Republican Iowa Secretary of State, Paul Pate, was the guest speaker for the Knoxville Rotary Club Wednesday.

Pate centered his speech on stopping human trafficking and asked the crowd if they see something suspicious to report it to law enforcement.

Pate told KNIA/KRLS News what his main message was in regards to trafficking, “Well I’m excited to see that Rotary Club here in Knoxville is stepping up, on more education on human trafficking. We want to eliminate it in Iowa. Iowa is a great state, we don’t accept this kind of behavior, taking advantage of 12 and 14 year-olds and trafficking sexually or for illegal labor. So my message today is to learn something about it and help us do something about it.”

Pate added his goal is to combat human trafficking by bringing attention to it and making communities safe.