Jolie admitted on her Instagram that she was nervous before speaking and credited Zahara for helping her make it through the moment. “Heading into the Senate’s introduction of the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act, I’m grateful and humbled to join with dedicated advocates and legislators,” Jolie wrote. “I’m also glad to share in the advocacy with Zahara—and for her presence to calm my nerves before today’s press conference. #VAWA #VAWA4All #VAWA2022 #nervousmom #partnersinadvocacy.”

In her speech, Jolie called senators’ votes to reauthorize the bill “one of the most important votes” that they will cast this year.

“Standing here, at the center of our nation’s power, I can think only of everyone who’s been made to feel powerless by their abusers, by a system that failed to protect them, parents whose children have been murdered by an abusive partner, women who suffered domestic violence yet are not believed, children who have suffered life-altering trauma and post-traumatic stress at the hands of people closest to them,” she started. “Anyone who has been in those situations will tell you just how far they feel from the power concentrated here in this building. The power to pass laws that might have prevented their pain in the first place.”

“The reason that many people struggle to leave abusive situations is that they’ve been made to feel worthless. When there is silence from a Congress too busy to renew the Violence Against Women Act for a decade, it reinforces that sense of worthlessness,” she continued. “You think, ‘I guess my abuser is right. I guess I’m not worth very much.’ That’s why passing this law is one of the most important votes U.S. senators will cast this year.”

“The ugly truth is that violence in homes is normalized in our country. Between four and seven children die daily in America from child abuse and neglect,” she said. “And 800 children have been murdered by a separating parent since 2008. The idea of sovereignty of a family home is being used to abuse the members within it. But victims of abuse in this country who deserve consideration and respect and attention of Congress as much if not more than any other crisis we face. As survivors of abuse know all too well, victims of our failed systems are not allowed to be angry. You’re supposed to be calm and patient and ask nicely but you try staying calm when it’s as if someone is holding your head under water and you’re drowning. Try to stay calm when you’re witnessing someone you love being harmed. Try to stay calm if after you were strangled and you find the courage to come forward, you discover your chances of proving the abuse are now gone because no one took into account the different ways bruising presents on Black and brown skin and they failed to check properly for signs of injury.”

Jolie expressed her awe at survivors who have fought to ensure this VAWA reauthorization “achieves certain basic protections that no survivor should have to ask for.” Jolie ended her speech by listing her thank yous to those who have advocated for the issue. She choked up when speaking about those who suffered because the bill hadn’t been reauthorized for so long: “Most of all, I want to acknowledge the children who are terrified and suffering at this moment,” she said, pausing to compose herself. “And the many people for whom this legislation comes too late. The women who have suffered through this system with little or no support, they still carry the pain and trauma of their abuse. The young adults who have survived abuse and have emerged stronger. Not because of the child protective system, but despite it. And women and children who have died, who could have been saved. Thank you.”

You can watch Jolie’s speech in full below: