Political Quotes

“This week, as the House of Representatives considers human trafficking legislation, I am proud to continue working with colleagues from both sides of the aisle to raise awareness on the heinous practice of human trafficking and to work together to eradicate it from our communities. I thank my friend and classmate, Congresswoman Ann Wagner of Missouri (MO-02) for organizing tonight's Special Order Hour. Human trafficking--where people profit from the control and exploitation of others--occurs both here at home and abroad on a daily basis. In fact, the International Labour Organization estimates that there are 20.9 million victims of human trafficking globally--68% of them are trapped in forced labor, 26% of them are children, and 55% are women and girls. And in my home state of Ohio, human trafficking for sex and labor is on the rise. According to recent reports from the Polaris Project, a nonprofit that tracks trafficking in the U.S. and abroad, 375 Ohio trafficking cases were reported from 1,352 calls to the National Human Trafficking Hotline in 2016. In 2015, there were 289 cases based on 1,070 calls. The 2016 numbers reflect a nearly four-fold increase over the Ohio figures from 2013. While the overall increase in reporting can be partly attributed to greater awareness of the national hotline, we know, and officials confirm, that trafficking is, unfortunately, chronically under- reported.…”