Put Trafficking Victims First Act of 2019

Floor Speech

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Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, I thank Ms. Bass for yielding. I just wanted to stand on this bill because this is an important area and I want to commend Representative Bass for bringing it.

I am happy to be a cosponsor, but I particularly thank Congresswoman Ann Wagner. When we had a bill last year, the SOAR Act, Stop, Observe, Act and Respond, to Health and Wellness Act, a pilot program to train healthcare workers who come into contact with people who have been sexually trafficked, they oftentimes do see healthcare workers because they have either been beaten up by their pimps or they have gotten a venereal disease.

They might have to go in for birth control or for some other reason sexually related, oftentimes health related, so that we need to train health workers to observe and to know when they were seeing somebody trafficked to stop, to observe, to see if that person might be in that situation, and then to ask them, and then to send them to an agency that can help them.

This was an important bill that we were able to pass in the Senate and make law.

Representative Kinzinger helped, Representative Cardenas helped, but Representative Wagner was my star, and I want to thank her so much for working with us and helping on the Senate side, particularly, to get it passed.

I am proud to be a cosponsor of this bill. I also want to mention that Representative Burchett is a strong sponsor and supporter of this type of legislation, and a great American.

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