Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak for such time as I may consume. As Senator Klobuchar stated, I come to the floor to speak on the sex trafficking bill. I know it is now held up by certain language, which I will go into in the details of my remarks, but briefly, I would like to begin by describing the bill's highlights. The bill clarifies that a person who buys a sex act from a minor or other trafficking victim can be prosecuted under the Federal commercial sex trafficking statute. The bill authorizes block grants for State and local governments to develop programs to rescue trafficking victims and investigate and prosecute traffickers. The bill also includes nearly all of the provisions from the Combat Human Trafficking Act which Senator Portman and I introduced in January. I am very grateful to the authors--Senator Klobuchar, Senator Cornyn--for adding these. Those provisions establish a minimum period of 5 years of supervised release for a person who conspires to violate the commercial sex trafficking statute. It would require the Justice Department to train on investigating and prosecuting buyers, on seeking restitution, and on connecting victims with health services. It would require reporting on sex trafficking prosecutions. It would expand wiretap authority to cover all human trafficking offenses. It would expand the rights of crime victims-- something I have been interested in since Senator Kyl and I did the Crime Victims' Bill of Rights.…”