Political Quotes

“I thank the ranking member very much for his voice on this issue and so many others, and I thank my dear friend from California, Karen Bass, for her leadership. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues to support the Put Trafficking Victims First Act, which I wrote and introduced in the last Congress with Congresswoman Karen Bass. The bill passed unanimously in May of 2017, and I hope that the House will again stand with the victims of human trafficking. Too often, trafficking victims are overlooked and underserved. In my home State of Missouri, I have met with many survivors and listened to their painful stories. They need help to rebuild their lives and that is exactly what this legislation will do. America's courtrooms need to adopt victim-centered practices oriented towards justice and recovery. While victims technically have access to mandatory restitution in Federal courts, the sad reality is that according to one estimate, sex trafficking victims get restitution in only 14 percent of Federal sex trafficking cases. This is unacceptable, Mr. Speaker. This legislation will direct the Attorney General to work on increasing restitution and to adopt victim-friendly procedures in criminal cases. We believe the trauma-informed care helps victims recover and cooperate with law enforcement so we may put pimps and buyers behind bars.…”