On Tuesday’s broadcast of NBC’s “MTP Now,” NBC News Capitol Hill Correspondent Julie Tsirkin stated that Republicans in Congress have had a difficult time getting their Democratic counterparts to support their efforts to combat human trafficking, even though the issue “seems like an issue ripe for bipartisan support.”
While reporting on a conversation with Sens. Katie Britt (R-AL), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) on their efforts to combat human trafficking, including legislation to keep individuals charged with human and drug trafficking from receiving federal funds or benefits, Tsirkin said that Blackburn “does have some support from Democrats on a new bill that would allocate $50 million to help prevent the trafficking and smuggling of women and girls.”
She then played a clip of her conversation with the three Senators, where she asked, “This seems like an issue ripe for bipartisan support. Yet, here we are, three Republican women. Why do you think you haven’t had any success in getting Democrats to support this too?”
Blackburn responded, “I think Democrats are coming along on this issue because the American people are beginning to see, firsthand, what is happening with people that are coming into their communities.”
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