[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 162 (Thursday, December 9, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2112]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            SEX TRAFFICKING

                                 ______
                                 

                              HON. TED POE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, December 9, 2010

  Mr. POE of Texas. Madam Speaker, for years we have heard of the 
horrors of international sex trafficking of children. It is an 
abomination that young children around the world are forced into this 
degrading, humiliating life. No child should have their innocence 
stolen in this manner.
  We're only just beginning to hear about the traffickers that prey on 
our own children, right here in America. The FBI's Innocence Lost Task 
Force calls domestic minor sex trafficking the ``most overlooked and 
under-investigated form of child sexual abuse.''
  Why aren't we paying closer attention to this in America? According 
to the FBI, it's because too many people believe that child 
prostitution is a victimless crime. How could a young boy or girl being 
forced into this lifestyle be victimless?
  These children are abused and exploited. The horror of what they've 
been through in their young lives is almost too much to bear. Children 
are not willing participants in this trauma. This kind of thinking is 
wrong. These children are victims. The men that buy young boys and 
girls for sex are guilty of exploitation and abuse.
  These sex traffickers and their customers are the filth of humanity. 
As one Texas Ranger told me, ``Judge, when you see one, get a rope.''
  Houston, Texas, is one of the main hubs for human trafficking in the 
United States. We have been dealing with this problem for a long time. 
However, in recent years the city has made tremendous strides towards 
addressing it.
  In Houston, we have one of the 42 Human Trafficking Rescue Alliance 
groups in the country. Together with the FBI's Innocence Lost 
initiative, they have rescued over 140 domestic victims. Numerous 
traffickers have been prosecuted, several receiving life sentences.
  Earlier this month, I met with the Human Trafficking Rescue Alliance. 
Included in this group is Houston Constable Ron Hickman--a law 
enforcement leader in confronting the epidemic of trafficking in Texas. 
He and his officers told me that one of the biggest issues they face in 
combating trafficking is how to care for the victims.
  More specifically, they told me that there is better care available 
to the international victims they rescue than there is for our own 
citizens. International victims are eligible to apply for a U-visa or a 
T-visa, which allows them to remain lawfully in the United States.
  Immigrant service groups help them apply for free legal, medical, 
mental, housing and educational services. Internationally trafficked 
children can receive care in a residential facility, or in a long-term 
foster home. Basically, we provide a wealth of care to internationally 
trafficked victims, as we should.
  It is a great thing to have these services. We should be doing all we 
can to rescue all children from this scourge.
  But consider the resources that are available to a victim of domestic 
trafficking in Houston. At the moment law enforcement agents come 
across victims of domestic trafficking, they are required to take them 
into custody. Once in custody, domestic minor victims can only gain 
access to services by being labeled as delinquents and charged with a 
class B misdemeanor of prostitution, obtaining a permanent criminal 
record.
  That's right--to gain access to short term services, they have to be 
arrested first. And these short term services do not even begin to 
address the severe physical and psychological trauma that these girls 
have survived.
  Without access to this specialized care, it has been shown that 
trafficking victims simply return to their traffickers and continue the 
cycle of abuse. They have nowhere else to go, so they go back to the 
only life they know.
  What we need in Houston and throughout the nation is specialized, 
long term, residential treatment facilities to care for victims of 
domestic minor sex trafficking. Any legislation that addresses this 
issue must include this victim-centered component.
  I am proud to be an original cosponsor of H.R. 5575, introduced by my 
friends Congresswoman Caroline Maloney and Congressman Chris Smith, 
which pays close attention to the care and support of victims.
  We have done a marvelous job caring for the victims that are 
trafficked across our border. We need to ensure that we are doing the 
same for our own children.
  And that's just the way it is.

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