Ted Poe: “Keisha was 16 years old when she ran away from a foster family to avoid being sexually assaulted by that family. She…”

“Keisha was 16 years old when she ran away from a foster family to avoid being sexually assaulted by that family. She thought she was finally safe from abuse when she met a man named Mastur D. Mastur D promised her that he would return her to her biological family. But he lied. He forced her to have sex with other men for money. Now she found herself to be a trafficked victim of the sex slave trade. Mr. Speaker, she was arrested for prostitution. After her second arrest, authorities finally rescued her from the trafficking scourge and provided her a way out of that situation. My legislation, the Abolish Human Trafficking Act, will increase prosecutions for perpetrators of human trafficking, like Mastur D, and hold those accountable for their crimes of sex slavery. We must support victims of human trafficking and put their predators where they belong: behind bars. Tomorrow is Abolish Human Trafficking Day, our society must prosecute the traffickers and rescue victims of this scourge on America. And that is just the way it is. ____________________”