Date: 2015-01-27
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Madam Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise in support of H.R. 350. the Human Trafficking Prevention. Intervention. and Recovery Act of 2015. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. sex trafficking is the fastest growing business of organized crime and the thirdlargest criminal enterprise in the world. The scourge of our society is estimated to be a $9 billion industry in the United States and as much as a $30 billion industry worldwide. All of the criminals and all of those who wish to do wrong realize that it is a bigger and better business than drugs because. tragically and unfortunately and with great sadness. they use their product over and over again. They use these innocent persons. many women. many children. many boys. over and over again. Because this criminal activity rarely occurs in public view. it is difficult to say exactly how many children are being victimized. What we do know. however. is that the problem is extensive. All you have to do is walk along any of the streets of major cities and find homeless teenagers. or even younger than that. and you will find out that in some way they have been tainted and touched and brutalized by sex trafficking. Madam Speaker. an estimated 290.000 American children are at risk of becoming victims of sex trafficking. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children estimates that one of every seven endangered runaways who reported to the center are likely victims of minor sex trafficking. I am told that the average age of minors entering the sex trade is between 12 and 14 years old. Vulnerable youth are primary targets. They are more easily lured into prostitution and other forms of child exploitation. while runaways and children in foster care are especially vulnerable. Child victims of sex trafficking can and do come from a type of home or socioeconomic background that makes them particularly. if you will. in the line of fire. The bottom line. however. Madam Speaker. is that all of these children are deserving of rescue. recovery. protection. and shelter. One of the advocacies that I had in my own hometown was to provide for children in foster care that had aged out. because those are likely victims. unbeknownst to themselves. and they are worthy of saving. The bill before us. H.R. 350. the Human Trafficking Prevention. Intervention. and Recovery Act of 2015. is an important step toward pursuing traffickers and those who solicit the services of trafficked individuals. It mandates a review of Federal and State prevention activities by the Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking. and this review is to be done in consultation with nongovernmental organizations. That is a great partnership. The purpose of this review is to identify best practices in the prevention of trafficking. This study. along with the mandated GAO. will provide muchneeded intelligence to be shared among those Federal. State. and local agencies dedicated to combating sex trafficking. And might I add. Madam Speaker. that what is also needed is a commitment. an investment of resources. to not just have the studies but to make sure that we match the importance of this legislation with resources. Witnesses testified at a Homeland Security Committee field hearing in Houston in March of last year. which I convened and brought Members of Congress to Houston for. which has a particularly serious problem. First. one of the biggest limitations on the ability of area law enforcement agencies to successfully combat human trafficking in and around Houston is a lack of data sharing. Another witness said welocal enforcementneed the Feds to build a Houston trafficking regional database accessible only to vice and human trafficking personnel to store. share. and search data on all aspects of Houstonarea human trafficking investigations. Madam Speaker. the need for the information that will be collected by the GAO study and the Interagency Task Force to monitor and combat trafficking is not only needed. it is long overdue. This bill also addresses a major concern that anti -trafficking advocates have shared with methe lack of housing or shelter for survivors. Trafficked kids need a way out. someplace to escape. Without such refuge. these children will return to their traffickers. and their traffickers will be waiting for them. This bill provides funding for local shelters so they get the support they need to house survivors and to get these young people started on the path to recovery. Today. we are considering several bills that address domestic minor sex trafficking. and it is right that we do all we can to protect our children. Most statistics indicate that the average age of a female when she is first victimized in human trafficking is a very young year of age. With this fact alone. we can understand why the majority of Federal investigations and prosecutions of trafficking involve minors. One of the statements we made on the floor today with all of these bills is that the minors are victimsthey are not the criminalsand they need to be saved. That is what we are committing to. I will share with you the testimony of another witness at last years field hearing. The witness said: Many of the females my officers are encountering on the streets. in the massage parlors. at the strip clubs. and on the Internet sites are typically 18 to 21. We know from experience that. while these young women may be adults now. they have. with all likelihood. been under the control of a pimp trafficker for many years. Madam Speaker. I met those women. Yes. they have been under the horrible domination of these traffickers for many years. and some were sold by their parents. We need to take definitive steps to ensure that this group of victims does not fall through the cracks because we are focusing on the minors. We do this by ensuring that the laws we pass and the supportive assistance we establish are also available to these older young women. In closing. Madam Speaker. I encourage my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 350. the Human Trafficking Prevention. Intervention. and Recovery Act. I compliment the sponsors and cosponsors. and I encourage them to remember that there are still those other victims of human trafficking who are equally deserving of our consideration and protection. While we will accomplish much in combating human trafficking by our actions today. let us commit ourselves to doing more. Madam Speaker. I rise in support of H.R. 350. the "Human Trafficking Prevention. Intervention and Recovery Act of 2015." According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. sex trafficking is the fastest growing business of organized crime. and the third largest criminal enterprise in the world. This scourge of our society is estimated to be a $9.8 billion industry in the United States and as much as a $30 billion industry worldwide. Because this criminal activity rarely occurs in public view. it is difficult to say exactly how many children are being victimized. What we do know. however. is that the problem is extensive. Madam Speaker. an estimated 290.000 American children are at risk of becoming victims of sex trafficking. and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children estimates that one of every seven endangered runaways reported to the Center are likely victims of minor sex trafficking. I am told that the average age of minors entering the sex trade is between 12 and 14 years. Vulnerable youth are primary targets. They are more easily lured into prostitution and other forms of child exploitation. and while runaways and children in foster care are especially vulnerable. child victims of sex trafficking can and do come from any type of home or socioeconomic background. The bottom line. however. Madam Speaker. is that all of these children are deserving of rescue. recovery. protection and shelter. The bill before us. H.R. 350. the Human Trafficking. Prevention. Intervention. and Recovery Act of 2015. is an important step toward pursuing traffickers and those who solicit the services of trafficked individuals. It mandates a review of federal and state prevention activities by the Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking. and this review is to be done in consultation with nongovernmental organizations. The purpose of this review is to identify best practices in the prevention of trafficking. This study. along with the mandated GAO will provide muchneeded intelligence to be shared among those federal. state and local agencies dedicated to combatting sex trafficking. Witnesses at a Homeland Security Committee field hearing held in Houston in March of last year testified. First. one of the biggest limitations on the ability of area law enforcement agencies to successfully combat Human Trafficking in and around Houston is our lack of data sharing. Another witness stated. We (local law enforcement) need the feds to build a Houston Trafficking Regional Database. accessible only to Vice/Human Trafficking personnel to store. share. and search data on all aspects of Houston area Human Trafficking investigations. Madam Speaker. the need for the information that will be collected by the GAO study and the Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking is not only needed. It is long overdue! This bill also addresses a major concern that antitrafficking advocates have shared with methe lack of housing or shelter for survivors. Trafficked kids need a way out. some place to escape to. Without such a refuge. these children will return to their traffickers. This bill provides the funding for local shelters to get the support they need to house survivors and get these young people started on the path to recovery. Madam Speaker. today we are considering several bills that address domestic minor sex trafficking. and it is right that we do all we can to protect our children. Most statistics indicate that the average age of a female when she is first victimized into Human Trafficking is years old. For this fact alone. we can understand why the majority of federal investigations and prosecutions of human trafficking involve minors. I must share with you. however. the testimony of another witness at last years field Houston field hearing. That witness said. � . . (many of the females that my officers are encountering on the streets. in the massage parlors and strip clubs. and on the internet sites are typically age 1821. We know from experience that while these young women may be adults now. they have. in all likelihood been under the control of a pimp/trafficker for many years. We need to take definitive steps to ensure that this group of victims does not fall through the cracks because we are focusing on the minors by ensuring that the laws we pass and the support/assistance we establish is also available to these young women. In closing. Madam Speaker I encourage my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 350. the Human Trafficking. Prevention. Intervention and Recovery Act of 2015. and I encourage them to remember that there are still those other victims of human trafficking who are equally deserving of our consideration and protection. While we will accomplish much in combating human trafficking by our actions today. there is still much more to be done. I reserve the balance of my time.