[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 15]
[Senate]
[Pages 21441-21442]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   END MODERN SLAVERY INITIATIVE ACT

  Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, I also rise to applaud Congress for 
including important funding in the Omnibus appropriations bill that 
will help in our efforts to fight human trafficking and slavery around 
the world through the End Modern Slavery Initiative Act.
  I think most Americans would be stunned to know that over 27 million 
people are enslaved in more than 187 countries, including our own. Over 
27 million people are enslaved today. That is more than four times the 
population of my home State of Tennessee.
  Modern slavery comes in many forms and it preys on women and children 
the most. This brutal, multibillion-dollar industry deprives 
individuals of their basic human rights. Rather than holding a 
schoolbook, children in India are stacking bricks. Rather than sitting 
in a classroom, young girls in the Philippines are sitting in brothels 
forced into sexual servitude. In Ghana, young boys are forced into a 
life of slavery on fishing boats, and worldwide men and women hoping 
only to better the lives of their families are stripped of their 
passports and trafficked for labor.
  I cannot thank the Senator from Texas enough for the incredible 
efforts he put forth to ensure that we do everything we can in our own 
country to keep this from happening. He has been heroic.
  These are our daughters, sons, mothers and fathers, and that is why 
it is so important that we take bold action. Those who have been 
fighting this heinous crime for years all say that to end the practice 
of modern slavery, we need reliable baseline data and consistent, 
effective monitoring and evaluation. They also say that what is most 
critical in this fight is the need for a focused, sustained effort that 
can leverage and coordinate private and government funding. That is 
where the End Modern Slavery Initiative Act comes into play.
  This bold, bipartisan initiative has received broad support from over 
90 industry experts, nongovernmental organizations, and faith-based 
groups. This initiative will seek to raise $1.5 billion--more than 80 
percent of which is expected to come through matching funds from 
private sector and foreign governments--to fight slavery worldwide. 
This model is designed to leverage limited foreign aid dollars and 
galvanize tremendous support and investment from the public sector, 
philanthropic organizations, and the private sector to focus resources 
responsibly where this crime is most prevalent.
  The Omnibus appropriations bill that we will vote on this week brings 
us one step closer to making this initiative a reality with a $25 
million downpayment. There are many complex problems facing this 
country that demand our attention but perhaps none whose existence 
threatens the very concept of what it means to live in a free society. 
Ending modern slavery and human trafficking will not come easy, but we

[[Page 21442]]

have a moral obligation to try, and I am proud--really proud--that 
Congress is taking that step and investing in this critical fight.
  With that, I yield the floor and thank the Senator from Texas for 
allowing me to speak at this time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Cassidy). The Senator from Texas.
  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, before the Senator from Tennessee leaves 
the floor, I wish to thank him. Among many other issues he has dealt 
with on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Banking Committee, 
he has done great work on this issue. He is absolutely right about the 
scourge of human trafficking and how we need to do more--not just here 
at home but internationally--to try to break it up and rescue some of 
these children. Often the typical profile of a trafficked person in the 
United States is a young girl 12 to 14 years old. It is a travesty. I 
thank him for his great work and congratulate him.

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