[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2006, Book I)]
[January 10, 2006]
[Pages 38-40]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks on Signing the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization 
Act of 2005
January 10, 2006

    Thank you all. Please be seated. Thanks for coming. I appreciate you 
all being here. In a moment, I'll have the honor of signing the 
Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act.
    Human trafficking is an offense against human dignity, a crime in 
which human

[[Page 39]]

beings, many of them teenagers and young children, are bought and sold 
and often sexually abused by violent criminals. Our Nation is determined 
to fight and end this modern form of slavery. And this bipartisan bill 
will help expand our efforts to combat this brutal crime that steals 
innocence and destroys lives.
    I want to thank the Members of the United States Congress who have 
joined me here. I appreciate Senator Sam Brownback, Chris Smith, Deborah 
Pryce, and Carolyn Maloney for their hard work on this important legislation.
    I appreciate the Secretary of State, 
who has joined us here, and the Attorney General, Al Gonzales, and his wife.
    In today's world, too often, human traffickers abuse the trust of 
children and expose them to the worst of life at a young age. It takes a 
perverse form of evil to exploit and hurt those vulnerable members of 
society. Human traffickers operate with greed and without conscience, 
treating their victims as nothing more than goods and commodities for 
sale to the highest bidder. Recent years, hundreds of thousands of 
people around the world have been trafficked against their will across 
international boundaries, and many have been forced into sexual 
servitude. Thousands of teenagers and young girls are trafficked into 
the United States every year. They're held hostage. They're forced to 
submit to unspeakable evil. America has a particular duty to fight this 
horror, because human trafficking is an affront to the defining promise 
of our country.
    We're attacking this problem aggressively. Over the past 4 years, 
the Department of Homeland Security has taken new measures to protect 
children from sexual predators, as well as pornography and prostitution 
rings. The Department of Health and Human Services has partnered with 
faith-based and community organizations to form antitrafficking 
coalitions in 17 major cities across our country. The Department of 
Justice has more than tripled the number of cases brought against these 
traffickers.
    The bill I sign today will help us to continue to investigate and 
prosecute traffickers and provide new grants to State and local law 
enforcement. Yet, we cannot put the criminals out of business until we 
also confront the problem of demand. Those who pay for the chance to 
sexually abuse children and teenage girls must be held to account. So 
we'll investigate and prosecute the customers, the unscrupulous adults 
who prey on the young and the innocent.
    We also have a duty to reach out to victims of trafficking, some of 
whom were smuggled into this country as children. The legislation I sign 
today will help us provide important new services to these victims, 
including appointing a guardian for young victims and providing access 
to residential treatment facilities to help victims get a chance at a 
better life.
    We'll continue to call on other nations to take action against 
trafficking within their own borders. Three years ago at the United 
Nations, I asked other governments to pass laws making human trafficking 
a crime. Since then, many have risen to the challenge. Secretary 
Rice and I will continue to press the 
others to rise to the challenge. We are working with the nations of 
Southeast Asia and others to crack down on sex tourism. America is a 
compassionate and decent nation, and we will not tolerate an industry 
that preys on the young and the vulnerable. The trade in human beings 
continues in our time, and we are called by conscience and compassion to 
bring this cruel practice to an end.
    For those of you who've worked on this bill, thank you very much. 
For those of you who are involved in this important struggle, I 
appreciate your efforts, continue to do so. For those of you who are 
providing the compassionate care to those who've been affected by human 
trafficking, thank you for your love. And for those of

[[Page 40]]

you in Congress who've worked to make this reality, good work.

Note: The President spoke at 1:33 p.m. in Room 350 of the Dwight D. 
Eisenhower Executive Office Building. In his remarks, he referred to 
Rebecca Turner Gonzales, wife of Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales. 
H.R. 972, approved January 10, was assigned Public Law No. 109-164.