'Fight This Heinous Crime': Sarah Huckabee Sanders Promotes Efforts To End Human Trafficking
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R-AR) speaks at the 2023 Human Trafficking Summit in Little Rock, Arkansas.
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00:00 Thank you, Governor, for being here.
00:03 Good morning.
00:05 Nothing like having to follow Tim on a Tuesday, a Monday morning when he's had too much coffee
00:12 already.
00:13 So it is wonderful to be here and to welcome our Attorney General's inaugural 2023 Human
00:22 Trafficking Summit.
00:24 Tim, thank you so much for the honor of opening this year's summit.
00:29 We both agree that human trafficking is a huge issue, not just here in Arkansas, but
00:35 around the country.
00:36 And I can't think of a better way to bring together all of the experts and the greatest
00:42 minds on this topic to tackle this issue.
00:46 I like to say that Tim is our state's bulldog.
00:50 And no, that's not a shout out to any Georgia fans out there.
00:54 Tim was our bulldog in Congress.
00:56 He was our bulldog in the Lieutenant Governor's office, and now he is our bulldog Attorney
01:01 General.
01:02 And that's important, because if we are going to tackle this difficult issue, we need a
01:08 bulldog.
01:09 Arkansas sits right at the heart of America, which gives us the amazing opportunity to
01:16 be directly at the center of both transportation and trucking.
01:21 Sadly, that also means that our state is right at the transit point for human traffickers,
01:29 some of the worst people anywhere in the world.
01:33 Years ago, there wasn't even a protocol to spot human trafficking victims, let alone
01:39 help them and identify help for them.
01:43 However, a lot has changed since then.
01:47 Thanks to some of the amazing advocates, industry representatives, and law enforcement that
01:53 are in this room today, we are making big changes.
01:57 Just this past month, Arkansas State Police led an operation that detained 10 suspected
02:03 human traffickers and helped their victims.
02:07 Both women and children get the assistance that they need.
02:11 But we can do even better.
02:13 That's why, at the start of my administration, I signed an executive order and formed a working
02:18 group focused specifically on this issue.
02:22 We brought together experts from inside and outside of government.
02:27 And just last week, I received and released a list of recommendations to help solve this
02:32 problem.
02:33 Those include setting up a state police hub to combat human trafficking through centralized
02:38 reporting and clearly defined protocols, and a screening tool for private citizens and
02:45 public officials to use to evaluate possible victims.
02:50 I'm ready to get to work and put these recommendations into place.
02:54 We secured a federal grant, and Secretaries Hager and Putnam are putting their departments
03:00 quickly to work.
03:02 But government is only part of the solution.
03:05 We can roll out all the tools and all the resources possible.
03:09 But without the help of everyday Arkansans, we will never end human trafficking in our
03:15 state.
03:16 That's why this conference and each one of you in the room here today are so incredibly
03:21 important.
03:22 Yes, it's an opportunity to meet fellow experts.
03:25 Yes, it's a chance just to learn about the problem that we face with human trafficking
03:31 right here in Arkansas.
03:33 But it also raises awareness about an issue that I fear, frankly, far too many Arkansans
03:39 know nothing about.
03:41 And it's going to inspire everyone here today to get back out into our state with renewed
03:47 passion to fight this heinous crime.
03:51 So thank you, Tim, not just for the work that you're doing in your official role, but for
03:55 bringing this incredible group together and focusing on this critical issue and dedicating
04:02 yourself in this conference for bringing human trafficking victims into life.
04:08 I know that together we can prosecute the criminals, we can save the victims, and we
04:14 can work together to finally end human trafficking here in Arkansas.
04:20 Thank you so much for the work that you do, and thank you for being part of this incredible
04:24 and important event here today.
04:26 Thank you and God bless.