Chris Smith: “First of all, let me thank Chairman Royce for his very kind remarks. I want to thank him for his extraordinary…”

“First of all, let me thank Chairman Royce for his very kind remarks. I want to thank him for his extraordinary leadership on combating human trafficking for so many years. This bill is just another example of that ironclad commitment to the victims and to trying to bring to justice the perpetrators of this offensive and really abject cruelty perpetrated by human traffickers. H.R. 2219, authored by Chairman Royce and, of course, joined by Mr. Keating, Mrs. Maloney, and Mrs. Love as original cosponsors of the End Banking for Human Traffickers Act of 2018, will make an enormous difference when enacted into law. It recognizes the very important role the Secretary of the Treasury has to play in the detection and eradication of human trafficking, and it ensures that the Secretary is included in the President's Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Human Trafficking. As we all know, Mr. Speaker, profits drive human trafficking. Profits drive human traffickers to do unspeakable harm to their fellow human beings. Trafficking victims suffer unspeakable cruelty that scars, if they are rescued and are the lucky ones who are rescued, scars that they carry on for the entirety of their life. This bill goes after the traffickers' profits by turning the Treasury's watchful eye on the traffickers' system for moving and hiding money.…”