[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 105 (Wednesday, July 25, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1421]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      FOREIGN OPERATIONS, EXPORT FINANCING, AND RELATED PROGRAMS 
                        APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2002

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                     HON. LOUISE McINTOSH SLAUGHTER

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 24, 2001

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 2506) making 
     appropriations for foreign operations, export financing and 
     related programs for the fiscal year ending September 30, 
     2002, and for other purposes:

  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of the Smith-
Morella-Slaughter-Lantos-Pitts amendment, to dedicate a total of $30 
million of the bill's funds to protect and assist victims of 
trafficking in persons and help countries meet minimum standards for 
the elimination of human trafficking.
  I was proud to be a lead cosponsor of the Victims of Trafficking and 
Violence Protection Act of 2000, Rep. Smith's bill to monitor and 
eliminate human trafficking here in the U.S. and abroad. After an 
arduous six year struggle to address the problem of sex trafficking 
with my own legislation, last October I was pleased to see this bill 
pass with strong bipartisan support.
  In June 1994, I first introduced legislation addressing the growing 
problem of Burmese women and children being sold to work in the 
thriving sex industry in Thailand. This legislation responded to 
credible reports indicating that thousands of Burmese women and girls 
were being trafficked into Thailand with false promises of good payinng 
jobs in restaurants or factories, and then forced to work in brothels 
under slavery-like conditions.
  As I learned more and more about this issue it became abundantly 
clear that this issue was not limited to one particular region of the 
world. In addition, I found that human trafficking was not exclusively 
a crime of sexual exploitation. Taken independently, sex trafficking is 
an egregious practice in and of itself. It is also important, however, 
to be aware that people are being illegally smuggled across borders to 
work in sweatshops, domestic servitude, or other slaverylike 
conditions. I was pleased to see that the Victims of Trafficking and 
Violence Protection Act recognized the full magnitude of human 
trafficking and included provisions that effectively seek to address 
human trafficking.
  The Act set forth policies not only to monitor, but to eliminate 
trafficking here in the U.S. and abroad. More importantly, it does so 
in a way that punishes the true perpetrators, the traffickers 
themselves, while at the same time taking the necessary steps to 
protect the victims of these heinous crimes. It uses our nation's 
considerable influence throughout the world to put pressure on other 
nations to adopt policies that will hopefully lead to an end to this 
abhorrent practice.
  In the wake of the passage of the Act, however, there is still a 
great deal of work to be done. According to the recently issued 2001 
Trafficking in Persons Report by the State Department, 23 countries are 
listed in ``Tier 3''--signifying that they do not satisfy the law's 
minimum standards to combat trafficking and are not making significant 
efforts to bring themselves into compliance.
  It is my hope that this report will serve as a catalyst for 
reinvigorated international efforts to end human trafficking. We must 
continue to work expeditiously to implement the provisions of the Act, 
that provide tough new penalties for persons convicted of trafficking 
in the United States.
  Beginning in 2003, those countries that are listed in ``Tier 3'' may 
be denied non-humanitarian assistance from the United States, barring a 
Presidential waiver. As a result, the U.S. is now in a position to put 
pressure on other nations to adopt policies that will eradicate human 
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 exploitation of the 
most vulnerable members of society.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this amendment to 
ensure funding for efforts to assist victims of human trafficking, and 
aid countries in eliminating this egregious criminal activity.

                          ____________________