Justice For Victims Of Trafficking Act Of 2015

Floor Speech

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Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, I wish to speak on the pending business, the Justice for Victims of Human Trafficking Bill.

The Senate is now on the second week of the trafficking bill and my colleagues in the minority refuse to allow this body to amend or pass this bipartisan bill. When this legislation was reported out of committee, not a single Democrat on the committee raised any concern with the inclusion of the protections offered by the Hyde amendment. This was hardly surprising, after all, Democrats have previously voted in favor of legislation that includes similar long standing statutory protections--such as the Affordable Care Act. That is why it's so shocking that Democrats--out of nowhere--have had a change of heart on the Hyde amendment, and are now obstructing efforts to help victims of human trafficking.

I urge my colleagues who are filibustering this legislation to consider the gravity of their actions. While Democrats play politics as usual, thousands of victims--many of whom are children--are assaulted and abused every day, hoping someone will hear their cries for help. We cannot and must not allow political gamesmanship to stand in the way of helping thousands of victims of human trafficking. Now is the time we must work together to protect our Nation's most vulnerable from a horrific trade that robs our children of their childhood and rejects the sanctity of life.

Let us honor our commitment to protect children from abuse, neglect and rape. Let us put aside politics and do the right thing by moving forward on this bill.

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