Tuesday, March 17, 2015
Sex-Trafficking Bill, Ensnared by Politics, Is Left in Limbo by a Senate Vote
Currently, there is disagreement in the Senate over a bill that would protect victims of sex trafficking. Mitch McConnell said he will not direct the Senate's attention towards confirming Loretta E. Lynch, the nominee to replace Attorney General Eric Holder, until the bill gets off the floor. The grid-locked measure would create a victims' fund collected from sex traffickers. In the bill is language banning the use of the funds on abortions. Some say this ban is simply an extension of the Hyde Amendment while others believe Republicans snuck the language into the bill. Should the nomination process be held up until this bill is passed?
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This is an incredibly sensitive and complex issue. I would say that human trafficking, modern day slavery, needs to be stopped at any cost. In the 19th century we fought the bloodiest war in american history, the civil war, in order to put a stop to slavery. Now, we are allowing it to creep back into our nation, our communities, and our lives. This is completely unacceptable.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that people are voting against this bill bothers me. There is no reason that a bill trying to help victims of modern slavery should have anything to do with abortion. As Emmanuel said, we fought a war to end slavery, and now as it's resurfacing, we are not taking the necessary legal steps to end it. I hope that this is resolved sooner than later and in favor of the bill for the trafficking victims.
ReplyDeleteIf this bill is not being voted on because there is language banning the use of funds for abortion that is absurd. This bill would help plenty of victims of sex trafficking and the only thing Mitch McConnell seems to be worried about is who will replace Eric Holder.
ReplyDeleteSo just to clarify...
ReplyDeleteMitch McConnell refuses to begin the confirmation process for the head of, arguably, one of the most important executive departments (the DOJ), until this legislation is passed.
Democrats in the Senate refuse to pass this legislation, a bill that would help victims of sex-trafficking that they themselves (as well as anyone with a soul/heart/shred of humanity) supports because it mentions abortion.
The Republicans refuse to remove the mention of abortion because they find it necessary. Really though, if you think about it, it doesn't really make sense to restrict the abortion rights of people who weren't even allowed to control what happened to their bodies in the first place!
Yes, we learned that bills have to fight an uphill battle to pass. However, if either side truly cared for sex-trafficking victims, this bill would not have been amended in a way that would very obviously prevent it from passing without a fight.
It doesn't matter which party dominates which houses in Congress. It's definitely still the broken branch.
I agree with Malachi here. Congress really is the broken branch no matter what. Even a bill such as this one which has bipartisan support is being stopped from passing because of extremely controversial language concerning abortion that has been inserted by Republicans. And to add to this absurdity, Mitch McConnell is refusing allow the confirmation process to proceed for the nominee for Attorney General until this bill is passed. This is just terrible. Rather than helping people, we see more partisanship and polarization in Congress that leads to nothing getting done. I hope the Senate can get its act together and resolve this issue soon.
ReplyDeleteIt is so exhausting to try to keep up with all of the drama in Congress. There is no sense of working together. Everyone just seems to be against each other all the time, even on things that have bipartisan support! Sex trafficking is an important issue that needs to be addressed immediately. Debates over language need to stop and progress needs to be made.
ReplyDeleteI think this argument over the sex-trafficking is just a way for Mitch McConnell to halt the confirmation of President Obama’s attorney general nominee, Loretta E. Lynch. Sex-trafficking needs to be taken care of as a serious matter and the gridlock in Congress doesn't boad well.
ReplyDeleteI find it crazy that people aren't motivated to vote for this bill by the idea of stopping the morally evil act that is sex-trafficking. I feel as if Congress were to cooperate more on important issues such as this, then more important legislature would be passed than the meager amount that is passed now. Party disputes need to take a back seat when it comes to important issues such as this.
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ReplyDeleteI find myself wishing that we as an electorate held our representatives for this kind of crap. How can a representative who doesn't support the elimination of sex trafficking stand a chance in re-election. That vote on a record should be a permanent black mark that results in incumbent loss.
ReplyDeleteMalachi said it all in his post. The Republicans slid this language into a bill that would have passed with ease, and now the Democrats won't pass the bill because that language is included in the bill. Couldn't Congress just for once look past trying to be tricky and strategic and pass a bill for the betterment of society? Because there is no question that sex-trafficking is something that nobody deserves to endure. Any decent human being would believe this.
ReplyDeleteI'm deeply disturbed that people are voting against this bill. Emmanuel made a great point stating that we had a civil war to end slavery...things are stirring up and we are not ending it once and for all. Sex-trafficking, like Katie mentioned, NEEDS to be considered as a serious issue as well. It's so sad to see how broken Congress really is and I am ashamed.
ReplyDeleteMalachi's post hit the nail on the head. I'm appalled that anyone wouldn't vote to end sex trafficking, which is modern day slavery. There was a war fought over this issue... Hello?!? The mention of abortion is unnecessary in my opinion, but it shouldn't stop anyone from trying to end this issue.
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