The White House

Office of the Vice President

For Immediate Release
September 23, 2014

Readout of Vice President Biden’s Call with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos

Vice President Biden spoke today with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos to review efforts to strengthen bilateral trade ties and increase regional cooperation on matters like energy and security. The Vice President and President Santos continued their active dialogue on regional issues, and discussed Colombia’s potential role in international peacekeeping operations. The Vice President also reaffirmed unwavering U.S. support for the Colombian government’s efforts to negotiate a lasting and just peace with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. 

The White House

Office of the Vice President

For Immediate Release
September 22, 2014

Readout of the Vice President's Call with Polish Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz

Vice President Joe Biden spoke today with Polish Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz. The Vice President congratulated Prime Minister Kopacz on her government’s swearing in and pledged to continue close consultation on a range of bilateral and global issues. The Vice President underscored that Poland is one of the United States’ closest allies and thanked Prime Minister Kopacz for Poland’s contributions to international security, and for its leadership on the crisis in Ukraine. He also underscored the need to further strengthen bilateral commercial relations, and noted that Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker would be leading a delegation of the President’s Export Council to Poland on September 28-30.

President Obama Launches the "It's On Us" Campaign to End Sexual Assault on Campus

Tanya Somanader
Tanya Somanader
September 19, 2014
02:40 PM EST

Watch on YouTube

Today at the White House, President Obama joined Vice President Biden and Americans across the country to launch the “It’s On Us” initiative -- an awareness campaign to help put an end to sexual assault on college campuses. 

It's On Us asks everyone -- men and women across America -- to make a personal commitment to step off the sidelines and be part of the solution to campus sexual assault. 

"An estimated one in five women has been sexually assaulted during her college years -- one in five," the President noted. "Of those assaults, only 12 percent are reported, and of those reported assaults, only a fraction of the offenders are punished." 

Related Topics: Violence Prevention, Women

The White House

Office of the Vice President

For Immediate Release
September 16, 2014

Readout of the Vice President's Call with Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk

Vice President Joe Biden spoke with Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk today to congratulate him on Ukraine’s ratification of its Association Agreement with the European Union. The Vice President also congratulated the Prime Minister on the passage of laws on Amnesty and Special Status for parts of the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, in keeping with the ceasefire protocol agreed to by Russia and Ukraine in Minsk on September 5, 2014. Finally, the Vice President and Prime Minister agreed that Russia and its separatist proxies now needed to immediately implement in full the twelve points of the Minsk Agreement, including the removal of all Russian troops from Ukraine and the creation of a security area in the border regions of Ukraine and the Russian Federation.

Vice President Biden: "20 years ago today"

Lindsay Holst
Lindsay Holst
September 13, 2014
06:57 PM EST

Today, the following message was sent from Vice President Biden on the 20th anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) to those signed up to receive updates from the White House.

Didn't get the email? Make sure you're signed up to receive updates from the White House and senior Administration officials.

Twenty years ago today, the Violence Against Women Act was signed into law. It remains my proudest legislative achievement -- but it didn't happen because of me.

It happened because, at a time when kicking a woman in the stomach or pushing her down the stairs was not taken seriously as a crime -- and at a time when domestic violence against women was considered a "family affair" -- something remarkable happened.

Incredibly brave and courageous women began speaking up.

Women like Marla, a model whose face was slashed by two men because she'd refused her landlord's entrees, and who was questioned for 20 minutes during the trial about why she was wearing a miniskirt. As if she had asked for or welcomed this repugnant act of violence. Marla spoke out.

Women like Christine, who was raped in a dorm room by a friend's boyfriend. Christine said she hadn't even known she'd been raped, because she'd known the man. But Christine added her voice.

There were so many more. Women who had their arms broken with hammers and heads beaten with pipes, who were among the 21,000 women who were assaulted, raped, and murdered in a single week in America at the time.

All of these women are victims. But they're also survivors.

Related Topics: Violence Prevention, Women, Additional Issues

Continuing the Conversation: VAWA at 20

Dr. Tiffany McNair
September 13, 2014
09:00 AM EST

President Barack Obama signs S. 47, the “Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013,” March 7, 2013

President Barack Obama signs S. 47, the “Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013,” (VAWA), which reauthorizes several Violence Against Women Act grant programs through FY 2018; and the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 through FY 2017, in the Sidney R. Yates Auditorium at the U.S. Department of Interior in Washington, D.C., March 7, 2013. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)

Today is the 20th anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA).  On Tuesday, I had the incredible privilege of attending a commemoration of this milestone held at the National Archives. During the program, I learned more about the history of VAWA – stories recounting the long road leading up to its passage, its victories and challenges over the years, and the lives it has and continues to change. One survivor vividly shared her account of abuse, near death, plans of escape, and eventual freedom from her husband’s victimization. 

Vice President Biden then delivered a powerful address, using the lens of VAWA to chronicle our nation’s evolution surrounding the dialogue on domestic violence and our treatment of women and girls; how this kind of violence no longer represents a “family affair,” but rather behavior that should be exposed to the “sunlight” for the injustice that it is. While I was only in junior high when VAWA first emerged, now as a physician and advocate for women’s health, I recognize the positive impact VAWA has had on the patients and communities I serve. Nevertheless, since joining the Office of the Vice President as a White House Fellow, I am also quickly learning how much more we all still have to do.

Related Topics: Women

The White House

Office of the Vice President

For Immediate Release
September 12, 2014

Statement by the Vice President on the Passing of Former Northern Ireland First Minister Reverend Dr. Ian Paisley

I was deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Reverend Dr. Ian Paisley.  Dr. Paisley was a man who cared deeply about his faith, his family, and his community.  Through the negotiation of the St. Andrews Agreement and then during his tenure as First Minister of Northern Ireland, he demonstrated that one can hold strong convictions and still seek meaningful compromise in service of a lasting peace.  In doing so, he helped bring stability and hope to Northern Ireland.  I send my condolences to his wife Eileen and the rest of his family as they mourn his loss.

West Wing Week: 9/12/14 or, "Meeting Those Threats with Strength and Resolve"

September 11, 2014 | 4:03 | Public Domain

This week the President concluded a summit in Wales with NATO allies, hosted a White House meeting with Congressional leadership on foreign policy, addressed the nation in primetime and commemorated the 13th anniversary of the September 11th attacks.

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"We Will Only Grow Stronger": President Obama Commemorates the 13th Anniversary of the 9/11 Attacks

Tanya Somanader
Tanya Somanader
September 11, 2014
11:21 AM EST
President Obama, Defense Secretary Hagel, and Gen. Martin Dempsey listen to the national anthem, Sept. 11, 2014

President Barack Obama, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, and Gen. Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, listen to the national anthem during the September 11th Observance Ceremony at the Pentagon Memorial in Arlington, Va., Sept. 11, 2014. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Thirteen years ago today, our nation was irrevocably changed by horrific acts of terror that took the lives of thousands of innocent people. Across the country, Americans pay tribute to their memories and honor all those who have made great sacrifices in service to our country. 

At 8:46 a.m. ET this morning, the time that the first plane hit the World Trade Center, President Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, and Vice President Joe Biden joined Americans in observing a moment of silence:

Related Topics: Homeland Security, Virginia

"Even One Case Is Too Many": Vice President Biden Marks the 20th Anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act

Tanya Somanader
Tanya Somanader
September 09, 2014
07:54 PM EST
Vice President Biden on the 20th Anniversary of VAWA

Vice President Joe Biden speaks on the 20th anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act, at the National Archives, in Washington, D.C. September 9, 2014. (Official White House Photo by David Lienemann)

Twenty years ago this week, President Clinton signed into law the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) -- a landmark law that empowered women and children to expose and prosecute domestic violence. The signing of the law marked the end of an arduous road to pass the legislation and put our society on the path toward effectively combating such heinous abuses. Vice President Joe Biden, then a U.S. Senator, not only authored VAWA, but helped drive it through Congress and deliver it to the President's desk. 

Today, standing in front of the U.S. Constitution at the National Archives, Vice President Biden reflected on how far we've come in our ability -- and willingness -- to address domestic violence:

Even just 20 years ago, few people wanted to talk about violence against women as a national epidemic, let alone something to do something about. No one even back then denied that kicking your wife in the stomach, or smashing her in the face, or pushing her down the stairs in public was repugnant. But our society basically turned a blind eye. And hardly anyone ever intervened, directly intervened -- other than my father and a few other people I knew.

And no one -- virtually no one called it a crime. It was a family affair. It was a family affair. Laws -- state laws when we attempted at a state or a federal level to design laws to prevent actions that were said that we now are celebrating, we were told, I was told, many of us were told that it would cause the disintegration of the family. That was the phrase used. It would cause the disintegration of the family.

"This was the ugliest form of violence that exists," he said, and though many wanted to see these crimes remain hidden in the shadows, the Vice President was committed to bringing them out into the light. "We had to let the nation know," he said, "because I was absolutely convinced -- and remain absolutely convinced -- in the basic decency of the American people, and that if they knew, they would begin to demand change."

"The only way to change this culture was to expose it . . . the best disinfectant is sunlight."

Related Topics: Women, Massachusetts