[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2004, Book II)]
[July 16, 2004]
[Pages 1350-1354]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]
Remarks at the National Training Conference on Human Trafficking in
Tampa, Florida
July 16, 2004
Thanks for the warm welcome. Thanks a lot, John, for your service
and your kind introduction.
It's always good to be with Jeb. [Laughter]
He's a great brother and a fine Governor. And I know my daughter
Barbara, who is traveling with me today, is
proud of her Uncle Jeb. Thanks for coming, Barbara. We're glad you're
here.
I appreciate you inviting me to this important conference. Human
trafficking is one of the worst offenses against human dignity. Our
Nation is determined--determined--to fight that crime abroad and at
home. And that's what we're here to talk about today. I am especially
pleased that Jeb has today signed into law a bill
making the sexual trafficking of minors a felony in the State of
Florida. I appreciate his leadership.
I want to thank Claude Allen, the Deputy
Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, for joining us
today. Hey, Claude, thank you for coming. Paula Dobriansky, who is the Under Secretary of the Department of
State--thank you, Paula, for your dedicated service. Asa
Hutchinson is the Under Secretary of the
Department of Homeland Security--thanks.
In order to make sure the Federal laws we're going to discuss are
enforced, you've got to have good, strong U.S. attorneys around the
United States. Paul Perez is a strong U.S.
attorney here in Tampa. Paul, thank you for being here. I appreciate
your coming.
I want to thank all the State and local folks who are here, the
local officials and the local law enforcement officials. I appreciate
the faith-based and community organizations who are here. Thanks for
your compassion and your love.
I met Lan Pham today when I got to the airport.
Where are you, Lan? Oh, there she is. You'd have thought you'd have got
a better seat than that. But there she is. [Laughter]
The reason why Lan came out to greet me at Air
Force One is she volunteers 5 days a week at Catholic Charities. She is
a soldier in the Army of Compassion. She is a reminder that the greatest
strength of this country is the heart and souls of our fellow citizens,
people who are willing to help people who hurt. Lan is such an example.
She is involved with the rescuing of innocent victims that have been
brought here and have been harmed. You know, the great strength of
America is the fact that we've got millions of our fellow citizens who
heed a call to love their neighbor just like they'd like to be loved
themselves--on an hourly basis--and Lan is such a person.
I am honored to be with the courageous men and women who are serving
on the frontlines in the fight against human trafficking. You've got a
tough job, but it's
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a necessary job. You're hunting down the traffickers. You're serving
justice by putting them behind bars. You're liberating captives, and
you're helping them recover from years of abuse and trauma. The lives of
tens of thousands of innocent women and children depend on your
compassion. They depend upon your determination, and they depend upon
your daily efforts to rescue them from misery and servitude. You are in
a fight against evil, and the American people are grateful for your
dedication and service.
Human life is the gift of our Creator, and it should never be for
sale. It takes a special kind of depravity to exploit and hurt the most
vulnerable members of society. Human traffickers rob children of their
innocence; they expose them to the worst of life before they have seen
much of life. Traffickers tear families apart. They treat their victims
as nothing more than goods and commodities for sale to the highest
bidder.
Worldwide, at least 600,000 to 800,000 human beings are trafficked
across international borders each year. Of those, it is believed that 80
percent are women and girls and that 70 percent of them were forced into
sexual servitude. The United Nations believes that the trafficking of
human beings is now the third largest source of money for organized
crime, after arms and drugs. We've got a problem; we need to do
something about it.
The American Government has a particular duty, because human
trafficking is an affront to the defining promise of our country. People
come to America hoping for a better life. It is a terrible tragedy when
anyone comes here only to be forced into a sweatshop, domestic
servitude, pornography, or prostitution. It is estimated that between
14,500 and 17,500 victims of trafficking cross our borders every year.
U.S. law enforcement has documented cases of Latvian girls trafficked
into sexual slavery in Chicago; or Ukrainian girls trafficked in Los
Angeles and Maryland; or Thai, Korean, Malaysian, and Vietnamese girls
trafficked in Georgia; or Mexican girls trafficked in California, New
Jersey, and here in Florida. Many of the victims are teenagers, some as
young as 12 years old. Many victims are beaten. Some are killed. Others
die spiritual and emotional deaths, convinced after years of abuse that
their lives have no worth. This trade in human beings brings suffering
to the innocent and shame to our country, and we will lead the fight
against it.
Last year, at the United Nations, I called on other governments to
pass laws making such abuse a crime. And many have risen to the
challenge. In the past year, 24 nations have enacted new laws to combat
trade in human lives. Thirty two are now in the process of drafting or
passing such laws. As a result of these efforts, this year nearly 8,000
traffickers were prosecuted worldwide; 2,800 have been convicted.
America is actively helping nations that are willing to engage in
this fight. Since taking office, my administration has provided more
than $295 million to support antitrafficking programs in more than 120
countries. We're taking the lead. We are helping other governments to
develop laws to combat abuse, to create special law enforcement units to
investigate trafficking cases and to rescue victims. We're helping them
build emergency shelters and develop long-term rehabilitation and
vocational training programs.
At the U.N. last year, I pledged $50 million to support these
efforts in the year 2004. Today the Department of State has announced it
has identified the final $25 million to meet that pledge, funds that
will support antitrafficking programs in Brazil and Cambodia and India
and Indonesia and Mexico, Moldova, Sierra Leone, and Tanzania. Every
nation that fights human trafficking has a friend in the United States.
And it's important for them to know that.
America is also confronting nations that profit from or tolerate
human trafficking.
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We are helping nations, and we are confronting nations. Those countries
face potential sanctions that include the loss of U.S. military and
economic assistance as well as the loss of support from the World Bank
and the IMF, and this approach is yielding results.
Last year, after the Department of State released the 2003
Trafficking in Persons Report, 10 nations avoided sanctions by moving
quickly to pass new antitrafficking legislation, to train police
officers. They launched domestic information campaigns and established
victim protection programs. This year, we have created a Special Watch
List of 42 problem countries that require scrutiny. Every nation that is
complicit in human trafficking can know that the United States
Government is watching, and there will be consequences if they don't
act.
As we fight the trade in human beings abroad, we have also launched
an unprecedented domestic effort to deal with this problem at home. Our
approach combines aggressive law enforcement action--that means putting
people in jail--with compassionate outreach to the victims. Over the
past 3 years, we have more than doubled the number of new trafficking
investigations underway. Last August, for example, a Federal District
Court in New Jersey sentenced two
women to 17\1/2\ years in prison,
the maximum time allowable, for bringing four Mexican girls into the
United States and forcing them into prostitution in Plainfield, New
Jersey--17\1/2\ years of hard time. The message to traffickers is
becoming clear: If we catch you, you're going to spend time in jail.
This year, the Department of Justice, under General
Ashcroft's lead, successfully prosecuted the
largest human trafficking case in U.S. history, convicting the
ringleader of a criminal gang that had smuggled more than 200 Vietnamese
and Chinese nationals to work as slave laborers in a garment factory on
American Samoa.
Since 2001, we've charged 110 traffickers. That's triple the number
charged in the previous 3 years. We're beginning to make good,
substantial progress. The message is getting out: We're serious, and
when we catch you, you'll find out we're serious. We're staying on the
hunt.
We're also taking unprecedented action to help the victims, and
that's a really important part of the strategy. One of the ways
traffickers keep women and girls enslaved is by telling them they will
be arrested and deported if they try to run away. We're removing that
tool of coercion by treating the victims of trafficking not as illegal
aliens but as refugees. The Trafficking Victims Protection Act carried a
special class of visas called T-Visas that allowed trafficking victims
to remain in the United States and receive the same services and
counseling that are provided to refugees.
Often, these women have been terribly brutalized. And when they
escape from their nightmare, they should find the protection and
generous heart of America. So we're calling upon and rallying the armies
of compassion in our society to help. Since taking office, this
administration has provided $35 million in grants to 36 local groups
that are helping those who have suffered at the hands of traffickers.
We're using Federal monies to help spread compassion.
Today, the Justice Department is awarding 4.5 million to nine
organizations that are running shelters where victims can take refuge
while they seek further help. This is a good and proper use of Federal
taxpayers' money. Earlier this year, the Department of Health and Human
Services helped Covenant House establish a nationwide, toll-free, 24-
hour hotline to report incidents of trafficking. Victims and those who
know about their plight can call 1-888-373-7888. Spread the word. One
speech alone is not going to get the number out. [Laughter]
America will not tolerate slave traders who bring women and children
into our country for abuse. We will not tolerate
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American citizens abusing innocent children abroad. Sex tourism is an
estimated billion-dollar-a-year business worldwide. No American should
have any part of it. We're working with governments in Southeast Asia to
crack down on pedophile sex tourism. And many nations in that region
have made substantial progress.
We also face a problem only 90 miles off our shores, where the
regime of Fidel Castro has turned Cuba into
a major destination for sex tourism. A recent study by the Protection
Project at Johns Hopkins University found that Cuba has, quote,
``replaced Southeast Asia as a destination for pedophiles and sex
tourists.'' As restrictions on travel to Cuba were eased during the
1990s, the study found an influx of American and Canadian tourists
contributed to a sharp increase in child prostitution in Cuba.
The regime in Havana, already one of the worst violators of human
rights in the world, is adding to its crimes. The dictator welcomes sex
tourism. Here's how he bragged about their
industry: ``Cuba has the cleanest''--this is his quotes--``Cuba has the
cleanest and most educated prostitutes in the world.'' He said that
because sex tourism is a vital source of hard currency to keep his
corrupt government afloat. My administration is working toward a
comprehensive solution to this problem: The rapid, peaceful transition
to democracy in Cuba. We have put a strategy in place to hasten the day
when no Cuban child is exploited to finance a failed revolution and
every Cuban citizen will live in freedom.
We have taken action to stop American tourists from participating in
the sexual abuse of children in Cuba or anywhere else in the world. In
2003, I signed the Protect Act, which allows U.S. law enforcement to
prosecute Americans who travel abroad and engage in sex with minors
without having to prove prior intent. The Protect Act expands the
statute of limitations to the life of the victim for crimes involving
the abduction and physical or sexual abuse of children in virtually all
cases. The Protect Act imposes strict new penalties, doubling the
maximum sentence for U.S. citizens who travel to foreign countries to
sexually abuse children. We've also launched information campaigns in
foreign countries to inform American travelers of penalties back home
for sexually exploiting children abroad.
See, stopping this abuse requires going after the criminal gangs who
supply the sexual predators. But we cannot put them out of business
until and unless we deal with the problem of demand. And so that's why
we are going after the unscrupulous adults who prey on the young and the
innocent. Last summer, the Department of Homeland Security launched
Operation Predator, a comprehensive effort to protect children from
international sex tourists and traffickers and pornography and
prostitution rings. That's why Asa Hutchinson
is here. This operation has resulted in more than 3,200 arrests
nationwide.
I appreciate the good work of all the men and women at every level
of government who are working hard to protect women and children and
bringing the predators to justice. I told you earlier, it takes hard
work. I know it does. There's a lot of people working long hours to
enforce the law and therefore make our society a more compassionate
place.
All the steps I've outlined today are important; yet, the success
will depend on the courage of those individuals, people like Anna
Rodriguez. Where are you, Anna? Yes, thanks
for coming. She is a victim advocate. I think some of you might have met
her earlier today. A few years ago, Anna was working for the Collier
County Sheriffs Department when she was called to what appeared to be a
routine domestic violence call. Upon arriving at the scene, she noticed
a 19-year-old woman named Maria crying quietly in the corner of the
apartment. After some coaxing, Maria told Anna Rodriguez her story.
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She had been kidnaped from her family in Guatemala. She had been
smuggled into the United States. She was being kept as a slave. She was
forced to work without pay in the tomato fields of central Florida and
then raped at night.
At first, Anna was told by her superiors
there was nothing she could do for Maria except turn her case over to
the INS. She didn't give up. Anna Rodriguez obviously has a huge heart.
Thanks to her persistence, Maria was rescued and her captor is now in
prison.
See, Maria became the first adult recipient of the new T visa
created under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act. Because of good
law passed, she remains in the U.S. and is working to rebuild her life
with the continuing support of her friend Anna Rodriguez.
I hope out of this conference comes a determination to stand behind
the Anna Rodriguezes and the thousands of other dedicated police
officers, prosecutors, social workers, local officials who stand on
the--side by side with the victims of human trafficking every single
day, who want to rescue them in the name of a compassionate America.
We're working to make sure you have the support you need in
Washington, DC--you've got a Governor who's
supporting you here in Florida--because of the struggle against human
trafficking is more than a fight against crime, see. This is more than a
criminal justice matter. It's a struggle for the lives and dignity of
innocent women and children. And that's why all of us must be dedicated
to the strategies that will enable us to prevail.
I want to thank you for giving me a chance to come by and talk about
this important subject. Again, I thank you for your work of compassion
and decency.
God bless.
Note: The President spoke at 10:48 a.m. at the Tampa Marriott Waterside
Hotel. In his remarks, he referred to Attorney General John Ashcroft,
who introduced the President; Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida; and President
Fidel Castro of Cuba.