Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015

Floor Speech

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Ms. HIRONO. Mr. President, I wish to associate myself with the
remarks of my friend from California, Senator Boxer. I rise today to
speak against attempts to turn this bill--the Justice for Trafficking
Victims Act--into a political football. While there are many issues
that may divide this Congress--and certainly the issue of choice for
women is one of them--human trafficking should not be one of those
divisive issues.

This bill started off as a bipartisan bill, but along the way a
provision was added to the bill that brings me to the floor today in
opposition to that provision. Not only do I oppose the substance of
that provision, but I very much object to how the provision was added
to the bill unbeknownst to the sponsors of this bill such as myself.
Buried in this bill is a provision that allows government to dictate a
woman's health care options, and this provision would limit choices for
women who have been victimized by human trafficking.

Women are often forced to endure rape and violence on a daily basis.
That is what human trafficking is. This is an unprecedented and, I have
to say, appalling expansion of government's role in women's health care
decisions. The provision is anti-women and anti-victim. This body
should be working to help these victims of trafficking violence, not
playing politics with their lives. But that is not what we are seeing
today.

The truth is there are some in this body who have time and again put
their own ideological agenda and need to score political points ahead
of consensus-driven legislation.

We have seen this before. A few weeks ago Congress came close to
shutting down the Department of Homeland Security--the third largest
Department in the Federal Government--because a few Members wanted to
hold funding national security priorities hostage to score points
against the President's immigration actions. We saw it during the
shutdown. We saw it during the debate over the Shaheen-Portman energy
bill. We saw it during Congress's drawn-out debate over the
reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, yet another issue
that should be free of partisan politics.

This body shouldn't let ideological grandstanding on divisive issues
stall and kill bipartisan legislation that will make a difference for
people--particularly for the most vulnerable people in this country,
victims of trafficking.

This bill is no exception. A bill on human trafficking should not be
a method of expanding the government's powers to dictate women's
personal choices, women's health care decisions.

I join my colleagues in urging the Senate to stop using this
legislation and others like it to advance an ideological agenda, and
help the women, men, and children who are being trafficked across this
country.

I yield the floor.

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