Chris Smith: “I thank the distinguished chairman Ed Royce for yielding. I thank him for his leadership on trafficking, for this bill…”

“I thank the distinguished chairman Ed Royce for yielding. I thank him for his leadership on trafficking, for this bill in particular, for the markup, and for all of the assistance he provided. I also thank Eliot Engel, our ranking member. I thank them from the bottom of my heart. I want to thank Karen Bass, the lead Democrat on the bill, for her exceptional leadership and her collaboration on this legislation. I want to thank Speaker Ryan and Majority Leader McCarthy. I have to say--and I have been working on human trafficking since about 1995, chaired probably more than 30 hearings and written four laws--I have never seen such a deep commitment to fighting trafficking and protecting victims than our leadership. It is unparalleled and it is inspired. Kevin McCarthy helped ensure timely consideration. There are eight committees of referral. Sometimes that is a death knell for any bill. It is so hard to secure agreements and vote them out. Well, each of those chairmen and their staffs worked diligently and in good faith. At the end of the day, the leadership was there. They had our back on the legislation. I want to thank Chairman Royce, again, for his extraordinary leadership as well. Mr. Speaker, ever since the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 became law in 2000, combating human trafficking has been a major priority in the United States and, indeed, globally.…”