[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 38 (Tuesday, February 28, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S515-S516]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                            Border Security

  Mr. President, Joe Biden's reckless border policies have allowed 
human trafficking and smuggling to grow into a $13 billion industry, 
with criminal cartels earning up to $14 million every day for 
trafficking families, women, and children into the country.
  I want to be crystal clear about what is happening here. This is not 
some sort of humanitarian mission. The cartels are not doing this out 
of the goodness of their hearts. These are violent criminals who have 
figured out how to make millions of dollars every single day. They are 
kidnapping young girls and exploiting them for sex and labor over and 
over again.
  The left wants you to believe this is a myth or that reports of 
trafficking and exploitation are exaggerated, but while I was down at 
the border, I heard from two women who can provide a mountain of 
evidence to the contrary.
  Former Mexican Congresswoman Rosa Maria de la Garza joined us to talk 
about her advocacy on behalf of the survivors of this horrific abuse. 
She has been dedicated to this all her life. She puts her time into 
preventing and targeting human trafficking in her own country, and she 
has seen firsthand the ease with which the cartels use our open border 
to make a buck and how they expand the slave trade into our country, 
profiting from it.
  We also had the chance to speak with Karla Romero, who is a survivor 
of cross-border sex trafficking. Karla fell into the hands of her 
captors when she was 12 years old and was enslaved as a sex-trafficked 
individual for 4 years. During that time, she estimates that she was 
raped over 40,000 times--a child in the hands of a cartel. That is what 
they did to her.
  This is a humanitarian catastrophe that is enabled not only by the 
Biden administration's refusal to secure the border but by incentives 
buried in the law that encourage criminal behavior.
  At the end of last year, the Justice Department committed over $90 
million in funding to combat human trafficking. It is an incredible 
investment of taxpayer resources. But, unbelievably enough, the 
American people are subsidizing the lifestyles of these criminals even 
as they invest millions to bring down these trafficking rings.
  As it stands right now, the law allows accused traffickers to live in 
government housing and receive government benefits even after they are 
apprehended by law enforcement and charged with a crime. If we are 
going to get serious about combating trafficking at the border, we need 
to eliminate this incentive for illegal conduct. I know it seems 
unbelievable that you have these cartels members who are getting U.S. 
Government benefits, living in government housing, and getting 
unemployment checks, but it is happening.
  The ``Remain in Mexico'' policy is a prime example of how successful 
tactics can work. By requiring asylum

[[Page S516]]

seekers to stay in Mexico while awaiting a court date, we ensured that 
migrants weren't rewarded for illegally crossing the border. These 
programs work, and that is why I, along with Senator Hyde-Smith and 
Senator Britt, introduced the Stop Taxpayer Funding of Traffickers Act. 
It makes clear that anyone charged with drug or human trafficking at 
our border cannot receive Federal Government benefits until their case 
is resolved. It would block them from receiving any retirement, 
welfare, Social Security, health, or disability benefits. It also means 
that traffickers would not be able to receive a grant, contract, loan, 
or professional or commercial license from the U.S. Government.
  This is something that needs to happen. Prohibiting traffickers from 
receiving taxpayer funds is just plain common sense, and there is no 
reason why this legislation shouldn't pass the Senate immediately. I 
can't imagine that anyone would be for allowing these drug traffickers 
and sex traffickers to continue to live in government housing and 
receive these benefits.
  In the same way that drug traffickers are directly profiting from the 
opioid epidemic that has killed millions of Americans, human 
traffickers are reaping the rewards of this administration's 
complacency. It is time to start paying attention to some of the 
details of what is happening at our southern border. The American 
people are paying attention, and they are waiting on this President and 
on this body to join them in doing something about it.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Ms. CANTWELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.