Ted Poe: “For some of us, growing up was the best of times; simple times; safe times. But life isn't that way anymore for some…”

“For some of us, growing up was the best of times; simple times; safe times. But life isn't that way anymore for some kids. Today, young girls, the average age between 12 and 14, are lured into a crooked, despicable business. It's sex trafficking--modern day slavery. Girls have been threatened, raped, forced into selling their bodies on the streets by the worst deviants in our society. Some of these girls are smuggled into the United States by slave traffickers from other countries, and some are from our own neighborhoods. Sex traffickers should be put into the jailhouse forever. But society must get to the root of the problem: the demand. That's why I have introduced the End Sex Trafficking Act, along with Representatives Maloney, Granger, and Nolan. Our bill targets the interstate criminals who purchase sexual acts from child victims and ensures that they, too, are prosecuted as human traffickers. No longer can these deviants hide. Let the long arm of the law punish the child-molesting pedophiles who steal the innocence of children. And that's just the way it is. ____________________”