Sam Brownback

Mr. BROWNBACK

Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, there is a tragedy ongoing in the Middle East, and the first thing I want to do is express heartfelt sorrow for the families of those who have lost their lives. The events of the last two weeks are deeply disturbing, and the clear first step is to find a way to calm the violence. The onus is on Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian Authority to call a cease fire. If the Palestinian leadership and the Palestinian people are in the midst of a quest for a state, and are trying to prove they have the maturity to lead more than a terrorist organization, the moment of truth has come and gone. What many have long suspected about the Palestinian leadership is being confirmed: They are not committed to peace, they are committed to victory. Unfortunately, the reaction of the international community to the violence in the Middle East has only emboldened Yasser Arafat. For proof we need look no further than the one-sided, dishonest U.N. Security Council resolution that passed last weekend. The resolution ignores the role of the Palestinians in the violence now taking place. It unfairly blames Israel for sparking the violence, forgetting that it is the right of any person of any religion to visit the Temple Mount. The United States' failure to veto this resolution is an embarrassment--a sell-out of our friends, a sell-out of the peace process. Arfat insists on an international inquiry into the violence before he will call for its cessation. But is it any wonder that Prime Minister Barak is reluctant to accept such an inquiry when the international community has ranged itself so clearly on one side. Condemn first and ask questions later. The actions of Arafat and the Palestinian Authority on the question of treatment of holy sites are equally troubling. First, the use of Ariel Sharon's visit to the Temple Mount and the use of that holy site to incite violence: How can we believe any commitment to allow access to all people of all faiths when the Palestinians believe it is their right to sow mayhem after one visit? Second, the sacking of Joseph's Tomb. Palestinian police stood by as a mob of Palestinians destroyed Joseph's tomb in Nablus--a location from which Israeli forces had retreated in an attempt to calm the situation. They ripped apart Torah scrolls and desecrated a holy place. I have heard it said that the authenticity of the site has been questioned. I can just picture the mob looking for that certificate of authenticity before they went ahead and destroyed a holy book of the Jews. There is no excuse--no excuse--for the behavior of the Palestinians or their leadership. Prime Minister Barak has offered concessions previously through taboo by most Israelis. Chairman Arafat has responded by demanding yet more and using violence to get it when negotiations failed. He has broken every agreement made in the past months and years, and has released dozens of notorious Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists in recent days. Perhaps Israel's intensified reaction following the mob killing of three Israeli soldiers will convince Arafat that he cannot win with violence. But I wonder. And for the United States, being an honest broker does not necesitate our staying neutral. It should mean embracing a policy of honesty and telling one side when enough is enough. Instead, the Clinton-Gore Administration has shied away from the kind of frankness needed from our nation, and has stood aside in the face of an international political assault on our most important friend in the Middle East. That lack of resolve is noticed. It has been noticed by those who defy sanctions on Iraq. It has been noticed by the Palestinians. And it was surely noticed by those who attacked the U.S.S.Cole and murdered six, maybe more American servicemen. When will this nation show the resolve needed to crush the cowards and criminals who threaten us and our allies? I hope that the diplomatic efforts underway can lead to a calming of the situation and that the future will see a lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians. However, for this peace to be truly lasting--and truly be peace--it must come when the parties are ready, on a timetable agreed by them. More important, it can only come when the Palestinians are ready to take upon themselves the mantle of nationhood and abandon their legacy of terrorism. And finally, peace will come when those who stand with the United States know that they have a forthright and loyal ally and those who stand against us fear our resolve.

Mr. BROWNBACK

Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, let me start this debate and discussion with the story of Irina. Irina's story appeared in the New York Times not that long ago, and it is similar to the story of a number of women with whom I have met and who have been caught in this situation of sex trafficking--young ladies I met with in Nepal, and several testified in committee. I think Irina's story tells in graphic detail why this is a problem and why the Senate needs to act. Irina always assumed that her beauty would somehow rescue her from the poverty and hopelessness of village life. A few months ago, after answering a vague ad in a small Ukrainian newspaper, she slipped off a tour boat when it put in at Haifa, hoping to make a bundle dancing naked on the tops of tables. She was 21, self-assured and glad to be out of Ukraine. Israel offered a new world, and for a week or two everything seemed possible. Then, one morning, she was driven to a brothel, where her boss burned her passport before her eyes. ``I own you,'' she recalled his saying. ``You are my property and you will work until you earn your way out. Don't try to leave. You have no papers and you don't speak Hebrew. You will be arrested and deported. Then we will get you and bring you back.'' That was her master. The article goes on. It happens every single day. Not just in Israel, which has deported nearly 1,500 Russian and Ukrainian women like Irina in the past three years. But throughout the world, where selling naive and desperate young women into sexual bondage has become one of the fastest-growing criminal enterprises in the robust global economy. . . . Many end up like Irina. Stunned and outraged by the sudden order to prostitute herself, she simply refused. She was beaten and raped before she succumbed. Finally she got a break. The brothel was raided and she was brought here [to another place], the only women's prison in Israel. Now, like hundreds of Ukrainian and Russian women with no documents or obvious forgeries, she is waiting to be sent home. This is a quote from Irina: ``I don't think the man who ruined my life will even be fined,'' she said softly, slow tears filling her enormous green eyes. ``You can call me a fool for coming here. That's my crime. I am stupid. A stupid girl from a little village. But can people really buy and sell women and get away with it? Sometimes I sit here and ask myself if that really happened to me, if it can really happen at all.'' Then, waving her arm toward a muddy prison yard, where Russian is spoken more commonly than Hebrew, she whispered one last thought: ``I am not the only one, you know. They have ruined us all.'' I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record the full text of this article.

Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, for the information of Members, in light of this agreement, the next two votes will occur at approximately 4:30 p.m. with the Thompson appeal vote occurring at 4:30 and the conference report vote occurring immediately thereafter.

Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the votes occurring relative to the Thompson appeal as provided in the consent agreement this body agreed to on October 6, 2000, occur at 4:30 p.m. today, with adoption of the conference report to occur immediately following that vote as provided in the consent agreement.

Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I believe under the uniform unanimous consent agreement that we have, time has been allocated to several different Members of the Senate to speak on this conference report; is that correct?

Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, if I could say before my colleague from Maryland leaves the floor, I thank her for her leadership on this Violence Against Women Act and for her statements on the sex trafficking bill. I look forward to working with her on both issues as we move forward. Hopefully, this will be cleared through the Senate and signed into law and we can take more actions and steps down the road to see that people are cared for in these terrible situations. I do appreciate her comments and her support. I thank the Senator. I apologize for the interruption.

Mr. BROWNBACK. I am happy to respond to the Senator from Minnesota. This was raised in conference committee under thorough discussion about this new standard of ``extreme hardship involving unusual and severe harm.'' There was a fear on the part of some conferees that some judicial interpretations over the term ``extreme hardship'' might be too expansive; specifically, the conferees objected to an interpretation that the applicant could prove ``extreme hardship'' by showing he or she would miss American baseball after being deported from the United States. So this language should be interpreted as a higher standard than some of these expansive interpretations of ``extreme hardship.'' At the same time, however, this language should not exclude bona fide victims who would suffer genuine and serious harm if they were deported. There is no requirement that the harm be physical harm. I repeat, there is no requirement that the harm be physical harm or that it be caused by the trafficking itself. The harm or the hardship does not have to be caused by the trafficking itself. The purpose of inserting the phrase ``unusual and severe'' is to require a showing that something more than the inconvenience and dislocation that any alien would suffer upon removal might occur. I wish to make it clear in future interpretations of this act, while this is higher than extreme hardship, it doesn't require physical harm; it doesn't require the harm be associated with the trafficking, to be able to allow an American to qualify under this new definition within the act. I thank my colleague from Minnesota for allowing me the opportunity to clarify this particular issue.

Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I wish to speak on a couple of other provisions in this bill to clarify those for Members. We will be voting on it later today. If others of my colleagues desire to speak on this bill, I urge them to come to the floor and speak now or forever hold their peace on this particular piece of legislation. The item I wish to speak on now is Aimee's law. This is a part of this overall conference report that has passed the House, as I mentioned, by 371-1. Aimee's law was prompted by the tragic death of a college senior, Aimee Willard, who was from Brookhaven, PA, near Philadelphia. Arthur Bomar is a convicted murderer who was earlier paroled from a Nevada prison. Even after he had assaulted a woman in prison, Nevada released him early. Bomar traveled to Pennsylvania where he found Aimee. He kidnapped, brutally raped, and murdered Aimee. He was prosecuted a second time for murder for this terrible crime in Delaware County, PA. Aimee's mother, Gail Willard, has become a tireless advocate for victims' rights and serves as an inspiration on this particular piece of legislation. This important legislation would use Federal crime-fighting funds to create an incentive for States to adopt stricter sentencing laws by holding States financially accountable for the tragic consequences of an early release which results in a violent crime being perpetrated on the citizens of another State. Specifically, Aimee's law will redirect Federal crime-fighting dollars from a State which has released early a murderer, rapist, child molester, to pay the prosecutorial and incarceration costs incurred by a State which has had to reconvict this released felon for a similar type of crime. More than 14,000 murders, rapes, and sexual assaults on children are committed each year by felons who have been released after serving a sentence for one of these very same crimes. Convicted murderers, rapists, and child molesters who are released from prisons and cross State lines are responsible for sexual assaults on more than 1,200 people annually, including 935 children, including Aimee Willard. The reason I point this out is because Aimee's law previously passed this body by a vote of 81-17. As I mentioned, it redirects Federal crime funds from a State that has released early a murderer, rapist, or child molester, to pay the prosecutorial and incarceration costs incurred by a State which has had to reconvict this felon for a similar crime. The formula for early release is if the criminal served less than 85 percent of his original sentence, and if a State kept a criminal in prison less time than the national average for a sentence of the same crime. To counter concerns raised by the National Governors' Association, this does not federalize any crimes. I emphasize that, it does not federalize any crimes. It simply upholds State standards regarding murder, rape, and child molestation. Sex offenders have one of the highest recidivism rates of any crime, thus, requiring more stringent standards in amount of the sentence served. This only affects Federal crime funds which are transferred from State 1 to State 2 where a crime has been committed of a similar type by the criminal who was released early from State 1. The reason I go through this at some length is because some of my colleagues have a concern about this. I understand there will be a point of order raised against this as being part of the overall package. There will be a vote on that point of order. If people want to get this bill dealing with sex trafficking, the Violence Against Women Act, the international terrorism aspect of this bill, the Internet alcohol enforcement of this bill through, they need to vote against those who seek to strip this particular provision out of the bill because if they strip this provision out, the bill has to go back to the House for it to be voted on, and it will have to be voted on again in the Senate. We do not have the time to do it. It will kill the bill. If people vote to strip this provision out of this particular bill and send it back to the House, and it has to come back here, it will kill the bill. We do not have time to do that. While some raise federalism arguments, most of our colleagues have already voted in favor of Aimee's law; 81 have voted in favor of it already. There are some arguable federalism principles involved. I think most of those have been worked out with the National Governors' Association. There is a strong advocacy group that has worked to get these standards where, if a person has been convicted in one State, they should serve their time rather than being released to commit a similar crime in another State. That is the direction of this. I plead with my colleagues: Do not remove this provision. Do not support the point of order because, if you do, it is going to kill everything. It will kill the sex trafficking bill. It will kill the Violence Against Women Act. Do not do it. Most people have already supported this particular provision, Aimee's law. I wish to say a couple of things on other issues before we break for the policy luncheons. I particularly appreciate my colleagues, Senator Lautenberg and Senator Mack, for their provisions on the Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act. I understand Senator Hatch will speak later about the 21st Amendment Enforcement Act on VAWA. We have had an excellent discussion this morning on the importance of this legislation protecting women who are subject to domestic violence. This is reauthorization of important language and important legislation and strengthening of it as well. That is an important feature. I appreciate Senate majority leader Trent Lott bringing this issue to the floor. It is a good package of protection for both domestic and international women and children subject to violence. That is the theme that runs through this set of acts. It is protection for women, protection for children, protection domestically, and protection internationally. I am very pleased with this legislation. It is a key piece of legislation to pass during this session of Congress to provide that level of protection. I am glad it has been done on a bipartisan basis. Mostly my colleagues from the other side of the aisle have spoken this morning supporting this legislation. Support is similarly strong on our side of the aisle. It is good to have that support back and forth. Rather than using up the rest of my time, I simply say to my colleagues who want to speak, please come to the floor. I anticipate we will be voting on this legislation by the middle of the afternoon. We will be recessing for policy luncheons from 12:30 p.m. until I believe 2:15 p.m., which is the normal recess time. This will be a good time for people to comment on this important legislation. I plead with them: Do not strike this particular provision, Aimee's law, because it will sink the entire bill. It is a good bill. It is good legislation. It previously passed both Houses overwhelmingly. Let's get it done. I reserve the remainder of my time, and I yield the floor.

Mr. BROWNBACK. I finally note to others who seek to speak on this bill, I invite Members to come to the floor to make comments. At the conclusion of our presentation, a vote will occur on this conference report. I yield the floor.

Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, Irina's story is told all too often and is reenacted all too often around the world today. Our Government estimates that between 600,000 and 2 million women are trafficked each year beyond international borders. They are trafficked for the purpose of sexual prostitution by organized crime units and groups that are aggressively out making money off the trafficking of human flesh. It is wrong. This bill seeks to deal with that wrong and that tragedy that has occurred and is occurring around the world today. This is significant human rights legislation that this body is going to pass. I hope, predict, and pray that it will pass today. It is significant human rights legislation for those poor young victims who are trafficked and who are caught sometimes with the view that, ``I am just stupid, I got caught in this,'' but who live this horrible, hellish life they have been put into and trafficked into and can't find their way out. The conference report is entitled ``The Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000.'' As I mentioned previously, it passed the House of Representatives on Friday, October 6, by a vote of 371-1. The Senate will vote on this conference report today, with the lead underlying bill being the Brownback-Wellstone anti-trafficking legislation. Senator Wellstone and I have been working for the last year on this legislation, which is a companion to the Smith-Gejdenson bill in the House known as the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000. I want to thank and recognize my staff, Sharon Payt and Karen Knutson, two people who have worked tirelessly and endlessly to deal with this particular issue. Our anti-trafficking bill is the first complete legislation to address the growing practice of international ``trafficking'' worldwide. This is one of the largest manifestations of modern-day slavery internationally. Notably, this legislation is the most significant human rights bill of the 106th Congress, if passed today, as hoped for. This is also the largest anti-slavery bill that the United States has adopted since 1865 and the demise of slavery at the end of the Civil War. Therefore, I greatly anticipate this vote today in the Senate on this legislation. Senator Wellstone's and my trafficking bill, which passed in the Senate on July 27 of this year, was conferenced to reconcile the differences with the House bill, and the conference report was filed on October 5, Thursday, of last week. The final conference package contains four additional pieces of legislation which are substantially appropriate to our bill. Most significant among those bill amendments is the Violence Against Women Act, known as VAWA, which provides relief and assistance to those who suffer domestic violence in America. Thus, the additional four bills included in this conference report include the Violence Against Women Act. This is a reauthorization of the initial bill which was passed in 1994 as part of the Omnibus Crime Control Act; this legislation renews several grant programs to assist law enforcement officers, social service providers, and others dealing with sexual crime and domestic violence. Also in this package is Aimee's law, which provides for interstate compensation for the costs of incarceration of early-release sex offenders who commit another sex crime in a second State. It is based on the circumstances of what happened in a Pennsylvania case where a murderer was released early out of a Nevada prison, went to Pennsylvania, and kidnapped and brutally raped and murdered a young girl there who was in the very flower of life and coming forth. This law is built upon that terrible crime that took place in Pennsylvania. Also in this package is the 21st Amendment Enforcement Act, which allows for State attorneys general to enforce their State alcohol control laws in Federal court, including laws prohibiting sales to minors, which strengthens the grant of authority to States under the 21st amendment to the Constitution; and the Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act, which authorizes the payment of foreign seized assets to American victims of international terrorism. The last step to adopting this legislative package in Congress rests with the Senate today. Before I continue describing this urgently needed legislation, I would like to take a few moments to thank some key people who have brought us to this point today. Some of them are in the Galleries as I speak. They are people of heart, courage, and intelligence whose advocacy made a way for this bill--whose dedication pried open the doors and let the light shine into this darkness. Among them is Senator Wellstone who started this work long before I came on board. He and his wife, most notably, 3 years ago started advocating on this particular issue. I know he stands firmly and strongly today as one of the principal advocates to set this aside, and he brought this forward and seeks to go forward from here to help those who are victims of these crimes. I also thank Congressmen Chris Smith and Sam Gejdenson. I would also like to thank Gary Haugen of the International Justice Mission and Dr. Laura Lederter of the Protect Project at Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Laura Lederter of the Protect Project at Johns Hopkins University is the foremost authority in the country on tracking from where and to where these victims are trafficked. I have up here one of the maps she introduced of women who have been trafficked out of Russia and Ukraine with the fall of the Soviet Union. With the increased travel out of there to freedom, we have seen a huge amount of trafficking also taking place. These are the routes out of Russia and Ukraine and where they go--to Canada, to the United States, to Mexico, to Europe, to Africa and Asia, to Australia and New Zealand. This is the work of her project. I also want to thank Michael Horowitz of the Hudson Institute, and Gloria Steinem, whom I am not noted to thank, is part of this coalition; Chuck Colson, Jessica Neuworth, William Bennett, the National Association of Evangelicals, the Southern Baptist Convention, among others I'm sure I'm forgetting. I would also like to thank the staff for both the Senate and House, including Joseph Rees, David Abramowitz, Charlotte Oldham-Moore, Jill Hickson, Mark Lagon, and my staff Karen Knutson and Sharon Payt. Thank you all. We are here today at final passage because of all your efforts. This legislation is our best opportunity to challenge the largest manifestation of slavery worldwide, known as ``trafficking.'' This practice of trafficking involves the coercive transportation of persons into slavery-like conditions, primarily involving forced prostitution, among other forms of slavery-like conditions. Trafficking is the new slavery of the world. These victims are routinely forced against their will into the sex trade, transported across international borders, and left defenseless in a foreign country. This bill also addresses the insidious practice known as ``debt bondage,'' wherein a person can be enslaved to the money lender for an entire lifetime because of a $50 debt taken by the family for an emergency. This is a common practice in countries throughout the South Asian region. People of conscience have fought against the different manifestations of slavery for centuries. This anti-slavery legislation is in the tradition of William Wilberforce and Amy Carmichael of England, who were ardent abolitionists against different forms of slavery. Amy Carmichael was a British missionary to India at the turn of last century, in the early 1900's. Upon arrival, she was mortified to discover the routine practice of forced temple prostitution. This was and continues to be a practice wherein young girls, from age six onward, are dedicated to the local temple, and are then forced into prostitution against their will to generate income. Upon this morbid discovery, Amy Carmichael began to physically steal the young girls away from this incredibly degrading form of slavery, hiding the girls to escape the inevitable backlash of violence. Eventually, the government outlawed this practice of forced temple prostitution, as a result of her efforts. However, it bears noting that this terrible practice continues today, in a lesser degree, in rural villages throughout South Asia, including India. This bill challenges the myriad forms of slavery including sex trafficking, temple prostitution, and debt bondage, among other forms. This new phenomenon of sex trafficking is growing exponentially. Some report that it is, at least, $7 billion per year illicit trade, exceeded only by the international drug and arms trade. Its victims are enslaved into a devastating brutality against their will, with no hope for release or justice, while its perpetrators build criminal empires on this suffering with impunity. Our legislation will begin to challenge these injustices. This is the new slavery of the world, Dr. Kevin Bales of the University of Surrey in England recently testified for us before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He astutely observed that the new slavery has a peculiar quality which does not look like the old forms associated with lifetime bondage as a chattel slave, but it is slavery nonetheless. Sex trafficking is among the most common forms of the new slavery and typically entails shorter periods of bondage, usually asking for 5 to 6 years, or whenever something like AIDS or tuberculosis is contracted, after which the victim is thrown out on the street, broken, without community or resources, left to die. I have met with people caught in that condition. Women and children are routinely forced against their will. Sex traffickers favor girls aging in the range of 10 to 13. I have a number of other things I could say, but my time is limited. I know a number of people want to speak on this bill. I ask to reserve the remainder of my time. I will turn the floor over to Senator Wellstone. I ask unanimous consent on any quorum calls that might be called during the discussion of this conference report, that time be allotted and assessed against all allocated time to speak under the bill, including myself and Senator Wellstone, along with Senator Biden, Senator Hatch, and Senator Leahy, who have all been allocated time. I ask the quorum calls be equally divided between those who have time under the bill.

Mr. BROWNBACK

Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, today the Senate will begin debate on the conference report to accompany H.R. 3244, the sex trafficking victims legislation. I want to start this discussion and debate off with thanking my good friend and colleague, Senator Paul Wellstone. He and I have worked together on this bill the entire year. We have come at this from different points of view. I think we have worked together and come up with an excellent proposal and package. I hope for unanimous support from the Senate. We got near that in the House, with a vote of 377-1. I have spoken with that one person who deeply regrets voting against us on this bill. It was actually for another provision that was in the bill. This is an important piece of legislation. The sex trafficking victims legislation is here under a previous order, and there will be up to 7 hours of debate on the conference report we are going to discuss. Senator Thompson will raise a point of order against the report and is expected to appeal the ruling of the Chair. Therefore, a vote on the appeal, as well as a vote on adoption of the conference report, is expected to occur during this afternoon's session. The Senate will also consider the VA-HUD appropriations bill and the conference report to accompany the Agriculture appropriations bill, with votes on both expected to occur prior to today's adjournment. I thank my colleagues for their attention.N O T I C E Effective January 1, 2001, the subscription price of the Congressional Record will be $393 per year or $197 for six months. Individual issues may be purchased for $4.00 per copy. The cost for the microfiche edition will remain $141 per year with single copies remaining $1.50 per issue. This price increase is necessary based upon the cost of printing and distribution. Michael F. DiMario, Public Printer

Mr. BROWNBACK

Mr. BROWNBACK. Madam President, I note that we are planning on a vote at 4:30. Senator Thompson has the time reserved from 3:30 to 4:30. I note for my colleagues that if anybody wishes to speak on this particular bill, Senator Thompson has an entire hour reserved. Under the unanimous consent order, we immediately go to both votes--the vote on the appeal of the ruling of the Chair for Senator Thompson, and immediately we will go to a vote on final passage of the conference report. If anybody seeks to speak on this bill, they should do so at the present time because otherwise it will be allocated to Senator Thompson. I will use a couple of minutes of my time at this point. I note that within the bill there is the Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act that has been spoken of by Senator Lautenberg and Senator Mack, which seeks justice for victims of terrorism that is taking place. That is in the bill. I think it is an important part of the legislation. I hope we will have some discussion taking place on that as well. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. BROWNBACK. Madam President, I yield myself 3 minutes. I want to recognize the leadership of my colleague from Pennsylvania, Senator Santorum, in this provision. This is something he fought for to put in this overall package, to keep in this overall package, and it was something when we started down this road, frankly, I was saying I want a little, clean, simple bill to deal with sex trafficking. And several Members on the House side, and Senator Santorum on this side, fought to put this in. The more I studied this, the consistency of the flow was there with this. This is dealing with trying to protect people who have been subject to domestic crimes, domestic violence, to protect people who have been subject to trafficking and protect people who have been subject to, frankly, early release and high recidivism offenders in other States, such as what happened, unfortunately, in his State in the case of Aimee Willard. I applaud my colleague's work. I note one other thing. Other colleagues look at this and raise questions about does this really fit within the overall package, and one can make their decision one way or the other. But the point is, if this is pulled out, the bill has to go back to the House. We don't have time, so it effectively kills the bill. The House has already voted 371-1 for this package. It is a package and if this gets pulled out, it has to go back to the House. The House is going out on Friday for a funeral of one of its Members. Tomorrow, it has its calendar set up. It kills the bill, so everything else gets killed as well, regardless of what the arguments are. I plead with colleagues and say let's look at this and go ahead and support the entire package and not support the motion to strike the Aimee's law provision.

Mr. BROWNBACK. Thank you, Madam President. I reserve the remainder of my time.

Mr. BROWNBACK. Madam President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. BROWNBACK. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. BROWNBACK. Madam President, off whose time is the quorum call charged?

Mr. BROWNBACK. I note for the record, as we put it in, it was charged against all sides equally because there are four people who have separate allotted time. It should be allocated equally to all of those.

Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I note the hour of 3:30 approaches. Senator Thompson has a lot of time. If we are able to pass this legislation today, we still have a hurdle left to go. This is a major victory for women and children subject to violence here and abroad. This is a major piece of legislation for us to be able to pass through this body. It is late in the session. We are already past the time scheduled for adjournment. To be able to get this legislation passed at this time is a significant accomplishment. The Senator from Delaware pushed aggressively and hard on VAWA, as a number of people did on other items. This is a good day, a great day for the Senate to stand up and do some of the best work we can to protect those who are the least protected in our society, to speak out for those who are the least protected here and around the world. This is a great day for this country, and it is a great day for this body. I am pleased we are wrapping up this portion of the debate. I think we have had a good discussion. We will have the vote on the appealing of the point of order by the Chair. I plead with my colleagues, with all due respect to my colleague from Tennessee, to vote against my colleague from Tennessee so we can proceed to pass this important legislation. I yield the floor.

Mr. BROWNBACK

Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, rather than not using the time, I thought it wise to go ahead and use this time to visit about this important vote that will be taking place. There may be some people who are just now focusing on what is happening. We have a base bill with sex trafficking. The Violence Against Women Act is the base of the bill, and it is put together in an overall piece of legislation with the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, Aimee's law, Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act, and the 21st Amendment Enforcement Act. This is the combined bill soon to be voted on. A point of order has been raised and ruled against by the Chair, and we will be voting on appealing the ruling of the Chair. I hope my colleagues will vote in favor of the Chair and we will go to the final bill for a vote. To vote against the Chair and subtract Aimee's law, sends the bill back to the House, and we don't have time to get this done. This is an important day for women and children subject to violence, both domestically and abroad. It is an important day that this body is going to follow the House and put in place needed protections for people, women and children, subject to this violence, both domestically and abroad. It is an important day for those who have worked as advocacy groups and defenders of the defenseless, including people trafficked across international borders, with their papers burned and told: You owe. This is important also for women in abusive relationships, physically abusive, who need help. This addresses both of those issues. I think it is important this body, in the waning days of this session, go out with a strong statement that we are there with you; we are supporting those who are victimized in these situations, domestically and abroad. We are speaking out for those who, in many cases, have no voice. I can still see the girls I met in Nepal who were trafficked at 11 and 12 years of age, coming back to their home country and to their villages, 16, 17 years of age, in terrible condition, having been subjected to sex trafficking, beaten by brothel owners, in some cases locked up at night, raped repeatedly, and told, ``You have to work this off; I own you,'' and then released to go home when they contract horrible diseases. In not all cases that works that way, but in too many cases it does work that way. This body is speaking today. We are speaking on behalf of those who are so defenseless in these particular types of situations. I want to recognize some people who have been particularly helpful on this. Senator Leahy has worked very hard with us on this, through many of the issues he has had on this. Senator Wellstone and I have worked on the trafficking. Senator Biden and Senator Hatch have worked on the Violence Against Women Act. This has been a true bipartisan and bicameral effort. Chris Smith and Sam Gejdenson in the House, Republican and Democrat, have worked with us to get this through. Chairman Hyde of the Judiciary Committee in the House has worked to get this on through. My staff, Karen Knudsen and Sharon Payt, have worked very hard. The outside advocacy groups range from Gloria Steinem to Chuck Colson in support of this legislation, saying this is something we need to speak out about; this is something we need to do. I want to recognize the leader, Trent Lott. In these waning hours of the session, there are about 150 different bills that want to get to the floor. Senator Lott has said this one is coming to the floor. Not only did he say it is coming to the floor, he gave us all day on October 11 to be able to carry this on through and get this through. This is precious time. It could have been spent and was being pushed to be spent on a number of different issues. Instead, Senator Lott said, no; we will go ahead and let this issue come forward. We will take the whole day debating it. People can be heard on this particular issue. Then we will have two votes at the end of the day. That is a great statement on his part in support of women and children who are subject to these horrifying conditions, both domestically and abroad. I applaud his effort and his leadership and his work getting this done. I just came from a press conference with Senator Santorum on Aimee's law, an important piece of legislation concerning what happened to Aimee Willard, an act perpetrated by a person was released early from prison in Nevada and went to Pennsylvania. She was an all-American lacrosse player at George Mason University. She was traveling, her car was taken over by this guy who had been previously convicted and released early out of a Nevada prison, then he takes her, kidnaps her, rapes her, and murders her. This is legislation that does not federalize crimes, but it encourages States to step up and say: If a person is convicted of one of these crimes, keep him in for at least 85 percent of what he was sentenced for; or if they go to another State and commit this recidivism crime, then the State that has to prosecute and incarcerate this person, the criminal who did this, they can get part of the Federal moneys from the State that let the person go free early. I think it is a sensible approach to try pushing this on forward. It is a good piece of legislation. It is something that deserves passage. Here in these waning hours of this session, I would just say I am very pleased to be a part of this body that would stand up and speak out and step forward on important legislation like this for the defenseless, for the voiceless, for those who are in harm's way. I applaud that. I hope my colleagues will vote as the House did, overwhelmingly, for this legislation. It passed in the House 371-1. If I can encourage you any more, I say pull out a picture from your billfold, pull out a picture of a child or grandchild. Those are the ages, somewhere between 9 and 15, who are the most frequently trafficked victims. Young ages. Aimee Willard was a young age--not quite that young. But you get young ages of people who are subjected to this. We are stepping up and doing something on their behalf. Mr. President, I thank my colleagues for the time I have been able to use for this. I urge the President to sign this legislation when it gets to his desk. I am hopeful he will. I do not know of any reason he would not sign this legislation. This will be a major accomplishment of this Congress that is going to be completed at this time. I yield the floor.

Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I know under the unanimous consent agreement Senator Thompson would have the time until 4:30 when it was agreed the vote would be set. I ask unanimous consent to speak on the sex trafficking bill for up to 5 minutes.

Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. BROWNBACK

Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. BROWNBACK

Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I rise today to recognize the athletes from Kansas who participated in the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. Each of these athletes contributed in his or her own way to the success of the American Team. It is my pleasure to recognize the following athletes from Kansas for their efforts in the Olympic Games: Maurice Greene, Nathan Leeper, Passion Richardson, Christie Ambrosi, Sarah Noriega, Tara Nott, and Melvin Douglas. Each of these athletes deserves to be commended on their perseverance and dedication to their respective sports. The devotion of these athletes has been rewarded with the opportunity to represent the United States as Olympic Athletes. Not only have these athletes represented America, but they have also made the citizens of their home State of Kansas proud. The spirit of these athletes is encouraging and is to be applauded. America's team could not have finished on top without the help of these special Kansans. Every four years the world comes together in this ultimate show of athleticism. These Kansan athletes will be forever a part of this honorable tradition. It gives me great pleasure to recognize the accomplishments of these athletes. Maurice Greene maintained his role as the fastest man on Earth by winning the Men's 100 meter race. He also helped the 4x100 relay team run their way to another gold medal for the American Team. Nathan Leeper rose to high aspirations in the high jump competition. After leaving the sport for a short time, Nathan made the ultimate comeback as a member of this Olympic Team. Passion Richardson helped the women's 4x100m Relay team run their way out of the rounds into the finals. this competition was Passion's Olympic debut and her participation in this event is the epitome of teamwork and dedication. Christie Ambrosi helped the women's softball team grab the gold medal for America. Her hard work as an outfielder and strong hitting skills brought the team home with gold medals along with their gloves. As a member of the Women's volleyball team, Sarah Noriega rose beyond the expectations. Sarah helped launch the team into the medal round, proving that the team has a great future ahead. Tara Nott made Olympic history as the first woman to go home with gold from a Women's Olympic Weightlifting competition. Christie had no problem carrying her gold medal home to Kansas. Melvin Douglas is no stranger to the Olympic games, as the Sydney competition as his second Olympic appearance. His perseverance in the sport has proven that great athletes can come at any age. Again, Mr. President, I congratulate these Kansas Athletes on their outstanding accomplishments. All of these athletes have made Kansas and United States of America very proud.

Mr. BROWNBACK

Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Joseph Reese be allowed floor privileges during this debate.