mr. president, when you have senators attacking antitrafficking advocates. we learned last week that law enforcement officials in texas just arrested 29 people in an online trafficking sting. as reported in the "waco texas tribune" on march 10, quote --" the sting was designed to catch suspects seeking underaged escorts for sexual acts or trying to become pimps by trafficking underaged prostitutes." end of quote. this is onlile the latest in a string of news stories showing that the commercial exploitation of children is a problem in the united states. the reality that adolescents are victims in many of these cases make the situation all the more

wrenching. it is vital that we act now to pass legislation to further protect these and other domestic victims of human trafficking and these reports are reasons why this bill should not be stalled by the minority members of the united states senate, particularly when we in the majority pledged as a result of the last election that we were going to have an open amendment process, and this bill is under an open amendment process so anybody that doesn't like this language ought to offer an amendment and let us vote on it and see where the votes are. whether their side prevails or the people that want to pass a anti-trafficking bill prevail. so i want to take this opportunity to again then, urge my colleagues to support this justice for victims of

trafficking act which would establish strong anti-trafficking measures that target predators who exploit innocent young people. the measure focuses on both sex and labor trafficking. it would benefit both children and adult victims of these despicable crimes. the legislation would equip law. with new tools to fight trafficking, enhance services for victims and increase penalties for perpetrators. the bill would help fight demand for domestic sex trafficking by ensuring every person who is trafficking an adult or purchase a -- purchasing a child for sex will be punished under the full force of law. in other words it goes after the demand side as well as the

supply side of these terrible crimes. so it's a meaningful solution that is supported by both large -- by a large bipartisan group of senators and more than 200 outside organizations. the other day one human trafficking advocate characterized the concern raised by the minority with the hyde amendment provision in this bill as a phantom problem and i agree. the minority leader is focusing on a provision that passed the senate judiciary committee in february unanimously after committee members debated the bill and had the opportunity to even strike this provision that they find so obnoxious at this particular time. not only has this language, called the hyde amendment language been in a part of

this bipartisan bill for months, it is the law of the land today. a consensus measure adopted in 1976 it has been included in appropriation bills every year for decades and as i mentioned yesterday, it has been included in authorizing legislation on occasions as well. why, when we have agreed on the inclusion of hyde amendment language in bills on so many prior occasions over a 39-year period of time, would we be at this time be unable to agree to its inclusion in a bill to help human trafficking victims. it is fitting that this bill includes such hyde amendment language. the bill creates a federal victims fund, and money in the fund will derive from fines

imposed on human traffickers. the fund will be a federally administered program. if the fund is used to support abortion services, then it constitutes federal funding of abortion. including the hyde language is consistent then, with what we have always done in such cases. this is not the appropriate time or place for the minority party members of the united states senate to seek a rollback consensus legislation that was adopted as far back as 1976 and has been extended every year since that time. i urge my colleagues to find another place and another time for congressional debate on taxpayer funding of abortions. not to do it on a bill that has

broad bipartisan support and definitely not on a bill that was reported out of committee 20-0 which means 11 republicans and nine democrats supported it. the argument that this hyde amendment language was included by -- quote -- "you've -- you've heard these words --" sleight of hand" is simply disingenuous. this bill after its introduction was put into the public domain. not after it was voted out of committee, not just one day before it was in committee. weeks before the committee considered it. so it was in the public domain. nobody can say that it wasn't there so you could read it and know that this hyde language was in it. it was distributed by email to numerous organizations and congressional offices for their input. it has been posted for two

months on the u.s. government web site, accessible by any congressional staffer or member of the public. so we got people come to the united states senate saying that they didn't know this was in there. well then did they not read the bill? did they not have their staff read the bill? for a long period of time it's been right out there where 300 million people could access it on the web site. if lawmakers are asserting they did not know the hyde amendment was included in the bill, then it means they simply didn't read this legislation. i again call on my colleagues to support the justice for victims of trafficking act focusing on helping survivors of trafficking heal and protect others from becoming victims of such a terrible time. it's a meaningful solution that is supported by large bipartisan

groups of senators. we have a real opportunity now to provide survivors of trafficking with the kind of support that is essential to their recovery and future success. working together in a bipartisan way, we can restore dignity to survivors. that is why we need to pass this act right now. and it also gives this senate an opportunity to do what i hear from the people of grassroots iowa so often in my town meetings like saturday when i was in truro iowa, 33 people showed up. i was in norwalk iowa, and 66 people showed up. and at those meetings they keep asking why can't you get democrats and republicans get together? this is one of those bills where republicans and democrats are getting together. now we find some people that evidently don't read legislation

until the midnight hour coming to the floor of the united states senate saying something along the lines we snuck something into the bill, snuck something into the bill when the bill has been out there on the web site for a couple of months already, no. that's disingenuous. so the bill is not moving along. but when this bill is brought up for a final vote, the people will see that republicans and democrats can work together if we can get over this hurdle of the -- of the stonewalling of the minority party of the united states senate holding this bill up for a disingenuous reason. i yield the floor. a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from nevada. mr. heller: if we're in a

quorum i ask that it be dispensed with. the presiding officer: we are not. mr. heller: madam president i rise in support of the bill currently pending before us, the justice for victims of trafficking act. i want to commend the chairman for his hard work and effort on this piece of legislation for ushering it through the united states senate. i also want to thank and commend the senior senator from texas and missouri for coming together in a bipartisan fashion on this vitally important human rights legislation. madam president, because this is such a bipartisan bill and, frankly, a nonpartisan issue i'm frustrated that we're at an impasse on moving this bill forward with an open debate. let me repeat. this is a nonpartisan issue. i encourage my colleagues across the aisle to move forward with an open debate on this vitally important human rights legislation.

madam president, every day countless innocent victims are bought and sold into modern-day slavery here in america. all too often many of these victims are children. as the father of four, a grandfather of two i believe every child should have the opportunity to grow up in a loving and safe environment. madam president, i know you agree with that and i know everybody here in this chamber agrees with that today. unfortunately, that's not the case for too many children. recognizing this as an important issue, my home state of nevada has taken action over the the past several years not only to assist victims of trafficking but also to ensure these victims have the opportunity to speak compensation from their traffickers. given nevada's unique location, especially southern nevada, this is a crime that's all too prevalent within my home state. just to give you an idea, two years ago the las vegas metropolitan police department reported that 2,144 sex

trafficking victims under the age of 18 were rescued in las vegas since 1994. madam president, that's an average of 126 per year. even more daunting, that's one person rescued every three days. every three days. this is one city in one state. more than half of these victims were from nevada and the rest have been trafficked through the state. while nevada has taken important steps forwards in providing restitution of victims of trafficking, much more needs to be done to stop this crime from occurring in the first place. all too often trafficking is a crime that is hidden in plain sight. it occurs in every single state. that's why it's virtually -- vitally important to recognize the warning signs of someone who may be a victim of human trafficking as well as those who are committing these crimes.

i'm pleased to see this underlying bill recognizes this need especially more local law enforcement, especially for health providers and especially for first responders. madam president, the bill, however, fails to recognize the important role of our nation's ports of entry and how they play in our nation's domestic and international transportation system and the opportunity that they provide for human trafficking. that's why i filed an amendment to this legislation to ensure the victims of human trafficking and perpetrators of this crime will not be able to pass through such places without additional law enforcement awareness. my amendment requires the department of homeland security to train t.s.a. c.v.p. and other relevant department personnel to effectively deter detect and disrupt human trafficking. recognizing the different needs of states and the critical role of law enforcement in combating

human trafficking it also allows d.h.s. to provide training materials to many states local or tribal governments, or private organizations in order to establish a human trafficking awareness training program. and finally madam president this amendment requires d.h.s. to keep records of the number of human trafficking cases reported or confirmed and report these numbers annually to congress. that way we can measure progress in our efforts to end human trafficking. instead of creating another layer of bureaucracies -- bureaucracy, my amendment enhances efforts by d.h.s. to equip its personnel with effect ive streams to combat human trafficking at our nation's ports of entry and other high risk areas. earlier this year i was pleased to see similar legislation pass the house of representatives with unanimous support. i think most of us can agree that this issue of human trafficking is not a partisan

issue. it's a human rights issue. when you're a parent, when you're a sibling, a child or a relative, this issue is real. that is why i'm so pleased to see this chamber come together in a bipartisan manner to bring this bill to the floor. and once again i only hope we can come together and move this debate forward. madam president, as i tell nevadans back home, i came to washington d.c., to work. i work with republicans and i work with democrats. there are issues. we have to agree to disagree. but moving forward on a bipartisan bill like this should not be one of them. we need to do all we can to end this disgraceful and disgusting crime once and for all. we should move forward in providing much-needed help to these victims including children. now there is more work to do on this bill and ways to make a better product through the amendment process but we should

be moving forward instead of stalling out. i hope that we have the opportunity to call up my amendment. i would urge my colleagues to support my amendment so that we can ensure the d.h.s. personnel are properly trained to prevent the serious threat of human trafficking. help is almost there for these victims. i hope that we can come to a resolution today to move forward on this bill. madam president, i yield the floor. a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from maine. mr. king: madam president i rise today to share some good news from my home state of maine. it's the story of veterans helping veterans of three people from maine who have positively impacted the lives of thousands of veterans in my state and done so in a unique way. they make personalized wooden canes with a bold and intricate

bald eagle head carved into the handle for any maine veteran who wants one. i have some pictures here that show a ladies and gentlemen of the jury number of -- a large number of thecanes. as i noted when one of these canes appeared in my office recently this eagle has an attitude and he's positive about the future of this country. about eight years ago george and donna gunning from windsor maine, heard about a project in oklahoma called "the eagle cane project." the mission was to help post-9/11 veterans who had trouble walking because of leg disabilities due to combat-related action by providing them with a unique hand-carved cane. as a navy veteran georgia along with his wife donna gunning, who grew up in a navy family, were both immediately familiar with the sacrifices and difficulties that accompany military service.

this project touched their hearts and they quickly recognized it as an opportunity to give back to veterans in maine. they brought their own version of the project to our state offering a personalized eagle cane to any maine veteran who had served anywhere in the world, in any conflict across the globe. and it wasn't long before the gunnings were joined by a fellow named bert truman from hollowell, maine who spent two decades in the military, in the navy and army reserve and the air national guard. the three of them worked together on each cane they made, crafting them, painting them, personalizing each one by etching the veteran's name and molding metals to show their branch of the service and any honors they received. as impressive as each of these masterpieces are the number that these three people have produced is what's really astounding and remarkable. the current count is 2,474 of

these personally hand made canes made free of charge and funded from maine veterans entirely through donations. for all their hard work and dedication, the trio remain adamant that they deserve no special recognition although i'm giving it to them here today. instead, they would rather that the attention and admiration and thanks of all of our people be directed toward the veterans who are receiving these canes. who have borne so much for our country. and that is the true magic of this project. it's about recognizing our veterans supporting them and giving them something to lean on on both literally physically and emotionally. in recent months, as the chair -- as the presiding officer knows there have been a number of efforts here in the congress to further support our veterans, to improve their access to care and support

services. when the choice act, which was signed into law last august, made progress in this area, more work needs to be done. to ensure that provisions of this legislation which we all voted for and supported last year are implemented in accordance with our intents senator jerry moran senator susan collins, and myself and others have introduced a bill to improve how the d.v. determines eligibility for the choice program. currently, veterans can only use their choice cards if they cannot get an appointment within 30 days at a v.a. facility and face an excessive burden of travel such as a body of water or if they live more than 40 miles as the crow flies from any v.a. facility. regardless of whether or not it provides the type of care they need. in my opinion madam president this isn't what congress intended.

in rural states like maine as the crow flies is not a good definition of a distance. we must be -- we have to take into account whether or not the v.a. facility in question can provide our veterans with the specific care services they require. so the bill sponsored by senator moran, senator collins and myself and others offers a fix by requiring the v.a. to use its existing authority to offer community care to veterans who live more than 40 miles driving distance from the nearest v.a. facility that provides the type of care they need. i hope that in the coming weeks the senate veterans' affairs committee and the similar committee in the house will hold hearings on this issue so that we are able to provide a path forward and correct what i think is a -- certainly a fixable portion of the choice act that we passed last year. as we look for that path and as

we think about veterans' issues, i think these eagle canes provide some inspiration. the bald eagle, of course, is a national symbol of freedom and independence, and with these canes its also come to symbolize in maine the debt of gratitude we owe to our nation's veterans. each cane is a treasured reminder that someone cares someone notices and someone appreciates what they've done. i've seen firsthand the powerful effect that these canes have. earlier this month, i was meeting with members of the maine veterans of foreign wars, and one of the gentlemen who sat right next to me in my office had with him this beautifully carved eagle cane. thinking it was the only one of its kind, i asked him where he found something so unique and interesting and powerful and he said well, it was made right here in maine and i'm not the only person that has one.

it was one of thousands made in a windsor maine workshop. but more telling was how quickly and enthusiastically the v.f.w. members, also in my office that day, jumped in to explain where the canes came from and how glowingly they spoke of this project and what it has meant to veterans in maine. they knew the history of the project, they described the ma ma particularlessness of the craft -- meticulousness of the craftsmanship you can see here, and they quickly gave me george gunning's name and their enthusiasm underscored their support and recognition this eagle cane project in maine had given to them and their fellow veterans. to bert, george and donna's work is a true testament to the strength of our veterans community in maine and that really is what it's all about. good news from maine madam president. good news about our commitment

to each other and our commitment to our veterans. it's often said that maine is a big small town with very long streets. we know each other we care about each other and in this case we deeply care about our veterans. thank you madam president. i yield the floor. mr. king: madam president, i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call: