[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 91 (Friday, July 14, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1239]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


      FOREIGN OPERATIONS, EXPORT FINANCING, AND RELATED PROGRAMS 
                        APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2001

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                     HON. LOUISE McINTOSH SLAUGHTER

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 12, 2000

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 4811) making 
     appropriations for foreign operations, export financing, and 
     related programs for the fiscal year ending September 30, 
     2001, and for other purposes:

  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Chairman, in May of this year, I was proud to 
speak in support of Representative Smith's bill to monitor and 
eliminate sex trafficking here in the U.S. and abroad. After an arduous 
six year struggle to address the problem of sex industries worldwide 
with my own bill, I was pleased to see Rep. Smith's bill pass with 
strong bipartisan support.
  As a result of this successful effort, the U.S. is now in a position 
to put pressure on other nations to adopt policies that will eradicate 
sex trafficking practices inside and between their borders. We are also 
in a position to prosecute and punish the traffickers themselves and 
thereby put an end to coordinated kidnaping and prostitution rings.
  In the wake of this victory, however, there is still a great deal of 
work to be done. Over the past six years, it has become abundantly 
clear to me that the phenomenon of trafficking of women and children 
will never be fully eliminated until we develop safe shelters, 
psychological services and reintegration programs for returning sex 
trafficking victims. This amendment, offered by Rep. Bernie Sanders, 
strives to respond to this growing problem by granting assistance to 
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) who provide shelter and 
reintegration assistance to women and children victims of international 
trafficking.
  Today, in many countries of transit or destination where victims are 
found, there is an immediate need for temporary and safe shelter, 
medical and psychological services, access to translators and 
appropriate NGO consultations and assistance. But the resources are 
limited or in some cases, nonexistent.
  When there is no shelter available for these victims, governments 
will often place the victim in detention with criminals and then 
immediately deport her the next day. The need to deport victims 
immediately due to the lack of shelter thereby increases the risk that 
the victim will return to trafficking or a dangerous situation back 
home. Returning these individuals to a threatening environment is a 
crime in and of itself, not to mention counterproductive and 
psychologically damaging to the victim.
  Another challenge we face is how to effectively reintegrate victims 
into their families and community structures after being trafficked 
abroad. For many victims, they return home with the stigma of 
prostitution or suffer with HIV/AIDS--only to be rejected by their 
families and communities. In the worst case scenarios, traffickers 
anticipate this rejection and attempt to retraffick these victims at 
the border.
  To prevent these repeat offenses and to provide victims with a 
fighting chance to improve their lives, I rise in strong support of the 
Sanders--Smith amendment. If approved, this amendment will provide 
international NGOs with a $2.5 million increase to ensure that victims 
escape the trafficking world for good.

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