On the recordMay 18, 2015
I thank the chairman for bringing this legislation promptly to the House floor today. Mr. Speaker, it was 155 years ago that this Nation debated in this Chamber several volatile issues, including slavery. After 600,000 Americans, both from the North and the South, died in war, slavery was forever banned by the 13th Amendment to our Constitution. Now, in our time, this ugly scourge has risen its head again one more time. The evil enterprise has taken on the enslavement of women and children. Traffickers--slave masters--buy and sell the young in the marketplace of child sex exploitation. They treat these victims as cattle to be led to the stockyards of slavery. The traffickers even brand the victims, Mr. Speaker, on the neck so that other traffickers will know whose property they are. The illicit revenue from trafficking is second only to the drug trade; and, as has been mentioned, my hometown of Houston seems to be the hub for child sex trafficking in United States. The average age of the minor sex traffic victim, Mr. Speaker, is 13. Maria was an 11-year-old girl. She met a person that treated her nicely. He was an older male. Traffickers, Mr. Speaker, do not wear long trench coats. They are relatively young, good-looking guys. He enticed her; he brought her some presents; he took her to his home, and then she became a slave. At 11 years old, she was sold on the marketplace for a long time, until she was able to escape the traffickers.…
