Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015

Floor Speech

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Mr. HOEVEN. Madam President, I rise today to speak in support of the
Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act legislation that has been
drafted and introduced by my good friends Senator John Cornyn of Texas
and Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota. The bill helps survivors of
human trafficking and child pornography and aids law enforcement in
discouraging demand for these serious crimes.

This is a bill they originally introduced in 2013. I was a cosponsor
of that bill, and I am also an original cosponsor of this bipartisan
legislation which was introduced earlier this year because I believe it
is very important legislation. It is important because it not only
compensates victims of human trafficking and other crimes of
exploitation for their injuries but also provides resources to help law
enforcement prevent such crimes in the future by targeting demand.

The need for this bill is real and it is troubling. Every year across
America, children and adults are bought and sold for reprehensible
purposes. According to the National Center For Missing and Exploited
Children, at least 100,000 American children each year are the victims
of commercial child prostitution and child trafficking. It is not just
a big-State, big-city problem. Every State in the country is facing
this issue, including my home State of North Dakota, but we currently
have trouble addressing this problem because of the many needs,
including the need for resources.

After consultation with the attorney general's office, we learned
that North Dakota has had difficulty applying for anti-human
trafficking grants because to be eligible, the Department of Justice
requires at least 2 years of local data on human trafficking. In recent
years, North Dakota has been the fastest growing State in the country
in terms of both population and income growth. Consequently, North
Dakota has only recently seen a sudden increase in human trafficking
issues. To remedy that, I have offered an amendment to the Cornyn-
Klobuchar bill to make sure it does not mandate a required time period
of collected data. The proposed amendment clarifies that a local or
State government with a worthy trafficking initiative will not be
precluded from receiving funds under the Cornyn-Klobuchar legislation
because they, like North Dakota, have only recently begun collecting
data on human trafficking. They only have to demonstrate a valid need,
which is, of course, significant and growing across the country.

Here is what a group of victims support groups and law enforcement
organizations had to say:

Women and children, especially girls, are advertised online
where buyers purchase them with ease, anonymity, and
impunity. This happens in every city, in every State.

There are few issues that we as a governing body can be more unified
on than that our children are precious and that it is our duty to
protect them. For this reason, the Cornyn-Klobuchar bill has strong
bipartisan support in the Senate, and I believe it will also be
supported in the House. While it may need some amending here and there,
we all recognize we could be doing more to help victims of human
trafficking, child pornography, and other crimes of exploitation
against children and vulnerable adults. These often-invisible victims
not only need to be rescued from their situation, but they also need
medical, mental health, housing, legal, and other important services.

The Cornyn-Klobuchar bill addresses the need to do more head-on. It
establishes the Domestic Trafficking Victims' Fund, which is paid for
through fines on persons convicted of child pornography, human
trafficking, child prostitution, sexual exploitation, and human
smuggling offenses.

Under current law those convicted of child abuse, trafficking, and
related crimes must pay just a $100 special assessment fee. Under this
legislation that fee is increased to $5,000 for every individual
convicted of human trafficking, child pornography, and other forms of
child exploitation. Those funds go to the Domestic Trafficking Victims'
Fund, which will be used to increase the Federal resources available
for human trafficking victims by $7 million a year over a 5-year
timeframe, for a total of $35 million.

Funding will be awarded as block grants to State and local
governments under the Victim-Centered Human Trafficking Deterrence
Block Grant Program. The purpose of these grants is to develop and
implement victim-centered programs that train law enforcement to rescue
trafficking survivors, prosecute traffickers and pornographers, and
help to restore the lives of their innocent victims.

In addition, the Justice for Victims of Human Trafficking Act does a
number of things, including making sure that victims get restitution
and witnesses get rewards for cooperating with law enforcement before
others, encouraging prosecutors to get training on restitution in human
trafficking cases, and giving law enforcement greater authority to
seize the assets of convicted human traffickers.

It protects victims and witnesses by requiring human traffickers to
be treated as violent criminals for purposes of pretrial release and
detention pending judicial proceedings.

It ensures that Federal crime victims are informed of any plea
bargain or deferred prosecution agreement in their case and clarifies
that the ordinary standard of appellate review applies in cases
concerning Federal crime victims' rights petitions.

It recognizes that child pornography production is a form of human
trafficking and ensures that victims have access to direct services at
child advocacy centers to help them heal.

It allows State and local human trafficking task forces to get
wiretap warrants within their own State courts without Federal
approval. That will help them to more effectively investigate crimes of
child pornography, child exploitation, and human trafficking.

In addition, the bill improves nationwide communications so that law
enforcement can better track and capture traffickers and child
pornographers. It ensures regular reporting on the number of human
trafficking crimes for purposes of the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting
Program. It also requires law enforcement to upload photos of missing
individuals into the National Criminal Information Center database and
notifies the National Center For Missing and Exploited Children of any
child reported missing from foster care.

Finally, it strengthens the current law to reduce demand for human
trafficking by encouraging police, prosecutors, judges, and juries to
target all persons involved in the buying and selling of human
trafficking victims. It is wrong to prosecute victims and to fail to
prosecute those who prey on them.

The value and importance of this bill are reflected in the broad
coalition of victims' rights and law enforcement organizations that
support it. It has been endorsed by nearly 200 groups, from the
Fraternal Order of Police, to the National Center For Missing and
Exploited Children.

We need to pass the Cornyn-Klobuchar legislation because crimes such
as human trafficking and child pornography target the most vulnerable
among us in a most despicable way. I urge all of my colleagues to pass
this bill to put an end to modern-day slavery and to help victims get
the support they need.

Again, I would like to close with my request to our colleagues on
both sides of the aisle that we be allowed to proceed on the bill and
again reference the importance of including my amendment, which ensures
that all States, including those that have seen a recent real increase
in human trafficking, have access to funds so that they can truly help
victims in their State combat human trafficking in their State in
conjunction with local law enforcement.

With that, Madam President, I yield the floor.

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