Date: 2010-12-21
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Let me thank the gentleman on the Crime Subcommittee. I think it is appropriate at this time to thank him for his leadership as chairman. as I have had the privilege of serving with him. I think we have had and accepted some of the most provocative and innovative bills that really changed the lives of human beings. and I thank him very much for his service. Let me applaud as well Congresswoman MALONEY. Congressman SMITH. and my colleague from Texas. Madam Speaker. slavery is alive. and I rise to support the underlying bill dealing with domestic trafficking and to thank the Senate for getting this over in the hours within which we have to function to make sure that we move this legislation forward. Houston is particularly an epicenter. if you will. for this kind of activity. Being not so far away from the border. we have seen the increase of human trafficking and smuggling grow exponentially. and certainly. we all are familiar with the tragedy that happened in Victoria just a few years ago where we saw the loss of human lives that were being trafficked. So we know there is a constant. steady flow of individuals who are coming. but this is the most dastardly and heinous aspect of it. I am glad my colleagues have already indicated that this is a domestic problem. that even though we can go to Bangladesh and we can go to parts of Africa and other parts of South Asia. we find human trafficking right here in our backyard. I remember our former colleague Hilda Solis. now the Secretary of Labor. mentioning the loss of lives of women on the MexicanU.S. border who would just simply disappear. Some of them were prostitutes. some of them young girls. and to this day. lives and/ or those girls are still missing. So the stories go on and on and on. Frankly. I think there could be no better initiative to come in these last hours than this legislation. I want to pay tribute to some of the individuals who are on the ground. if you will. who we dont hear of quite frequently. The sheriff in Harris County. Adrian Garcia. recognizes the devastation of human trafficking. has set up a task force. which we are working with. and has attempted to make sure that he has the funding to stop the tide of those who call themselves "pimps" but who project themselves as boyfriends and friends and counselors and nurturers. who take these young girls insome girls that you never ever find again. I want to pay tribute as well to the Children at Risk. another Houstonbased organization that acknowledged and wrote a report on human trafficking that occurs in our locale. It is important to know that these various organizations really had to be selfstarters because. as they began to talk about human trafficking. no one else was. and you were in a city by yourself. Why are you talking about human trafficking? Isnt that global or international or something far away from here? I want to pay tribute to Kathryn Griffin. who has an organization that might have a provocative nameWeve Been There Done That. She is dealing with not only this broad question of human trafficking but of prostitutes who come in all ages who are attempting to rehabilitate themselves. She has established a home. and she is trying to counter the ridiculousness of 100 beds existing for these young girls who find themselves in these conditions. So. Madam Speaker. I started out by saying that slavery does exist. I. frankly. believe that one of the aspects of this bill is to be able to go after the service builders. if you willthe pimps. the usersand to be able to ensure that there is a place for someone to go.