WASHINGTON — Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo’s attempt to reauthorize the 18-year-old law has run into trouble from fellow Republicans because the bill expands tribal rights and adds protections for gays and illegal immigrants.

Senate Democrats seized on the issue Thursday, saying they’re shocked at any opposition to renewing the Violence Against Women Act, which passed in 1994 with bipartisan support. Many of the chamber’s female members lined up to speak on the Senate floor in favor of the reauthorization.

“It is disheartening that in the last several months, petty partisan gamesmanship has held up policies critical to women’s health,” Sen. Kay Hagan, a North Carolina Democrat.

Democrats won a fight just last week to preserve contraceptive health insurance coverage for women.

Fifty-eight senators have signed on to support the bill, but American Indian leaders, worried it would lack the 60 votes needed to avoid a filibuster, have launched a lobbying push, meeting with GOP senators.

The Crapo bill narrowly passed the Senate Judiciary Committee last month 10-8, with not a single Republican voting in favor. Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, hasn’t decided about the bill, a spokesman said.

LAW OFFERS LEGAL, OTHER HELP TO VICTIMS

According to a 2010 survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, domestic violence affects more than 12 million people each year. One in four women is a victim of severe physical violence by an intimate partner, the survey found.

The law encourages collaboration among law enforcement, health officials and community organizations. Among other things, it has paid for short-term housing for abused women and for grants to provide law enforcement with extra staffing, training and technical assistance.

The bill’s main sponsors are Crapo and Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Crapo said he doesn’t object to the new provision forbidding discrimination against gays and lesbians. “I don’t have a problem with that. There are people who have objections to it, but I don’t think that would stop the bill,” Crapo told the Idaho Statesman.

But Republican Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa complained about that language during the Judiciary Committee hearing, saying he’s seen no evidence of discrimination by those in the program.

“The substitute creates so many new programs for underserved populations that it risks losing the focus of helping victims … if every group is a priority, then of course no group is a priority,” Grassley said.

CRAPO: WE CAN WORK IT OUT

Crapo said the new provisions are “satellite” issues that can be resolved. He said he’d be happy just to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act essentially as it’s been in the past but is not going to turn against the bill because of the new provisions.

“Hopefully we will be able to resolve those issues if we have the bill brought to the floor and we have a robust amendment process like we have on all bills,” he said.

But the Democrats who control the Senate may be unwilling to give up the new provisions. Leahy said in a written statement he finds the objections “disheartening.”

“Some are saying we seek to protect too many victims,” Leahy said. “One thing I know from my time as a prosecutor, and I would hope it is something we can all agree on, is that all victims count.”

THE ARGUMENT OVER TRIBAL JURISDICTION

Another provision questioned by Grassley and others would allow tribes to prosecute non-Indians if they commit a domestic violence or sexual assault crime on a reservation against an Indian.

The National Congress of American Indians says Indian women are assaulted at twice the national average, and the offenders are often non-Indian males.

Opponents say granting such jurisdiction is unprecedented. They point to a 1978 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that tribes lack the inherent authority to arrest and prosecute non-Indians who commit crimes on reservations.

Crapo said he wants to review the Supreme Court ruling and that, if the provision is unconstitutional, it needs to be changed. But if not, it is a reasonable policy move, he said.

“If there is a crime committed inside a reservation, then I think the police authorities within the reservation should have the ability to enforce the law against that crime,” Crapo said.

CRAPO: DROP CHANGE IN IMMIGRANT VISAS

Crapo is more sympathetic to criticism of a provision to expand the number of visas allowed for illegal immigrants who are victims of domestic violence and sexual assault and who work with police to prosecute offenders. The bill would raise the annual maximum number of such visas from 10,000 to 15,000.

“I am concerned about expanding the visas for any circumstance,” Crapo said. “That would be one of the issues that I think we should have a full airing on the floor and let the Senate work its will.”