1-Year Anniversary for Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act

Floor Speech

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Mrs. BEATTY. Mr. Speaker, I thank Judge Poe, chairman of the Victims' Rights Caucus and Representative of Texas' Second Congressional District, for organizing this evening's important Special Order hour and for all of his hard work on behalf of the victims of human trafficking.

I am also very pleased to have the opportunity to partner with my good friend, Congresswoman Ann Wagner of Missouri, who is my classmate and a friend. We share the same priority of eradicating human trafficking.

It is kind of odd, as Judge Poe talked about his relationship with Carolyn Maloney. They are two people who seem, on paper, very different. One might say the same about Ann Wagner and me. But, Mr. Speaker, there is that common thread that puts us together to not only advocate and fight for something that we need to fight for, but we have been able to make a difference.

That is why I come to the House floor this evening to recognize and celebrate a very important anniversary: the 1-year anniversary of bipartisan, comprehensive legislation, Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act, that was signed into law.

The Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act, or JVTA, was a landmark bill, as you have heard, that updated America's effort to combat the scourge of human trafficking and provided essential resources to survivors and law enforcement officials. I am so proud to have had my bill be included in this legislation and to have been able to take part in its drafting, passage, and enactment.

Mr. Speaker, in the year since JVTA's enactment, we have witnessed important achievements. For example, the JVTA has reinvigorated Americans' commitment to protecting our children from cruel exploitation. And, Mr. Speaker, these children still need our protection.

Human trafficking, as we have heard, is an estimated multibillion- dollar-a-year international enterprise that forces the most at risk among us, both here at home and abroad, into modern-day slavery. It is one of the fastest growing crimes in the world.

According to the United States State Department, human trafficking is among the world's top three criminal enterprises. It is forced prostitution, domestic slavery, and forced labor, which is why enactment and, now, the implementation of the JVTA is so important. We must continue to work to eradicate human trafficking and support the victims.

In the year since the JVTA's enactment, we have seen educators, law enforcement officials, and service providers working together, Democrats and Republicans, Mr. Speaker, raising awareness in our communities that human trafficking is not merely an international phenomenon. It, unfortunately, happens all too often in our backyards, just as we have heard Judge Poe talk about ``T'' and talk about Brooke. And the stories could go on and on.

In fact, in my home State of Ohio, for example, each year, an estimated 1,000 children become victims of human trafficking, and over 3,000 more are at risk. Ohio is the fifth leading State for human trafficking because of its proximity to waterways that lead to an international border and the I-75 interstate that allows anyone to exit the State, within 2 hours, to almost anywhere.

Lastly, I am very thankful for having amazing advocates in Ohio for victims of human trafficking, like Theresa Flores, the founder of SOAP, Save Our Adolescents from Prostitution, and State Representative Teresa Fedor, a member of the Ohio House of Representatives, who has made a lifetime commitment to working to protect our victims.

We must remain vigilant in the implementation of JVTA, as we were when we passed it, so every child, every woman and man is free from this form of modern-day slavery, which is why I am proud to have joined Judge Poe and Congresswomen Wagner and Maloney of New York in leading a letter to United States Attorney General Loretta Lynch supporting the Department of Justice's implementation thus far of the JVTA and requesting needed information on what more can be done within the confines of the current law.

Mr. Speaker, this is what happens when we work together. This is a great example of what we can do when Democrats and Republicans come together to change lives.

And that is just the way it is.

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