Political Quotes

“I also rise to speak about human trafficking, and I associate myself with the comments of Senator Heitkamp. Human trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery that is alive, active, and must be stopped. Many of the stories we hear from traffic survivors sound more like plots in a horror movie than real life in the United States of America, but these stories are not fiction. Over and over we hear stories about young Americans forced into captivity, about young Americans forced into sexual exploitation, about young Americans who have no freedom to say no to a violent pimp but are still tagged with prostitution charges before they even turn 18. Human trafficking is a crime that rips families apart, breaks down the trust in our communities, and shatters young American lives. It is long overdue for Congress to pay close attention to this issue, and I commend my fellow female Senators for bringing this issue so boldly to the floor of the Senate. Today I will talk about what Senator Heitkamp talked about--the vulnerabilities that led to these young boys and girls becoming trafficked and how vulnerable they remain even after they have managed to escape from their pimps and their captivity. In small towns and big cities, thousands of Americans are trafficked each year. Every single institution these boys and girls ever relied on simply failed them, failed to protect them. Their families failed to protect them. Their schools failed to protect them.…”