Political Quotes

“I rise today on behalf of the thousands of men, women, and children around the world who are the victims of human trafficking. I rise in their defense, on their behalf, and in the interests of responsible trade policy that recognizes that there can be no reward to nations that ignore the problem and do nothing to end the scourge of what amounts to modern-day slavery--one of the greatest moral challenges of our time. After negotiations with the White House, the USTR, and my colleagues on the Finance Committee, Senator Wyden and I at the appropriate time will be offering an amendment to the trade bill to make sure that any tier 3-rated nation--those are the nations that have the worst record in our ``Trafficking in Persons Report''--that any tier 3-rated nation hoping to benefit from the Trans-Pacific Partnership will have to address the problem of human trafficking in their country. They will have to make concrete efforts to meet the standards stipulated in the Trafficking Victims Protection Act or they will not have the benefit of privileged fast-track access to our markets, period. This modification to my original amendment allows for a narrow exception, not just a waiver, as we do with most of the restrictions on the executive branch. This exception may apply only to a country that has been certified by the State Department as having taken ``concrete actions . . .…”