In the Press...
Middletown TAPinto news article...'Rep. Chris Smith Joins USDOT Secretary Elaine Chao, to Put the Brakes on Human Trafficking'
By TAPINTO Staff -
January is Human Trafficking Prevention Month. Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), has been a leader in the fight against human trafficking, and joined US Dept. of Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao Tuesday, January 28th, to launch a new USDOT human trafficking prevention initiative. Chao challenged the transportation industry to commit to "100 Pledges in 100 Days" as part of a special campaign called "Put the Brakes on Human Trafficking." According to a USDOT press release, "To amplify counter-trafficking efforts, Secretary Chao established an annual $50,000 award to incentivize individuals and entities, including non-governmental organizations, transportation industry associations, research institutions, and State and local government organizations, to think creatively in developing innovative solutions to combat human trafficking in the transportation industry. The Department will review applications and determine the individual or entity that will most effectively utilize these funds to combat human trafficking." Secretary Chao also announced $5.4 million in grant selections through the Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) Human Trafficking Awareness and Public Safety Initiative. Twenty-four organizations across the country will each receive funding for projects to help prevent human trafficking and other crimes on public transportation. A list of the selected projects is available online. Human trafficking is modern-day slavery, affecting millions of adults and children in the United States and worldwide. Victims are of every age, race, gender, background, citizenship, and immigration status. Some are trafficked within their own communities on various forms of transportation, while others are transported to new locations. Click below to listen and view video here of Rep. Smith's speech at the press conference:
Rep. Chris Smith has been leading the fight against the human trafficking for many years. To view details of Smith's fight against human trafficking, click HERE. The following are excerpts of his remarks from Tuesday's announcement: Special thanks to Secretary Elaine Chao for her leadership in combating the cruelty of human trafficking both in the eight years she served as Secretary of Labor, and now, at Transportation and for the Transportation Leaders Against Human Trafficking Initiative. Truckers Against Trafficking have written the book on how to discern and disrupt human trafficking networks through training and referrals to law enforcement. You are the eyes and ears on the highways—thank you, Kendris. Human trafficking is a barbaric human rights abuse that thrives on greed, secrecy, a perverted sense of entitlement to exploit the vulnerable and an unimaginable disregard for the victims. Twenty years ago, the U.S. Congress approved and the President signed legislation that I authored—the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000—a comprehensive whole-of-government policy to combat sex and labor trafficking in the United States and around the world. This past January, I authored another bill that was signed into law by President Trump—my fifth major law on human trafficking— The Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Act. The new law honors the extraordinary legacy of one of the greatest Americans who ever lived. Among its many “prevention” provisions, the Douglass Act provides grants to local education agencies in partnership with NGOs to establish, expand and support programs:
The law also requires General Services to ensure that any contract entered for the provision of air transportation with a domestic carrier submit the number of personnel trained by that carrier, notifications of number potential victims, whether they contacted the trafficking hotline or law enforcement. In 2010, I chaired a congressional briefing and heard compelling testimony and best practices from many leaders—including Nancy Rivard of Airline Ambassadors International. Yesterday I spoke to her in El Salvador where she is advising that government on airline training of flight attendants, pilots and other personnel akin to what was prescribed in the 2016 and 2018 FAA reauthorizations. More than 100,000 aviation officials have been trained through the Blue Lightning Initiative. As we all know, children are especially vulnerable. According to the International Labor Organization (ILO) one in four trafficking victims is a child. Megan Kanka of Hamilton—my hometown—was just 7 years old when she was kidnaped, raped, and brutally murdered in 1994. Her assailant lived across the street. Unbeknownst to her family and other residents in the neighborhood, he was a convicted repeat sex offender sexual predator. We know from law enforcement and media documentation that Americans on the U.S. sex offender registries are caught sexually abusing children in Asia, Central and South America, Europe, and, frankly, everywhere. A deeply disturbing 2010 report by the GAO found that at least 4,500 U.S. passports were issued to registered sex offenders in fiscal year 2008 alone. Typically, a passport is valid for 10 years, meaning some or many of the tens of thousands of registered sex offenders possessing passports may be on the prowl internationally looking to exploit and abuse. Now, under International Megan’s Law, convicted child sex offenders who travel abroad must provide notice to the U.S. Government—via the Angel Watch Center—prior to departure of all planned destinations. Failure to do so carries a significant jail term commensurate with a convicted child sex abuser not reporting to local law enforcement. Upon receipt of the travel itinerary, the U.S. government informs the destination country or countries of those plans. The destination country or countries are then empowered with actionable information to render the traveler inadmissible. International Megan’s Law also requires the passport of convicted child sex offenders to carry this endorsement: “The Bearer was convicted of a sex offense against a minor and is a covered sex offender pursuant to 22 United States Code Section 212 (C) (I).” The law is working. In just about two years, 10,541 covered sex offenders had been noticed by the U.S. government to foreign countries—and 3,681 individuals as of July who were convicted of sex crimes against children were denied entry into those nations. Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes who just spoke has not only pioneered an aggressive multifaceted strategy through his Utah Trafficking in Persons (UTIP) Task Force and prosecutors of the Utah SECURE Strike Force—but when I learned of his amazingly heroic and brilliantly planned and executed undercover 2014 sting in Cartagena, Columbia with Operation Underground Railroad in which he and others posed as sex tourists to disrupt three trafficking rings in three Columbian cities—and rescue 120 child victims, I was in awe. Mr. Reyes testified at one of my trafficking hearings in May of 2015 and as an undercover buyer he said he “saw up close the horror and helplessness in the eyes of young girls ages 10-16 after the drugs the traffickers had given them had worn off, and they were paraded in front of us like a pet or a dessert to sample…we transacted large amounts of cash, and captured on hidden cameras the disgusting things” the traffickers said could be done to these children. The AG and his team not only liberated 120 innocent girls and boys that day but trained local law enforcement. The rescued children shouted: “Thank you Americans, we love you Americans.” For what you’re doing here, children and victims of every age shout thank you. This article was originally published on Jan. 30, 2020 and can be found online at: https://www.tapinto.net/towns/middletown/articles/rep-chris-smith-joins-usdot-secretary-elaine-chao-to-put-the-brakes-on-human-trafficking |