Prepared Remarks by Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa
Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee
Rights4Girls #NoSuchThing Event
June 22, 2016

Let me start off by thanking all of you.  You who tirelessly work in the anti-trafficking space, you, who day in and day out, fight to protect the rights of girls and other crime survivors.   

As chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, I work on many criminal justice issues, but I feel particularly honored and called to do my part to end human trafficking.  I stand with you in this fight, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to be here with you today. 

The theme of today’s event is “there’s no such thing as a child prostitute”.  I couldn’t agree more.  In fact, just last year, I cosponsored a resolution with Senator Gillibrand expressing the Senate’s view that children trafficked for sex in the United States should not be regarded as child prostitutes.  These youths aren’t prostitutes; they are children who are victims of sexual violence.    

One of my top priorities as Judiciary chairman is the protection and support of crime survivors.  Our committee still has work to do in this area, but over the last year and a half we have made some significant strides.
 
We had a major success with last year’s enactment of the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act.  I thank Rights-4-Girls for its active support of this measure, which I cosponsored with Senator Cornyn and shepherded through the Judiciary Committee and the Senate.   

As we all know, this statute clarified that domestic victims of human trafficking offenses have the same access to victims’ services as foreign victims.  It equipped law enforcement and prosecutors with new tools to prosecute those who seek to purchase other humans, including particularly vulnerable juveniles. And it established a new fund to help the victims of this terrible crime heal. 

Passage of this measure was an important milestone, but it’s now just as important that we do everything we can to ensure that the statute’s being implemented effectively.  To that end, I’m chairing a Judiciary hearing on June 28th to examine the progress we’ve made in meeting the deadlines under this statute.  At this hearing, we’ll ask a Justice Department official about the Department’s efforts to establish the trafficking victims’ fund and meet the law’s other deadlines.  We’ll also hear from the Government Accountability Office, which plans to publicly release a new report on human trafficking on the day of this hearing. 

Another measure on which our Judiciary Committee recently worked with Rights-4-Girls is the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Reauthorization Act.  If enacted, this bill would end the detention of runaway youth.  As we all know, a majority of child runaways who end up in detention are girls, and some of these girls have experienced trauma or are fleeing abuse. This bill cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee last year by voice vote, and I’m doing all I can to ensure it passes the Senate before the end of the 114th Congress.   

Because children are so often the victims in domestic sex trafficking cases, I’ve also made enactment of the Adam Walsh Reauthorization Act a priority.  This bill authorizes resources to help law enforcement agencies track down convicted child molesters who go missing and fail to register as sex offenders.  

This measure, which the Senate passed, 89-0, a few weeks ago, also would extend by several years the statutory period in which adults who were child survivors of human trafficking offenses can file suit against their perpetrators.  Our goal is to convince the House to take up and pass this measure before the 35th anniversary of nine year-old Adam Walsh’s abduction and murder on July 27th.  Because we have only a limited time to act before the 114th Congress adjourns, I hope you’ll join me in urging the House to pass it promptly.
 
Once again, I so appreciate the opportunity to be here with you all—you are the heroes in the anti-trafficking movement.  I especially want to thank Yasmin Vafa, who organized this event.

Thank you again for inviting me to join you today.  I look forward to working with you all in our fight to end modern slavery.

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