Providing for Congressional Disapproval of a Rule Submitted by the National Labor Relations Board

Floor Speech

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Mrs. SHAHEEN. Mr. President, I wish to echo what my colleagues
Senator Mikulski and Senator Klobuchar have said about this being a
bipartisan issue. This is an issue that affects everybody in this
country--Republicans, Democrats, Independents. It is a critical issue
for the Senate. It is a critical issue for the House. It is a critical
issue for State legislatures across the country.

I am so pleased to be able to join my colleagues and thank Senator
Mikulski for her leadership for such a long time on this issue and so
many others, and commend Senator Klobuchar for everything she is doing
to address this issue. I am so pleased to join Senator Hirono as well
this morning, and look forward to seeing my colleague from New
Hampshire coming to the floor shortly.

This Sunday, March 8, nations across the globe will observe
International Women's Day. It is an annual occasion to celebrate the
achievements of women across the globe. But it also recognizes the
obstacles that still stand in the way of equal rights and opportunities
for women. Over the last century, women have fought for equal rights
and opportunities, and we made enormous advances in much of the world.
Humanity has learned that women's rights are human rights, and those
rights include being respected as full and equal partners in all
aspects of the economy and society. We have learned that when women
succeed, families succeed, communities succeed, and nations succeed.

However, as my colleagues have pointed out so eloquently, across the
globe countless millions of women continue to face not only the denial
of basic human and civil rights, but outright violence and bondage. We
would like to think of slavery as a thing of the past, particularly
here in America. But the tragic reality is that this scourge continues
to thrive in the 21st century. We are here this morning to shine a
spotlight on the modern slave trade and to encourage all of our
colleagues here in the Senate to work with us to end it.

An estimated 27 million people are trapped in the multibillion dollar
marketplace that trafficks in slaves. Victims include forced migrant
laborers, bonded laborers, and sex slaves, including women forced into
marriages as de facto slaves. Tragically, as we have heard, children
account for the majority of modern slaves, many of them trafficked and
sexually exploited.

Let's be clear. As Senators Klobuchar and Mikulski pointed out,
modern-day slavery is not confined to impoverished and backward
countries. I was recently briefed on a human trafficking case
investigated in my home State of New Hampshire. This case involved
forced prostitution. Fortunately, three arrests have already been made.
The investigation is still ongoing, so I can't talk about the specifics
of the case, but fortunately several of the victims have been rescued.

I want to state the obvious and point out what Senator Klobuchar also
pointed out: If modern slavery can exist in communities in New
Hampshire, in Minnesota, in Maryland, it can exist anywhere in the
world.

I am proud the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, led by Chairman
Corker and our Ranking Member Menendez, is spearheading new legislation
which I have cosponsored to fight the modern slave trade on a global scale. Our bill is titled the Ending Modern Slavery Initiative Act of
2015, and it was unanimously reported out of committee last week.

It would authorize the creation of a nonprofit foundation to be known
as the End Modern Slavery Initiative Foundation. This new foundation
would fund projects to rescue victims of modern slavery and to prevent
individuals from being victimized by slavery. In addition, it would
pursue the strict enforcement of laws to punish individual and
corporate perpetrators of modern slavery.

I want to again commend the work of the Senate Committee on the
Judiciary under the leadership of Chairman Grassley and Ranking Member
Leahy, as well as the work that Senator Cornyn and Senator Klobuchar
are doing. The Committee on the Judiciary advanced three bipartisan
bills to crack down on criminals involved in human trafficking and to
assist victims with the rehabilitation.

As we are talking about the prevalence of human trafficking, I think
this picture of the areas of human trafficking shows while it is
stronger in particular regions of the country--up the I-95 corridor--it
is all over the country. The Presiding Officer's home State of
Arkansas--a small state like New Hampshire--is one of those States
where we see a big red hotspot for human trafficking. We see it all
across the country. It is why we need to do everything we can
nationally to respond to this scourge.

As we look forward this week to celebrating International Women's Day
on Sunday, let us also remember the millions of women who have been
left behind, who are being exploited by traffickers and trapped in
modern slavery, who are desperate to have their humanity recognized and
rescued. I urge all of our colleagues here in the Senate to join us in
supporting legislation that will combat and hopefully ultimately end
modern slavery, the scourge of human trafficking.

I yield the floor.

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