Citing increased public awareness and massive audiences for “Sound of Freedom,” a film based on the actual efforts of a federal agent to stop child trafficking, a group of U.S. senators is demanding to know why Democrats refuse to hold hearings on the crisis.
U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) led the entire Senate Republican conference in sending a letter to Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), chairman of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations; Richard Durbin (D-IL), chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary; Gary Peters (D-MI), chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs; and Robert Menendez (D-NJ), chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations, “calling for increased oversight and investigations into human trafficking.”
“The letter highlighted recent Department of Homeland Security (DHS) data underscoring the humanitarian crisis at the border. It also included a graph illustrating the rise in encounters at the southwest border,” a statement from Johnson notes.
The senators wrote to the Democrat chairmen, “[g]iven your committees' roles in overseeing DHS, we urge you to investigate and hold hearings into DHS's efforts to combat human trafficking. Without our attention and leadership, human trafficking will continue to plague this country.”
“The senators noted that the recent movie, Sound of Freedom (which is based on the true story of former Homeland Security Investigations agent Tim Ballard's efforts to rescue victims from a Colombian sex-trafficking ring), ‘has played an important role in creating public awareness of this modern-day form of slavery,'” Johnson's statement adds.
“The United States Senate must continue to conduct much-needed oversight of this administration's border policies to find immediate solutions to combat one of the most disturbing consequences of inadequate border security: the proliferation of human trafficking,” the senators added.
Joining Sen. Johnson on the letter are Senators John Barrasso, M.D. (R-Wyo.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Katie Boyd Britt (R-Ala.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W. Va.), Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-La.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), John Kennedy (R-La.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-Kan.), Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Rand Paul, M.D. (R-Ky.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), James Risch (R-Idaho), Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), John Thune (R-S.D.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), and Todd Young (R-Ind.).
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