Justice For Victims Of Trafficking Act Of 2015
Floor Speech
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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I will be very brief because I see my colleague from Connecticut on the floor.
Let me say at the outset, in the most positive way, I thank Senator Cornyn and Senator Klobuchar of Minnesota for their bipartisan effort to bring this issue to the floor and to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
We had a hearing in a subcommittee on this subject, and it was heartbreaking to hear about the exploitation of these young women at such a tender age. Unspeakable things were happening to them.
Sadly, in many States, when they finally came into the custody of law enforcement, some of them--some of the children--these young girls, were being charged as criminals until it was clear they had been enslaved and they had been exploited for so many years. So thinking on this subject is moving in the right direction. The suggestions of Senator Cornyn and Senator Klobuchar are also in the right direction.
So why don't we pass this bill? We have all of this bipartisan support. One provision in this bill turns out to be fraught with controversy.
Thirty-nine years ago, a Congressman from Illinois named Henry Hyde offered compromise language on the issue of abortion. It was just a few years after Roe v. Wade. It was still very controversial. He said: We will prohibit the expenditure of taxpayer funds for abortion except in cases of rape, incest, and the life of the mother.
For 39 years, that has been the standard. There has been an uneasy truce between those who see this issue in many different ways. They have come to the conclusion this will be the standard that would be applied to the expenditure of taxpayer funds, and it is renewed year after year.
Senator Cornyn, perhaps by accident or perhaps by design, crossed the line and started talking about not taxpayer funds but funds collected in fines from those guilty of human trafficking to create a victims' fund.
That has brought all of the debate and controversy--in fairness to Senator Cornyn and to Senator Murray, who has joined with others in this battle, there has been an active exchange of compromise language. We have counted, I think, 12 different versions we have sent over to Senator Cornyn. He sent probably as many our way.
So it isn't as if both sides have hunkered down and are just staring one another down. There is an honest effort to find a solution. The solution would not be embodied in the vote that had been scheduled for 11 o'clock; it is the old language. But they are still working on new language, and I hope we reach a point soon where we achieve that. We all agree human trafficking should stop and victims should be compensated.
I yield the floor to the Senator from Connecticut.
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