mr. kirk: withmake.kirk mr. kirk: with the help of senator blumenthal that would also help us find these exploiters. let me say that the amendment that i was trying to offer early this week on the save act i intended to go after backpage.com, which would be the largest provider of slavery-related services in the country, making about $30 million a year off of slavery. we really ought to be able to charge them for the costs of cleaning up the mess that they create. mr. cornyn: the senator from illinois his focus is actually where we ought to be having this focus, which is how do you take some of the profits out of this modern-day slavery and redirect it to help the victims? that's what this bill does. and it ends some of the impunity that some of these purveyors of human flesh are -- that they're reaping, the rewards they're reaping and plows it back in to help the victims. but i know the save act to be a particular focus. in talking to the senator from california senator feinstein i know she is very concerned about h

mr. kirk: i thank the gentleman. mr. kirk: this is an amendment that's directed at attacking backpage.com which stand for the principle that was well established in the civil war that we americans have freedom and should not be free to enslave other americans. they are the largest provider of online slavery services, lacey and larkin should be put out of business. i think it's incumbent on the underlying legislation. i would remind the member from vermont that it would live up to the full spirit of this legislation to make sure that just because the internet was invented slavery should not be empowered by the internet. mr. cornyn: madam president would the senator yield for a question? mr. kirk: i certainly would. mr. cornyn: madam president through the chair i would just ask my friend from illinois, you have been a warrior on these issues particularly with this backpage.com and this advertisement of children and other people's trafficked as part of this modern day slavery. your amendment -- your hero act is actually included

kirk amendment number 545. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from wyoming, mr. enzi, proposes amendment numbered 545 for mr. kirk. mr. enzi: i ask the reading be dispensed with. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from south dakota. mr. rounds: i ask unanimous consent to set aside the pending amendment and call up my amendment number 412. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. the clerk will report the amendment. mr. rounds: mr. president i ask consent the reading of the amendment be dispensed with. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the amendment by number. the clerk: the senator from south dakota, mr. rounds, proposes amendment number 412. the presiding officer: the senator from south dakota. mr. rounds: thank you mr. president. my amendment aims to prevent the environmental protection agency and u.s. fish and wildlife service from entering into settlement agreements without seeking approval from state counties and local governments that would be affected by the settlement. all too often rather than writing and implementing environmental regulations in an open tran

kirk amendment 545 as modified. the presiding officer: who yields time? the senator from illinois. mr. kirk: mr. president the coming amendment is the kirk-brown amendment which is the key iran vote of this session of congress. if you are upset about the intel-sharing arrangement with the state of israel, if you feel that we should rebalance our policy with regard to the united states potentially voting against israel in the u.n., this is the time to rebalance our policy with regard to our allies and the state of israel. i would urge the body to support this brown-kirk bipartisan amendment which has been worked out with the other side. i just talked to the senior senator mrs. boxer from california, who assured me that she supports this amendment. also, the senior senator from new jersey, mr. menendez who i built such a long bipartisan partnership on the iran issue. i would urge adoption of this amendment and yield back the time. mrs. boxer: mr. president i would just take 20 seconds and yield the rest. i hope we can all vote for this because it doesn't do anything to cause disarray in the negotiations. what it says is if there is a deal