Vice President Biden wrote the original legislation and President Bill Clinton signed it into law Today is the 19th anniversary of the passage of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), the landmark legislation to combat violent crimes against women that was authored by then-Senator Joe Biden and signed into law by President Bill Clinton. VAWA was reauthorized earlier this year, but only after a year of stonewalling by House Republicans who opposed renewing the act because it expanded its protections to even more women.