Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell says Senate Republicans will not allow a vote on pro-abortion Loretta Lynch, president Barack Obama’s nominee to the Attorney general post, until they relent and quit attempting to promote abortion funding in a bill to help sex trafficking victims.
As LifeNews has reported, Democrats are objecting to the inclusion of language in a bill to provide support for victims of sex trafficking to ensure that funds help victims rather than fund abortions. Meanwhile, a very close vote is expected in the Senate on Lynch’s nomination.
Now, McConnell is playing hardball:
SIGN THE PETITION! Oppose Pro-Abortion Loretta Lynch for Attorney General
After two months in the majority, has Mitch McConnell finally hit a red line with Harry Reid? The confirmation of Loretta Lynch to replace Eric Holder as Attorney General has stalled for the last few weeks, and McConnell threatened to stall it indefinitely after Democrats blocked a human-trafficking bill. The Senate Majority Leader wants an end to Democratic obstructionism:
The Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act, authored by Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.), has been stalled after Democrats accused Republicans of sneaking anti-abortion language into the bill. McConnell noted that Democrats on the Judiciary Committee unanimously agreed on the bill before forwarding it.
“They all voted for the very same language in a bill in December,” he said.
Senate Democrats say Republicans sneaked the language into authorization measures. At question is a provision that the new Domestic Trafficking Victims’ Fund will be subject to Hyde Amendment limitations. The long-standing amendment prohibits the use of federal taxpayer funds for abortions. The new fund, created under the proposed bill, would be supported by fines imposed on traffickers.
The interview with CNN’s State of the Union certainly pressed McConnell on the length of time Lynch has waited for a confirmation vote, but blame for that belongs in large measure with Democrats, who could have taken up the confirmation in the lame-duck session of Congress last year. They chose to use their floor time on other issues. The drain of Republican support comes from Barack Obama’s executive-action plan on immigration reform, which prompted the legitimate question of whether the Department of Justice would enforce the law properly and stop Obama from violating statutes on work permits.
It’s interesting and somewhat revealing that this is the red line that McConnell chose to draw on Harry Reid’s attempts to hijack the Republican agenda.
Meanwhile, the Obama administration is criticizing McConnell for putting pro-life values and sex trafficking victims above its agenda.
“It’s an unconscionable delay,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest said. “There’s not a single legitimate question that has been raised about her aptitude for this job. Instead, all we’ve seen is a bunch of political obstruction from Republicans that … does not speak well of Republicans’ efforts to run the Senate.”
The sex trafficking legislation passed through the Senate Judiciary Committee without any problems but, now that it’s slated for consideration on the floor of the U.S. Senate, pro-abortion activists are raising a stink about how funds for restitution for human trafficking victims won’t pay for abortions. The objection is offensive to victims of human trafficking and millions of girls and young women around the world who are victimized by it, putting abortion ahead of meeting their needs.
Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, a pro-life Republican, is the lead sponsor of the measure to help human trafficking victims and aides to pro-abortion Democrats apparently missed the fact, during the committee hearing, that Cornyn crafted the bill in a way to help women as opposed to making Americans pay for abortions.
Last week Senate Democrats falsely claimed Republicans snuck in the language in the bill to prevent abortion funding. Challenging them on their assertion Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell offers Democrats a chance to vote on the abortion funding provision if they were that opposed to keeping the provision in the bill. Senate Democrat Leader Harry Reid objected.
Meanwhile, the projection is that Lynch will win nomination on a 50-50 tie with pro-abortion Vice President Joe Biden casting the deciding vote. With that in mind, pro-life advocates may have a chance to swing another vote or two into the no column and derail her nomination.
Lynch is the nominee to replace pro-abortion Attorney General Eric Holder. Holder, who is pro-abortion and who used his post in the Obama administration to target pro-life people, announced in September he would step down from his position when a replacement has been confirmed.
During her confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Lynch admitted to pro-life Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina that she once signed onto a brief the Planned Parenthood abortion business submitted in its legal battle to overturn the Congressional ban on partial-birth abortions. The Supreme Court eventually sided against Planned Parenthood and upheld the ban on the gruesome abortion procedure.
