Political Quotes

“I am pleased to join Senator Grassley in introducing the Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act of 2022. Human trafficking and modern slavery are abhorrent crimes that are a scourge on our country and the world. In 2022, there are an estimated 40 million victims of human trafficking and modern slavery worldwide. These crimes generate approximately $150,000,000,000 of revenue annually. Perpetrators of human trafficking prey on vulnerable and marginalized communities, which disproportionally impacts women and girls, migrants, people of color, and LGBT individuals. According to Polaris--the anti-human trafficking organization that runs the National Human Trafficking Hotline--in 2021, the hotline was contacted directly over 13,000 times by victims and survivors of human trafficking in the United States. In the last 2 years, since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the hotline has had a 60 percent increase in total contacts. There is also evidence that labor trafficking in the agricultural industry may have increased during the pandemic. In June 2021, Polaris released a report finding that, ``[a]mong reported labor trafficking victims, there was more than a 70 percent increase in those who held H2-A visas.'' This is unconscionable, and more must be done to combat human trafficking. That is why Senator Grassley and I have introduced the Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act of 2022.…”