[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 6]
[Senate]
[Page 7722]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




LEGISLATION PROTECTING VICTIMS OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE AND HUMAN TRAFFICKING

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, on the floor yesterday, the majority leader 
claimed that last Congress, Senate Democrats ``failed to bring any 
trafficking legislation to the floor.''
  I do not normally do this, but I must correct the record. The facts 
are exactly the opposite, and the Senate's history must be clear on 
this.
  Last Congress, despite the opposition of the majority of Senate 
Republicans, including Senators McConnell and Cornyn, Senate Democrats 
reauthorized our Nation's two cornerstone pieces of legislation that 
protect victims of sexual violence and human trafficking--the Violence 
Against Women Act, VAWA, and the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, 
TVPA. Combined, these two bills reauthorized nearly $1 billion a year 
in funding for survivors of these horrible crimes. As we updated and 
modernized these landmark laws, we listened to the survivors and the 
advocates who work with them every day to make sure that our 
legislation responded to the real needs of real people. We were not 
looking for gimmicks or shortcuts. Instead, we dedicated hours of time 
learning about what was working and what needed to be improved in order 
to best meet the needs of survivors.
  The end result was two bills that did more to prevent sexual assault 
and human trafficking and to reach more victims than ever before. 
Because of our comprehensive and inclusive approach, these bills had 
the strong and vocal support of more than 1,400 local, State and 
national organizations.
  In addition to the successful reauthorization of the Violence Against 
Women Act and the Trafficking Victims Protection Act last Congress, I 
later moved a comprehensive package of legislation to address the issue 
of human trafficking here in the United States, which included critical 
support programs directed at runaway and homeless youth to prevent 
trafficking in the first place. Last year that package, which included 
the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act, as well as the Runaway and 
Homeless Youth and Trafficking Prevention Act, the Bringing Missing 
Children Home Act, and the Combat Human Trafficking Act, was reported 
out of the Judiciary Committee, which I chaired. I then sought the 
unanimous consent of the Senate to pass that bipartisan package, and 
every single Democratic Senator agreed. But Republicans blocked it. 
They objected to it. Senator McConnell failed to mention any of this 
yesterday.
  So if such assertions are going to be loosely made on this floor, let 
the record be clear about who, in fact, stood in the way of protections 
for trafficking victims last year. Look to see which Members voted 
against the reauthorizations of the Violence Against Women Act and the 
Trafficking Victims Protection Act. Those two laws were passed with the 
votes of every Senate Democrat. And last year, it was Republicans who 
obstructed passage of the subsequent comprehensive domestic 
antitrafficking package, supported by every Democrat, that included 
critical trafficking prevention legislation. On top of all that, under 
Democratic leadership of the Senate Appropriations Committee, total 
appropriations for trafficking victims' services more than doubled in 
fiscal year 2015, rising from $28.1 million to $58 million.
  When we look at the facts, it is simply outrageous and laughable to 
suggest Senate Democrats did not support antitrafficking efforts last 
Congress. These facts matter and I cannot allow revisionist history to 
muddy the accomplishments we and so many advocates fought for in the 
last Congress.
  Regrettably, the newly empowered Senate Republicans have not 
continued the same survivor-led approach we took in the last Congress 
to pass VAWA and the TVPA. Instead they sought to use a new 
antitrafficking bill, the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act, JVTA, 
to expand the reach of the Hyde amendment and its restrictions on 
health care for these women who are survivors of trafficking crimes. In 
doing so, the same Senators who voted against VAWA and TVPA in the last 
Congress inserted unnecessary and destructive politics into what was 
otherwise a bipartisan antitrafficking bill. The result was to 
needlessly tie the Senate in knots for weeks over this legislation. 
More importantly, Senate Republicans' effort to expand the Hyde 
amendment undermined what should be the very goal of antitrafficking 
legislation--to help return dignity and self-determination to the lives 
of survivors of human trafficking. That was certainly the goal of our 
successful effort to expand the scope of VAWA and TVPA to reach all 
victims.
  It is also the goal behind the Runaway and Homeless Youth and 
Trafficking Prevention Act that I reintroduced with Senator Collins 
this Congress. This bill, which was a critical part of the debate last 
Congress and should remain a critical part of the debate in this 
Congress, aims to prevent young people from becoming victims of 
trafficking in the first place. We know runaway and homeless children 
are exceptionally vulnerable to human traffickers. These children 
literally have nowhere to go. And traffickers prey on this 
vulnerability. That is why Senator Collins and I fought so hard to add 
this legislation to the JVTA. The runaway and homeless youth programs 
supported by our bill keep kids safe, save lives, and prevent human 
trafficking in the first place.
  I was very disappointed when our amendment failed to pass by just 
four votes. What was most disheartening was that the principal 
objection was the inclusion of an important nondiscrimination provision 
to ensure that no child, including those who identify as LGBT, faces 
discrimination by service providers. But I am not giving up. I will 
keep fighting to see this legislation passed because it is so 
important. As the Polaris Project, a leading antitrafficking advocacy 
organization, recently told the New York Times:

       Successful efforts to combat modern slavery must address 
     the root causes that make people vulnerable in the first 
     place . . . Until critical funding is reauthorized through 
     the Runaway and Homeless Youth [and] Trafficking Prevention 
     Act to support critical services, such as shelter beds for 
     homeless kids, this population will face increased risk.

  Senator McConnell and I may differ in our opinions, but I think it is 
important to get it right when it comes to facts. To say that Senate 
Democrats failed to move antitrafficking legislation last Congress 
rewrites history and does a tremendous disservice to all of those 
victims and advocates who so recently dedicated years of their lives to 
the successful reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act and 
the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, and to crafting a bipartisan 
package of antitrafficking legislation that was ultimately blocked by 
Senate Republicans.

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