Sheila Jackson Lee: “What an important topic, limited to 1 minute, but I rise today to acknowledge Human Trafficking Awareness Day, to…”

“What an important topic, limited to 1 minute, but I rise today to acknowledge Human Trafficking Awareness Day, to acknowledge that a Texas woman just filed a lawsuit against one of our universities for sexual abuse and the grooming by her coach to use her over and over again. Human trafficking is one of the greatest threats to human rights in the United States. In 2020, over 11,000 instances of potential human trafficking were reported to the United States National Human Trafficking Hotline, and at least 70 percent of those were, in fact, estimated to be sex trafficking. I am delighted that Chairman Mike McCaul and Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, myself, have introduced the Stop Human Trafficking in School Zones Act because that is one of the largest sites for trafficking. We look forward to a bipartisan Congress supporting this legislation that will particularly provide enhanced sentencing to those who would dare to recruit our children at schools, and they do it all across the Nation. Madam Speaker, I hope that we are aware today is Human Trafficking Day and that we recognize we must do something to stop it. ____________________”