Political Quotes

“I want to thank my friend and colleague, Senator Blumenthal, for his commitment to this issue. We started this caucus to end trafficking 6 years ago, and during that time period there has been some significant progress made here in the Senate and the House. We have been able to pass legislation to help crack down on trafficking. Unbelievably, in this century in this country, sex trafficking is increasing, not decreasing, despite our good efforts. We have increased the penalties on those who purchase sex from underage children. We have changed the dynamic of how the Federal Government and HHS look at this issue and these girls who get engaged in trafficking and get trapped into the system and to treat them like the victims they are rather than as criminals. We have done more to increase awareness of this issue. We have required for missing kids, which are probably the most vulnerable of all, that there be a photograph or another identifier, which, unbelievably, for the most part there was not prior to that. We have made some progress. Senator Blumenthal and I have written legislation with regard to Government contractors who overseas engage in human trafficking--and our tax dollars go for that. So we have made some progress, but it is still increasing. Why? Senator Blumenthal talked about it. The experts are unified on this. The main reason we see an uptick is because of the dark side of the internet.…”