[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 77 (Tuesday, May 19, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3013-S3014]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 JUSTICE FOR VICTIMS OF TRAFFICKING ACT

  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, it was just a few weeks ago that the 
Senate took up and passed S. 178, the Justice for Victims of 
Trafficking Act. This bill took us a while to get through but 
ultimately garnered unanimous support from this Chamber with a vote of 
99 to 0. I am happy to report that the House of Representatives will 
take up and pass this bill later on today, and this vital legislation 
will then head to the President for his signature.

[[Page S3014]]

  I thank my colleague and friend and fellow Texan, Representative Ted 
Poe of Houston, for serving as the chief House sponsor for this 
legislation. I also express my gratitude to the House leadership team 
and Chairman Goodlatte of the House Judiciary Committee for their 
important work on this issue.
  This legislation, as we said before, will provide victims of sexual 
exploitation, slavery, and human trafficking in the United States with 
an avenue to find healing and restoration. Most importantly, the 
victims, who are often children, will have access to additional 
resources to ensure that they get the shelter and the services they 
need. I am thankful that Members from both Chambers and from both sides 
of the aisle were able to recognize the urgency of the matter and get 
the job done.
  While this bill represents a step forward, there is more we need to 
do and more we will do to continue to fight the scourge of human 
trafficking. In the coming years, we will look back on this moment as a 
time when our country finally began to get serious about this problem 
and heard the voices of the thousands of American victims in our own 
backyard.

                          ____________________