The Senate unanimously passed legislation to aid victims of human trafficking on Wednesday, clearing the way for a vote Thursday on attorney general nominee Loretta Lynch.
Majority leader Mitch McConnell had said the Senate would not act on the Lynch nomination, which has languished for 165 days, until the trafficking bill was passed. The bill had been hung up over a partisan disagreement about abortion funding.
The disagreement was overcome by a deal brokered Tuesday by Democrat Patty Murray and Republican John Cornyn, the bill’s author.
“This body’s consideration of this bill has proven that compromise and bipartisanship need not be relics of the past in today’s Washington, but they are very much alive and well, particularly when the need is so very great as it is in this area,” Cornyn said on the Senate floor after the deal was announced.
Murray had a slightly different take in floor remarks Wednesday. “It certainly shouldn’t have taken this long,” she said.
Lynch is expected to be confirmed as attorney general by a narrow margin, with five Republicans so far having announced their support. The confirmation would break a logjam that President Barack Obama last week called “embarrassing”.
Human Rights First, the Washington-based activist group, praised the Senate for coming together to pass the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act, which sets up a compensation fund for survivors of trafficking and sets aside money for law enforcement training.
“The bipartisan passage of this bill in the Senate is an important step forward in the fight to dismantle the horrific criminal enterprise of human trafficking,” said Annick Febrey, a senior associate with the group, in a statement emailed to the Guardian.
