Once again, petty politics have prevented yet another piece of much-needed legislation from becoming law. As a result, the American people will suffer. What bill is stirring up so much partisan controversy? The Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015. This bill, which was introduced by Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX), passed the House in January with broad bi-partisan support and had four Democratic co-sponsors. Widely expected to pass the Senate quietly and be enacted by the end of the month, it now has hit the filibuster roadblock, where it has remained for the past week.
The legislation is largely non-partisan and has several major provisions to help curb sex trafficking. It would allow the Department of Justice to issue grants to major organizations within state and local governments to help fund their efforts to combat the crime. It raises punishments on perpetrators by increasing fines that would be used to supply a victim’s relief fund — an extremely important provision as the fund would not rely on appropriations from Congress, and as a result would not be in direct jeopardy of budget cuts. It allows wiretap warrants to be issued to investigate and catch criminals involved in the production of child pornography and would even allow U.S. prosecutors to no longer need to prove a defendant “recklessly disregarded the fact that the victim had not yet attained 18 years of age if the defendant had a reasonable opportunity to observe the victim.”
So where does the controversy come up? In the Senate’s version of the bill, within the text surrounding the details of the fund that will be established for the victims, the money is linked to federal appropriations limits provided by previous appropriation standards. In other words, in order to prevent the money for the victims from being abused (i.e. used for lobbying), Congress put limits on how it can be used. Within the Consolidated Appropriation Act of 2014 there is the Hyde Amendment. The Hyde Amendment prevents federal money from being used to fund abortions not the result of rape or a danger to the mother. This point in particular is what Senate Democrats have decided to filibuster, ignoring the obvious fact most, if not all women being sexually trafficked are regular victims of rape. Because of this, the Hyde Amendment would not prevent these women from getting an abortion, and there is no true need to block its implementation.
The Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act is a much needed piece of legislation and is undeserving of being pettily politicized by those with a pro-abortion agenda into an attack on Hyde amendments. By preventing its passage, filibustering senators are denying rightful care to sex trade victims and making the statement that party face is more important than their well-being. If not passed now, Americans can hopefully see another similar piece of legislation in the next session of Congress and with any luck, it will pass.
