[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 15815]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      HOPE FOR TRAFFICKED VICTIMS

  (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, for years, Lynda could not bring 
herself to speak about her past turmoil and nightmares.
  Lynda is finally telling about her tortured life. When she was 16, 
two neighborhood boys drugged and sexually assaulted her. Highly 
drugged, the boys convinced her to have sex for money just once. But it 
wasn't for just one time, Mr. Speaker. They set up online 
advertisements to sell her and other girls.
  When one of the other girls tried to escape, they tied her to a chair 
and beat her up mercilessly. They mixed drugs into the food to maintain 
control over the girls. It was years before Lynda finally escaped her 
turmoil.
  Today, the rape and torture still haunts Lynda, but she works every 
day to become a survivor. I recently introduced the Abolish Human 
Trafficking Act that provides grants to ensure that victims like Lynda 
get help and services, such as mental health counseling, legal aid, job 
training, things that they deserve from us. This will help trafficking 
victims put their broken lives back together.
  Trafficking is a scourge, and we need to send a message to everyone 
that our kids are not for sale.
  And that is just the way it is.

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