Rep. Nadler Speaks on Modern Day Slavery Bill

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Jerrold Nadler (NY-08), Chair of the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties today spoke on the House floor in support of H.R. 3887, the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2007.  Rep. Nadler is an original co-sponsor of the bill, which is expected to be adopted later today.  His prepared remarks are as follows:

“Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2007.  

“This bill delivers on the promise of the 13th Amendment, which outlawed slavery in the United States, by creating tough new enforcement tools to punish exploitation, whether by unscrupulous labor recruiters, diplomats who abuse their servants, or brutal pimps.   

“It provides resources so that non-governmental organizations, federal and local law enforcement, and the faith community can work together to liberate victims and bring their traffickers to justice.  

“Additionally, it will protect victims of modern slavery in the United States and provide foreign aid and diplomatic tools to combat modern slavery overseas as well.

“In many ways, the fight against modern slavery began in New York City in the mid-1990s.  

“There was the infamous ‘Bowery Brothel’ case, in which Thai women were held in prostitution and literally chained to their beds.  

“And there were the so-called ‘Deaf Mexican’ trinket peddlers who were enslaved under our own eyes, unable to ask for help as they were forced to beg on the subways.

“Since then, criminal civil rights investigators have uncovered examples of enslavement across the country, including many in the New York City area.  

“Recently, we have seen the liberation of Honduran women who were forced to drink and dance with clients in dancehalls in New Jersey; Peruvian families freed from enslavement by a labor recruiter on Long Island; and the rescue of young American women from a street pimp in Connecticut.  All of their traffickers have been convicted and imprisoned because they violated the Constitutional prohibition against involuntary servitude and slavery.

“More than a century after the abolition of slavery, we would expect slavery to be a closed chapter in our Nation’s history.  But, unfortunately, it is not.

“The Constitution promises to end the suffering of all of those who have been held in bondage.  As a country we owe it to the victims of modern day slavery never to stop fighting for their freedom.  

“The William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act renews our commitment to fulfilling the promise of the 13th Amendment by providing new tools and resources to remove the stain of modern day slavery from our nation.

“I urge its adoption.”