuted to Delaware throughout his Senate career to care for his two sons, Beau and Hunter, both of whom had survived the crash. He married Jill Tracy Jacobs in 1977; their daughter Ashley was born in 1981.

The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, commonly referred to as the 1994 Crime Bill, or the Clinton Crime Bill, is an act of Congress dealing with crime and law enforcement; it became law in 1994. It is the largest crime bill in the history of the United States and consisted of 356 pages that provided for 100,000 new police officers, $9.7 billion in funding for prisons which were designed with significant input from experienced police officers. Sponsored by U.S. Representative Jack Brooks of Texas, the bill was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton. Then-Senator Joe Biden of Delaware drafted the Senate version of the legislation in cooperation with the National Association of Police Organizations, also incorporating the Assault Weapons ban and the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) with Senator Orrin Hatch.

The Violent Crime Prevention and Law Enforcement Act was first conceived by the government in the early 1990s, with Senator Joe Biden, then chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, playing a major role in drafting the law. Biden worked closely with law enforcement officials, especially the National Police Officers Association, due to his keenness to reduce crime and impose security and peace in the United States. Biden developed measures aimed at reducing crime by formulating some basic concepts on how to avoid crimes or punish criminals with severe penalties. He also added that when drafting the law, certain strategies should be used to help punish and rehabilitate prisoners. He also said that the National Association of Police Organizations played a major role in drafting the bill by formulating policies that were fully aligned with the priorities of law enforcement agencies across the United States. More deeply, the police, due to their many patrols in areas where crimes are rampant, helped reduce those risks because the police arrested a large percentage of drug dealers, gangs and criminals. Republicans argued that the bill would provide significant funding for crime prevention programs that purported to be social rehabilitation, while drug treatment programs and youth crime initiatives could cost the state much money but could be ineffective. They argued that punitive measures could be easier and more effective.