ILW.COM - Senators Comments on the Violence Against Women Act and Trafficking Victims Protection Act

[Congressional Record: October 6, 2000 (Senate)] [Page S10043-S10044] From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:cr06oc00-76] VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ACT AND TRAFFICKING VICTIMS PROTECTION ACT Mr. WELLSTONE. Mr. President, in the spirit of moving forward, I thank colleagues for the bipartisan work on the Trafficking Victims Protection Act. I especially thank Senator Brownback with whom I have had a chance to work very closely on this bill. There are other key people as well. This conference report, without going into all the details, which will come to the Senate I hope--``pray'' may not be too strong a word-- probably Tuesday--it looks as if we are just now working out a time agreement. I thank all Senators for their cooperation. What is important about this legislation is that we have one part of it that deals with trafficking, which I want to talk about in a moment, and the other is the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act which received a huge vote in the House of Representatives. The Violence Against Women Act, VAWA, has made a huge difference. I could talk for hours about the shelters, about the hotline, about the ways in which police take violence against women more seriously, about the ways in which the country takes this more seriously. Still, about every 13 seconds a woman is battered in her home, and still there are somewhere around 3 million to 10 million children who witness this. We have to do even better. I look forward to a couple of efforts next year, one dealing with a program which will electronically link all of the shelters, so with one phone call, one, you will know where to go and can be saved, and, two, it will focus on the children who witness this violence. I feel good about the fact we are going to move forward with this. It certainly appears that way. I thank all Senators who have been willing to cooperate. I also feel good about the trafficking bill on which I have had a chance, as I said, to work with Senator Brownback. So colleagues know, these two pieces of legislation have a lot of integrity in how they interrelate with one another. One deals with violence against women, children, and families. There are a number of women organizations around this country that have worked on this. They made this possible. And the strong voices of Senators--from Senator Biden to Senator Leahy to Senator Boxer and others--have made a huge difference. I started on the trafficking legislation 3 years ago. I do not even know if it is appropriate to brag, but it is not about me. My wife Sheila said this is something we really should do. There has been great help from a lot of Senators. Again, I thank Senator Brownback and also Representatives Chris Smith and Sam Gejdenson for their help and work, and Connie Morella is always there on all these issues. I will talk more about staff and the great work by people after this passes. It has not passed yet, but I think we are there. I say to Senator Reid, I believe we are there in terms of finally getting a time agreement and we can move this forward. We are talking about the trafficking of some 2 million women, and mainly girls, for the purposes of forced prostitution and forced labor, some 50,000 to our country. This rivals drug trafficking in terms of how scummy it is and how exploitative it is. What happens is these women, girls, in countries that are going through economic chaos and disarray are recruited. They are told they will have an opportunity to be a waitress, an opportunity to come to another country, such as our country, and make an income and be able to build a good life. This happened at a ``massage parlor'' 2 miles from here in Bethesda where these girls were forced into prostitution. What happens is, these young women, young girls, do not know their rights; they do not know what they are getting into. They come to these countries, and then it becomes a nightmare. This legislation focuses on prevention. We have an outreach through AID with some of the nongovernment organizations and others who really do the information work so that young girls, young women, know what might be happening to them, know about trafficking, know what the dangers are, and hopefully will have some knowledge about this before they are exploited. That is the first piece. The second piece is the protection piece. The bitter irony is that all too often one of these young girls, young women, steps forward and says: This is what is happening to me. If they should escape from it, they then are deported. So the victim is the one who ends up being punished. There is a temporary visa extension for 3 years, and then decisions are made after that. There are services for these women and girls. I say ``girls'' because we are talking about children, too, 12, 13 years of age. In Minnesota, we have a very, I think, holy place called the Center for the Treatment of Torture Victims. When women and children go through this hell, there is a whole lot that needs to be done to help them rebuild their lives. We have a provision for those services. The final thing is prosecution. If you are going to be involved in the trafficking of a girl under the age of 16 for purposes of forced prostitution, you can face a life sentence. We should take this seriously. We will be the first country to pass such strong legislation, the first Government in the world. This will be a model for a lot of other governments around the world. This is one of the best human rights pieces of legislation in the Congress in some time. I am not objective because I have had a chance to be a part of it. I am proud of the fact that we are going to do this. I am proud of the fact that it is going to be linked with the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. And I am proud of the fact the Senate next week, I hope early on, right after Yom Kippur, the Jewish holiday, will take decisive action and will pass this most important human rights legislation. I say to all colleagues, please cooperate. Please, let's do this. This will make a difference. It will make a difference. I yield the floor. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nevada. [[Page S10044]] Mr. REID. Mr. President, before the Senator from Minnesota leaves the floor, I want to make a couple comments. There have been, as the Senator indicated, a number of people who have worked very hard on domestic violence. Senator Joe Biden authored the original legislation and has been a model for what has transpired since then. I say in the presence of the Senator from Minnesota that since he came to the Senate, this has been an issue he has worked on passionately. I appreciate the work he has done. The Senator from Minnesota mentioned his wife Sheila. I remember the work the two of them have done together. I remember the display they put in the Russell Building, which certainly dramatized the need for continuing the work in this area. There are many unique partnerships in America today, but one of those that I admire greatly is that of Paul and Sheila Wellstone. They have worked on these issues together. I think it goes without saying that the good work the Senator has done would not be as good but for the involvement of his wife. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Minnesota. Mr. WELLSTONE. Senator Reid from Nevada is very gracious towards lots of Senators. That is just the way he is. I thank the Senator very much. I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll. The senior assistant bill clerk proceeded to call the roll. Mr. HOLLINGS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. ____________________

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