[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 11 (Thursday, January 18, 2018)]
[House]
[Page H483]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       REBECCA'S STORY OF SLAVERY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Poe) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, Rebecca grew up in a small town in 
southern Oregon. She was on the honor roll, and she played varsity 
sports. She graduated high school early and immediately enrolled in 
Oregon State University. However, when her daughter was born, she had 
to withdraw to find a job.
  Like many single moms, Rebecca struggled to make ends meet. But when 
she met a man she described as ``Prince Charming,'' she thought things 
were finally turning around for her. He was kind, and caring, and 
offered to take care of her and her baby daughter. With expensive gifts 
and trips, he treated her to a lifestyle that she had never dreamed of. 
So when he asked her and her daughter to move in with him, Rebecca 
thought she had hit the jackpot. But her dream quickly became another 
nightmare.
  When she arrived in Las Vegas at his home, she found several other 
women and children already living there. This man then told her that 
now she would be forced to have sex with men for money. When she 
refused, he beat her up, hitting her over and over again.
  Fearing for her life and the life of her child, Rebecca complied. So 
for the next 6 years, Rebecca was forced to have sex with countless 
strangers many times a day. Any time she stepped out of line, he beat 
her up. She had her face broken in five different places. Her 
trafficker even went so far as to tattoo his name on her back. Yes, 
branded her like cattle. She was nothing but a piece of property to 
him.
  After her fourth attempt to escape, her trafficker told her that he 
would start selling her young daughter for sex if she didn't comply and 
submit. Feeling utterly hopeless, Rebecca tried to commit suicide two 
times. She thought that ending her life was preferable to living in the 
hell that she had to endure every day.
  Finally, Federal agents raided her home and captured the trafficker. 
But, Mr. Speaker, he eventually took a plea deal and only served 1 year 
in prison for slavery. Meanwhile, Rebecca was left to deal with a 
lifetime of pain and trauma. As a former judge, Mr. Speaker, I believe 
the sentence was too light for a slave trader. No human being should 
ever have to endure what Rebecca and other trafficking victims like her 
have gone through.
  Despite the system failing to provide justice against her trafficker, 
Rebecca has found a way to turn her darkness into light. Since becoming 
a survivor, she started the Rebecca Bender Initiative. This program 
provides training for those who have the opportunity to be intercepted 
and intervene with victims who are often being trafficked.
  In this Human Trafficking Awareness Month, I want to commend Rebecca 
on her resilience and focus on providing support and compassion to the 
victims of trafficking. As co-chair of the Congressional Victims' 
Rights Caucus, along with my friend Jim Costa from California, we are 
dedicated to ensuring that victims and survivors know that we as a 
nation will stand with them.
  Traffickers, buyers, and sellers must be prosecuted and sent to the 
jailhouse. And with the help of local, State, and Federal law 
enforcement, we are going to stop the sale of our children and our 
adult women on the marketplace of sex slavery.
  Mr. Speaker, the 13th Amendment abolished slavery in the United 
States, but it is still taking place, and it is time that we defeat 
this scourge on our community. Justice demands this, and justice is 
what we do.
  And that is just the way it is.

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