[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 46 (Thursday, March 15, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1741-S1742]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     ALLOW STATES AND VICTIMS TO FIGHT ONLINE SEX TRAFFICKING BILL

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, yesterday, the Senate took a big step 
forward for community banks, credit unions, and other small lenders on 
which communities across America rely for access to credit.
  On a strong bipartisan vote, we passed Senator Crapo's legislation to 
streamline the Dodd-Frank Act so regulations intended for Wall Street 
place less of a crushing burden on Main Street.
  Next up is legislation to combat sex trafficking. Debate on this 
issue will begin today.
  It might be easy to imagine sex trafficking doesn't happen here. It 
would be easy to pretend it is only a problem in other parts of the 
world, but that is dead wrong.
  Trafficking is a crisis right here in the United States. From 2010 to 
2015, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children saw 
reports of suspected child sex trafficking increase more than 
eightfold--an eightfold increase. Last year alone, more than 8,500 
cases of human trafficking were reported to the National Human 
Trafficking Hotline.
  As Senator Portman has been informing us throughout his tireless work 
on this issue, sex trafficking has moved from the street corner to the 
smartphone. That is, in large part, because a 1996 law meant to protect 
online speech is now misused as a shield to stop sex traffickers and 
those who profit from their crimes from facing the rightful 
consequences.
  I am as strong a defender of the First Amendment as you will find. I 
was in the Congress in 1996. I voted for the Telecommunications Act 
that included this provision, as did the vast majority of my 
colleagues. Let me assure you, not one of us intended to create a 
special protection for platforms that knowingly allow sex traffickers 
to exploit children.
  The legislation we will consider would ensure that institutions that 
knowingly facilitate sex trafficking can be held accountable for their 
actions.
  There is a reason why 67 Senators have joined Senator Portman in 
support of legislation to accomplish this. There is a reason why the 
White House

[[Page S1742]]

is strongly supportive. American children should not be sold--online or 
anywhere else. America's families should not be victimized by such 
evil, and America's laws should not be misused to protect those who 
perpetrate these crimes or those who, according to the stunning 
subcommittee report, knowingly give them space and tools to operate 
while profiting in the process.
  Several of us have worked hard on this issue for a number of years. 
It is now past time to take this additional step. When we vote next 
week, that time will have come.

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