Angelina Jolie spent 48 hours in Washington, DC this week. She apparently made several visits to both the Biden White House and the Capitol. Her main purpose was to personally lobby congressmen, senators and the Biden administration to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act. VAWA used to be reauthorized in a bipartisan fashion whenever it came up, but the law expired at the end of 2018, and wouldn’t you know, it was never a legislative priority for Senate Republicans or the Trump White House. VAWA was one of Joe Biden’s signature achievements as a senator, and the Biden White House needs zero lobbying on its reauthorization, they’re already all in. In fact, I suspect that people in the Biden White House were the ones to ask Jolie to come to DC to meet with Republican senators on the fence like Joni Ernst.
While she was on the Hill, Angelina made time to personally thank the police officers who fended off insurrectionists on January 6th. She even posed for a photo with Officer Harry Dunn, one of the heroes of the day. Sen. Chuck Schumer and Sen. Ernst posted photos from Angelina’s visits to their offices (Schumer looked especially animated and pleased to see her). During Angelina’s stops to the Biden White House, she took meetings with Jen Psaki, communications director Kate Bedingfield and White House Gender Policy Council co-chair Jennifer Klein. She also stopped by the White House briefing room and spoke to reporters about why she was there, and she happily posed at the podium too. Here’s what Jolie said about why she’s lobbying for VAWA:
“It’s a health crisis, what is happening. And it’s going to be solved if we look at it as health and families and invest. … And there is the harm within the families, especially for the children and getting the care early, and the prevention.”
She said she had “good, bipartisan meetings” on Capitol Hill on Tuesday that she described as “encouraging.”
A spokesperson for Jolie told CNN: “UNHCR Special Envoy Angelina Jolie is in D.C. for a second day meeting with Senior White House and DOJ officials, and Senators to continue to advocate for the rights of women and children and health in families. In her meetings she will talk about the importance of VAWA reauthorization, FBI reforms, judicial training, and health equity including non-biased forensic evidence collection.”
[From CNN]
Coming on the heels of her Guardian Weekend interview, where she spoke with more detail about how much she feared for the safety of her children at Brad Pitt’s hands, it makes me wonder how quickly the Biden administration got in touch with her following that interview. It should also be noted that Jolie doesn’t cozy up to administrations or work on behalf of a political party – she is clearly there for VAWA, which should be a bipartisan issue.
Here are some tweets & photos of Jolie on the Hill and at the White House:
Met briefly this morning with the tireless and committed #AngelinaJolie this morning to talk about the importance of reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act and the importance of continuing to fight for women, children and families around the world
— Jen Psaki (@PressSec) September 15, 2021
As a survivor of sexual assault & domestic violence, I’m grateful for today’s important conversation with @UNHCRUSA Special Envoy Angelina Jolie about #VAWA. pic.twitter.com/BxPr9B3paA
— Joni Ernst (@SenJoniErnst) September 15, 2021
Thank you to Angelina Jolie for coming in today to talk about the fight to reauthorize VAWA in the Senate and how we can help support research on diagnosing injuries from domestic violence and child abuse to help survivors. pic.twitter.com/PeYvmzbVVl
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) September 14, 2021
Angelina Jolie greeted several officers who defended the Capitol on January 6, including Harry Dunn. She thanked him for his service. https://t.co/H1ED0Mp2Et pic.twitter.com/NtLMKkvIdY
— Julie Tsirkin (@JulieNBCNews) September 14, 2021
Angelina Jolie visits the White House Briefing Room, ahead of a meeting at the Justice Department to discuss reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act. pic.twitter.com/ymp2JDuI8H
— Peter Alexander (@PeterAlexander) September 15, 2021
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
