Letter to Eric Shinsek, Secretary of the Department of Veterans' Affairs -- Department of Veterans' Affairs

Letter

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Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of my bill, H.R. 4225, the Stop Advertising Victims of Exploitation, SAVE, Act. But, Madam Speaker, I also rise today in support of all the good work done by my colleagues here in Congress on the issue of human trafficking.

Madam Speaker, as a former United States Ambassador, I was exposed firsthand to the horrors of human trafficking on an international level. I reported on the devastating consequences of human trafficking, where innocent women and children were dragged into the dark abyss of sex slavery. But never in my darkest moments did I ever think that human trafficking was so rampant right here in the United States of America.

Madam Speaker, the faces behind me are photographs of actual victims of sex trafficking. These young women and children were forced into sexual slavery by ruthless traffickers. Madam Speaker, right now there are young women being forced into prostitution in virtually every district across the Nation. In fact, I was shocked to learn that my own hometown of St. Louis, Missouri, has been identified as one of the top 20 areas for sex trafficking in the United States.

Madam Speaker, this problem is hiding, hiding in plain sight. However, there is hope. I take hope from the work done by the law enforcement professionals who are on the front lines every single day, protecting our Nation's children from those who would seek to exploit them; I take hope from those who work in victims' services and their tireless efforts to help survivors recover, heal, and forge new lives out of the horrors of sexual enslavement; but most importantly, I take hope from all the survivors of this hideous crime. Their strength gives us strength; their resolve gives us inspiration; and their steadfast commitment to ending sex trafficking gives us the courage to fight.

Madam Speaker, because of the efforts of many individuals and groups, I am happy to report that Congress has taken notice of this serious problem. Years of work by Representatives Smith, Poe, and Paulsen, and my cochair of the Human Trafficking Task Force, Congresswoman Maloney, among the so many others who have raised awareness of this issue, have laid the foundation for the long overdue action for Congress that they are presently taking.

I am grateful that many of my colleagues have held events in their home districts to raise awareness and education of this crime. Representatives Davis, Hudson, Roskam, Coffman, Huizenga, and Heck, along with so very many others, have all held human trafficking events in their districts to raise awareness and offer solutions to end sexual assault and human trafficking. I applaud these efforts and look forward to continuing this work for years to come.

However, Madam Speaker, there is much work to be done. As legislators, we have an obligation to come together and do something because we can, because we should, and because we must.

Over the last 10 years, prostitution has slowly but persistently migrated to an online marketplace. Classified services, like backpage.com and others, are the vehicles for advertising the victims of the child sex trade to the world. Pimps and traffickers blatantly advertise their victims' sexual services, with provocative photographs and unsubtle messages, complete with per-hour pricing. The traffickers pay Web sites like Backpage to display their messages. These Web sites reportedly reap enormous profits at the expense of the victims of sex trafficking. Revenue from U.S. online prostitution advertising totaled $45 million just in the year 2013. Many of these ads feature children and trafficking victims. This results in thousands of children every year being openly sold for sex on the Internet.

Madam Speaker, government intervention is necessary to end facilitation of sex trafficking by Web sites like Backpage and others who commercially advertise this criminal activity. Companies that base their business models off of the profits made by selling sex with children should not be allowed to operate. The SAVE Act seeks

to criminalize this behavior, thereby dramatically reducing the victimization of vulnerable children and women forced into sexual slavery in the U.S.
The protections included in the SAVE Act apply to two classes of victims: underage children and those who are being forced to engage in commercial sex acts against their will. The offense created by the SAVE Act applies to any form of advertisement. Online postings, newspaper classifieds, even billboards would be considered unlawful if the advertiser knew it would lead to sex trafficking.

Madam Speaker, there is well-established precedent for Congress to criminalize the advertising of illegal goods or services, including the advertisement of child pornography, weapons of mass destruction, illegal narcotics, and animal fighting. Surely--surely--advertisements offering sex with children should also be subject to the same restrictions. The penalties are 15 years to life if the victim, the child victim, is younger than 14 years old, 10 years to life if the child victim is 14 to 18 years old.

The advertisement of victims is the key link in the human trafficking chain. Businesses make millions of dollars every month connecting johns with pimps and their victims. This link needs to be broken. Criminalizing the advertisement of trafficking victims will stem the flow of money, resulting in a reduction of both demand and supply.

The victims of sex trafficking are not nameless, faceless children. They are our daughters, granddaughters, nieces, and neighbors. They are the vulnerable youth of our society, the ones who should be protected the most, not exploited for money and greed.

I urge my colleagues to support the SAVE Act because it will provide the tools necessary for law enforcement to combat the sexual exploitation and enslavement of women and children in the United States.

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