Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ) received the Lifetime Pathbreaker Award from the anti-sex trafficking group Shared Hope International on Wednesday, for his work over the span of two decades in fighting human trafficking.

“We used to think that trafficking was something that primarily happened to foreigners in the U.S., and now we know that it can happen to any vulnerable person, of any age, of any nationality,” Smith, co-founder and co-chair of the Congressional Human Trafficking Caucus, said in his remarks Wednesday upon reception of the award.

“The wheels of justice turned slowly over the last 20 years, but they have carried us to a place in the United States and internationally where the fight against human trafficking cuts across political parties and borders, national and international institutions. What started with the effort of a few has become the cause of many,” Smith said.

The Lifetime Pathbreaker Award is given by Shared Hope International to defenders of trafficking victims who have fought against apathy or inaction on the injustice. Smith was honored for originally being a “lone voice” on human trafficking while many others were unaware of the extent of the problem.

Linda Smith, founder and president of Shared Hope International, lauded Smith as a visionary in the fight against human trafficking, noting that “if there hadn’t been a vision of this man, we would not be standing here today.”

“The heart of Chris Smith is what is being carried on in this movement,” she said before presenting Rep. Smith with the award.

Smith was also honored for authoring and sponsoring the landmark Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA), the first law that clearly defined the problem of human traficking. He has since authored three additional anti-human trafficking laws, including the International Megan’s Law which became law last year and established further safeguards against registered sex offenders seeking to travel, and who have convictions for sex crimes against children.

“We already are seeing very good fruit” from that law, Smith said, noting that he has just received reports that over 1,600 sex offenders have been turned away from entering countries because of the law. Because of the law’s provisions, countries, when notified that an offender is seeking to enter their borders, can either turn such people away or monitor them closely.

Smith also introduced the Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act of 2017, which authorizes over $520 million over four years for trafficking prevention and prosecution, and victim assistance. It also encourages hotels to implement training and trafficking prevention programs, and strengthens the State Department’s ability to hold foreign countries accountable on trafficking.

Yet despite greater awareness today of the problem of trafficking, “the work continues,” Smith said. “It will never stop.” He noted that there are still 25 million labor traffickers and 5 million sex trafficking victims, numbers which are “not encouraging.”

He lauded Shared Hope International as a group that “has made such a difference” as a “game-changer” on fighting trafficking.

To read excerpts of Smith’s remarks, click here.