[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 10 (Thursday, January 18, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E148]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     INTRODUCTION OF LEGISLATION ``ELIMINATING MODERN DAY SLAVERY''

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. BARBARA LEE

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, January 18, 2007

  Ms. LEE. Madam Speaker, last Thursday, January 11th, along with our 
civil rights crusader, John Lewis reintroduced a resolution on the 
tragedy of modern-day slavery and urging the United States to take 
immediate steps to end it.
  The institution of chattel slavery practiced in the United States for 
over 200 years was not only a past shame in U.S. history but also world 
history. Yet, this continues today. Throughout the world, an estimated 
27 million people are suffering as slaves including the United States. 
Each year millions become vulnerable to the resurgence of slavery. 
People forced to survive with little or no resources fall victim to 
abuse and exploitation in developing countries whose economies slip 
further into extreme poverty caused by debt and corruption. Still 
modern-day slavery is ever more expansive encompassing chattel slavery, 
human trafficking, indentured or bonded labor, forced labor, forced 
marriage and the worst forms of child labor.
  Slavery is rampant in India, Southeast Asia, Africa, and South 
America, as well as, once again the United States. In Africa, cash 
crops such as cotton, sugar, and cocoa are produced by child and bonded 
labor. The Ivory Coast which supplies over half the world's supply of 
cocoa utilizes child slave labor in at least 90 percent of the cocoa 
plantations. Slavery still exists in Sudan, remnants from the North and 
South civil war. In Myanmar, slave labor harvest agricultural products 
such as sugarcane. In Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia, human 
trafficking and forced marriage run unimpeded. Moreover, I am repulsed 
that an estimated 800,000 people are trafficked across international 
borders and disturbed that annual global profits on trafficked forced 
labor total $44.3 billion.
  This is an historic year for many of the victims of slavery and their 
descendants. 2007 marks the 200th Anniversary of the Abolition of the 
Transatlantic Slave Trade, the transport of Africans as slaves into the 
British American colonies. Our country can no longer allow the practice 
of slavery to continue further in the 21st century. We must take action 
to address this issue. The solution is one of political resolve not 
capability, for we have at our disposal numerous means that will 
eliminate these human rights violations.
  My resolution expresses the sense of the House that the abolition of 
modern-day slavery should:
  Become a high priority in U.S. foreign and domestic policy to 
eliminate all forms of modern-day slavery by 2017;
  Reflect and advance the commitment of U.S. trade, aid, and investment 
policies for the freedom for all people;
  Expand protection and legal options for victims of modern-day 
slavery;
  Form a comprehensive coalition between governments, international 
organizations, nongovernmental organizations, and individuals to forge 
a sustained global action plan to fight modern-day slavery; and
  Become a priority at the 2007 Group of 8 (G-8) Summit in Germany.
  I welcome my colleagues' support and urge the House Leadership to 
bring it promptly to the House floor for consideration. This year is 
the time to mark the end of modern-day slavery for victims worldwide.

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