Human Trafficking Legislation

Floor Speech

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Mr. REID. Mr. President, in the last Congress legislation to combat human trafficking was a bipartisan matter. Senators Klobuchar and Leahy have long been leaders on this issue. But this year--and we could talk about how it got in the bill, many believe it was sleight of hand--there is an abortion provision in this bill that is now before this body.

For well more than 25 years I had the pleasure of serving with Henry Hyde in the House of Representatives, who was famous for a number of reasons, but one is that he has penned the Hyde language which deals with abortion. In all these 25-plus years, that matter has been put over 1 year at a time. We have never chosen to make that permanent law.

This year Republicans have sought to inject into this consensus bill one of the most controversial issues of the last 40 years--a woman's right to choose.

Don't take my word for it. Leading Republicans acknowledge that abortion politics is extraneous to the bill before us.

Yesterday John Cornyn said: ``This bill is being hijacked and being used to debate something that it really doesn't have very much to do about, and that is the subject of abortion.''

Orrin Hatch said: ``I can't believe that this Senate has become so political that we would raise that issue at this time on this bill.''

The solution is so simple. Take the abortion language out of the bill.

The bill dealing with human trafficking is going to pass. If we don't do it now, we will do it. It is something that is imperative that we accomplish, but it should not be dealt with in relation to abortion. Take the abortion language out of the bill.

The Republican Senators have a choice, to legislate or to hijack the legislation. If they want to get something done, they need to take abortion politics out of this bill. If they want to leave abortion politics in the bill, then the Republicans will only continue this session's record of dysfunction.

This is the second day my friend, the Republican leader, has come to the floor and quoted something I said a few days ago. Every word he quotes is perfect--that is what I said--but here is the context in which I said it. I am an expert on motions to proceed. During the last 6 years I have had to file cloture as a leader here hundreds and hundreds of times--in the last Congress more than 200 times. Virtually all of the cloture motions were filed because Republicans wouldn't let us get on the bill. They simply wouldn't let us get on the bill--every bill--even bills they favored. We would have to spend a couple of days getting it ripe for a vote on cloture, and once that was done, then we had to wait 30 hours. What I said the other day is true, human trafficking is something that needs to get done, and we Democrats are not going to ask you, the Republican leadership, to file abortion language. Get on the bill. And we are on the bill. We could finish this bill in 20 minutes. The only thing that needs to be done is the language relating to abortion should come out of this bill. Abortion and human trafficking have nothing to do with each other.

So my friend the Republican leader can come and quote me any time he wants, and I know he will quote me correctly, but it should be put in the proper context, and that context is this: We have proven during the first few months of this Congress that on issues that we believe should be debated, we will allow the Senate to get on the bill. We are not going to be stalling, as has been done for the last 6 years, just to kill time. We are on this human trafficking legislation because it is something that needs to be completed, and the only way at this stage it is going to happen is the abortion language must come out of the bill.

Mr. President, would the Chair announce the business of the day.

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