Oversight
More on Oversight
Thank you, Chairman Foster and Chairwoman Stevens, for convening today’s hearing to examine the role of science and technology in disrupting the horrendous trade of human trafficking.
Nearly 25 million people worldwide are exploited and subjected to forced labor through human trafficking every year. To say human trafficking is a monumental challenge would be an understatement. It is a challenge that requires a global response. It requires international coordination and engagement between government, industry, non-profit organizations, and academia.
Thank you, Chairman Foster, and Chairwoman Stevens. And thank you to our witnesses for your participation today in this joint subcommittee hearing.
I am looking forward to learning from our expert witnesses about how technology is being leveraged to combat human trafficking and what tools are needed to tackle it.
Human trafficking is a global problem, causing untold suffering and pain. And while it often remains an unseen problem, the truth is that it is far more widespread and destructive than it may seem.
Emerging and evolving technologies can help us fight this plague, though. One of the reasons I enjoy serving on the Science Committee is our ability to focus on solutions to some of the greatest challenges we face.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – While coronavirus-related research is now in overdrive, most other research has been slowed down or stopped altogether due to pandemic-induced closures of campuses and laboratories. Now, tens of thousands of graduate students, postdocs, principal investigators and other technical support staff are at risk of losing their employment and their work without federal relief. Additionally, with this research stopped, America may lose the benefits that come with new technologies and scientific insights.
Thank you, Chairman Foster. And thank you to our witnesses for your participation today.
The COVID-19 pandemic is unlike anything we have faced since the 1918 Spanish flu. At the time, we had very few tools to slow the spread of the virus, develop treatments, or produce a vaccine to make ourselves immune to it. Thankfully, that has changed.
House Science, Space, and Technology Committee Ranking Member Frank Lucas joined a letter opposing the Democrats’ partisan assault on the rights of the House Minority in H.Res 965. The letter to Majority Leader Steny Hoyer was led by House Homeland Security Committee Ranking Member Rogers and joined by the Ranking Members of all standing and select committees.
Today, the top Republicans from seven different House committees — led by Oversight Ranking Member Jim Jordan (R-OH) — sent a letter to Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos asking for information about the Chinese Communist Party’s investment in American colleges and universities to further its strategic and propaganda goals.
What the letter says: