[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 3]
[Senate]
[Page 3460]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     HUMAN TRAFFICKING LEGISLATION

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, the Justice for Victims of Trafficking 
Act is one of the most bipartisan pieces of legislation one could 
possibly imagine. Ever since this bipartisan human rights bill was 
introduced by a Democrat and a Republican in January and made publicly 
available for any person to read, Members of both parties have sung its 
praises repeatedly. This bipartisan bill has gained the support of 13 
Democratic cosponsors.
  Recently, Democrats voted unanimously to approve it in committee. 
This week Democrats consented unanimously to advance it on the floor. 
Even the Democratic leader himself said he ``underscore[d], 
appreciate[d], and agree[d]'' with my call to pass this bipartisan 
legislation overwhelmingly. ``I doubt there will be problems on my 
side,'' he said. ``If there are, I will work to clear them.''
  That was Monday.
  By Tuesday, Democrats seemed to be threatening to filibuster human 
rights legislation for abused and neglected victims and children. Let 
me repeat that. Democrats are now threatening to filibuster human 
rights legislation for abused and neglected victims and children. So 
why?
  Democrats now say they don't like language that has been in the bill 
since it was introduced months ago that does nothing more than reaffirm 
the bipartisan law of the land. That is all that language does. This 
bipartisan provision was on page 4 of this modest-sized bill, so 
Democrats obviously knew it was there to begin with. Democrats 
obviously wouldn't have cosponsored the bill or voted for it in 
committee or called for passage on the floor if they hadn't read the 
bill first.
  These Democrats surely don't want to see more quotes such as this one 
from an official with the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women. She 
said: ``Senate Democrats are choosing a phantom problem over real 
victims.''
  So if these Democrats keep their word to the victims of human 
trafficking, then a partisan filibuster attempt will fail 
overwhelmingly. If these Democrats keep their word to the vulnerable 
and the oppressed, then the Senate will pass a bipartisan human rights 
bill.
  But if these Democrats truly are having second thoughts about 
supporting such important human rights legislation, they are free to 
offer an amendment. But let's not filibuster bipartisan help for 
vulnerable victims just to make a point for leftwing special interest 
groups.
  Our Democratic friends have to resist the siren song of their 
pollsters who tell them that the path to victory lies in turning 
bipartisan bills into manufactured fights over cultural issues. 
Americans are looking for statesmen and stateswomen on the Democratic 
side to stand up--stand up--and help us emancipate the victims of 
modern slavery, not score another empty political point.
  So I am calling on these Democrats to help us do that. Help is almost 
there for the vulnerable victims of these awful crimes. Surely no 
leftwing special interest group is more important than fighting modern-
day slavery. So the Democratic cosponsors and declared supporters of 
this bill need to keep working with us in a bipartisan way to ensure 
that help comes.

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