WASHINGTON WATCH Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney
Stopping Traffic The election of Barack Obama as our 44th president has electrified the country with the promise of meaningful change. As a member of Congress, I am excited about the opportunity to work with the Obama administration to effectively confront 21stcentury challenges.The 111th Congress is in a position to make great strides in confronting one challenge of critical importance: the fight to end human trafficking. Human trafficking is a $10 billion, worldwide industry and one of the most heinous crimes imaginable. It is 21stcentury slavery. According to some reports, upwards of 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders for labor and commercial sex purposes each year; the number is in the millions when trafficking within borders is counted. However, trafficking is not just a problem in other countries but is happening right here at home, in communities across the United States. The lives of trafficking victims are pure horror. Many are tricked into the country, fooled into believing that they’ll be doing legitimate jobs, such as restaurant or childcare work.They arrive, often with limited English skills, and have everything taken from them; even their travel documents and IDs, if they have any, are held by the trafficker. They see very little, if any, of the money they earn and are cut off from the outside world. They have no freedom of movement and no friends or relatives to come to their aid. I became involved in this fight several years ago when I learned that a company called Big Apple Oriental Tours was promoting sex tourism in my district in Queens. Since then, I have worked with my colleagues in Congress, including former Representative Deborah Pryce (R-OH), to pass several
important pieces of legislation, among them the End Demand for Sex Trafficking Act (P.L. 109-164), which addresses the problems of domestic trafficking. I have also sponsored legislation that would combat human trafficking by using the tax code to put traffickers in prison. This past December, the House and Senate passed, and President Bush subsequently signed into law, groundbreaking anti-trafficking legislation: the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act. This legislation authorizes funding to combat trafficking, helps the victims, and includes critical provisions that represent a paradigm shift in patterns of law enforcement against sex trafficking and the commercial sex industry. Among other provisions, the legislation will require the Department of Justice to develop a new model state law focusing on a more comprehensive approach to investigating and prosecuting human
Human trafficking is 21st-century slavery. trafficking, establish a presidential award for extraordinary anti-trafficking efforts, expand protections for trafficking victims and their families, authorize increased assistance for all victims of trafficking (including US citizens), and enhance the penalties against traffickers.The William Wilberforce bill will do more to ensure that exploited persons know that they have rights, make appropriate services available, and shift the focus of law enforcement activity away from victims and toward the traffickers and abusers. The passage of this bill is a testament to the commitment of Congress to anti-trafficking efforts and a significant step in the right direction. In the 111th Congress, my colleagues and I continue the fight. This is truly a bipartisan issue that has brought together Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives. With leadership from my PRISM 2009
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co-chair, Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ), and others in the Congressional Caucus on Human Trafficking, we will work to expand membership in the caucus and raise awareness about this devastating issue. In addition, I look forward to continued work with the State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, which provides tools to combat trafficking in persons and assists in the coordination of anti-trafficking efforts both domestically and worldwide. The Annual Trafficking in Persons Report, as mandated by Congress, is one such tool that gives policymakers a detailed assessment of country-specific data on traffickers and the actions foreign governments are taking to combat them.This information is invaluable as we strive to make effective policy decisions that move us closer to our goal of ending human trafficking once and for all. I am confident we have an opportunity, with President Obama and the new Congress, to continue making real progress in putting an end to this deplorable trade in human lives.The issue is clear: Human trafficking is modern-day slavery. Congress must provide law enforcement with the necessary tools to hold traffickers accountable and protect their victims.While we have begun this process with legislative accomplishments that have put us on the right path, we continue to be mindful that it is unconscionable that this barbaric industry continues to exist in the 21st century. I believe that through our collective efforts, we can make a difference. ★ Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY) has been a congresswoman for New York since 1993. As a renowned champion for domestic and international women’s issues, Maloney helped passed legislation to target the demand side of sex trafficking and provide annual mammograms for women on Medicare. Maloney also authored the Debbie Smith bill to process DNA kits, which has been called the most important anti-rape legislation in history.