Help End Modern Slavery

My friend Jolene at Free the Slaves needs your help. They're one of the main groups in the US working to end modern slavery. To improve their efforts and the efforts of many others, funding is required. The US government has some pending legislation that can help in this area, but THEY NEED TO HEAR FROM PEOPLE LIKE YOU.

I've copied her request below. Please pitch in and help end modern slavery. Every action helps.

Thanks!

COPIED MESSAGE:

We urgently need your help to ensure that Congress continues to fund crucial programs that combat slavery in the U.S. and around the globe.

It’s a critical time in the annual appropriations process, and you can have a big impact. We must let Congress know that the fight against slavery has widespread public support. Federal programs help prosecute traffickers, assist slavery survivors, and ensure that U.S. foreign aid does not inadvertently promote trafficking and slavery.

In just three minutes, you can e-mail messages to your representative and the two senators that represent you. I have included a copy-and-paste e-mail below to make it easy.

You can quickly find your representatives’ e-mail address at: www.contactingthecongress.org

Take a stand against slavery today.

Thanks,

Jolene Smith
Free the Slaves CEO


COPY AND PASTE: (be sure to type in your name and city at the bottom)

I am writing to you, my Congressional representative, to let you know that I want you to take a stand against human trafficking and modern-day slavery. There are tens of thousands of slaves inside the U.S. today, and 27 million people in slavery throughout the world. I want the U.S. government to help prosecute traffickers, assist slavery survivors, and ensure that U.S. foreign aid does not inadvertently promote trafficking and slavery overseas.

I urge you to support the funding and report language in the State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Bill.

Specifically:

1) Please support the president’s budget request of $6.8 million in funding for administration costs of the Trafficking in Persons Office/Country Programs/Trafficking in Person.

2) Please support the president’s $25 million request to be used for trafficking prevention, victim services and prosecution in International Narcotics and Law Enforcement (INCLE) grants to fight human trafficking internationally.

3) Please include report language to ensure that foreign assistance does not inadvertently promote human trafficking and slavery.

Fighting slavery is important to me. I hope it is just as important to you.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

To Be Free

In 1845, American slave "Aaron" recorded the following story regarding the importance of freedom. I could not read it without weeping:

"A poor slave being on his death bed, begged of his master to give him his liberty before he died, 'I want to die free massa.' His master replied, you are going to die soon, what good will your liberty do? 'O master, I want to die free.' He said to the slave, 'you are free.' 'But do write it master, I want to see it on paper.' At his earnest request he wrote that he was free, the slave took it in his trembling hand, looked at it with a smile and exclaimed, 'O how beautiful, O how beautiful,' and soon fell asleep in the arms of death."

(from The Light and Truth of Slavery: Aaron's History; electronic text available at http://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/aaron/aaron.html)