Political Quotes

“I rise today to discuss a serious crime and a violation of human rights that must be stopped--human trafficking. It is a form of modern-day slavery, people profiting from the control and exploitation of others. I rise as a doc, a fellow who has practiced in the public hospital system for 32 years, understanding the unique role nurses, physicians, and other health care providers play in this issue. Health care providers are frontline and one of the few to interact directly with trafficked women and children. A recent survey published in the Annals of Health Law reports that 28 percent of trafficked women sought a health care professional while being held captive. Now, this does not mean that the nurse, the doctor or other health care provider had the training to recognize it, but because of the unique and critical involvement with these victims, it is important these health care providers do have the tested tools and training to identify and help those being trafficked. The Trafficking Awareness Training for Health Care amendment would save lives and, as importantly, would begin the rebuilding of lives destroyed by modern-day slavery. It would provide for the development of best practices to enable health care workers to recognize and assist victims of human trafficking. It is proven that many trafficking victims report receiving health care from federally funded clinics and emergency rooms while in captivity yet, as I mentioned earlier, they go undetected.…”