Political Quotes

“I rise today to bring to this body's attention and to the attention of all Americans what can best be characterized as a modern-day slave trade. It is an outrage that is hard to fathom but that still exists today. I was recently speaking to a group of pastors from my home State of Illinois who do wonderful work advocating on behalf of human rights and human dignity. One of them, Rev. Walter Johnson of the Greater Institutional Church in Chicago, shared his frustration that abuses and atrocities being inflicted upon migrants and refugees in Libya have received not nearly enough attention or outrage in the American public, government, or in the press. I couldn't agree more. That is why I have come to the Senate floor today to speak on this alarming human rights crisis. Every American should be appalled by chilling images of modern-day slave auctions. Earlier this month in an investigative piece, CNN released video of an auction taking place. It was not an auction for a piece of art or another item one might bid on but an auction for human beings--human beings sold for the equivalent of $400. The reports were a wake-up call for the world about the gravity of this situation in North Africa as migrants fleeing danger and economic hardship face new horrors on their journey to seek a better future. The wars in the Middle East and instability in North Africa have upended huge swaths of the region, displacing thousands of vulnerable men, women, and children.…”