Date: 2014-07-23
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I rise in strong support of H.R. 5081. the "Strengthening Our Child Welfare Response to Trafficking Act of 2014." which strengthens the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (Pub. L. 93247) by requiring that state plans for federal grants for child abuse or neglect prevention and treatment programs include elements focused on human trafficking. Trafficking in humans is a major problem across the globe and in our own country. As lawmakers. we have a moral responsibility to combat this scourge and protect our children. especially those without parents to care for them. from being exploited and falling through the cracks. As the Founder and Chair of the Congressional Childrens Caucus. I understand how important it is to defend those who are too young to defend themselves. This problem is personal for me because according to the U.S. Department of Justice. my home city of Houston. Texas is the epicenter of human trafficking in the United States with over 200 active brothels in Houston and two new ones opening each month. Houston has also surpassed Las Vegas for the dubious distinction of having the most strip clubs and illicit spas serving as fronts for sex trafficking. Human trafficking in Texas is not limited to Houston. During the 2011 Dallas Super Bowl. 133 underage arrests for prostitution were made and during this years massive effort "Operation Cross Country" led by the FBI. several pimps were arrested. Between 1998 and 2003 more than 500 people from 18 countries were ensnared in 57 forced labor operations in almost a dozen cities throughout the State of Texas. Currently. our state child welfare systems do not properly identify and help the children that have been taken by this horrible industry. Even more disturbing is that the protections provided by our child welfare systems often do not extend to young victims of trafficking. Hard as it is to believe. in some states trafficked youths are not even regarded or classified as victims. Rather. they are treated as youthful offenders and consigned to the criminal justice system. These kids are not criminals. They are victims. robbed of their innocence by adult criminals. They are boys and girls who have been taken advantage of and are unable to escape an ugly system. I support H.R. 5081 because it is focused on helping atrisk and vulnerable children and treat them as victims rather than treating them as criminals. Specifically. the bill requires that state plans for Federal grants for child abuse or neglect prevention and treatment: 1. provide procedures to identify and assess all reports involving children known or suspected to be victims of sex trafficking. 2. provide training for child protection service workers to appropriately respond to reports of child sex trafficking. and 3. develop and implement policies and procedures to connect child victims to public or private specialized services. Additionally. the bill requires States to report annually the numbers of children identified as victims of sex trafficking within the already existing National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System. H.R. 5081 also requires the Department of Health and Human Services to submit a report to Congress outlining the prevalence and type of child trafficking nationwide as well as the current barriers to serving child victims comprehensively. I strongly support H.R. 5081 and urge my colleague to join me in voting for its passage which will help bring an end to the evil practice that is child sex trafficking.