Former star NFL and college quarterback Tim Tebow gave riveting testimony to Congress Wednesday on the scourge of human trafficking and its horrific effects on the youngest victims.
The ever-popular Tebow visited Capitol Hill on a mission to propose legislation “to enhance the capability to identify and locate more than 50,000 unidentified children who are victims of traffickers.”
The now-activist who founded the Tim Tebow Foundation told lawmakers, “To sum it up, we strive to fight for people who can’t fight for themselves.”
The Heisman Trophy winning Tebow cried during his introductory remarks before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance. He read a letter that a young victim wrote to him personally.
The child pleaded, “Rescue me. Help me. Monsters are chasing. Can’t you see. Monsters are whispering. Can’t you hear? Monsters are shouting you are nothing. Can’t you feel my pain?”
Tebow was far from the only person moved by the child’s cries.
Tim Tebow Calls for a “Rescue Team” to Save Exploited Children 🙏
A Bill is presented to build a “Rescue Team” to save children
Why would any person in congress be against this? https://t.co/fT69WyJvTJ pic.twitter.com/q8WTdtvODY
— MJTruthUltra (@MJTruthUltra) March 7, 2024
The former University of Florida star asked legislators to approve a bill to create and fund a child rescue squad. The group would be charged with locating and rescuing children who are victims of traffickers and may otherwise fall through the cracks of the system.
Words, he said, are not enough. “But if all we do today is speak, all I do is speak, I also missed the mark. We have to do more than just talk about it. We have to act on it and be about it.”
It was last fall when a Homeland Security unit undertook its first actions in Operation Renewed Hope. This program identified children found in horrific online images.
The government team established contact with 14 child victims and was successful in rescuing several from dangerous and exploitative situations.
Tebow told lawmakers that he wants to see these actions repeated. He called for the same resources that are poured into popular sports teams to go toward saving children from a lifetime of physical and emotional damage due to trafficking.
The former quarterback explained, “This bill really has one goal: to build a rescue team. Because there’s so many front-line warriors and heroes but there are just not enough of them and we need to support them. We need more of them to get to these 50,000 boys and girls.”
