Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2664, the Enhancing Detection of Human Trafficking Act, a bill to assist the U.S. Department of Labor in identifying and preventing cases of human trafficking. Human trafficking is a global and domestic threat to basic human rights and humanity as we know it. However, the injustice of human trafficking is not just a global program. Human rights abuses are happening right here in the United States every day and in every region across the country. Polaris, a nonprofit that operates the National Human Trafficking Resource Center hotline here in the U.S. received reports of over 8,000 cases of human trafficking in our country last year, an increase of 35 percent over the year before. Government agencies must continue to work together to identify and eradicate all cases of human trafficking. We can and must do better to prevent cases of abuse before they happen. That is the purpose of this bill, the Enhancing Detection of Human Trafficking Act. H.R. 2664 directs the Department of Labor to train appropriate Department staff on how to detect human trafficking and ensure that all personnel at the Department of Labor are provided with regular screening tools to identify and detect trafficking activity. This bill establishes training for a clear course of action, including referring cases of suspected human trafficking to the Department of Justice and other appropriate authorities to properly investigate and prosecute offenders.…”