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WASHINGTON—U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, on Thursday urged the Bush Administration to support bipartisan legislation he will introduce next week to crack down on sex trafficking. In a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, Cornyn asked the Administration, which has already done much in the effort, to support the End Demand for Sex Trafficking Act of 2005, a bill that targets and reduces demand for sex trafficking. The legislation will focus prosecution efforts on traffickers and exploiters of unlawful commercial sex acts, and assist non-government organizations that specialize in providing services to victims of such terrible activities.Sen. Cornyn will introduce the End Demand for Sex Trafficking Act of 2005 by the end of next week. He will be joined in the Senate by U.S. Sens. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), and it will be introduced in the House by U.S. Reps. Deborah Pryce (R-Ohio), Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), and Bobby Scott (D-Va.)."We must strengthen federal efforts to combat human trafficking and slavery, both abroad and within our very own borders," Cornyn said. "Most Americans would be shocked to learn that the abhorrent crime of sex trafficking continues to persist, not just around the world, but hidden in communities across America." In his letter, Cornyn noted that President Bush made clear last July that ending demand for sex trafficking is a critical component of the effort to combat the scourge of human trafficking and slavery at home and abroad. President Bush spoke last year to the first national training conference on Human Trafficking in the United States: Rescuing Women and Children from Slavery, hosted by the Justice Department in Tampa, Florida. He said: "we cannot put [human traffickers] out of business until and unless we deal with the problem of demand." The Senate unanimously passed a Cornyn-sponsored resolution last year urging all states to adopt legislation that will ensure the full coordination of local, state and federal efforts to fight the scourge of slavery and trafficking. The Cornyn resolution was based on recommendations made at the Tampa conference that states should adopt an anti-trafficking criminal statute similar to the models already in place in Texas, Florida, Missouri and Washington State.Sen. Cornyn served last year as chairman of the Constitution, Civil Rights and Property Rights subcommittee where he held a hearing on Examining U.S. Efforts to Combat Human Trafficking and Slavery. Witnesses included Michael Shelby, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas, and Johnny Sutton, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Texas, who testified on efforts to prosecute human trafficking cases in Texas – including a number of pending investigations. Also testifying at the hearing were several representatives of organizations involved in the fight against trafficking and slavery, including Sister Mary Ellen Dougherty of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Dr. Mohamed Mattar, Co-Director of The Protection Project at Johns Hopkins University.Below is the letter Sen. Cornyn sent to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on Thursday requesting support for the End Demand for Sex Trafficking Act of 2005:Dear Secretary Rice and General Gonzales,For the last four years, the President has been a stalwart champion of strengthening efforts to combat the scourge of human trafficking and slavery, not just abroad, but within our very own borders as well.Last July, a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing I chaired highlighted many of the Administration’s landmark efforts in this area to date. Later that same month, the President made clear that ending demand for trafficking is a critical component of this effort, in remarks he delivered before the first national training conference on Human Trafficking in the United States: Rescuing Women and Children from Slavery, hosted by the Justice Department in Tampa, Florida, and attended by a representative from my office. As the President stated, "we cannot put [human traffickers] out of business until and unless we deal with the problem of demand." Moreover, as the State Department’s 2004 Trafficking in Persons Report notes, "[c]onsiderable academic, NGO, and scientific research confirms a direct link between prostitution and trafficking. In fact, prostitution and its related activities . . . contribute[] to trafficking in persons by serving as a front behind which traffickers for sexual exploitation operate. . . . [P]rostitution directly contributes to the modern-day slave trade and is inherently demeaning. When law enforcement tolerates . . . prostitution, organized crime groups are freer to traffic in human beings."Accordingly, I ask that the Administration support the End Demand for Sex Trafficking Act of 2005, a copy of which I enclose here. Senators Chuck Schumer and Arlen Specter and I plan to introduce that legislation by the end of next week, and we expect a parallel bill to be introduced in the House by Representatives Deborah Pryce, Carolyn Maloney, and Bobby Scott. The legislation is the product of extensive discussions over the last several months between my office, Senator Schumer’s office, and major anti-trafficking organizations, as well as the offices of Representatives Pryce and Scott. I am pleased to report that, as a result of those discussions, we now have a bill that is supported by a broad coalition of anti-trafficking and human rights organizations – including the Ministerial Alliance of Midland, Texas, Faces of Children, the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women, Concerned Women for America, the Hudson Institute, the Institute on Religion and Democracy, the Institute on Religion and Public Policy, the Leadership Council for Human Rights, the National Association of Evangelicals, the Polaris Project, the Protection Project, the Religious Freedom Coalition, the Salvation Army, Shared Hope International, the Southern Baptist Convention, Standing Against Global Exploitation (SAGE), the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, World Vision, and other organizations and advocates.Thank you for your leadership and for your commitment to combating human trafficking and slavery. I look forward to working with you both to ensure the swift enactment of the End Demand for Sex Trafficking Act of 2005.Sincerely,JOHN CORNYNUnited States Senatorcc: Hon. John R. Miller, Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, Department of State Hon. R. Alexander Acosta, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, Department of Justice***Sen. Cornyn currently chairs the Immigration, Border Security and Citizenship subcommittee and the Emerging Threats and Capabilities subcommittee. He is the only former judge on the Judiciary Committee and served previously as Texas Attorney General, Texas Supreme Court Justice, and Bexar County District Judge.