Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman for his kind statement and yielding to me. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of S. 2925, the Senate companion to my bill in the House, H.R. 5575, the Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking Deterrence and Victims Support Act of 2010, a bipartisan bill I introduced with Representative Chris Smith and have worked on with Jackie Speier and Chairman Bobby Scott and others. {time} 1710 I am grateful to Senator Wyden for his leadership on this extremely important and devastating issue that is found right here in our own backyards, and to Chairman Bobby Scott for his strong support and a record of action on this issue. I thank him for holding a hearing on this bill, having numerous meetings, and for his vital input into the bill. What we do today will impact the thousands of girls who have been duped, kidnapped, drugged, and forced into selling their young bodies for sex. It is truly a national tragedy. Too many people believe that child sex trafficking is a problem that exists only in foreign countries, but experts estimate that a minimum of 100,000 children in the United States, most of whom are American citizens, are exploited through commercial sex trafficking every year. The National Center For Missing and Exploited Children estimates that there are as many as 300,000 to 400,000 missing children and that most of them are in this terrible sex trade. Although it is hard to believe, the average age of first exploitation is 12 to 13 years old.…”