Date: 2016-02-01
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I stand in strong support of H.R. 515 because it seeks to protect our children from predators by identifying the whereabouts of sex offenders and providing means to monitor their activities. This legislation is important because sex trafficking of children is a displaceable act that we detest and has been an ongoing concern for the United States. In addition to protecting our children from national threats. we must also consider the potential threat from international actors. especially during times of increased tourism. like for example the Super Bowl. FIFA World Cup. World Olympics and other major events around the world where tourism is high. This legislation by my friend Representative SMITH aims to protect our children from exploitation. specifically sex trafficking in tourism. by providing advance notice of intended travel by registered childsex offenders outside of the United States to the government of the destination country. This legislation is important because it requests that foreign governments notify the United States when a known childsex offender is seeking to enter the United States. International child exploitation is increasingly becoming a top priority for all nations and certainly is for our country. For instance. two years ago. during the FIFA World Cup in Brazil. reports of child exploitation received global attention. According to the Department of State. Brazil is a destination country for children subjected to sex trafficking. For the case of Brazil. child sex tourists typically arrive from Europe and North America. According to reports. the Rio de Janeiro civil police identified eight hotels and restaurants involved in a child sexual exploitation network in two city areas. Rio de Janeiro. Brazil. as you know. is where the World Olympics will be hosted this summer. According to the Huffington Post. major sporting event usually lead to a spike in the demand for sexual predatory activities. Unfortunately. these accounts of sexual predatory activity include child sex trafficking. Here at home. during the 2014 Super Bowl week. the Federal Bureau of Investigation. along with 50 law enforcement agencies. recovered 16 teenagers during an enforcement action on child sex trafficking. Additionally. more than 45 pimps were arrested. some of whom claimed to travel to the Super Bowl location specifically for the purpose of prostituting women and children at the sporting event. According to Judy Kluger. Director of Sanctuary for Families. and former judge for New York City Criminal Court of New York County. New York. "the Super Bowl could never not be breeding grounds for sexual exploitation." If a location experiences an exponential increase in large numbers of men travelling for entertainment. it will proportionally see an increase in those who purchase sex. As you all know. I am committed to ensuring the protection of children. always championing the protection of children. As cochair of the Childrens Caucus. I commend the work of all my colleagues here in Congress. dedicated to protecting children here in the U.S. and across the globe. This is why I support this legislation and I commend Representative SMITH for championing legislative measures dedicated to the safety and protection of our children worldwide.