Date: 2015-01-27
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I will close. I yield myself such time as I may consume. The previous speaker indicated that we are in the national month acknowledging and recognizing the gravity of human trafficking. and I believe that it calls upon us to stand by the most vulnerable who really cant help themselves. My last comment before yielding was the demand for commercial sex is a primary cause of the human rights violation of human trafficking. so eliminating that violation requires the elimination of the demand. What I might not have added. which a number of Members have said. is the violence that goes along with sex trafficking and human trafficking. the violence that goes along when some entitya person called a pimp. which is an oldtime term. really becomes an abuser. a violent abuser and abuses the frail. small body of a little girl or boy because they really havent risen to the occasion. provided them with their daily infusion of dollars to continue to do their dastardly work. As I have heard mentioned on this floor. we are not alone here in the United States. For those of us who met the victims of sex trafficking and human trafficking around the world. we understand that Americas standards will help others. What is good about what we are doing today and the underlying bill is that we set a standard that the world can look at. that we are not going to tolerate or be sufferers of the abuse of little children. Yesterday. as I listened to a great success story spoken about by the Prime Minister of Jamaica. relating their economic success. she was willing to talk about Jamaicas concerted effort at fighting human trafficking. An island where it might be easy for that trafficker to move from one place to the next. here was a leader of government acknowledging the scourge of human trafficking and that Jamaican children were suffering and subjected to sex trafficking and that it remains a serious problem. but we are going to fight it. I felt very good about that because you would think that an island that is very much dependent on tourism and entertainment would not have that calling and that cause. but. yes. the fight is spreading. I believe the Jamaican Government should be congratulated. and I ask other governments to take heed of the underlying legislation. rise to the standard. be part of the total elimination of cutting into the lives of children. of little boys. of little girls. of cutting them off from any kind of aspirations and hope that they could ever have. Maybe we dont necessarily connect it. but we know the story of the three women that were held for a period of time in our own Nation. Some started out as children. When they were ultimately found. they were women. One cannot help note that the violence that they described was a vile sex trafficking. human trafficking episode. We dont know how many around the Nation that are today. as we stand on the floor of the House. suffering. I thank Representative POE. I thank my colleague Representative MALONEY and committee staff on both sides of the aisle to help address this issue. and as well. I am glad that this particular legislation will set a standard that this dastardly series of acts will not be suffered by any human being not only in this Nation. but around the world. With that. I ask support for H.R. 181 and yield back the balance of my time.