On the recordMarch 19, 2015
let me begin by acknowledging the work the sponsors of the human trafficking bill are doing. Trafficking is a sanitized way to discuss this issue. It is actually slavery, and I am glad that term is finding its way into the lexicon of how this is discussed. It is not just the sex trafficking--sex slavery--it is also labor trafficking, which is a major problem in this country as well. I do hope we can find a way forward on this one. It is an extraordinarily important issue, one that has taken far too long to pay attention to. It is not something that happens just around the world, but it happens here closer than we think. Israel Mr. President, I want to talk about a separate topic today as well. It is one a lot of people have been reading about in the newspapers over the last 72 hours. As we all know, there was an election in Israel this week, and many people are wondering: What is this aftermath of the election we keep reading about, where there is this controversy and back and forth? Certainly some of that happened a few weeks ago, when the Prime Minister of Israel visited Washington and spoke before the Congress. People are wondering, what is it that is going on here and why is there so much controversy around all this? I want to take a moment to delve deeper into this, because this is important. First of all, to answer the fundamental question: Why should we care about what is happening with Israel, in Israel, and about Israel?…
