May 4, 1995 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD— SENATE S6181 

(42 U.S.C. 1395i) and the Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund established under section 1841 of such Act (42 

U.S.C. 1395t). 

(b) REPORT.—The Commission shall submit 

its report to the President and the Congress 

not later than December 31, 1996. 

SEC. 4. POWERS OF THE COMMISSION. 

(a) HEARINGS.—The Commission may hold 

such hearings, sit and act at such times and 

places, take such testimony, and receive 

such evidence as the Commission considers 

advisable to carry out the purposes of this 

Act. 

(b) INFORMATION FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES.—The Commission may secure directly 

from any Federal department or agency such 

information as the Commission considers 

necessary to carry out the provisions of this 

Act. Upon request of the Chairman of the 

Commission, the head of such department or 

agency shall furnish such information to the 

Commission. 

(c) POSTAL SERVICES.—The Commission 

may use the United States mails in the same 

manner and under the same conditions as 

other departments and agencies of the Federal Government. 

SEC. 5. COMMISSION PERSONNEL MATTERS. 

(a) COMPENSATION OF MEMBERS.—

(1) OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.—All members of the 

Commission who are officers or employees of 

the Federal Government shall serve without 

compensation in addition to that received 

for their services as officers or employees of 

the United States. 

(2) PRIVATE CITIZENS OF THE UNITED

STATES.—

(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subparagraph 

(B), all members of the Commission who are 

not officers or employees of the Federal Government shall serve without compensation 

for their work on the Commission. 

(B) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—The members of 

the Commission who are not officers or employees of the Federal Government shall be 

allowed travel expenses, including per diem 

in lieu of subsistence, at rates authorized for 

employees of agencies under subchapter I of 

chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code, 

while away from their homes or regular 

places of business in the performance of services for the Commission, to the extent funds 

are available therefor. 

(b) STAFF.—

(1) IN GENERAL.—The Chairman of the Commission may, without regard to the civil 

service laws and regulations, appoint and 

terminate an executive director and such 

other additional personnel as may be necessary to enable the Commission to perform 

its duties. At the request of the Chairman, 

the Secretary of Health and Human Services 

shall provide the Commission with any necessary administrative and support services. 

The employment of an executive director 

shall be subject to confirmation by the Commission. 

(2) COMPENSATION.—The Chairman of the 

Commission may fix the compensation of the 

executive director and other personnel without regard to the provisions of chapter 51 and 

subchapter III of chapter 53 of title 5, United 

States Code, relating to classification of positions and General Schedule pay rates, except that the rate of pay for the executive director and other personnel may not exceed 

the rate payable for level V of the Executive 

Schedule under section 5316 of such title. 

(c) DETAIL OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES.—

Any Federal Government employee may be 

detailed to the Commission without reimbursement, and such detail shall be without 

interruption or loss of civil service status or 

privilege. 

(d) PROCUREMENT OF TEMPORARY AND

INTERMITTENT SERVICES.—The Chairman of 

the Commission may procure temporary and 

intermittent services under section 3109(b) of 

title 5, United States Code, at rates for individuals which do not exceed the daily equivalent of the annual rate of basic pay prescribed for level V of the Executive Schedule 

under section 5316 of such title. 

SEC. 6. TERMINATION OF THE COMMISSION. 

The Commission shall terminate 30 days 

after the date on which the Commission submits its report under section 2(b). 

SEC. 7. FUNDING FOR THE COMMISSION. 

Any expenses of the Commission shall be 

paid from such funds as may be otherwise 

available to the Secretary of Health and 

Human Services.

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∑ 

ADDITIONAL COSPONSORS 

S. 216

At the request of Mr. HATCH, the 

name of the Senator from New York 

[Mr. D’AMATO] was added as a cosponsor of S. 216, a bill to repeal the reduction in the deductible portion of expenses for business meals and entertainment. 

S. 230

At the request of Mr. DOLE, the name 

of the Senator from Maryland [Mr. 

SARBANES] was added as a cosponsor of 

S. 230, a bill to prohibit U.S. assistance 

to countries that prohibit or restrict 

the transport of delivery of U.S. humanitarian assistance. 

S. 327

At the request of Mr. HATCH, the 

name of the Senator from New York 

[Mr. D’AMATO] was added as a cosponsor of S. 237, a bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide 

clarification for the deductibility of expenses incurred by a taxpayer in connection with the business use of the 

home. 

S. 457

At the request of Mr. SIMON, the 

name of the Senator from Delaware 

[Mr. BIDEN] was added as a cosponsor of 

S. 457, a bill to amend the Immigration 

and Nationality Act to update references in the classification of children 

for purposes of U.S. immigration laws. 

S. 471

At the request of Mr. BIDEN, the 

name of the Senator from Nevada [Mr. 

REID] was added as a cosponsor of S. 

471, a bill to provide for the payment to 

States of plot allowances for certain 

veterans eligible for burial in a national cemetery who are buried in 

cemeteries of such States. 

S. 506

At the request of Mr. CRAIG, the 

name of the Senator from Mississippi 

[Mr. LOTT] was added as a cosponsor of 

S. 506, a bill to amend the general mining laws to provide a reasonable royalty from mineral activities on Federal 

lands, to specify reclamation requirements for mineral activities on Federal 

lands, to create a State program for 

the reclamation of abandoned hard 

rock mining sites on Federal lands, and 

for other purposes. 

S. 515

At the request of Mr. BRADLEY, the 

name of the Senator from Vermont 

[Mr. LEAHY] was added as a cosponsor 

of S. 515, a bill to amend the Federal 

Meat Inspection Act and the Poultry 

Products Inspection Act to provide for 

improved public health and food safety 

through the reduction of harmful substances in meat and poultry that 

present a threat to public health, and 

for other purposes. 

S. 548

At the request of Mr. ROCKEFELLER, 

the name of the Senator from North 

Dakota [Mr. DORGAN] was added as a 

cosponsor of S. 548, a bill to provide 

quality standards for mammograms 

performed by the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

S. 553

At the request of Mr. MOSELEYBRAUN, the name of the Senator from 

Rhode Island [Mr. CHAFEE] was added 

as a cosponsor of S. 553, a bill to amend 

the Age Discrimination in Employment 

Act of 1967 to reinstate an exemption 

for certain bona fide hiring and retirement plans applicable to State and 

local firefighters and law enforcement 

officers, and for other purposes. 

S. 580

At the request of Mrs. FEINSTEIN, the 

name of the Senator from California 

[Mrs. BOXER] was added as a cosponsor 

of S. 580, a bill to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to control illegal immigration to the United 

States, reduce incentives for illegal immigration, reform asylum procedures, 

strengthen criminal penalties for the 

smuggling of aliens, and reform other 

procedures. 

S. 641

At the request of Mrs. KASSEBAUM, 

the name of the Senator from Idaho 

[Mr. KEMPTHORNE] was added as a cosponsor of S. 641, a bill to reauthorize 

the Ryan White CARE Act of 1990, and 

for other purposes. 

S. 650

At the request of Mr. SHELBY, the 

name of the Senator from Alabama 

[Mr. HEFLIN] was added as a cosponsor 

of S. 650, a bill to increase the amount 

of credit available to fuel local, regional, and national economic growth 

by reducing the regulatory burden imposed upon financial institutions, and 

for other purposes. 

S. 733

At the request of Mr. ROTH, the name 

of the Senator from Massachusetts 

[Mr. KERRY] was added as a cosponsor 

of S. 733, a bill to amend title 23, 

United States Code, to permit States 

to use Federal highway funds for capital improvements to, and operating 

support for, intercity passenger rail 

service, and for other purposes. 

S. 751

At the request of Mr. EXON, the name 

of the Senator from Nebraska [Mr. 

KERREY] was added as a cosponsor of S. 

751, a bill to provide that certain games 

of chance conducted by a nonprofit organization not be treated as an unrelated business of such organization. 

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S6182 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD— SENATE May 4, 1995 

SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 12—HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES 

OF BURMESE WOMEN AND GIRLS 

Mrs. MURRAY submitted the following concurrent resolution; which 

was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations: 

S. CON. RES. 12 

Whereas credible reports indicate that 

thousands of Burmese women and girls are 

being trafficked into Thailand with false 

promises of good paying jobs in restaurants 

or factories, and then forced to work in 

brothels under slavery-like conditions that 

include sexual and physical violence, debt 

bondage, exposure to HIV, passport deprivation, and illegal confinement; 

Whereas credible reports also indicate that 

members of the Thai police force are often 

actively involved in, and profit from, the 

trafficking of Burmese women and girls for 

the purposes of forced prostitution; 

Whereas the United States Government 

conducts training programs for the Thai police and United States arms and equipment 

are sold to the Thai police; 

Whereas the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination 

Against Women requires all States Parties 

‘‘to take all appropriate measures, including 

legislation, to suppress all forms of traffic in 

women and exploitation of prostitution of 

women’’; 

Whereas Article 1 of the 1956 Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of 

Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions 

and Practices Similar to Slavery calls for 

the complete abolition or abandonment of 

debt bondage; 

Whereas forced labor, defined under the 

1930 Forced Labor Convention as ‘‘all work 

or service which is exacted from any person 

under the menace of any penalty and for 

which the said person has not offered himself 

voluntarily,’’ is internationally prohibited; 

Whereas the 1949 Convention for the Suppression of Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others finds 

the traffic in persons for the purposes of 

prostitution ‘‘incompatible with the dignity 

and worth of the human person,’’ and calls 

on States Parties to punish any person who 

procures for the purposes of prostitution, 

keeps, manages or knowingly finances a 

brothel, or rents premises for the prostitution of others; 

Whereas Assistant Secretary of State for 

Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs 

John Shattuck has testified that the United 

States ‘‘urgently needs to encourage countries in which trafficking of women and children goes on with impunity to enact new 

laws, and to enforce existing laws. A particular target of this stepped-up law enforcement should be government officials who 

participate in or condone trafficking, as well 

as brothel owners and traffickers’’; and 

Whereas Secretary of State Warren Christopher stated before the 1993 World Conference on Human Rights that 

‘‘(g)uaranteeing human rights is a moral imperative with respect to both women and 

men’’: Now, therefore, be it 

Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), That it is the sense 

of the Congress that—

(1) trafficking in persons violates the fundamental principle of human dignity, and 

forced prostitution involving physical coercion or debt bondage constitutes a form of 

forced labor and a slavery-like practice; 

(2) the United States State Department 

should continue to press the Thai Government to strictly enforce all laws that can 

lead to the prosecution of those involved in 

trafficking and forced prostitution, including procurers, traffickers, pimps, brothel 

owners, and members of the Thai police who 

may be complicit; 

(3) the State Department should ensure 

that Thai police participants in the United 

States Government-sponsored police training programs are systematically vetted to 

exclude those who are implicated in trafficking and forced prostitution; 

(4) the executive branch should take steps 

to assure that weapons and equipment provided or sold to the Thai police do not become available to members of those forces 

who might be involved in trafficking, forced 

prostitution, or abuse of women and girls 

who are apprehended; 

(5) the State Department should urge the 

Thai Government to protect the rights and 

safety of Burmese women and girls in Thailand who are freed from brothels or who are 

arrested as illegal immigrants because their 

status as trafficking victims is unclear; 

(6) the United States Agency for International Development should target a portion of its assistance to Thailand for AIDS 

prevention and control to the foreign population in Thailand, particularly Burmese 

women and girls in the Thai sex industry; 

and 

(7) the State Department should report to 

Congress, within 6 months of the date of this 

resolution, on actions that it has taken to 

advocate that the Thai Government implement the above steps. 

∑ Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, today 

I submit a resolution expressing the 

sense of Congress concerning the trafficking of Burmese women and girls 

into Thailand for the purpose of forced 

prostitution. This is identical to a resolution submitted in the House by Congresswoman LOUISE SLAUGHTER. 

I have long supported steps to help 

improve the gross human rights violations inflicted on women around the 

world. I am outraged at reports from 

Human Rights Watch and others citing 

the egregious abuse of Burmese women 

and girls who are lured into Thailand 

with false promises to work at good 

paying jobs, and then confined in illegal brothels. These women and girls 

live in brutal conditions, often forced 

to work 18 hours a day with several different clients. They are subjected to 

physical and sexual abuse that makes 

escape practically impossible. In addition, there is virtually no health care 

or birth control available, and the HIV 

virus is rampant among these women 

and girls. 

Reportedly, these abuses take place 

with the knowledge of the Thai Government and the likely involvement of 

the Thai police. I am deeply concerned 

by reports that these officials not only 

fail to protect these women and girls, 

but actually provide support to the 

brothels and brothel owners. 

Mr. President, this resolution seeks 

to call attention to these abuses. In addition to stating that sex trafficking is 

a violation of the fundamental principle of human dignity, it encourages 

the State Department to press the Thai 

Government to enforce the laws that 

can lead to the prosecution of these 

traffickers. It also encourages the Thai 

Government to ensure the rights and 

safety of Burmese women and girls in 

Thailand. In addition, any weapons and 

equipment sold to the Thai police by 

the United States should be kept out of 

the hands of those individuals who may 

be involved in trafficking these women 

and girls. And, finally, the United 

States Agency for International Development should target a portion of its 

assistance to Thailand for AIDS prevention and control. 

We in Congress must act now to help 

stop these brutal practices. The savage 

treatment of Burmese women and girls 

in Thailand, and the abuses they are 

subjected to, must cease. I urge my colleagues to support this resolution and 

help send a message that the trafficking and forced prostitution of 

women and girls around the world is 

simply unacceptable.

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∑ 

AMENDMENTS SUBMITTED 

THE COMMONSENSE LEGAL 

STANDARDS REFORM ACT OF 

1995 COMMONSENSE PRODUCT LIABILITY REFORM ACT OF 1995 

ROCKEFELLER AMENDMENT NO. 

686 

(Ordered to lie on the table.) 

Mr. ROCKEFELLER submitted an 

amendment intended to be proposed by 

him to amendment No. 645 proposed by 

him to amendment No. 596 proposed by 

Mr. GORTON to the bill (H.R. 956) to establish legal standards and procedures 

for product litigation, and for other 

purposes; as follows: 

Strike all after ‘‘Notwithstanding’’ and insert the following: ‘‘section 197(b)(1), the 

amount of punitive damages that may be 

awarded to a claimant in a product liability 

action that is subject to this title shall be 

the greater of—

‘‘(1) the amount determined under section 

107(b)(1); or 

‘‘(2) $250,000.’’. 

ROCKEFELLER AMENDMENT NO. 

687 

(Ordered to lie on the table.) 

Mr. ROCKEFELLER submitted an 

amendment intended to be proposed by 

him to amendment No. 646 proposed by 

him to amendment No. 596 proposed by 

Mr. GORTON to the bill H.R. 956, supra; 

as follows: 

Strike all after ‘‘Notwithstanding’’ and insert the following: ‘‘section 107(b), the 

amount of punitive damages that may be 

awarded to a claimant in a product liability 

action that is subject to this title shall not 

exceed $500,000.’’. 

ROCKEFELLER AMENDMENT NO. 

688 

(Ordered to lie on the table.) 

Mr. ROCKEFELLER submitted an 

amendment intended to be proposed by 

him to amendment No. 647 proposed by 

him to amendment No. 596 proposed by 

Mr. GORTON to the bill H.R. 956, supra; 

as follows: 

Strike all after ‘‘Notwithstanding’’ and insert the following: ‘‘section 107(b)(1), the 

amount of punitive damages that may be 

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