Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, human trafficking, especially the sex trafficking of children, is an abhorrent crime, and all convicted offenders should face serious criminal penalties. This bill would provide increased criminal penalties for human trafficking or coercing a minor to engage in illegal sex acts in school zones or near school-sponsored activities, as my colleague from Texas stated. Texas recently enacted a similar law. According to the Texas State Senate bill report, 55 percent of young sex trafficking survivors in Texas were trafficked while at school or during school activities. The Justice Department's Office of Justice Programs reports that the average age of entry into prostitution is, unbelievably, 12 to 14 years old and that traffickers are known to recruit at schools and in after- school programs. However, this legislation doesn't address a root cause of this serious problem, our unsecure southwest border. Tragically, we know that human smuggling and trafficking occurs daily at the southwest border. Under Democrat leadership, this Congress has failed to fix the completely broken immigration system or to address the Biden border crisis, which cartels and other organized criminal organizations have exploited to smuggle and traffic children into our country. Cartels and criminal organizations continue to take advantage of the Biden administration's complete failure to secure the southwest border.…”