Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in the House! (well, the Senate)

That's right, I was in the same room as Will Smith this week! Congressional interns frequently get the opportunity to attend committee hearings, as I did a few days ago on the House side.  With the exception of some closed-door defense hearings, they are open to anyone willing to stand in line and cram into a big room for a couple of hours.

On Tuesday, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a full-committee hearing on human trafficking and the witnesses included Jada Pinkett-Smith (hence, the presence of Will and Willow).  An advocate for victims of human trafficking, Jada was also accompanied by two victims who were acknowledged by the Senate committee for their courage and recent work against the modern form of slavery.

This photo, unfortunately, was taken by a professional.  John Kerry, who chairs the committee and presided over the hearing, asked the photographer incessantly snapping photos of the famous Smiths to please stop all the clicking. "You must have taken like a million pictures of Will Smith in the last half hour," he said, exasperated.

These gems, however, were taken by me.

Despite arriving about a half hour early, I didn't make it in to the hearing right away.  After standing in the hall of the Hart Senate Office Building (picture below) for about 45 minutes, the security guard cleared a place at the press table to squeeze in a few more of us.

In addition to being more than a little star-struck, not only by the Smiths, but by John Kerry, Barbara Boxer, and Marco Rubio, I was absolutely fascinated by the hearing. The tone was much more peaceable than the last House hearing I attended, and senators from both sides of the political spectrum came together to advocate for better education for law enforcement, diplomatic tactics to encourage international accountability, and improvement in victim support.

According to the witnesses invited to testify for the Foreign Relations Committee, the human trafficking problem (whether the end result is forced labor or sexual exploitation) affects 21 million people, including 5.5 million children.  Prime industries for exploitation include the Indian welding industry, palm oil plantations, and the New Zealand fishing industry. Child marriages are also a target of anti-trafficking organizations that seek to influence societies around the world.

The pattern, especially in parts of the world with few economic opportunities, involves destitute men and women willingly crossing borders to find work, but being exploited by employers or effectively being sold by human "dealers" who were supposed to help them gain access to the foreign country.  In Southeast Asia, men aboard fishing boats were forced to work 30 hours straight, or sometimes 40 hours in two days after being shuttled across boarders by brokers working for organized crime.

Because this issue is less politicized than many others (with the exception of the debate over whether and how much to fund anti-trafficking programs at home and abroad), much of the hearing could be focused on moving toward solutions to effectively address the problem.  John Kerry asked the witnesses to explain what we as citizens can do. Here are their responses:

          1. Tell your elected officials that people in America care about modern human slavery
          2. Engage in starting movements (e.g. neighbors in Oakland watched a hotel that catered to traffickers and helped shut it down)
          3. Support resources for law enforcement and victims, even in this budget climate
          4. Demand more from companies (e.g. ask hotels if they've signed a code of conduct to make sure exploitation isn't happening under their noses)

From a government standpoint, action items included passing legislation to support victims and enhance reporting systems, normalizing the rating system used to grade countries on their compliance with human rights and trafficking laws, and upgrading the office that deals with human trafficking to a bureau. According to Senator Kerry, Mr. Smith really did come to Washington today!