Democrats reject GOP fix to trafficking/abortion fight

TheHill
Democrats reject GOP fix to abortion fight
By Jordain Carney

With senators bogged down in a battle over abortion that has left the Senate in a weeks-long standstill, a potential deal to move past the legislative standoff appeared to crumble Thursday.

With senators bogged down in a battle over abortion that has left the Senate in a weeks-long standstill, a potential deal to move past the legislative standoff appeared to crumble Thursday. 
 
Democrats quickly rejected a solution put forward by Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who suggested letting a victims fund established by the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act go through the appropriations process. 
 
Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) reiterated Thursday that if Republicans want to move forward on the anti-human-trafficking bill that would bolster resources for victims and law enforcement, then they need to remove the Hyde Amendment, which restricts the use of federal funds on abortions. 

“The best they can do is get rid of that language, and then we can go to trafficking,” he told reporters. 
 
A Cornyn aide said Thursday the Texas Republican’s proposal would take the victims fund, which gets its money from criminal fines, and send it through Congress’s appropriations process. 
 
“The money for the victims fund will now flow through the relevant appropriations bills, with all spending limitations contained in those bills applying,” the aide said. “Given that this is what Senate Democrats have repeatedly requested, it is unconscionable that they would continue to filibuster this bill.” 

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Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Cornyn's proposal "presents the same problem."  
 
“Cornyn’s proposal to simply funnel fees collected from traffickers in his bill through the appropriations process still presents the same problem,” he said from the Senate floor. “This is not taxpayer money; in fact, it would be some huge new step to subject non-taxpayer money to the Hyde Amendment.” 

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http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/236361-democrats-reject-gop-fix-to-abortion-fight