President Bush recently made a speech that didn?t receive much attention. It wasn?t about one of those issues dear to the media?s heart, like the war in Iraq, so it slipped under their radar. Only a handful of articles were written about the speech, and it received very little TV coverage. I think it deserves much more attention than that, because the subject of that speech is one of the biggest moral issues of our time.

Addressing the National Training Conference on Human Trafficking in Tampa, Florida, the president talked about steps he?s been taking to stop human trafficking. You may remember that President Bush unexpectedly addressed the United Nations on this subject last year, calling it ?a form of slavery? and asserting that ?such conduct should be a crime in all nations.? Also last year, the president signed the PROTECT Act, which cracked down on those traveling to or from the United States ?for the purpose of sex tourism involving children.? The president?s actions surprised and delighted those who have been struggling for years against an evil that?s too often ignored.

In his Florida speech, the president highlighted more of his initiatives against human trafficking. These include providing ?more than $295 million to support anti-trafficking programs in more than 120 countries?; doubling the number of new trafficking investigations over the past three years; and passing the Trafficking Victims Protection Act. This legislation gives refugee status to trafficking victims in the United States, so that, once they?re freed from their oppressors, they can remain here and get help.