Jeff Flake: “When most Americans travel overseas they do so for educational purposes or for relaxation or simply to immerse…”

“When most Americans travel overseas they do so for educational purposes or for relaxation or simply to immerse themselves in another culture, but others have a more perverse goal in mind. They go with the explicit purpose to lure children in and exploit children with elicit sexual activity. This is something we cannot as Americans countenance. In my home State of Arizona a television station went down to Mexico to the city of Puerto Vallarta and went to the beach and had someone pose as an underage, clearly informing those who propositioned him that he was under age. He was propositioned several times very quickly. Men prowl the beaches there propositioning kids as young as 8 years old, and it goes on day in and day out. Because of the dire poverty in some areas and lax enforcement, Americans believe that they can get away with that kind of activity, and nothing is to stop them except for their conscience. This bill says not only do they have to worry about their conscience but they have to worry about the Federal Government coming after them. We will not allow this activity to go forward.”