[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 1]
[House]
[Pages 1316-1317]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    THE SHAME ACT SHAMES TRAFFICKERS

  (Mr. POE of Texas asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, those dastardly deviants that are in 
the slave trade of human sex trafficking try to dehumanize their 
victim. Victims sometimes lose their self-worth and dignity of 
existence.
  Last Congress, the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act, led by 
Carolyn Maloney and me, was enacted to go after traffickers and buyers 
to rescue victims. Now it is time to expose the identity of convicted 
traffickers and sellers of human beings. That is why Mrs. Maloney and I 
have introduced the Shame Act.
  The Shame Act allows Federal judges to publicly publish the names and 
photographs of convicted traffickers and buyers. Shaming works. I 
successfully used it as a judge in Texas. Dubbed ``poetic justice'' by 
the media, I learned the last thing criminals want are their faces and 
crimes exposed to the public.
  It is time to let traffickers and buyers know they cannot hide their 
evil and the darkness. Put their photographs on billboards. Shame them. 
Shame them for their slave trade.
  And that is just the way it is.
  Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record the names of the organizations 
that support the Shame Act.

       1. Polaris.
       2. The International Organization for Victim Assistance.
       3. Shared Hope.
       4. The National Organization for Victim Assistance.
       5. The Texas Centers for Child Advocacy.

[[Page 1317]]


       6. The Texas Court Appointed Special Advocates.
       7. Stop Child Predators.
       8. The Family Focused Treatment Association.

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