mr. ballard may also.today, in addition offering my support for the international megan's law bill hr- 515. sponsored by the chair and passed by the house. i would like to paint with a broader brush in giving more comprehensive issues more -- dealing with human trafficking. some generalized statistics, there are an estimated 20-30 million modern-day slaves worldwide. people are taken and lured into servitude and held against their will. to put that into perspective that is twice as many or more modern-day slaves then there were during the entire transatlantic slave trade from the 16 to 19th century. that is 300 years, by most accounts 13 million people. i want to be clear that i am not saying that in any way would diminish the blight on history , but to underscore the severity and pervasiveness of what is going on today. human trafficking has become the second-most lucrative criminal enterprise internationally trailing only drug trafficking and ahead of arms dealing and counterfeiting. it generates 100 $50

mr. ballard? >> thank you, mr. chair. >> good afternoon, mr. chair, and esteemed members of the committee. thank you very much for this opportunity. my name is tim ballard. i'm the founder and ceo of operation underground railroad. i served for 12 years as a special agent for the department of homeland security where i served on the internet crimes against children task force and the jump team. i worked as an undercover operative infiltrating organizations at home and abroad who are in the business of abusing children, sexually trafficking them. in 2006, with the passage of the adam walsh protect act congress opened the doors for u.s. agents to better investigate these cases especially internationally, and i was one of the first agents assigned to a team that would go out and use our undercover skills to infiltrate these organizations, looking for american travelers who are engaging in sex with children. i was proud to represent the united states in dealing with this horrific issue. however, i often felt helpless by the fact that the vast majori

mr. ballard? >> thank you, mr. chair. >> good afternoon mr. chair and esteemed members of the committee. thank you very much for this opportunity. my name is tim ballard. i'm the founder and ceo of operation underground railroad. i served for 12 years as a special agent for the department of homeland security where i served on the internet crimes against children task force and the jump team. i worked as an undercover operative infiltrating organizations at home and abroad who are in the business of abusing children sexually trafficking them. in 2006 with the passage of the adam walsh protect act, congress opened the doors for u.s. agents to better investigate these cases especially internationally, and i was one of the first agents assigned to a team that would go out and use our undercover skills to infiltrate these organizations, looking for american travelers who are engaging in sex with children. i was proud to represent the united states in dealing with this horrific issue. however, i often felt helpless by the fact that the vast majority

mr. ballard from operation underground railroad is here. the important -- the work that they do is so incredibly important. it's something that is very important in the state of utah, but also for our nation. and around the world. this is not based on fiscal issues. this is not based on party issues. this is the -- what we have to do. and that is protecting life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. this is a moral issue and i wanted to say thank you so much for making this such an important part of what you do. i have three children. two girls one boy. and it makes me feel better as a parent knowing there are some good people out there doing this work and making sure that the predators know that we will not rest. we will be diligent and we are watching them and we're putting them out of business. so from the bottom of my heart as an parent, as an american who care about the children all around this world, thank you for the work that you do and thank you to this committee for taking this issue so seriously. >> mr. chair can we say we're pr

mr. ballard may also.tion to offering my support for the international bill, hr 515, sponsored by the chair and passed by the house, i'd like to paint with a slightly broader brush in giving text texture to comprehensive issues dealing with sex trafficking. i'll give some statistics. there are an estimated 20 million to 30 million modern day slaves. people are lured in and held against their will. that is twice as many or more modern day slaves than there were during the transatlantic slave trade. which was 10 to 13 million people. i'm not saying that in my way to diminish the blight that is on world history but to underscore the severity of what is going on today. human trafficking has become the second most lucrative enterprise internationally, arms dealing and counterfeiting. generates an estimated $150 billion or more annually but is very, very difficult to quantify because of how little is reported. the united nations often on drugs and crime estimates that 18% of the victims are forced into hard labo

mr. ballard the 7-year-old girl that was slain in hamilton township new jersey, my hometown. nobody knew that pedophile lived across the street. he invited her into the house. raped her and then he brutally killed her. and that led to the enactment of the megan's law in all other states and district of columbia and throughout the territories. it is a transformational effort and international part as you know this. is all about noticing countries of destination of convicted pedophiles. there was a report that found that 4 500 convicted pedophiles and one year alone got passports good for ten years and they go about travelling and they travel to places like colombia and thailand. brazil. all over the year them. abuse children in secrecy. this would gift ability of that government to deny the visa. or to watch them very closely. that they donna booze their kids. thank you for bringing that up as a preventative means of mitigating this horrific crime. good afternoon mr. chair. and he is teamed members of the committee. thank you very much for the opportunity. my name is tim balla

mr. ballard to finish but i have a few more things to address. but we saw the helplessness in the eyes of the young girls ages 10 through 16 after the drugs they have given them to take the edge off of what they were about to experience now they offered up these young girls as if they were desert -- desserts or a minimal price and the theater in their eyes is something i will never forget contrast with the sense of liberation a few minutes later with the hope that they had day would potentially get home and be back safely with their parents. think goodness we were the ones there that day instead of real predators'. not only deliberate 120 innocent girls and boys but cumulatively with the three missions simultaneously to reunite them with families to give much needed resources, we train local law enforcement with the software and they have called us numerous times to report on the replication of others things to save even more children. people ask why the utah attorney general went to columbia? because such a high percentage of those traveling abr