Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015

Floor Speech

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Mr. BOOZMAN. Mr. President, this is an important subject. For many,
it is a matter of life and death. So I am pleased that we are taking up
this bill so early in the session.

The Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act can save lives, it can
restore dignity to the victims of these heinous crimes, and it can help
end modern-day slavery. I believe, without a doubt, every Member of
this body wants to see this bill become law. I hope we can overcome
this delay and send the bill to the President so we can make it a
reality.

As the father of three girls and as a grandfather of granddaughters,
I support the bill. I cosponsored it. I am eager to see it become law.
By doing so, we will build on our previous efforts that have
dramatically reduced instances of human trafficking around the globe.

Since the passage of the landmark Trafficking Victims Protection Act
of 2000, the United States has been a leader in the international
community's fight to end modern-day slavery. This law ushered in a new
strategy that addressed human trafficking on multiple fronts.

Combining strong protection for victims, including shelter and
asylum, with tough punishments for traffickers, including long jail
sentences and asset confiscation, and, most importantly, sanctions for
offending governments, the law has enabled us to crack some of the
biggest international human smuggling rings.

The most recent statistics show that during the 12-year period from
2000 to 2012, over 1,100 traffickers were charged in the United States,
resulting in 755 successful convictions. The Justice for Victims of
Trafficking Act can replicate these successes in combating
international trafficking by helping us take on the traffickers here at
home.

This is an effort by my colleagues that we can all agree is
worthwhile, which is clear by how easily this passed in committee and
by the level of bipartisan cosponsorship it maintains. So I am not
quite certain I understand what the Democratic leadership's strategy
aims to accomplish. The language they now find objectionable has been
in the bill all along. It is standard language that has been around for
decades.

On top of that, the majority leader offered a vote to strip the
language. Yet the minority continues to block this bill from floor
consideration. Not only can they offer an amendment to strip that
language, but Members of the minority can offer any amendment they
want, any amendment they believe will make the bill stronger. That is
the amazing thing about regular order. I know some Senate Democrats are
still getting used to the idea after years of being forced to the
sidelines by their own leadership, but this is a good change which we
should all embrace.

I believe this particular bill was strong from the onset, but I have
offered a couple of amendments to make it even stronger and better.
Both of these amendments make improvements to our efforts to address
trafficking on the global stage.

The first one deals with countries that try to game the system to
avoid sanctions. The State Department's tier system for ranking
offending countries is an excellent tool for ferreting out the problem
governments and prompting positive change. By utilizing the threat of
sanctions, we can effect change for the better.

Regrettably, some countries have abused the system and taken
advantage of the ``special watch list'' designation that is supposed to
be reserved for troubled nations making good-faith efforts to actually
change. These nations have been able to get this designation without
ever attempting to address human trafficking and, in turn, avoiding the
sanctions that they deserve. China is a perfect example.

With this amendment, we can put an end to the games. It will close
the loopholes that allow governments to retain the ``special watch
list'' designation without making immediate progress to reduce human
trafficking or face quick removal. This will force governments to take
real action, not just a nod and a wink to the problem to buy sanctions
relief.

The second amendment aims to put more teeth in the State Department's
Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking. This amendment seeks to
rename it and elevate it to the status of bureau to increase its
effectiveness so that those responsible for this essential diplomatic
tool are heard within the State Department.

These two amendments will help our overall strategy to combat
trafficking, but again, this bill, as it was introduced, would be a
huge help in our efforts to save lives.

The bill has the support of 200 advocacy groups, many of which are
law enforcement organizations. These advocacy groups are voicing the
same concerns we hear on the local level in our communities back home--
that this is a real problem with real victims--and our local officials
want this bill passed for that exact reason.

Just last week, I was visiting with some of my State's mayors who
were in Washington for the Arkansas Municipal League fly-in, and the
issue came up. The mayor of Hot Springs, AR, Ruth Carney, said that
this is an issue which is really close to her heart and highlighted
that Garland County has a task force to tackle human trafficking. She
said: ``It's a great thing to see that Congress is working to help with
this situation because I feel like it's very important for our
country.'' I imagine that the Senators holding up this bill hear the
same thing from their State and local officials. Perhaps they should
listen to them about the importance of getting this done.

So why drag this on longer? We could pass this bill within hours if
the Democrats would drop this manufactured outrage over language that
has been in the bill since its introduction. This language has
literally been applied to similar legislation for decades.

The senior Senators from Texas and Minnesota came together in a
bipartisan manner to draft this important legislation. It was passed by
the committee, in regular order, in a similar bipartisan manner.

I urge my colleagues to stand with the victims, pass this bill, get
them help, and get our communities the resources they need to save
thousands more from becoming victims.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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