Stay Curious. Stay Connected.
MailNewsletters♡Donate Now
Sign up
*Password must be at least 8 characters and contain one uppercase letter, one lowercase letter, one number and one symbol.
Already have an account?
By submitting, you consent that you are at least 18 years of age and to receive information about MPR's or APMG entities' programs and offerings. The personally identifying information you provide will not be sold, shared, or used for purposes other than to communicate with you about MPR, APMG entities, and its sponsors. You may opt-out at any time clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom of any email communication. View our Privacy Policy.
Sign in to your profile
Forgot Password?
New to MPR News?
Welcome back
to news
for you
Reset Password

Enter the username on file and we'll send you a code to reset your password.

Still require assistance or not sure what your User Name is?
Welcome back
to news
for you
Email Verification

A verification code has been emailed to

Still awaiting the code?
Capitol View®
Brett Neely

Klobuchar concedes office knew of abortion provision

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.

Klobuchar reading
Sen. Amy Klobuchar reading a book aloud on the Senate floor in the midst of a debate about a sex trafficking bill on March 18, 2017. (screenshot from C-SPAN)

WASHINGTON - A staffer in Sen. Amy Klobuchar's office was aware of a controversial abortion-related provision in a sex trafficking bill that has ground the Senate to a halt and stalled the nomination of the next U.S. Attorney General.

Klobuchar is the primary Democratic cosponsor on the bipartisan bill that would establish a restitution fund for victims of human trafficking with money seized from convicted sex traffickers.

The bill was set to sail through the Senate after a brief debate last week until it suddenly stalled when Democrats announced that it contained what's known as "Hyde Amendment" language they had been unaware of. The language prevents the use of the seized money to pay for abortions.

Up until now Democrats,

including Klobuchar

, claimed they were blindsided by the language that was included by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas.

Citing the abortion language, Democrats have subsequently filibustered the bill twice this month. Republican leader Mitch McConnell has vowed not to bring up the nomination of Loretta Lynch as Attorney General until the Senate votes on the trafficking bill.

For the past week, Republicans insisted that Democrats had been aware of the Hyde Amendment's inclusion and had not sought its removal when the bill was debated in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Cornyn called the Democrats' assertions, "preposterous" and "not credible" and Klobuchar's office now concedes he was correct.

"A staff member who reviewed the reintroduced bill had seen the Hyde provision in the bill but did not inform the Senator," said Klobuchar spokeswoman Julia Krahe, in a statement. “The Senator takes responsibility for the work of her office and missing the provision."

The Associated Press first broke the story.

Klobuchar, a former prosecutor, has made combating sex trafficking one of her major policy initiatives and worked with Minnesota Republican Rep. Erik Paulsen to draft similar legislation in the House.

Klobuchar spent several hours on the Senate floor Wednesday reading from a book about international sex trafficking to rally support for the bill but did not publicly address the issue of her office's role in the legislative stalemate.