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SEN. CORNYN CHAIRS HEARING ON EFFORTS TO COMBAT HUMAN TRAFFICKING, SLAVERY US Fed
News July 7, 2004 Wednesday 8:32 AM EST
US Fed News
July 7, 2004 Wednesday 8:32 AM EST
SEN. CORNYN CHAIRS HEARING ON EFFORTS TO COMBAT HUMAN
TRAFFICKING, SLAVERY
BYLINE: US Fed News
LENGTH: 1065 words
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
At a hearing of Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Property Rights, Sen. John
Cornyn, R-Texas made the following remarks:
Two centuries since the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade, and well over a century since the ratification of the
Thirteenth Amendment, men, women and children continue to be trafficked into the United States, and coerced into
lives of forced labor and sexual slavery. At a hearing of the Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on the Constitution,
Civil Rights and Property Rights Wednesday, the panel heard from Justice Department officials and representatives of
numerous organizations involved in the fight against trafficking. Witnesses provided information on past successes and
future needs. U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, who chairs the subcommittee, led Wednesday's hearing.
"As the Bush administration continues the fight against terrorism, it has also been fighting another war to protect
American ideals and principles: a war against human trafficking and slavery," Chairman Cornyn said. "Most Americans
would be shocked to learn that slavery and involuntary servitude continue to persist, not just around the world, but hidden in communities across America."
Subcommittee members at the hearing, entitled "Examining U.S. Efforts to Combat Human Trafficking and Slavery,"
heard from Michael Shelby, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas, and Johnny Sutton, U.S. Attorney for the
Western District of Texas on efforts to prosecute human trafficking cases in Texas - including a number of pending investigations. Also testifying at the hearing were several representatives of organizations involved in the fight against
trafficking and slavery, including Sister Mary Ellen Dougherty of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops,
and Dr. Mohamed Mattar, Co-Director of The Protection Project at Johns Hopkins University.
"The stories of men, women and children trapped and coerced into lives of forced labor and sex slavery are heartbreaking, and the acts of the perpetrators are not just unconstitutional, not just criminal, they are profoundly evil, immoral,
and wrong," Cornyn said. "Tragic examples of human suffering-from across Texas, and across the nation-are a constant
reminder of the importance of a strong congressional and administration response."
The Department of Justice (DOJ) is hosting a national training conference July 15-17 in Tampa, Fla., entitled "Human
Trafficking in the United States: Rescuing Women and Children from Slavery" The conference will focus on investigation and prosecution of human trafficking-the coercion of adults and youth into commercial sexual activity, sexual exploitation, sweatshops, domestic servitude, and other criminal activity-and providing assistance to victims of such brutal
crimes.
Sen. Cornyn chairs the subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights & Property Rights. He is the only former judge
on the Judiciary Committee and served previously as Texas Attorney General, Texas Supreme Court Justice, and Bexar
County District Judge.
Witness bios follow
* The Honorable Johnny Sutton is the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Texas, which encompasses San Antonio, El Paso, and Austin. He previously served as an Associate Deputy Attorney General at the Justice Department, Policy Coordinator for the Bush-Cheney Transition Team assigned to the Department of Justice, and Criminal Justice Poli-
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SEN. CORNYN CHAIRS HEARING ON EFFORTS TO COMBAT HUMAN TRAFFICKING, SLAVERY US Fed
News July 7, 2004 Wednesday 8:32 AM EST
cy Director for then-Governor George W. Bush. He is a long-time prosecutor, having served in the Harris County District Attorney's Office for eight years.
* The Honorable Michael Shelby is the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas, a district that covers Houston,
Brownsville, Laredo, Corpus Christi, and Huntsville. He worked for five years in the Harris County District Attorney's
Office, before becoming an Assistant United States Attorney, serving in Phoenix, Arizona, as well as in Houston. Mr.
Shelby is also a Commissioned Officer in the U.S. Naval Reserve, and served during Operation Desert Storm and most
recently in Bosnia.
* Sister Mary Ellen Dougherty is the Program Manager for Outreach, Education, and Technical Assistance, in the
Trafficking in Persons program operated by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and its office of Migration and
Refugee Services. She has frequently spoken and written on the issue of human trafficking, most recently before the
U.S. Embassy to the Holy See in Rome just last month.
* Joseph Mettimano is the Child Protection Policy Advisor in the United States at World Vision. He also serves as the
director of World Vision's Child Sex Tourism Prevention Project. World Vision is one of the largest Christian relief and
development organizations in the world - with operations on six continents, all devoted to the protection of children.
Before joining World Vision, Mr. Mettimano served as deputy director of public policy and advocacy for the United
States arm of the United Nations Children's Fund, or UNICEF-USA.
* Dr. Mohamed Mattar is an Adjunct Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Protection Project. The Protection
Project is a legal human rights research institute based at Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International
Studies. Dr. Mattar has taught courses on human rights and human trafficking law, and has published several articles in
the area. He holds numerous law degrees from universities in the United States as well as Egypt.
* Charles Song is a staff attorney with the Coalition to Abolish Slavery & Trafficking, based in Los Angeles. CAST
provides legal services to combat human trafficking. Mr. Song previously served as a Human Rights Fellow and staff
attorney at the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law.
* Wendy Patten is the U.S. Advocacy Director at Human Rights Watch. She has worked on human trafficking issues at
the U.S. Department of Justice, where she served as Special Counsel for Trafficking in Persons in the Civil Rights Division, Chief of Staff in the Violence Against Women Office, and Senior Counsel in the Office of Policy Development.
She has also served as Director of Multilateral and Humanitarian Affairs at the National Security Council at the White
House.
On the net:
DOJ trafficking conference: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/humantraffickingconf/
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn: http://cornyn.senate.gov.
LOAD-DATE: January 25, 2005
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire
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