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

Madam Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. The manager. Mr. SENSENBRENNER. is right. These are certainly both cases and legislation that. one. we are appalled at with the case studies that we have seen and with the legislation that we seek in a bipartisan manner to solve that exploitation. I rise in support of H.R. 159. the Stop Exploitation Through Trafficking Act of 2015. The Stop Exploitation Through Trafficking Act is another weapon in the war against sex trafficking in our country. Madam Speaker. we are truly at war. As we stand here today. some child is being sextraffickedsome runaway who is away from her family. not able to be found. not finding a place of refugefalling into the deadly hands. if you will. of someone who will take advantage of her almost for the rest of her life. In Houston. I met women who had engaged in or who had been subjected to that in the early part of their lives. and they will tell you how it follows them for a long. long time. so they subject themselves to drugs and alcohol to eliminate the pain. This bill contains important victimbased initiatives to help combat sex trafficking. One of those initiatives. the national safe harbor law. is essential to making sure that victims of sex trafficking are not criminalized but. instead. are diverted to Child Protective Services. Only 12 States have safe harbor laws for minor victims of sex trafficking. That is far too few. Obviously. we need all 50 States to have this safe harbor. My colleagues. there is no such thing as a child prostitute. There are only child victims of rape. Children cannot give consent. There is no such thing as a child prostitute. Likewise. it is illegal for adults to have sex with children. children who by their very ages are under the age of consent. Sex with a minor. again. is rape. The seriousness of the offense is not diminished by having the john pay for the sex. making him feel good. It is still rape. It is time we stopped referring to the customerthe person having sex with a childwith such a polite title as a "john." In addition. we must label those who provide the johns with children. with minors. as what they arehorrific and horrible and vile criminals. The person who is the john is a rapist. a child rapist. We must punish those who prey on the vulnerable. and that includes not only the pimps and the traffickers. but also the rapists. On the other hand. in an effort to help their recovery. we must not continue to victimize the victims. This bill empowers victims by providing for a national hotline to request help. The importance of this national hotline must not be underestimated. In my earlier statement. I spoke of a field hearing that I convened last March in Houston as a member of the Homeland Security Committee. During that hearing. Mr. McClelland. the chief of the Houston Police Department. testified that an 18yearold victim of human trafficking contacted the national hotline asking for help to escape her violent pimp. The young victim had been forced to have sex with a john who ended up stabbing her and leaving without paying any moneya stabbing. She was fearful and wanted to get the money. It was a horrible situation. While her injuries were not life threatening. she did require medical attention for her injuries. However. the pimp refused to take her to get medical treatment. and she owed him to make up the money that the previous john who stabbed her did not pay. Vices human trafficking unit received the information from hotline personnel and were able to contact. locate. and rescue the young female. They also arrested the pimp and charged him with felony of compelling prostitution. Madam Speaker. I wish there was a harsher charge. but it was good work by the local law enforcement. Madam Speaker. this story ends well. The young victim was reunited with family members that same day. This case serves as a great example of how law enforcement and nongovernmental organizations can successfully work together to not only rescue victims of human trafficking. but also arrest the perpetrators of this crime and get them off the street and away from other victims who are still out there. H.R. 159 also helps victims obtain restitution. and this is what I like: it puts them back on the right track by giving them eligibility for the Job Corps program. where we have seen lives turn around. It wants to say to them: You are valuable. you are worthy. and you have a future. This bill will help ensure that all victims of sex trafficking are treated as victims in every State and every jurisdiction. For these reasons. I join with my colleague. Mr. SENSENBRENNER. and urge my colleagues to support this legislation as well. Madam Speaker. I rise in support of H.R. 159. the "Stop Exploitation Through Trafficking Act of 2015." The Stop Exploitation Through Trafficking Act is another weapon in the war against sex trafficking in our country. This bill contains important victimbased initiatives to help combat sex trafficking. One of those initiatives. the National Safe Harbor Law. is essential to making sure that victims of sex trafficking are not criminalized. but instead are diverted to child protective services. Only 12 states have safe harbor laws for minor victims of sex trafficking. My colleagues. there is no such thing as a "child prostitute". there are only child victims of rape. Likewise. it is illegal for adults to have sex with children who. by their very age. are under the age of consent. Sex with a minor is rape! The seriousness of the offense is not diminished by having the "john" pay for the sex. It is still rape. and its time we stopped referring to the customer. the person having sex with a child. with such a polite title as a "john." He is a rapist. a child rapist! We must punish those who prey on the vulnerable. and that includes not only the pimps and traffickers but also the rapists. On the other hand. we must not continue to victimize the victims. In an effort to help their recovery. this bill empowers victims with a national hotline to request help. The importance of this national hotline must not be underestimated. In my earlier statement. I spoke of a field hearing that the Committee on Homeland Security held in Houston in March of last year. During that hearing Mr. Charles McClelland. Jr. Chief of Police. of the Houston Police Department. testified. � . . an 18 year old female victim of Human Trafficking . . . contacted the National Human Trafficking Resource Center Hotline asking for help to escape her violent pimp. The young victim had been forced to have sex with a "john" who ended up stabbing her and leaving without paying her any money. While her injuries were not life threatening. she did require medical attention for her injuries. however. the pimp refused to take her to get medical treatment until she earner him more money to make up for the money that the previous "john" did not pay. Vice/ Human Trafficking Unit personnel received the information from Hotline personnel. and were able to contact. locate. and rescue the young female. and also arrest the pimp and charge him with felony compelling prostitution. Madam Speaker. this story ends well. This young victim was reunited with family members that same day. This case serves as a great example of how law enforcement and nongovernmental organizations can successfully work together to not only rescue victims of Human Trafficking. but also arrest the perpetrators of this crime and get them off the street and away from other victims who are still out there. H.R. 159 also helps victims obtain restitution and grants them eligibility for Job Corps programs. This bill will help ensure that all victims of sex trafficking are treated as victims in every state and in every jurisdiction. For these reasons I support this bill and urge my colleagues to support it as well. Madam Speaker. I reserve the balance of my time.