THE U.S. EMBASSY TO THE HOLY SEE
Offices of Public Affairs
For Immediate Release - January 11, 2005
AMBASSADOR FRANCIS ROONEY
ON RENEWAL OF
THE TRAFFICKING VICTIMS PROTECTION ACT
Yesterday in Washington, D.C., President Bush signed the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act that seeks to combat human trafficking in the United States, and calls on other countries to take action against trafficking within their own borders. In his remarks, the President said: “Human trafficking is an offense against human dignity. Our nation is determined to fight and end this modern form of slavery.”
The United States has taken a lead in addressing this issue. Since 2002, the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See has made the fight against trafficking in persons a key focus of its mission. We have enjoyed a close collaboration with the Holy See and others in our work to eradicate this evil. Today we are more committed than ever to continuing our efforts, heeding the words of Pope Benedict XVI, who told the Diplomatic Corps accredited to the Holy See just this week that the world could ill afford to “overlook the scourge of human trafficking, which remains a disgrace in our time.”
Trafficking victims number over a million each year, and are too often the poorest and most defenseless members of the human family. Pope Benedict XVI has been unequivocal about the need to put an end to this phenomenon that robs its victims of their human dignity. My mission—alongside the Holy See and other like-minded nations and organizations—will continue its efforts to ensure that the trade in human beings, for any purpose, will not be allowed to thrive in our time.
Contacts:
Amy Roth Turnley
Public Affairs Office
U.S. Embassy to the Holy See
06/4674-3433
http://vatican.usembassy.gov
http://www.whitehouse.gov
