A once-thought bipartisan bill on human trafficking is the latest piece of legislation held up by the Senate’s constant inability to compromise.
The bill, which would create a fund for American trafficking victims and toughen penalties for the “Johns” who buy services, is being held up by a Republican provision that would ban funds from paying for abortions for victims.
Democrats are accusing the GOP of deliberately making the provision’s wording vague and will not pass the bill until its removed, and Republicans refuse to confirm President Obama’s nominee for attorney general until a vote on the trafficking bill is held.
The gridlock over this bill, however, has real consequences that extend beyond party lines. Every year, hundreds of thousands of Americans fall victim to human traffickers.
PBS News Hour‘s Judy Woodruff sat down to talk about the bill and what’s at stake with Bradley Miles, CEO of sex trafficking advocacy group Polaris, and Holly Austin Smith, a trafficking survivor turned advocate.
Watch the segment from News Hour.
