Political Quotes

“Mr. President, today I am pleased to join Senators Portman, Blumenthal, Cantwell, Brown, and Kirk to introduce the Child Sex Trafficking Data and Response Act of 2013. This bipartisan legislation will help us to better understand and combat the unforgivable and fast-growing criminal enterprise of trafficking children for sex right here in the U.S. We cannot bury our heads in the sand and ignore this terrible problem. Child victims of sex trafficking need and deserve the full range of coordinated assistance and care required to help them recover from this trauma. Unfortunately, some people still refuse to acknowledge that American children are being bought and sold for sex and they criticize the few estimates surrounding trafficking rates that do exist. As a policymaker, it is hard to advance an issue when there are critics who deny its very existence. For those of us who have spoken to law enforcement officers, child welfare workers and judges who work with these victims every day, we know that denying that the problem exists will not make it go away. I became engaged in efforts to address child trafficking a few years ago when I had the opportunity to accompany police officers along 82nd Avenue in my hometown of Portland.…”