IV 
111TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 1379 
Expressing the sense of Congress with respect to domestic sex trafficking 
of minors. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 19, 2010 
Mr. POE of Texas (for himself, Mr. COSTA, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, and 
Mrs. MALONEY) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on En-
ergy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 
Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 
the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
RESOLUTION 
Expressing the sense of Congress with respect to domestic 
sex trafficking of minors. 
Whereas nationally 450,000 children run away from home 
each year and 30 percent of shelter youth and 70 percent 
street youth report being victimized through domestic 
minor sex trafficking, including prostitution, pornog-
raphy, and sexual entertainment; 
Whereas experts estimate that at least 100,000 children are 
exploited through prostitution in the United States every 
year; 
Whereas as many as 129 girls are prostituted on a typical 
weekend night in the State of Georgia alone; 
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•HRES 1379 IH 
Whereas the average age of a child recruited into prostitution 
is 13 years old; 
Whereas victims of domestic minor sex trafficking testify that 
they were required to perform sex acts with up to 20 
buyers per day; 
Whereas only 10 buyers of sex trafficked minors have been 
indicted under the Federal law and few are charged 
under State laws for the crime of commercial sex abuse 
of a minor; 
Whereas the United States Attorney’s Office in the Western 
District of Missouri has obtained seven guilty pleas for 
violations of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 
2000 from individuals who attempted to buy commercial 
sex from minors; 
Whereas prostituted children across the country are being re-
sponded to with arrest and detention, such as in Las 
Vegas where 226 juveniles came before the Juvenile 
Court judge on prostitution charges in just 20 months 
and in Dallas where 165 juveniles were detained on pros-
titution and related charges in 2007, and in Miami where 
21 girls were prosecuted for prostitution in one year; 
Whereas only 2 States have passed laws establishing a pre-
sumption that a commercially sexually exploited child is 
a victim of sex trafficking and requires a child protection 
response instead of a criminal justice response; 
Whereas the number of beds in specialized residential place-
ments for victims of domestic minor sex trafficking num-
ber only around 80 in the entire country; 
Whereas children charged with prostitution are often ineli-
gible for crime victim compensation under State laws due 
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•HRES 1379 IH 
to their participation in the crime for which they are 
claiming victim status; and 
Whereas a victim of domestic minor sex trafficking can only 
heal through specialized, trauma-centered counseling 
which is not available in standard juvenile detention or 
other residential placement options: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) urges States to enact laws that address the 
crime of domestic minor sex trafficking by encom-
passing— 
(A) establishment of community-based, 
specialized residential facilities specifically tai-
lored to rehabilitating victims of sex trafficking; 
(B) presumption of victim status instead of 
a punitive criminal justice response; 
(C) the examination of ways to ensure that 
crime victim compensation funding programs 
are more readily available to victims of sex traf-
ficking; 
(D) increased penalties and fines for those 
who buy and sell children for sex acts; and 
(E) mandatory training for law enforce-
ment and others who come into contact with 
children; 
(2) encourages the Department of Health and 
Human Services to establish the pilot shelter for ju-
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