18. Huge bipartisan support over in the house. Passed unanimously through the Judiciary Committee and will be one of the amendments to this bill. I just want to, again thank senator murray for her leadership. Weve been a team on this and weve been able to work with senator cornyn and our friends across the aisle to get this done, and i will end by saying it is also time to confirm the next attorney general of the United States, loretta lynch. Thank you, i yield the floor. I came to the floor to talk about the work of the senate and particularly the justice for victims of trafficking act, but i would say to my colleague and friend who ive worked with on so many important issues that i also look toward to once we get past todays business that we look forward to working together with you on patent reform criminal Justice Reform also to continue our i think, very Productive Partnership on open government and transparency particularly the freedom of information act legislation. Mr. President before i talk about the justice of victims of trafficking act, i have to note its my responsibility, my duty, my honor to note that todays a very important day in texas. This is the san ya seen toe day, and for those who dont know what that is, this is the official state holiday that honors texas independence where 910 soldiers led by general sam houston won the decisive battle of the texas revolution. So its not the battle of the alamo that gave texas its independence, thats the one that people perhaps remember the most. Maybe its because of the movies and the books that have been written about that. Actually the battle of the alamo didnt turn out too well. Virtually everybody was killed. But it gave rise to the opportunity for these 910 men led by general sam houston on san jacinto day to win the decisive battle of the texas revolution. And now almost 180 years later, i think its only appropriate and fitting that we recognize the bravery and their sacrifices on in pursuit of our dream of freedom. But on the subject of the justice for victims of trafficking act, this has been a strange experience, starting as we did on something that passed unanimously in the Judiciary Committee. 30 cosponsors on a bipartisan basis, and all of a sudden to have this legislation stuck here in the United States senate. And i wont relitigate the reasons for that because frankly, i think we have now found a way forward for this legislation. As the majority leader, senator mcconnell, and the democratic leader, senator reid, announced in this morning. Its going to take a little bit more work by this senate. There are perhaps a handful of amendments that well have an opportunity to vote on. Although i know it is the desire by everyone is for us to finish this trafficking bill as soon as we can and then we can address the concerns that the Ranking Member from vermont senator leahy, has about the nomination of the attorney general. Senator mcconnell has made very clear that once we get trafficking resolved, which ate ate it appears were on a path to doing then we can turn to the lynch nomination. Ive actually been somewhat surprised and more optimistic than ive been in a long time about how the senate is beginning to Work Together from passing a budget to dealing with the broken doc fix that had been the law of the land since is the 97 since 1997 which required us to come back and patch every six month toss a year. And the reforms that actually were negotiated by Speaker Boehner and leader pelosi in the house which we passed by an overwhelming margin here in the senate. And then if you consider our what happened in the Foreign Relations committee on the iran sanctions issue a unanimous vote the health education, labor committee, senator alexander, senator murray announcing a an agreement to move forward on the reauthorization of Early Childhood education. We have some very Good Progress thats being made and, for example, on trade i just came from the the Senate Finance committee i think there is a path forward on trade Promotion Authority and consideration of the transpacific partnership. The is that the United States the truth is that the United States has roughly 20 of the worlds purchasing power which means 80 of the purchasing power in the world lies beyond our borders. We have 5 of the worlds population meaning 95 of the worlds population lies beyond our borders. And the opportunities we have to grow our economy and help small and mediumsized businesses and the people, the middle class families that work at those businesses is very exciting. So the point is i think we after a long period of dysfunction in the United States, we are starting to see the United States senate work again the way it should work, the way it has historically worked through the committees to build consensus on legislation that can then come to the floor, to have senators whether they be in the majority or the minority to offer constructive suggestions about how to solve our nations Biggest Challenges and then to Work Together to send these to the president and get his signature. So there is a lot of positive things happening in the United States senate. And i hope for even more positive things to occur in the near future. But i have been focused like a laser for some time now on justice for the victims of Human Trafficking. When i think for a minute about the fact that the typical victim of Human Trafficking is a 12 to 13yearold girl whos been sold essentially, into sex slavery and who has lost control over her life and perhaps to their mind, to her mind her future, i cant think of a more compelling need for the United States senate than to try to offer a lifeline to these victims of Human Trafficking. And thats what this legislation that, hopefully we will act on today, perhaps no later than tomorrow is designed to do. It creates a fund that could be as high as 30 million not from taxes, but from fines and penalties paid by people who commit sexual offenses and basically represent the demand side of the Human Trafficking equation. And we have found a way now on a bipartisan basis to move this legislation forward so we can offer a hand to rescue these victims of Human Trafficking. We can give them an opportunity to heal, and we can provide them some hope for a better future. You know, i know all of us by virtue of our, the privilege of office that we serve in have heard stories from constituents about Human Trafficking. And i remember quite clearly Brooke Axtell of austin texas, who now works with a number of nonprofits and has basically turned her tragic story into serving others who have likewise become victims of Human Trafficking. Brookes story is really almost beyond belief. She says at age 7 she was sexually abused. She was literally held captive in a basement and sold to men who would pay money to have sex with her a 7yearold child. Brooke has brought to light her pain and has begun to heal as a result of having been rescued and been given a helping hand but she has now turned her tragic story into hope by helping others find a way out of a life she herself experienced. She found a group called survive healing and empowerment which is a Healing Community of survivors of rape abuse and sex trafficking. Another horrific story that ive heard, im sure just like all members of the senate have heard coming from their states because this is not something isolated in one state, this is national indeed its an international phenomenon, but another woman ive had the privilege of meeting with and who shared her story with me was melissa wood worth from the Dallas Fort Worth area. Melissa was 12 years old when she was told into the sold into the sex trade by a family member. Unbelievable. Eventually, she was pulled out of school to be trafficked full time when she was in the sixth grade. Her life, as she describes it became a prison. She was literally chained to a bed in a warehouse she says and ebb doored regular beatings endured regular beatings and obviously, sexual assaults. She was even once there was even once an attempt to set her on fire by one of her abusers. And all the while she says she was forced to serve between 530 men every day. She said she wished she was dead as heartbreaking as melissas story is, just as sad is the way she was treated after she escaped her captors. One of the big changes weve made, at one point we claimed victims were the criminal because they had engaged in prostitution. But the idea of a child prostitute is an oxymoron. A child cannot consent to a life of prostitution. And what we find in looking at the victims of Human Trafficking is many of them are minuted and coerced manipulated and coerced and forced to engage in this sex activity for the economic benefit of their johns or their pitches or their traffickers pimps or their pacifickers. This is all about money. This is about the face of evil that treats human beings as an object a thing without the basis dignity that and respect which all human beings are entitled to. But as ive said, one of the problems with the way we used to treat victims of Human Trafficking is we treated them like the criminal. And that was all too common an outcome for trafficking victims who were left with very few options but to ultimately return to a nightmare that, sadly, exists in our country. That is gunning to change. It needs to change even more which is another reason why we need to pass this bill. This is the kind of legislation that i think in many ways is unique, because it is a nonpartisan piece of legislation. All this legislation is desouped to do is to help victims of Human Trafficking get rescued and then begin to heal and get on with their lives. Its designed to provide muchneeded resources for victims of Human Trafficking plain and simple. Out may be nothing more than a safe place to sleep protected from the people who would continue to abuse them. And its designed to help people like Brooke Melissa and so many others, the tens of thousands of victims of Human Trafficking. This legislation would not only provide health for those victims, but would insure that children like melissa are treated like victims and not criminals. It would also add Law Enforcement tools to help authorities rescue victims and to take down human traffickers and the organized criminal networks who support them. Thats an important point because Human Trafficking is not a mom and pop business. This is run by organized crime and criminal networks, some of them international or transnational. So, mr. President , i want to thank my colleagues for caring for caring about people like melissa and brooke and the many examples of Human Trafficking that weve all been introduced to. And i want to particularly express my gratitude to all of our colleagues for working on this and not giving up until we found b a pathway found a pathway towards success. This bodys consideration of this bill has proven that compromise and bipartisanship need not be relics of the past in todays washington, but they are very much alive and well, particularly when the need is so very great as it is in this area. So now for the sake of these victims, lets get this important legislation passed and provide crucial help for the children trapped in modern day slavery. I want to just conclude, mr. President , by saying a few thank yous. I know its a little premature but we would not have gotten this far if it werent for the help of organizations like rights for girls shared hope international, coalition against trafficking women, the end child prostitution and Trafficking Organization the National Association to protect children and members of our staff here in the United States senate who have worked so hard to get us where we are today. I want to express my gratitude to senator klobuchar, senator murray understand some of the people who are going to be reserving time are not yet here, and i want to remind my my colleagues on the floor that we have a piece of legislation thats coming up that no one is really plugged into right now but its going to be coming before us in a very short period of time. Back in 2011, i introduced a bill and passed a bill. Its called the pilots bill of rights. It was something that was very meaningful to a relatively small number of people, but these are singleissue people. It strove to correct a problem in our Justice System that that existed for as long as i can remember. Having been an active commercial pilot for the last over 50 years and there arent too many in the United States senate, in our delegation in oklahoma, i was the only one up until a couple of years ago so its only natural that i receive comments from a lot of people concerning problems they had with the f. A. A. There are a lot of great people in the f. A. A. , and a lot of them that i have worked with for many many years but there are also some and this is true with any regulatory body, anyone who has the authority over individuals. I remember, mr. President back many years ago when i was the mayor of tulsa we had a great police force but all it takes is two or three of them to be bad guys. Were seeing that around today. That gives a Bad Reputation to the lot of them. The same is true with some of the people who are working with the f. A. A. I can remember helping others and i always did come to their aid when they felt they werent getting the proper justice but it really didnt register with me until it actually happened to me and here back about three years ago flying an airplane into a a texas airfield that was not a controlled field there was activity going on on the runway, without any notice had been advised and without anybody actually knowing this, and with permission i landed on that runway. This is a runway in far south texas. Its a 9,000feet runway. They were working on 9,000 feet of it, so it was very easy to come in. That because of certain individuals who had some other reasons to be critical of me, all kinds of things happened as a result of that. In fact, just recently, they have even had some cartoons talking about how i landed on a runway and were chasing people off the runway. None of that was true. But this is what happened. They proposed to have a violation against me, and i was totally helpless, knowing as many other hundreds of others have had this experience i never had, of knowing i could lose my license on the whims of one individual in the field. Now, it wouldnt have been as critical to me. Thats not how i make my living. But look at some people who do do make their living that way. They would just because of one individual who didnt like bob hoover is a good example. Bob hoover is i guess in his 90s now arguably was the most gifted pilot that i could ever remember. He was the one who i say to the chair, he would put a glass of water up on his dash and do a barrel roll and not spill the water. I have been with him when that happened. Well one guy in the field didnt like him for some reason, and they they staged a violation, and he could have and did lose his license. Now, i had to come to this body, and it took a year and a half to pass a bill, to allow bob hoover to get back in. Well thats an extreme example but nonetheless that happened, and thats what was happening to me. So anyway, we passed the pilots bill of rights, and the main thing there we were trying to do is extend two pilots the same protections under the law that other people have. Weve heard the phrase many times youre guilty until proven innocent. Well in one area in our society, that is true and has historically been true, and that is for violations or alleged violations against pilots. So anyway, we passed this, we corrected some things that the that havent really come to fruition. For example a note on this noteat is something that is supposed to be published by the f. A. A. If there is anything going on in an airport such as construction on a runway that create a hazard so the pilots then have to look up the notems. The problem is there is no guidelines where they can find a notice to airmen. So we corrected this we thought in the pilot bill of rights. However, it wasnt as good of a correction as we thought it should be. So we now are coming back with the pilots bill of rights to and by the way, i have to tell you, mr. President i had 67 cosponsors out of 100 United States senators, so this is something that was very popular and passed with overwhelming majorities. So what were doing now with pilots bill of rights is about four things. First, the medical certification process is one that is kind of interesting because theres no uniformity. Someone could have a physical problem, a medical problem. He might be in Chicago Illinois or he might be in tampa, florida and hell have a completely different interpretation by the medical examiner as to what should be the remedy of that persons problem. So this puts the uniformity back in there and then it does something, and this is going to be something that people who dont understand and are not listening to me right now might might state that this would be something they could be a hazard, might be some kind of a danger, and that is we passed in 2004 a rule creating a medical exemption for pilots of like score pilot eligibility. Now, that was for airplanes under 1,230 pounds, and only have two seats. Now, there are about 34,000 of them around. Its been over ten years since the f. A. A. Issued this exemption, and since then the medical safety experience of these pilots has been identical to those with medical with certificates which begs the question of the value of this expensive and burdensome requirement for pilots who fly for recreation. A joint study that was done by the aopa, thats aircraft owners and Pilots Association and the Experimental Aircraft Association on 4,976 aviation accidents, that was between the years of 2008 and 2012, of those 4,900, of those 4 ,]had 900 only 99 had a medical cause as a factor. Thats less than. 25 of all accidents. Of those 99, none would have been prevented by the current thirdclass medical screening standards in the medical certificate process. And so it doesnt offer any protection. It doesnt serve any useful purpose. Now, if we are proposing in the pilots bill of rights, too to extend that medical exemption that is currently in place for light support aircraft to include planes weighing up to 6,000 pounds and six total passengers including the pilot that would add airmen and aircraft to an existing f. A. A. Approved medical standard without degrading the or creating a substandard safety. Now, what im saying here is that of all these almost 47,000 aviation accidents only 99 had a medical cause and of those 99 not one would have been prevented by the current thirdclass medical certificate. So this is just another burden on the public. Not individuals specifically on pilots that doesnt accomplish anything. So what we do now is have consistency in the application of a medical certification process, and its something that is overdue. It shouldnt be a problem getting that one passed, and yet it does need explanation. The second thing it does is extend the Due Process Rights preserved in the original bill of rights to all f. A. A. Certificate holders not just those that are Certificate Holders who fly airplanes. There are others who are exercise and work in other fields they should have the same the same benefits. The and what it does and this is kind of hard to explain but if someone is accused or is is accused of a violation that individual has a process thats been in law prior to the pilots bill of rights, and that is you go through and they the f. A. A. Makes a judgment. Then you can actually it to the ntsb. The ntsb historically has been a rubber stamp for the f. A. A. , so it didnt qualify anything. What we did in the pilots bill of rights is allow an individual to then get in the court system and then get what we call a de novo. They have a whole process that starts from scratch. They dont just take what the f. A. A. Says or the ntsb says, but the courts treat it as a new case and look at it, and this has not been happening. So we put some teeth in that so that that will be something that will be that will be workable. So i really feel that we are going to be able to do this, and its really getting the things done that we tried to do in the pilots bill of rights, but there have been some problems getting the courts to understand it. In fact, in two separate cases the Federal District courts ruled that my original bill did not require a full rehearing of the facts. This legislation explicitly spells out the option to appeal to the f. A. A. Enforcement action to the Federal District courts for a guaranteed de novo trial but they havent been doing it. So this puts teeth in it so that they are going to actually have to do it. Okay. The third thing is and by the way, there are things in there that people are not aware of. For example in my case, i was alleged allegedly did something that was not in compliance with the f. A. A. Rules and regulations but they didnt say what it was. They didnt give the evidence, so you didnt have access to your evidence. The new bill ensures that thats going to happen. The third thing is on notems. Thats notice to airmen. They say that its the pilots responsibility this has been true now for decades. Its a pilots responsibility to know if a notem has been failed by the f. A. A. Thats notice to airmen. But theres not any way of knowing where to find that. In my case, they claim that there was a case saying the notem at the Cameron County airport was closed. That was a lie. It didnt have. There was no notem out there. Finally, we proved that it was the case. So now we are going to have it forced so that we know where these notice to airmen are filed. Its going to be the responsibility of the f. A. A. To put them in a Central Location where they would have access to them and this is something that that was addressed in the pilots bill of rights but somehow its it wasnt specific enough. The teeth we put in this bill is that in the event that they dont have it, the notem published where it can be found in a Central Location, then the f. A. A. Cannot use that as an enforcement action. That will get the job done. The fourth thing it does is extend the liability of protection to individuals designated by the f. A. A. As aviation medical examiners pilot exercise, and this pilot examiners that type of thing. This addresses what most people refer to as a Good Samaritan law. Ii have a lot of pilots who have been in the same situation who want to help, to get a patient to a doctor in an emergency situation. I can remember one time many years ago when a tornado went through and destroyed the island of dominique. I got 12 pilots together with 12 of their airplanes. They volunteered to take all the medical supplies down there. Now, if something had happened in the meantime, they would have had no protection if out at of the goodness of their heart out of their own expense they were there trying to save lives. I was there. I know. This is going to give Liability Protection to individuals other than just the pilots. Other people who hold f. A. A. Certificates and at the same time give protection to those people who are trying to help other people. So i believe that this bill is it should be coming up in the next couple of weeks. It will be going to the commerce committee. I would encourage my members to and particularly those 67 members who were the cosponsors of the pilots bill of rights, the original one should be on this one too. In fact, most of them are right now. I know senators manchin and bozeman were the first two to get on. They happened to be the chairman of the general aviation caucus in the senate. By the way, we have just an equal support over in the other body in the house of representatives. So last summer at the e. A. A. Air venture, oshkosh convention, the largest flyin convention anywhere in the world i hosted a public forum to solicit input for the legislation were having the pilots bill of rights and i received over 400 comments from individuals the people who were present at the oshkosh event. So we have solicited the input we have all the organizations behind it and i would say insofar as the one that might become controversial that is the exemption from on a thirdclass medical. The doctors that have unanimously voted in favor they call it the doctors in aviation and others. So one of these rare opportunities we have on a bipartisan basis to pass something thats going to offer protection offer Legal Protections to one class of people who currently have not dont have it and have not it in the past. With that i will yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call a senator mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from north dakota is recognized. Mr. Hoeven i ask the quorum call be suspended. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Hoeven thank you mr. President. I rise today to speak in support of the justice for victims of trafficking act. Its good legislation drafted and introduced by the senator from texas senator cornyn, and alsoor the senator from minnesota, senator klobuchar. They had originally put this bill together in the last congress and i was pleased to be a cosponsor of that bill and im also very pleased to to be an original cosponsor of the legislation that theyve introduced earlier this year and the the legislation that we have on the floor now. This bill has many strong points many important strong points. Im going to go through some of them not all of them, but a number of them. For example, it makes sure that victims get restitution and witnesses get rewards for cooperating with Law Enforcement before others, and it encourages prosecutors to get training on restitution in Human Trafficking cases. Its of 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 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 croneography, Sexual Exploitation and Human Trafficking. The nation improves 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 the purposes of the f. B. I. Crime reporting program. It also requires Law Enforcement to upload photos of missing individuals into the National Criminal Information Center database and notify the Senate Center for missing and exploited chirp for any child missing from foster care. It seconds law by encouraging Police Prosecutors judges and juries to target all persons involved in the buying and selling of Human Trafficking victims. Its just wrong to prosecute victims and nail to prosecute those who prey on them. Now, the legislation will help for all of those reasons but the legislation is also very important because it creates a fund from fines and penalties that are imposed on those who would engage in Human Trafficking. That 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. Now, as we work to on this important issue, its also very important that we understand that Human Trafficking is not just a bigstate bigcity problem. Every state in the country is facing this issue including my home state, north dakota. But we currently have a challenge addressing this problem. After consulting with the north Dakota Attorney Generals 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 two 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 weve seen significant increases in Human Trafficking issues but so we dont have that two years worth of data that d. O. J. Requires but we very much need assistance with addressing the problem of Human Trafficking. So to remedy that its not unique to north dakota. Theres other states, fast growing states, states that may have the same kind of Energy Development or other areas where theyve seen significant influx of people and are continuing to see significant influx of people. So this really is a national issue. Its not specific just to my state. But to any state where youve seen rapid growth, influx of money, influx of people from outside the state and where Human Trafficking is an issue. So to remedy that, ive offered an amendment to the current legislation, taming before we have on the floor now the cornynklobuchar bill that clarifies an eligible entity with a traffic that has a worthy trafficking initiative, an effort to International Trafficking in its jurisdiction that that entity will not be disadvantaged in receiving funds under the cornklobuchar bill because that entity like a state or whatever has recently begun collecting data on Human Trafficking. So in cases where they dont have that two years of data as long as they can demonstrate a valid need and that they have a valid other solution to try to address this important issue and to reduce Human Trafficking that that is what will be required for the application and that not having the two years of data will not be an issue in terms of scoring or an issue that d. O. J. Would hold against that application for receipt of the funds for a worthy project. And this really is important to make sure that all across the country, in every state were addressing Human Trafficking. We all need to be united. As i say in every state across this great the country working to combat Human Trafficking and thats why this amendment is very important. So mr. President , there are a few issues that as a governing body we can be more united on than making sure that we protect our children and that we protect that we prevent Human Trafficking in any form and that we do it on a National Basis in every state and thats what my amendment is all about. And so for this reason i offer that amendment and this amendment and hope it will be included as part of the lineklobuchar the cornynklobuchar legislation which im only too pleased to sponsor. The value of the importance of believe that the this legislation were looking at is reflected in the Broad Coalition of victims rights and Law Enforcement organized 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. Mr. President , we need to pass legislation. Crimes like 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 and to put an end to modernday slavery and to help victims get the support that they need. With that, mr. President , i yield the floor and i note the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call quorum call quorum call a senator mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from ohio. Mr. Portman mr. President i rise the presiding officer the senate is in a quorum call. Mr. Portman i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be dispensed with. The presiding officer without objection. The senator from ohio. Mr. Portman mr. President i rise to express my appreciation that finally the senate is getting back to legislating on this important issue of Human Trafficking, a heinous crime that threatens thousands of innocent people every year. Im the cochair cofounder of the Human Trafficking caucus and our opportunity here today is to raise awareness of this issue but also to pass important legislation to address the problem. We have learned that Human Trafficking is now a 32 billion Worldwide Industry leading only second in side to International Drug trade for criminal activity. Many people view this as an international problem, they think it happens somewhere else on another continent maybe in africa maybe in asia. It happens right here. Every count in the world has a responsibility to fight against traffickers but while it has a global reach the reality is its a major problem here in america my home state ohio and every state represented in the United States senate. The Justice Department has told us that the average age of victims getting involved in trafficking is 12 to 14 years old. So think about that. These are children. These are kids. The number of American Children at risk of Sexual Exploitation and trafficking is estimated to be about 300,000. These children represent the most vulnerable among us and we should make sure were doing everything we can to protect them. Every American Life has value and every child deserves a chance to live a bright future. Today, however, we can take comfort in knowing that we are fighting back against human traffickers and making it harder for them. First, our legislation makes it easier to find some of these vulnerable children. Missing children are particularly vulnerable were told and the legislation im about to talk about enables us to find those children more quickly and help to get them into a nurturing environment. Second, it will strengthen Law Enforcements ability to find and punish those who are committing these crimes. We accomplish the first goal with the bringing Children Home act. Its a bill i authored with senator Chuck Schumer of new york. We know there is a strong connection between sex trafficking victims and children who have been in and out of the Child Welfare system. Children who have been missing or away from their homes are the most vulnerable. An f. B. I. Sting in 2014 recovered 168 sex trafficking victims and nearly all of them spent time in the Child Welfare system or foster care system. While many of these children had been reported missing the information obtained by authorities was not sufficient enough to be able to find them. That is what this legislation gets at. The missing bringing missing Children Home act will make it easier to find these children in a few different ways. First, it amends the missing children assistance act by placing the term chiel child prostitution with child sex trafficking, it reinforces the fact that children are victims not criminal. Secondly, it allows Law Enforcement to update their records within 30 days of the initial report with Additional Information that could include medical or dental records even a photograph. Having this new information particularly a photograph, is incredibly important when searching for a missing child. I know this because this has been a big problem in my home state of ohio. If you think about it, since we started looking at this legislation, considering this bill on the floor which was earlier this month on march 6 since march 6 60 children have been reported missing in my home state of ohio. And yet we only have photographs for 14 of them. It is hard to find these children. And not having that information makes it even more divment so our legislation will help to get those photographs, to be sure that all of us can play a role in helping find these missing chirchlt the bill also makes it easier for Law Enforcement officials on the state and local level to coordinate with Child Welfare agencies and allows state Law Enforcement agencies to modify and improve missing children entries to include Important Information that was missing during an important investigation. It makes sense to have better records. While were micking it easier to find victims well also make it easier to find perpetrators. With legislation that i have authored with Dianne Feinstein of california, it is called the combat Human Trafficking act. It is part of this underlying bill also that well be considering on the floor. This act focuses on those who commit these crimes. It increases the penalties for those who buy acts of sex trafficking victims. It requires new training by the Justice Department. It expands reporting to strengthen victims rights. A lot of this legislation comes out of what weve learned over the past decade, since weve really taken up this issue at the federal level. It takes into account the information we now know. Well be able to he able to reduce the deed manned of Sexual Exploitation, preventing trafficking crimes from ever happening. As the cochair of the Senate Caucus to end Human Trafficking it has been a priority of nine ghet legislation passed. In an effort to help victims of trafficking and to prevent the number of victims from increasing. Im also hoping we can add an amendment that ive authored entitled ensuring a better response for victims of child sex trafficking. This amendment contains a piece of legislation i offered last year with senator wyden of oregon called the sex trafficking data and response act. It will help improve the information that Law Enforcement officials have about the scope of the trafficking pron problem. This law was signed into law last year but theres Additional Information we would like to provide in terms of guesting the response part of that getting the response part of that bill passed. These bills are an important step to one day ending Human Trafficking and putting this industry out of business altogether. Trafficking deserves no place in america. Id like to thank senator Chuck Schumer, senator Dianne Feinstein and others for their hard worken this legislation that ive talked about. I would like to express how grateful i am that members of this chamber were able to put the partisanship behind us, politics aside and reach Common Ground to move forward on this important issue. Ending Human Trafficking is clearly a bipartisan goal. It is a nonpartisan goal. It is something we should come together on. And the legislation we have before us today will make a profound impact on so many americans, including some of the most vulnerable. Im happy to see were a little closer to having these bills become law. I think they will become law once they pass this chairnlings go through the house and are signed by the president. To me this is just a start. After today the fight to combat Human Trafficking will be far from over. Somewhere in america there will still be children looking to be found, wondering if anybody cares, despite our legislation. Todays legislation will make it easier to find them, but it is still up to all of us. All of us have a role in helping to avoid these children from going missing in the first place, and then finding themed and providing them a nurturing setting in a home where they are embraced and where they can be takenway from the threat of Human Trafficking and sex trafficking. There will also be traffickers looking to exploit the vulnerable. But today if we pass this legislation, well be sending a warning to those who commit these heinous crimes. As long as you are a perpetrator or an an accomplice to human traffic, folks will know that Law Enforcement will do what takes to track them down and punish them. Im glad we have been able to find Common Ground again and move a little closer to making these positive changes a reality. Im hopeful that well be able to vote on this today and tomorrow move this to the house, get it to the president and indeed make a difference for my constituents in ohio and around the college. With that, i yield back, mr. President , and i note the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call quorum call quorum call
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