William F. Smith: “we all need to thank the chairman the Committee of the Judiciary for introducing H.R. 4477, the Sex Tourism Prohibition…”

“we all need to thank the chairman the Committee of the Judiciary for introducing H.R. 4477, the Sex Tourism Prohibition Improvement Act of 2002. This legislation amends the Federal criminal code to strengthen our laws against those who travel or those who arrange such travel into and out of the United States for the purpose of sexually exploiting children. Each year more than one million children worldwide are forced into child prostitution, trafficked and sold for sexual purposes or used in child pornography. This world sex market is a multi-billion dollar industry that denies children their rights, their dignity, and their childhood. Children in developing countries are vulnerable to this sexual exploitation due to a number of factors, including poverty, social dislocation, family breakdown, and homelessness. In some cases, children seek out customers for economic survival. These circumstances could not change the fact that sex with children is morally reprehensible and widely condemned. Mr. Speaker, this legislation will send a message to those who go to foreign countries to exploit children that no one can abuse a child with impunity, no matter where the offense is committed.”