Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015- Continued

Floor Speech

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Mr. HOEVEN. Mr. President, I rise again to speak in support of the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act. It is good legislation, drafted and introduced by the Senator from Texas, Mr. Cornyn, and also the Senator from Minnesota, Ms. Klobuchar. They originally put this bill together in the last Congress, and I was pleased to be a cosponsor of that bill. I am also very pleased to be an original cosponsor of the legislation they introduced earlier this year, the legislation we have on the floor now.

This bill has many important, strong points. I am going to go through some--not all but a number of them.

For example, it makes sure victims get restitution and witnesses get rewards for cooperating with law enforcement before others and encourages prosecutors to get training on restitution in human trafficking cases. It also gives law enforcement greater authority to seize the assets of convicted human traffickers, and it protects victims and witnesses by requiring human traffickers to be treated as violent criminals for purposes of pretrial release and detention pending judicial proceedings.

It also ensures that Federal crime victims are informed of any plea bargain or deferred prosecution agreement in their case and clarifies that the ordinary standard of appellate review applies in cases concerning Federal crime victims' rights petitions.

It recognizes that child pornography production is a form of human trafficking and ensures that victims have access to direct services at child advocacy centers to help them heal.

It allows State and local human trafficking task forces to get wiretap warrants within their own State courts without Federal approval. That will help them to more effectively investigate crimes of child pornography, child sexual exploitation, and human trafficking.

The bill also improves nationwide communications so law enforcement can better track and capture traffickers and child pornographers. It ensures regular reporting on the number of human trafficking crimes for purposes of the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program.

It also requires law enforcement to upload photos of missing individuals into the National Criminal Information Center database and notify the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children of any child reported missing from foster care, and it strengthens current law to reduce demand for human trafficking by encouraging police, prosecutors, judges, and juries to target all persons involved in the buying and selling of human trafficking victims. It is just wrong to prosecute victims and fail to prosecute those who prey on them.

This legislation will help for all of those reasons, but this legislation is also very important because it creates a fund from fines and penalties imposed on those who would engage in human trafficking. The fund is important because it not only compensates victims of human trafficking and other crimes of exploitation for their injuries, but it also provides resources to help law enforcement prevent such crimes in the future.

As we work on this important issue, it is also very important that we understand that human trafficking is not just a big-State, big-city problem. Every State in the country is facing this issue, including my home State of North Dakota, but we currently have a challenge addressing this problem.

After consulting with the North Dakota attorney general's office, we learned that North Dakota has been discouraged from applying for antihuman trafficking grants, because in its application, the Department of Justice asks for at least 2 years of local data on human trafficking victims. North Dakota, in recent years, has been the fastest growing State in the country. So here we are, the fastest growing State both in terms of population and in terms of income growth. Consequently, more so than many States, only recently we have seen significant increases in human trafficking issues. So we don't have that 2 years' worth of data that DOJ requires, but we very much need assistance with addressing the problem of human trafficking. It is not unique to North Dakota. There are other States--typically fast-growing States, States that may have the same kind of energy development or other areas where they have seen a significant influx of people and are continuing to see a significant influx of people. This is a national issue. It is not specific just to my State but to any State where we have seen rapid growth, influx of money, influx of people from outside the State and where human trafficking is an issue.

To remedy that, I have offered an amendment to the current legislation we have on the floor now, the Cornyn-Klobuchar bill, that clarifies that an eligibility entity with a worthy trafficking initiative, in an effort to combat trafficking in its jurisdiction, will not be disadvantaged in receiving funds under the Cornyn-Klobuchar bill because they, like North Dakota--be it a State or whatever--have only recently begun collecting data on human trafficking. So in cases where they don't have 2 years of data, as long as they can demonstrate a valid need and a valid solution to try to address this important issue and to reduce human trafficking, that is what will be required for the application, and not having 2 years of data will not be an issue in terms of scoring or an issue that DOJ would hold against that application for receipt of the funds for a worthy project.

This is important to make sure that all across the country, in every State, we are addressing human trafficking. We all need to be united, in every State across this great country, working to combat human trafficking. That is why this amendment is very important.

There are few issues that as a governing body we can be more united on than making sure we protect our children, that we prevent human trafficking in any form, and that we do it on a national basis in every State. That is what my amendment is all about.

For this reason, I offer this amendment. I hope it will be included as part of the Cornyn-Klobuchar legislation, which, as I said earlier, I am only too pleased to cosponsor.

The value and importance of this legislation is reflected in the broad coalition of victims' rights and law enforcement organizations that support it. It has been endorsed by nearly 200 groups, from the Fraternal Order of Police to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

We need to pass this legislation. Crimes such as human trafficking and child pornography target the most vulnerable among us in a most despicable way. I urge all of my colleagues to pass this bill, to put an end to modern-day slavery, and to help victims get the support they need.

Mr. President, I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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