Human Trafficking

Floor Speech

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Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. President, today I rise to support the Justice for
Trafficking Victims Act, and I want to commend the numerous Senators--
Cornyn, Klobuchar, and so many others--who have worked so hard to move
this act forward.

I realize there are many of us who are new to this body, and I
certainly am still learning my way around the procedural maze here.
However, it is easy to see how frustrating this maze can be and how it
keeps us from getting good things done for the people who elected us
and sent us here.

Last year I traveled my State, Alaska, and one of the top concerns I
heard from Alaskans is that they were tired of the gridlock, and they
want to see a functioning government and an open process in the Senate.
So here we are on a bill that is of immense importance to the country
and to Alaska--a bill that has very broad bipartisan support. It comes
to the floor with a promise of an open amendment process so all
Senators can be heard. Yet, a few of my friends on the other side of
the aisle are preventing us from moving forward on a bill that will
protect some of the Nation's most vulnerable citizens. Evidently a
provision in the bill that has been the law of the land for decades has
now become an excuse among some not to move the bill forward.

That is a shame for the country, and particularly for the victims who
have been snared in the heinous world of human trafficking. As a former
attorney general of the great State of Alaska, I have seen the horrible
pain and suffering that human trafficking and cases of domestic
violence and sexual assault can cause among our fellow citizens. I hail
from a great State. We are proud Alaskans, proud of many things that
are wonderful about our State. But like most States, we have problems.
We have some of the highest rates of sexual abuse and exploitation in
the country. Human trafficking is a big problem in my State, just as it
is throughout the rest of the country. Since the human trafficking bill
was placed on the calendar, I have been working closely with all of my
colleagues, not only on this bill but on an amendment that I plan on
offering with many others, the Mann Act cooperation amendment. This is
an amendment that would be a rare thing in Washington today, a truly
win-win amendment for the Federal Government, State governments, and
most importantly, for victims of human trafficking.

Now, human trafficking is a problem that, unfortunately, comes in
many forms and in many States--all States, in fact--in all corners of
our Nation. In order to best combat human trafficking, we must work
toward a seamless Federal and State partnership in order to stop this
growing problem.

To that end, I have been proud to have worked with many Senators on
both sides of the aisle--Senators Heitkamp, Gillibrand, Ayotte, and
Murkowski--on a simple yet straightforward amendment that incentivizes
State and Federal cooperation on this important issue.

The Mann Act cooperation amendment will free Federal resources by
allowing State attorneys general and local DAs to prosecute human
trafficking cases that would otherwise be assigned to Federal
Government prosecutors; or if Federal Government prosecutors do not
have the resources to take on such cases, oftentimes they are not going
to be pursued.

At the same time, this amendment preserves the Federal prosecutor's
ability to exercise prosecutorial options while, importantly,
increasing transparency about decisions made on human trafficking
cases.

In human trafficking cases, it is often local investigators and local
prosecutors who have the most information on these cases. As Alaska's
attorney general, I saw this firsthand. We usually had great
cooperation with our partners in the Federal Government.

But when the Feds can't take on human trafficking cases due to
limited resources, they should be encouraged to allow State officials
to take on such cases. That is the key goal of this amendment--to
enable the resources and cooperation between State and Federal
prosecutors to ensure that all cases of human trafficking are pursued,
victims have justice, and perpetrators pay penalties. That is what this amendment will do. That is why I believe it is such a win-win approach to State and Federal prosecutions with regard to human trafficking.

This amendment also provides oversight and transparency by assuring
there must also be communication between the States and the Federal
Government when making human trafficking prosecution decisions.

However, as to the broader human trafficking bill that so many
Members of this body have been working on--so many on both sides of the
aisle--if that bill dies on the Senate floor, so will the numerous
amendments that would also advance justice for the victims of human
trafficking, including the Mann Act cooperation amendment. This is just
one of many amendments on this important topic. We should not allow
this to happen.

We need to get to work for the victims of human trafficking, who are
looking for the Senate's leadership to help stamp out this scourge of
human trafficking, which is affecting our country in so many different
areas.

I yield the floor.

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