Sheila Jackson Lee: “Let me thank the authors of the legislation, Mr. Smith and Ms. Bass, for their leadership, and thank Chairman Royce for…”

“Let me thank the authors of the legislation, Mr. Smith and Ms. Bass, for their leadership, and thank Chairman Royce for again reemphasizing the importance of this in terms of all committees, including the number of committees that have been noted. Let me thank the cosponsors for acknowledging as well, Frederick Douglass. It is right that he was born in slavery, but he reminded us that there is no power without struggle, and there will have to be a struggle to end sex trafficking and human trafficking. Mr. Speaker, I am reminded of the 1990s, when I met my first real modern-day slaves on the border of Bangladesh, where we were seeing women fleeing who had been trafficked and who had been utilized sexually. Their parents had sold them out of desperation. {time} 1615 They were actual true slaves who were fleeing to the border of Bangladesh. That is a startling and stark recognition that in the 1990s, and now in the 21st century, slavery still exists. I am delighted to be an original cosponsor of this legislation and to have worked on these issues, and to acknowledge the commemoration of Mr. Douglass' 200th birthday. So I am grateful for the $130 million in current funds appropriated to ensure a robust response to fight human trafficking; again, to do this at home and abroad; and to acknowledge the alliance to end slavery and trafficking at the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, who are supporting this.…”