Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015

Floor Speech

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Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, continuing my reservation, I don't take a backseat to anyone when it comes to fighting for the victims of sex trafficking. As the distinguished Senator from Texas knows, I was an original cosponsor of this legislation, and much of it is based on bills I have written and advocated on behalf of for years, including with the distinguished Senator from Texas.

Much of this sex trafficking legislation, colleagues, is based on meetings and discussions I have had for years with young women who have been trafficked, law enforcement officials, and community leaders. I remember like it was yesterday how I was with the Portland police on 82nd Avenue in East Portland, and we encountered young women in their early teens who walked around with knives in their purses just hoping to survive the evening.

The underlying legislation before us, in my view, is going to be a very valuable tool in helping women like those whom I saw in Southeast Portland.

Unfortunately, an amendment that Senator Kirk seeks to offer has been attached to this request that undermines the legal foundation of every social media platform and attacks a basic cornerstone of Internet law. The Kirk amendment will undermine the fight to help victims by distracting the focus of prosecutors from the pimps and the Johns who prey on these young women.

The vague language in the Kirk amendment would mean any Web site that hosts user-generated contact--that means any social media platform, any news sites with comments and classified sections and any e-commerce sites--could face felony charges based on a vague concept of knowing and a vague concept of advertising.

Instead of focusing resources on going after pimps and traffickers, the Kirk amendment would enable prosecutors to go after Web sites millions of Americans use for nonnefarious purposes, chilling innovation. Under current law, prosecutors already have the ability to go after any entity that knowingly profits from sex trafficking. Every minute our prosecutors are occupied going after legitimate businesses, in my view, is time not spent locking up the real criminals.

This amendment hurts America's innovative businesses and entrepreneurs and stifles free speech instead of getting tough on the sex traffickers whom Senator Cornyn and I have sought to target all these years.

So I will close by simply saying I am for throwing the book at every sex trafficker and those who enable them. Our country absolutely must do everything we can to prevent the next child from falling victim to these predators. In my view, the Kirk amendment distracts from that goal. I hope it will not ultimately be added to this important piece of legislation. I hope Senators will vote no on the Kirk amendment.

With that, Mr. President, I withdraw my reservation to the request.

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