[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 16 (Tuesday, January 27, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E150]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            THE CONGRESSIONAL ANTI-SLAVERY CHAMPION OF 2008

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. CAROLYN B. MALONEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 27, 2009

  Mrs. MALONEY. Madam Speaker, I rise today to read into the 
Congressional Record remarks made by Dorchen Leidholdt, Director of 
Center for Battered Women's Legal Services at Sanctuary for Families, 
regarding my selection as the Congressional Anti-Slavery Champion of 
2008:

       On behalf of the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women, an 
     international NGO fighting human trafficking since 1988, and 
     Sanctuary for Families, a New York City-based provider of 
     services to victims of domestic violence, I am delighted to 
     join other leaders of the New York State Anti-Trafficking 
     Coalition in saluting Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, the 
     Congressional Anti-Slavery Champion of 2008. Congresswoman 
     Maloney's enduring and dedicated advocacy on behalf of 
     victims of human trafficking is unparalleled in the halls of 
     Congress. Over and over she has demonstrated her profound 
     understanding of the harm of human trafficking, gleaned 
     primarily from her compassionate, respectful attention to the 
     testimony of survivors, and her acute awareness of what it 
     takes to stop this horrific crime and severe human rights 
     violation.
       Thanks to Congresswoman Maloney's visionary leadership, it 
     is widely recognized that stopping trafficking requires both 
     strong measures to curtail the demand for prostitution and 
     well-crafted criminal provisions that enable prosecutors to 
     put traffickers out of business--permanently.
       Ken Franzblau has focused on the critically important role 
     Congresswoman Maloney has played in the drafting and passage 
     of the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection 
     Reauthorization Act of 2008, which enhances protections to 
     victims while strengthening the ability of prosecutors to 
     hold traffickers accountable. Thanks to Congresswoman 
     Maloney's inspiring leadership, the 2008 Reauthorization 
     continues the important advances made by the previous two 
     Reauthorizations.
       While we celebrate the achievements of the 2008 
     Reauthorization, our task of strengthening our federal anti-
     trafficking law is not over; critically important work 
     remains to be done in two important areas. Through her 
     exemplary work in the House of Representatives, in the draft 
     that she shepherded there to close to unanimous approval, 
     Congresswoman Maloney, has pointed the way to two critically 
     important goals that lie ahead. First, the obstacles of 
     proving force, fraud, or coercion, while eased under specific 
     circumstances by the 2008 Reauthorization, continue to stymie 
     the effective prosecution of many sex traffickers. Going 
     forward we must ensure that sex traffickers are never 
     provided a loophole, because their trafficking was not 
     provably `severe.'
       Second, sex tour operators fuel the demand for sex 
     trafficking worldwide by sending planeloads of affluent 
     American men to the poorest countries in the world to buy the 
     bodies of women and girls in prostitution. While 
     Congresswoman Maloney succeeded in including such a provision 
     in New York State's landmark anti-trafficking law (the 
     strongest state anti-trafficking law in the nation), and saw 
     to it that the House draft reauthorization contained it, the 
     compromise that resulted in the 2008 Reauthorization does not 
     include a provision criminalizing sex tour operators.
       We must ensure that the next TVPA Reauthorization 
     criminalizes sex trafficking per se and makes it a federal 
     crime to operate a sex tour business. With Congresswoman 
     Maloney leading the campaign, I am confident that we will 
     accomplish these two remaining goals.
       Congresswoman Maloney, on behalf of the Coalition Against 
     Trafficking in Women and Sanctuary for Families, our 
     congratulations on receiving this well-deserved recognition 
     and our heartfelt thanks for your invaluable leadership in 
     the battle to end human trafficking.

                          ____________________