Under this legislation, states are incentivized to put in place laws to clearly recognize that minors engaged in prostitution are not criminal bus victims who need to be protected from further trauma. My own state of North Carolina is one of a handful of states that has passed similar legislation explicitly recognizing that children involved in prostitution are victims in a modern day form of slavery. H. R. 3610 is an important step toward ensuring this becomes true nationwide. The average age for a girl to enter commercial sex trade is just 12 to 14 years old. For boys its even younger, just 11 to 13 years old. Contrary to what some might think, Human Trafficking isnt just happening in foreign countries, its happening right here on u. S. Soil, every day, and every hour. Thats why Congress Needs to do everything that it can to protect our children and address this issue. Thank you, mr. Chairman, and i thank the majority leader for the leadership on this important issue and yield back t