quorum call:

a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from new jersey. mr. menendez: i ask that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. menendez: madam president i come to the floor incredibly disappointed that we can't seem to move forward on what should be a noncontroversial, powerful and bipartisan effort. i think we can all agree here in the senate that we must do more to combat human trafficking and help the victims of this heinous

act, and i was looking forward to, i believe senator corker offering an amendment on legislation that passed out of the foreign relations committee that would establish a private nonprofit grant-making institution known as the end slavery initiative foundation to reduce the worst forms of forced labor and sexual servitude around the world. i was looking forward to having a serious debate about this important issue and it is truly unfortunate the debate has been sidelined by matters that are not to the core of the trafficking issue. but, madam president i rise today to specifically address an amendment that i understand is pending to -- an attempt to hijack our debate about human trafficking. this amendment is out of place and out of step with everything i believe we stand for in the senate. it's an amendment to a bill that seeks to amend the constitution of the united states. it is an amendment offered by a

republican colleague that grows the government and increases taxes. it is an amendment to a trafficking bill that could make people more likely to be trafficked. i'm talking about the amendment to eliminate birthright citizenship and end the people's right to be citizens by being born here on american soil. birthright citizenship is a bedrock principle found not in law but in the constitution. the 14th amendment states clearly that all persons born or naturalized in the united states and subject to the jurisdiction thereof are citizens of the united states and of the state wherein they reside. for 115 years the obvious and plain meaning that people born on american soil are american citizens have been a.f.c. firmed before the supreme court -- have

been affirmed before the supreme court and can only be changed by a constitutional amendment. now, my colleague from louisiana instead presents a bill and tries to argue with the supreme court and the english language by claiming undocumented immigrants are not subject to the jurisdiction thereof. is he really suggesting, for example, that if an undocumented immigrant was brought to court he or she wouldn't be subject to the court's jurisdiction? clearly not. and the civil rights leaders who drafted the 14th amendment department think so either. instead, the 14th amendment was adopted after the infamous dred scott decision to make sure the united states never has an unequal class system, and this principle that america isn't a country club is a profound american value. if my friend from louisiana wants to change the

constitution he should abide by the framework that our founding fathers set up. if a senator wants to make a monumental change to how our nation defines citizenship in the constitution, he or she must go to the constitutional amending process our founding fathers set up to make sure we have widespread and overwhelming consensus. that's why the founders created a process in which amending the constitution needed a broad broad swath of the american population to say yes, that is worthy of changing the constitution that has worked so well for us for so many years. we are here to protect the constitution and the 14th amendment as sacrosanct and too important to be defined by the political and discriminatory impulses of any member of congress. but beyond trying to change our constitution with a piece of legislation, my friend from louisiana's amendment to a human trafficking bill could make

human trafficking worse. eliminating birthright citizenship would create a perpetual class a perpetual class of undocumented immigrants ironically growing the undocumented population by ensuring that their children born here would become undocumented and their children and their children's children could never come out of the shadows and be equal under the law. this new permanent underclass would inevitably lead to some without any citizenship in any country. in other words they would be stateless. this new underclass would be subject to the worst forms of exploitation including for some becoming victims of human trafficking themselves. but the irony doesn't stop there, for the party of limited government and low taxes my friend from louisiana proposes an amendment that would put the department of homeland security in every delivery room and require the creation of a brand-new extensive bureaucracy

with burdensome procedures. it would also create a de facto birth tax for people to have to go back and prove their citizenship. my friend from louisiana tried to justify all of this by saying it will prevent people coming to the united states solely to give birth, but i don't even know if he truly believed that explanation. it ignores the plain fact that the practice that he describes is already illegal under the law. if he wants to get into a discussion about enforcing the existing law, i am always willing to talk about the need for resources to the men and women of law enforcement in order to be able to do that, but this amendment wouldn't make the practice he describes one bit more illegal but it would change the constitution of the united states by simple passage of the senate, not as an amendment to the constitution. this isn't the time and this isn't the place for an amendment attacking birthright

citizenship. a bill isn't the place or the venue to change the constitution. a bill on human trafficking isn't the time for a measure that might increase human trafficking. and frankly madam president for someone who wants limited government they shouldn't put the department of homeland security in the delivery room. just another attack on immigrants that is against american values and in this case against our constitution. we can do far better than that. and with that, madam president i yield the floor and observe the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

the presiding officer: the senator from north dakota. mr. hoeven: madam president i ask that the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. hoeven: madam president i rise today to speak in support of the justice for victims of trafficking act legislation that has been drafted and introduced by my good friend, senator john cornyn of texas senator amy klobuchar of minnesota. the bill helps survivors of trafficking and child pornography and aids law enforcement in discouraging demand for these serious crimes. this is a bill i originally introduced in 2013, and i was a

cosponsor of that bill, and i am also an original cosponsor of this bipartisan legislation whichway introduced earlier this year because it is very important legislation that we pass it. it's important because it not only compensates victims of human trafficking and other crimes of exploitation for their injuries but also provides resources to help law enforcement prevent such crimes in the future by targeting demand. the need for this bill is real and it's troubling. every year across america children and adults are bought and sold for reprehensible purposes. according to the national center for missing and exploited children, at least 100,000 american children each year are the victims of commercial child prostitution and child trafficking. it's not just a big state big city problem. every state in the country is facing this issue including my

home state of north dakota. but we currently have trouble addressing this problem because of the many needs including resource needs. after consultation with the attorney general's office, we learned that north dakota has had difficulty in applying for antihuman trafficking grants because to be eligible, the department of justice requires at least two years of local data on human trafficking. north dakota in recent years has been the fastest growing state in the country in terms of both population and income growth. consequently north dakota has only recently seen an increase in human trafficking issues. to remedy that i have offered an amendment to the cornyn-klobuchar bill to make sure it does not mandate required time period of collected data. the proposed amendment clarifies that a local or state government

with a worthy trafficking initiative will not be precluded from receiving funds under the cornyn-klobuchar legislation because they, like north dakota have only recently begun collecting data on human right. they -- human trafficking. they only have to demonstrate a valid need which is, of course, significant in growing across the country. here's what a group of victims support groups and law enforcement organizations had to say. women and children, especially girls, are advertised on line where buyers purchase them with anonymity and immunity. this happens in every city in every state. mr. president, there are few issues that we as a governing body can be more unified on that our children are precious and it's our duty to protect them. for this reason the cornyn-klobuchar bill has strong bipartisan support in the senate and i believe it also will be

supported in the house. while it may need some amending here and there we all recognize we could be cog more to help victims of human trafficking child pornography and other crimes of exploitation against children and vulnerable adults. these often invisible victims not only to be rescued but need medical, mental health, housing and other important services. the cornyn-klobuchar bill addresses the need to do moorhead on. it establishes a domestic traffic victims fund paid for through fines on persons convicted of child pornography human trafficking, child prostitution sexual exploitation and human smuggling offenses. under current law those convicted of child abuse trafficking must pay a special $100 special assessment fee.

under this amendment it's increased to $5,000 for child pornography and other forms of exploitation. those go to the domestic traffic victims fund which will increase the resources for victims by $7 million a year over a five-year time frame for a total of $35 million. funding will be awarded as block grants to states and local governments under the victim-centered human trafficking deterrence block grant programs. the purpose of these grants is to develop and implement victim-centered programs that train law enforcement to rescue trafficking survivors prosecute traffickers and pornographers and help restore the lives of their innocent victims. innocence the justice for victims of trafficking act does a number of other things, including it makes sure that victims get restitution and witnesses get rewards for

cooperating with law enforcement before others and encourages prosecutors to get training on restitution in human trafficking cases. it gives law enforcement greater authority to seize the assets of convicted human traffickers. it be protects victims and witnesses by requiring human traffickers be treated as violent criminals for detention pending judicial proceeding. it ensures that federal crime victims are informed of any plea bargain or deferred approximate in their case and -- process education and the federal crime victims' rights and petitions. it recognizes that child pornography production is a form of human trafficking. and it allows state and local human trafficking traves to -- travises to get wire standpoint

warrants in state courts without federal approval, help them to investigate crimes of child pornography, sexual exploitation and human trafficking. in addition the bill improves nationwide communication so that law enforcement can better track and capture traffickers and child pornographies. it -- corn gravers. the f.b.i. uniform crime reporting program. it requires law enforcement to upload photos of missing individuals into the national criminal information center database and notifies the national center for missing and exploited children of any child reported missing from foster care. and finally it strengthens the current law to reduce demand for human trafficking by encouraging police prosecutors judges and juries to target all persons involved in the buying and selling of human trafficking victims. it's just wrong to prosecute victims and fail to prosecute those who prey on them.

the value and importance of this bill is reflected in the broad coalition of victims' rights and law enforcement organizations that support it. it has been enforced -- endorsed by nearly 200 groups from the national order of police to the national center for missing and exploited children. mr. president, we need to pass the cornyn-klobuchar legislation because 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 to put an end to modern-day slavery and help victims get the support they need. again, i'd like to close with my request for our colleagues on both sides of the aisle that we be allowed to proceed on the bill and again reference the importance of including my amendment which ensures that all states including these that have seen recent real increase

in human trafficking have access to the funds so they can truly help victims in their state and combat human trafficking in their state in con junction with local law enforcement. with that, madam president, i yield the floor. a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from louisiana. mr. vitter: thank you madam president. madam president, all this week i've come to the floor to talk about this issue of birthright citizenship and to introduce my amendment that would end that policy. i come to the floor again on that issue. i have an amendment pending on this bill to change that policy to end birthright citizenship and i just want to read a statement on the subject. the american people are upset and i think they have a right to be upset. but they're upset for a reason. our immigration policies regulating all aspects of entry

to the united states have simply ceased to function in the national interest. immigration policy and national interest are terms that are rarely heard in the context of immigration. we seem to have lost sight of the fact that it is a public policy and like all public policies our immigration policies should serve the public interest. but they do not. let us talk about legal immigration. we now admit the equivalent of a major city every year without having the vaguest idea of how we will educate all the new children care for the sick, provide housing jobs, build infrastructure or tend to any of the human needs of the newcomers or those already here. mr. president, each year we admit, i repeat, the equivalent of a major city. we admit more people each year