[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 4]
[Senate]
[Pages 5207-5208]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




             JUSTICE FOR VICTIMS OF TRAFFICKING ACT OF 2015

  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under the previous order, the 
Senate will resume consideration of S. 178, which the clerk will 
report.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 178) to provide justice for the victims of 
     trafficking.

  Pending:

       McConnell (for Cornyn) amendment No. 1120, to strengthen 
     the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act by incorporating 
     additional bipartisan amendments.

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Ms. STABENOW. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. Ernst). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.


                            Lynch Nomination

  Ms. STABENOW. Madam President, as we all know, a vote of confirmation 
for Loretta Lynch to be our next Attorney General has now been delayed 
164 days, or 5 months. We have seen this qualified woman waiting for a 
confirmation vote, and we have had at least 51 Members--a majority--
indicating they will support her confirmation.
  I remember coming to the floor listening to colleagues during the 
Bush administration state over and over again that elections have 
consequences, that Presidents have a right to have their nominees voted 
on, and that it is our responsibility to make sure, if something comes 
out of committee, that we vote on a final confirmation.
  When we look at the fact that we have seen Loretta Lynch wait for a 
vote on the floor for a combined length of time that equals more than 
the last seven Attorneys General, I really do believe, as the President 
has said, enough is enough.
  I remember a time when we had a controversial nominee--John 
Ashcroft--and many of us did not support that nomination. I did not 
support that nomination. But we brought it to the floor for a vote. He 
waited 42 days. At the time, people said that was a long time. He was 
not blocked. We did not filibuster. We did not require a supermajority. 
In fact, there were 42 of us who voted no, so we could have stopped it 
on a procedural vote. But we allowed the nomination of John Ashcroft to 
come to the floor for a vote.
  So we fast-forward. And we have seen this, of course, over and over 
again, as we look at the President's nominees in the last 6\1/2\ years. 
Now we see this eminently qualified woman, who has been held up as of 
today 164 days, waiting and waiting to have the opportunity to have a 
vote up or down on confirmation. If people want to vote no, they have 
that right, but she deserves a vote.
  Today, we are going to vote on the confirmation of a district court 
judge in Texas. I think it is good that the Southern District of Texas 
will have a Federal court judge, but the entire country needs a 
permanent Attorney General. In fact, the Attorney General's office is 
the one that actually brings the cases to Federal courts and tries them 
on behalf of all the American people. So it is really ridiculous that 
we stand at this point where we are having to ask, after more than 5 
months, that there be a vote for Loretta Lynch.
  After she was reported out, we saw a very distinguished nominee for 
Secretary of Defense come out of committee and immediately come to the 
floor and be confirmed, but Loretta Lynch has waited and waited. We 
continue to vote on district judges, and Loretta Lynch is waiting and 
waiting.
  We hear all kinds of excuses, all kinds of reasons. We are hearing 
that Loretta Lynch's nomination to be Attorney General cannot be voted 
on until we complete another very important bill--the human trafficking 
bill--that we all want to get done. It has, unfortunately, had a curve 
ball added because of the politics around choice and abortion that has 
been interjected into this, and we are having to work our way through 
that. I have been involved in a lot of discussions, as my colleagues 
have. I am confident we can address those if people want to get this 
done on behalf of girls and women in our country. But that has nothing 
to do with the nomination of Loretta Lynch for Attorney General, other 
than one thing, which is that as U.S. attorney of the Eastern District 
of New York, she presided over a very effective antitrafficking 
program, investigating and prosecuting scores of defendants.
  In that sense, again, we need Loretta Lynch--her talent, her 
expertise, and her experience--to be able to tackle what is a horrible 
situation that way too many of our girls and women find themselves in. 
We somehow for too long have thought this was something that was 
happening someplace else. Yet we saw it in Lansing, MI--where I live, 
the capital of Michigan--where there was a case in the trafficking 
situation that the FBI and local officials addressed. What we are 
finding right now is that as we proceed with confirming other people 
for other positions--Monday nights we are voting on other positions, we 
are voting on district judges, and we voted on other people for other 
positions not held up by human trafficking, not held up by trying to 
get that bill resolved, but for some reason the Attorney General 
position has somehow been held up.
  I don't buy it. It makes no sense that we would pick one person--one 
person--not others but one person and decide that this person and this 
nomination, this confirmation vote will be held hostage to another 
issue. It is time to stop it. Now, 164 days is long enough; 164 days is 
long enough. It is time to give Loretta Lynch the respect and the vote 
she has been waiting for and she deserves.
  I yield back the floor.
  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. BROWN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. BROWN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to speak for up 
to 15 minutes as in morning business.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.


                       Trans-Pacific Partnership

  Mr. BROWN. Madam President, this body--the Senate--continues to rush 
through one of the most consequential changes to U.S. economic policy 
this decade with little media attention, little scrutiny by committees, 
and little discussion from leadership of this Senate. Last week, we 
were called into a rushed legislative hearing on fast-track and a trade 
package with little notice and no bill to see. We had less than 13 
hours' notice for a committee meeting--the standard here is 1 week, and 
I believe that is the Senate rule--on one of the most secretive 
documents we have seen in front of us. Senators and their staffs, 
Congress men and women and their staffs, have limited access to this 
document--the Trans-Pacific Partnership--and no access to legislation

[[Page 5208]]

upon which we had a hearing on Thursday. It was only after the hearing 
that they finally decided to introduce the bill. Yet, this affects more 
than 50 percent of the world's GDP. Fifty percent of the world's GDP 
could be affected by this package. Millions of American jobs are on the 
line. Yet, Congress is rushing this bill through.
  We cannot fast-track fast-track legislation. We know what so-called 
free trade has done to this country. It may not affect too many people 
who dress like this in this town, people who wear expensive suits, but 
for those in the heartland and in places such as Des Moines and Iowa 
City and Columbus and Cleveland, we know bad trade deals have 
devastated towns.
  I grew up in Mansfield, OH. When I was a kid, we had thousands of 
jobs at Westinghouse, Ohio Brass, Mansfield Tire, Fisher Body, Goreman-
Rupp, and so many other companies. Almost all of those companies have 
shut down--not just because of globalization and bad trade deals, but 
certainly that contributed to it. Every one of those companies that 
hasn't shut down has laid off, in most cases, thousands of its workers.
  On Friday, I was in Dayton, where I spoke with Jimmy Allen. Jimmy 
worked at Appleton Paper for 45 years. He was a union officer for 43 of 
those years. He was one of 400 workers laid off due to unfair trade in 
2012 when China cheated on currency, undermining the U.S. paper 
industry.
  I hear all the time from workers like Jimmy. George Rossi of Warren, 
OH--at the other end of the State--wrote to me to share his story. He 
wrote:

       My wife lost her job of 15 years at GE in Ravenna, OH 
     because of foreign trade. The plant that once employed 600 is 
     now closed. My brother-in-law lost his [job] at Ohio Lamp in 
     Warren, which is now closed. My plant, WCI Steel, is now 
     closed. At one time the plant employed 1,800 people.

  George wrote: I could go on and on. There have been many friends and 
family, so many who have worked in numerous plants that are now 
closed--in large part because of bad foreign trade deals.
  Jamie Vaughan wrote to me saying that Jamie's father and Jamie's 
grandfather worked at Ford in Canton, OH, until it shut down. Jamie's 
father was able to transfer to Indianapolis, where Jamie and Jamie's 
brother also worked, until that Ford plant shut down too. Jamie wrote:

       They built a plant exactly like Indy's in Brazil. My 
     brother and I transferred to California. A few years later, 
     that plant shut down.

  I got a letter from Gary Ordway of Continental, OH, about how factory 
closures have ripple effects across entire communities. He wrote:

       In 1995 I was employed with General Motors Powertrain 
     Foundry in Defiance, OH, where we were working 12 hours a 
     day, 6 to 7 days a week, and then along came the North 
     American Free Trade Agreement. There were over 5,000 
     employees working at that time, and after NAFTA there was a 
     constant loss of jobs, so today, there are about 1,000 
     employees left. We are looking at a weekly loss of $4.8 
     million in wages to the local economy and around $1.2 million 
     in weekly taxes lost due to the 4,000 jobs exported because 
     of NAFTA. Within the next couple of years the foundry will be 
     losing all of its iron castings and another 350 jobs will be 
     eliminated, and Plant One is scheduled to be torn town. So 
     NAFTA wasn't good for our community and foundry because our 
     iron casting business went to Mexico.

  That was Gary Ordway of northwest Ohio. We have seen it in the 
northwest and we have seen it in the southwest.
  Joseph Hicks from Elyria, OH, wrote:

       I am a member of Local 1104 in Lorain. I work at U.S. Steel 
     tubular division. As of the 22nd of March, me and 600 of my 
     brothers and sisters have been placed on indefinite layoff, 
     some departments idled, due to lack of work. This is mainly 
     [because of] the illegal dumping of cheaply-made steel.

  I would add, subsidized steel.

       Foreign countries cut corners on safety, pay workers next 
     to nothing, and don't care about quality. With these 
     ingredients, they are able to sell their steel products for a 
     lot less than we at U.S. steel can.
       There used to be a time when ``Made in America'' meant 
     something. I long to see that be the attitude again.

  Joseph goes on:

       I am suffering greatly now because of the trickle-down 
     effect. I am laid off, I have lost my job, my career, my way 
     of life to support my growing and deserving family. I have a 
     wife, Megan, [who] cannot work because she has to care for 
     our 2-year-old disabled daughter.
       I ask, beg, our public officials . . . do what needs to be 
     done to get American workers back to work.

  That is Joseph from U.S. Steel in Lorain.
  We owe these workers more than rushed hearings. We owe them more than 
to rubberstamp a deal we have barely been able to read. Keep in mind 
that we didn't see this bill until Thursday night. We have still not 
had one hearing on this bill to discuss the bill. The chairman of the 
committee wants to do the markup the day after tomorrow, and this bill 
will govern potentially 60 percent of the world's GDP. So they want to 
fast-track this fast-track legislation so they can pass more trade 
agreements that outsource jobs.
  Trade done right can create jobs, but our current trade deals amount 
to corporate handouts and worker sellouts.
  The Economic Policy Institute found that the wage loss to workers on 
the wrong end of expanded trade is almost certainly larger than the 
estimated net national gains from the TPP. They write that there is no 
such thing as an all-gain, no-pain treaty. We know that is true because 
workers such as Joseph and Jamie and George and Gary and Jimmy feel 
that pain.
  I urge my colleagues over the next couple of days to ask the tough 
questions and demand answers from the U.S. Trade Representative, who 
has told us little and who has given us even less access to these trade 
agreements, and to say no to a trade deal that will end up fast-
tracking more jobs overseas.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Louisiana.


Measures Placed on the Calendar En Bloc--H.R. 636, H.R. 644, H.R. 1295, 
                         H.R. 1314, and S. 984

  Mr. VITTER. Madam President, I understand there are five bills at the 
desk due for a second reading.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bills by title for 
the second time.
  The bill clerk read as follows:

       A bill (H.R. 636) to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 
     1986 to permanently extend increased expensing limitations, 
     and for other purposes.
       A bill (H.R. 644) to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 
     1986 to permanently extend and expand the charitable 
     deduction for contributions of food inventory.
       A bill (H.R. 1295) to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 
     1986 to improve the process for making determinations with 
     respect to whether organizations are exempt from taxation 
     under section 501(c)(4) of such Code.
       A bill (H.R. 1314) to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 
     1986 to provide for a right to an administrative appeal 
     relating to adverse determinations of tax-exempt status of 
     certain organizations.
       A bill (S. 984) to amend title XVIII of the Social Security 
     Act to provide Medicare beneficiary access to eye tracking 
     accessories for speech generating devices and to remove the 
     rental cap for durable medical equipment under the Medicare 
     Program with respect to speech generating devices.

  Mr. VITTER. Madam President, in order to place the bills on the 
calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, I object to further 
proceeding en bloc.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
  The bills will be placed on the calendar.
  Mr. VITTER. Madam President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. CASSIDY. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The senior Senator from Louisiana.

                          ____________________