Date: 2015-05-18
Speaker: CAROLYN B. MALONEY (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: New York

Mr. Speaker. I rise in strong support of the Senatepassed Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act. I commend the ranking member for the Subcommittee on Crime. Terrorism. Homeland Security. and Investigations for her hard work on this bill and so many others and on this issue. and to Chairman GOODLATTE and the leadership for bringing this bill swiftly to the floor. I particularly applaud the efforts of Congressman POE. who. as a former judge and prosecutor. brought a keen understanding and passion to moving this bill forward. For well over 10 years. I have worked on trying to pass legislation that focused on the demand side of sex trafficking. It is only by going after the demand side that you will ever make a dent in protecting these young girls and boys. With his leadership. he brought new life and focus to getting this passed. and I cannot thank him enough. I truly believe that this bill will save lives. I am so pleased that Democrats and Republicans have come together. as we have historically done. in efforts to combat human slavery. human trafficking. and to bring forward a bill to help victims of this modernday form of slavery. This bill cracks down on traffickers and provides resources to trafficking survivors. There are an estimated 21 million victims around the world today. including in all 50 States. being sold for sex and slave labor. Business is very good for some very bad people. Every year. sex trafficking yields well over $9 billion in illegal profits. But unlike guns and dope that can only be sold once. the human body can be sold over and over again. usually until they die. This legislation starts to put a dent in those profits by levying fines on convicted traffickers and using the money to create the domestic trafficking victims fund. This is appropriate justice. Traffickers are forced to pay for rehabilitative services for the girls. boys. men. women. and children whom they have victimized and profited from. But we have to capture these criminals first. and perpetrators too easily have slipped through the cracks. In fact. trafficking victims are commonly charged with prostitution. while their pimps and johns and traffickers are never held accountable for their terrible crimes. This bill will flip that equation by giving law enforcement tools to help victims. and new powers and resources to identify. arrest. and prosecute buyers and sellers of sex with minor children. pornography. slave labor. and other forms of sex and labor trafficking. This will clarify. once and for all. that traffickers and johns and pimps are the true criminals in sex trafficking because. make no mistake. prostitution is not. and never has been. what has often been called a victimless crime. Patronizing a trafficked individual is not a casual act of sex. it is a criminal act of rape. Stiffening penalties and levying fines on perpetrators of these terrible crimes can start to decrease demand and put the people who buy and sell children behind bars. protecting other children from being hurt and destroyedput them behind bars. where they belong. This bill also enables victims and survivors to get the help that they deserve. Most trafficked individuals have multiple encounters with law enforcement while enslaved. but police are not sufficiently equipped to identify them. To that end. the bill also provides support for law enforcement to better identify and serve trafficking victims. These are victims who need help. not culprits to lock up while their traffickers and pimps go free. We cannot afford to miss opportunities to recognize a trafficked victim when he or she walks into the police station or hospital or local clinic. And there must be protocols. such as those called for in this bill. in place to ensure their safety and not to treat them as the criminals. This bill provides a comprehensive approach to address these issues and to banish this horrific crime from the United States of America. I urge Congress to act right away so victims need wait no longer for justice and the critical services and resources that they so desperately deserve. I urge complete bipartisan support for this bill. It is long overdue. and it will give a better future for those who have survived the worst crime in the world.