Political Quotes

“Mr. President, 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.…”