[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 43 (Thursday, March 17, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Page S1554]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





 FILLING THE SUPREME COURT VACANCY AND SUBPOENA ENFORCEMENT RESOLUTION

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, let me state an obvious point. When it 
comes to filling the current Supreme Court vacancy--which could 
fundamentally alter the direction of the Court for a generation--
Republicans and Democrats simply disagree. We simply disagree. 
Republicans think the people deserve a voice in this critical decision; 
the President does not. So we disagree in this instance, and as a 
result, we logically act as a check-and-balance.
  There is no reason one area of disagreement should stop us from 
looking for other areas of agreement, though. We will continue our work 
in the Senate as the American people make their voices heard in this 
important national conversation. For instance, we will address another 
very important issue today, which I would like to talk about now.
  Senator Portman and Senator McCaskill are the top Republican and top 
Democrat on the Homeland Security Committee's Permanent Subcommittee on 
Investigations. Over the past year, they have worked together in a 
bipartisan way to examine human trafficking. Their probe has revealed 
how trafficking has flourished in the age of the Internet. It has also 
revealed how many cases of sex trafficking, including cases involving 
children, have been linked to one Web site in particular: backpage.com.
  One national group who tracks the issue has told the subcommittee 
this: Nearly three-quarters of all suspected child sex trafficking 
reports it receives from the public through its tip line have a 
connection to backpage.
  Chairman Portman and Ranking Member McCaskill have wanted to do 
something about this. They know they have to keep investigating. So 
they issued a subpoena to backpage. They wanted documents about the 
company's business practices. They wanted to know how it screens 
advertisements for warning signs of trafficking. As the leaders of the 
Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, they had every right to make 
these requests in the course of their investigation, but backpage has 
refused to comply. Does that mean Senators Portman and McCaskill give 
up? Of course not. And we shouldn't, either. They jointly submitted a 
Senate resolution that would hold the company in civil contempt and 
force it to turn over this required information. This resolution passed 
through the committee with unanimous bipartisan support 15 to 0, and 
today it can be adopted by the full Senate with overwhelming bipartisan 
support too. We will have that opportunity this afternoon. If we do, it 
will allow the Senate's legal counsel to bring a civil suit in court 
and ask the court to order compliance with the subpoena. That is 
critical for allowing this bipartisan investigation to move forward.
  I thank Ranking Member McCaskill for all she has done. I thank 
Chairman Portman for all he has done.
  We saw Senator Portman's great work last week in passing bipartisan 
legislation to help address America's heroin and opioid crisis, and 
again today we will see Senator Portman's great work in leading on 
another important issue and doing so once more in a bipartisan manner.
  Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. BOOKER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Perdue). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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