[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 76 (Tuesday, May 20, 2014)]
[House]
[Pages H4529-H4534]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
INTERNATIONAL MEGAN'S LAW TO PREVENT DEMAND FOR CHILD SEX TRAFFICKING
Mr. ROYCE. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 4573) to protect children from exploitation, especially sex
trafficking in tourism, by providing advance notice of intended travel
by registered child sex offenders outside the United States to the
government of the country of destination, requesting foreign
governments to notify the United States when a known child sex offender
is seeking to enter the United States, and for other purposes, as
amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 4573
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE AND TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the
``International Megan's Law to Prevent Demand for Child Sex
Trafficking''.
(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act
is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title and table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings.
Sec. 3. Definitions.
Sec. 4. Angel Watch Center.
Sec. 5. Sense of Congress provisions.
Sec. 6. Enhancing the minimum standards for the elimination of
trafficking.
Sec. 7. Assistance to foreign countries to meet minimum standards for
the elimination of trafficking.
Sec. 8. Rules of Construction.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Megan Nicole Kanka, who was 7 years old, was abducted,
sexually assaulted, and murdered in 1994, in the State of New
Jersey by a violent predator living across the street from
her home. Unbeknownst to Megan Kanka and her family, he had
been convicted previously of a sex offense against a child.
(2) In 1996, Congress adopted Megan's Law (Public Law 104-
145) as a means to encourage States to protect children by
identifying the whereabouts of sex offenders and providing
the means to monitor their activities.
(3) In 2006, Congress passed the Adam Walsh Child
Protection and Safety Act of 2006 (Public Law 109-248) to
protect children and the public at large by establishing a
comprehensive national system for the registration and
notification to the public and law enforcement officers of
convicted sex offenders.
(4) Law enforcement reports indicate that known child-sex
offenders are traveling internationally, and that the
criminal background of such individuals may not be known to
local law enforcement prior to their arrival.
(5) The commercial sexual exploitation of minors in child
sex trafficking and pornography is a global phenomenon. The
International Labour Organization has estimated
[[Page H4530]]
that 1.8 million children worldwide are victims of child sex
trafficking and pornography each year.
(6) Child sex tourism, where an individual travels to a
foreign country and engages in sexual activity with a child
in that country, is a form of child exploitation and, where
commercial, child sex trafficking.
(7) According to research conducted by The Protection
Project of The Johns Hopkins University Paul H. Nitze School
of Advanced International Studies, sex tourists from the
United States who target children form a significant
percentage of child sex tourists in some of the most
significant destination countries for child sex tourism.
(8) In order to protect children, it is essential that
United States law enforcement be able to identify child-sex
offenders in the United States who are traveling abroad and
child-sex offenders from other countries entering the United
States. Such identification requires cooperative efforts
between the United States and foreign governments. In
exchange for providing notice of child-sex offenders
traveling to the United States, foreign authorities will
expect United States authorities to provide reciprocal notice
of child-sex offenders traveling to their countries.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Center.--The term ``Center'' means the Angel Watch
Center established pursuant to section 4(a).
(2) Child-sex offender.--
(A) In general.--The term ``child-sex offender'' means an
individual who is a sex offender described in paragraph (3)
or (4) of section 111 of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and
Safety Act of 2006 (42 U.S.C. 16911) by reason of being
convicted of a child-sex offense.
(B) Definition of convicted.--In this paragraph, the term
``convicted'' has the meaning given the term in paragraph (8)
of section 111 of such Act.
(3) Child-sex offense.--
(A) In general.--The term ``child-sex offense'' means a
specified offense against a minor, as defined in paragraph
(7) of section 111 of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and
Safety Act of 2006 (42 U.S.C. 16911), including--
(i) an offense (unless committed by a parent or guardian)
involving kidnapping;
(ii) an offense (unless committed by a parent or guardian)
involving false imprisonment;
(iii) solicitation to engage in sexual conduct;
(iv) use in a sexual performance;
(v) solicitation to practice prostitution;
(vi) video voyeurism as described in section 1801 of title
18, United States Code;
(vii) possession, production, or distribution of child
pornography;
(viii) criminal sexual conduct involving a minor, or the
use of the Internet to facilitate or attempt such conduct;
and
(ix) any conduct that by its nature is a sex offense
against a minor.
(B) Other offenses.--The term ``child-sex offense''
includes a sex offense described in paragraph (5)(A) of
section 111 of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act
of 2006 that is a specified offense against a minor, as
defined in paragraph (7) of such section.
(C) Foreign convictions; offenses involving consensual
sexual conduct.--The limitations contained in subparagraphs
(B) and (C) of section 111(5) of the Adam Walsh Child
Protection and Safety Act of 2006 shall apply with respect to
a child-sex offense for purposes of this Act to the same
extent and in the same manner as such limitations apply with
respect to a sex offense for purposes of the Adam Walsh Child
Protection and Safety Act of 2006.
(4) Jurisdiction.--The term ``jurisdiction'' means any of
the following:
(A) A State.
(B) The District of Columbia.
(C) The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
(D) Guam.
(E) American Samoa.
(F) The Northern Mariana Islands.
(G) The United States Virgin Islands.
(H) To the extent provided in, and subject to the
requirements of, section 127 of the Adam Walsh Child
Protection and Safety Act of 2006 (42 U.S.C. 16927), a
federally recognized Indian tribe.
(5) Minor.--The term ``minor'' means an individual who has
not attained the age of 18 years.
SEC. 4. ANGEL WATCH CENTER.
(a) Establishment.--Not later than 90 days after the date
of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland
Security shall establish within the Child Exploitation
Investigations Unit of United States Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE) of the Department of Homeland Security a
Center, to be known as the ``Angel Watch Center'', to carry
out the activities specified in subsection (d).
(b) Leadership.--The Center shall be headed by the Director
of ICE, in collaboration with the Commissioner of United
States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and in
consultation with the Attorney General.
(c) Members.--The Center shall consist of the following:
(1) The Director of ICE.
(2) The Commissioner of CBP.
(3) Individuals who are designated as analysts in ICE or
CBP.
(4) Individuals who are designated as program managers in
ICE or CBP.
(d) Activities.--
(1) In general.--The Center shall carry out the following
activities:
(A) Receive information on travel by child-sex offenders.
(B) Establish a system to maintain and archive all relevant
information, including the response of destination countries
to notifications under subsection (e) where available, and
decisions not to transmit notification abroad.
(C) Establish an annual review process to ensure that the
Center is consistent in procedures to provide notification to
destination countries or not to provide notification to
destination countries, as appropriate.
(2) Information required.--The United States Marshals
Service's National Sex Offender Targeting Office shall make
available to the Center information on travel by child-sex
offenders in a timely manner for purposes of carrying out the
activities described in paragraph (1) and (e).
(e) Notification.--
(1) To countries of destination.--
(A) In general.--The Center may transmit notice of
impending or current international travel of a child-sex
offender to the country or countries of destination of the
child-sex offender, including to the visa-issuing agent or
agents in the United States of the country or countries.
(B) Form.--The notice under this paragraph may be
transmitted through such means as determined appropriate by
the Center, including through an ICE attache.
(2) To offenders.--
(A) General notification.--
(i) In general.--If the Center transmits notice under
paragraph (1) of impending international travel of a child-
sex offender to the country or countries of destination of
the child-sex offender, the Secretary of Homeland Security,
in conjunction with any appropriate agency, shall make
reasonable efforts to provide constructive notice through
electronic or telephonic communication to the child-sex
offender prior to the child-sex offender's arrival in the
country or countries.
(ii) Exception.--The requirement to provide constructive
notice under clause (i) shall not apply in the case of
impending international travel of a child-sex offender to the
country or countries of destination of the child-sex offender
if such constructive notice would conflict with an existing
investigation involving the child-sex offender.
(B) Specific notification regarding risk to life or well-
being of offender.--If the Center has reason to believe that
to transmit notice under paragraph (1) poses a risk to the
life or well-being of the child-sex offender, the Center
shall make reasonable efforts to provide constructive notice
through electronic or telephonic communication to the child-
sex offender of such risk.
(C) Specific notification regarding probable denial of
entry to offender.--If the Center has reason to believe that
a country of destination of the child-sex offender is highly
likely to deny entry to the child-sex offender due to
transmission of notice under paragraph (1), the Center shall
make reasonable efforts to provide constructive notice
through electronic or telephonic communication to the child-
sex offender of such probable denial.
(3) Sunset.--The authority of paragraph (1) shall terminate
with respect to a child-sex offender beginning as of the
close of the last day of the registration period of such
child-sex offender under section 115 of the Adam Walsh Child
Protection and Safety Act of 2006 (42 U.S.C. 16915).
(f) Complaint Review.--The Center shall establish a
mechanism to receive complaints from child-sex offenders
affected by notifications of destination countries of such
child-sex offenders under subsection (e).
(g) Consultations.--The Center shall seek to engage in
ongoing consultations with--
(1) nongovernmental organizations, including faith-based
organizations, that have experience and expertise in
identifying and preventing child sex tourism and rescuing and
rehabilitating minor victims of international sexual
exploitation and trafficking;
(2) the governments of countries interested in cooperating
in the creation of an international sex offender travel
notification system or that are primary destination or source
countries for international sex tourism; and
(3) Internet service and software providers regarding
available and potential technology to facilitate the
implementation of an international sex offender travel
notification system, both in the United States and in other
countries.
(h) Technical Assistance.--The Secretary of Homeland
Security and the Secretary of State may provide technical
assistance to foreign authorities in order to enable such
authorities to participate more effectively in the
notification program system established under this section.
SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS PROVISIONS.
(a) Bilateral Agreements.--It is the sense of Congress that
the President should negotiate memoranda of understanding or
other bilateral agreements with foreign governments to
further the purposes of this Act and the amendments made by
this Act, including by--
(1) establishing systems to receive and transmit notices as
required by title I of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and
Safety Act of 2006 (42 U.S.C. 16901 et seq.); and
[[Page H4531]]
(2) establishing mechanisms for private companies and
nongovernmental organizations to report on a voluntary basis
suspected child pornography or exploitation to foreign
governments, the nearest United States embassy in cases in
which a possible United States citizen may be involved, or
other appropriate entities.
(b) Notification to the United States of Child-sex Offenses
Committed Abroad.--It is the sense of Congress that the
President should formally request foreign governments to
notify the United States when a United States citizen has
been arrested, convicted, sentenced, or completed a prison
sentence for a child-sex offense in the foreign country.
SEC. 6. ENHANCING THE MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR THE ELIMINATION
OF TRAFFICKING.
Section 108(b)(4) of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act
of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7106(b)(4)) is amended by adding at the
end before the period the following: ``, including severe
forms of trafficking in persons related to sex tourism''.
SEC. 7. ASSISTANCE TO FOREIGN COUNTRIES TO MEET MINIMUM
STANDARDS FOR THE ELIMINATION OF TRAFFICKING.
The President is strongly encouraged to exercise the
authorities of section 134 of the Foreign Assistance Act of
1961 (22 U.S.C. 2152d) to provide assistance to foreign
countries directly, or through nongovernmental and
multilateral organizations, for programs, projects, and
activities, including training of law enforcement entities
and officials, designed to establish systems to identify sex
offenders and provide and receive notification of child sex
offender international travel.
SEC. 8. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.
(a) Department of Justice.--Nothing in this Act shall be
construed to preclude or alter the jurisdiction or authority
of the Department of Justice under the Adam Walsh Child
Protection and Safety Act of 2006 (42 U.S.C. 16901 et seq.),
including section 113(d) of such Act, or any other provision
law, or to affect the work of the United States Marshals
Service with INTERPOL.
(b) Angel Watch Center.--Nothing in this Act shall be
construed to preclude the Angel Watch Center from
transmitting notice with respect to any sex offender
described in paragraph (3) or (4) of section 111 of the Adam
Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 (42 U.S.C.
16911) or with respect to any sex offense described in
paragraph (5) of such section.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
California (Mr. Royce) and the gentleman from New York (Mr. Engel) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California.
General Leave
Mr. ROYCE. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to
include any extraneous material for the Record.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from California?
There was no objection.
Mr. ROYCE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
International Megan's Law, to prevent demand for child sex
trafficking, will bolster law enforcement efforts to combat a crime
that is worldwide. It affects hundreds of thousands of young children
every year. In particular, this bill addresses an issue of child sex
tourism, by which adults travel overseas.
They do this to exploit children in countries that are currently
struggling to deal with this influx of child predators, and part of
that influx is of Americans who are child predators.
Many children victimized by this appalling crime have also been
trafficked--trafficked into prostitution--recruited or transferred or
sold in order to be used sexually for someone's profit.
This bill helps fight back. This bill takes care of a problem that
exists at present, as there are multiple U.S. agencies seeking to
combat child trafficking, but not with any coordination, and they are
not doing it in time to prevent those who try to travel overseas. We
could be much more effective.
This bill officially recognizes an Angel Watch Center within the
Department of Homeland Security's Child Exploitation Investigations
Center. Operation Angel Watch originated as a partnership with the U.S.
Customs and Border Protection, and it currently collects and analyzes
the foreign travel date of convicted child sex offenders to determine
whether the notification to U.S. officials or foreign governments is
warranted.
Last year alone, Angel Watch sent 1,700 leads to 100 countries as
part of this effort to proactively and strategically alert
international law enforcement. Angel Watch's work is time-sensitive.
Travel data is sometimes not made available within the 24 hours before
a flight, while other helpful information collected by the Department
of Justice is, in fact, not even shared with Angel Watch or is not
shared soon enough.
This bill solidifies the Angel Watch Center as an important part of
the U.S. response to child sex tourism, and importantly, it improves
the timeliness of the information the center receives by requiring the
Justice Department to share its travel records promptly. This will
allow Angel Watch to better detect and to report the travel of child
predators.
I want to thank the bill's author, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr.
Smith), for his persistent leadership and dedication to this issue. I
would also like to recognize the chairman and ranking member of the
Committee on the Judiciary, as well as the ranking member, Mr. Eliot
Engel from New York, for his assistance on this important measure.
Madam Speaker, I want to say something briefly about other bills that
I have been involved with in today's antitrafficking package. One is
H.R. 3530, the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act, introduced by
Judge Poe, our colleague from Texas.
I want to thank the Committee on the Judiciary for consulting with
the Foreign Affairs Committee to ensure that the bill makes progress
both at home and also abroad.
On the Human Trafficking Congressional Advisory Committee that I
established last year in southern California, I hear directly from
advocates and from law enforcement and from survivors, themselves,
about the insufficient resources that law enforcement has as a tool
available to rescue victims and available to prosecute traffickers here
in the U.S.
By ensuring a victims center allocation of resources, enhancing
deterrents, and prioritizing the protection of trafficking and child
pornography victims, the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act
represents important progress in this struggle.
I also strongly support H.R. 4225, the Stop Advertising Victims of
Exploitation, or SAVE Act, introduced by the gentlelady from Missouri,
Representative Wagner.
In 2013, revenue from U.S. online prostitution advertising totaled an
estimated $45 million. As underscored by arrests in 22 States, those
ads, such as on backpage.com, sometimes involve the marketing of
children, of underage girls. This legislation will help stop this
exploitation.
In March, more than 40 of us here in Congress wrote to urge Attorney
General Eric Holder to take immediate action to end backpage.com's
facilitation of the buying and selling of people, including of
children. To date, we have not received a response. This legislation
would produce that effect.
All five of the bills being considered today represent important
steps towards abolishing the injustice of human trafficking, towards
protecting vulnerable individuals, and towards restoring the dignity of
those who have survived such exploitation. They deserve our strong
support.
Madam Speaker, I submit for the Record an exchange of letters between
me and Chairman Goodlatte of the Judiciary Committee regarding this
bill of which I am proud to be a cosponsor, and I would ask all Members
here to support it.
I reserve the balance of my time.
House of Representatives,
Committee on the Judiciary,
Washington, DC, May 13, 2014.
Hon. Ed Royce,
Chairman, Committee on Foreign Affairs, Rayburn House Office
Building, Washington, DC.
Dear Chairman Royce: I am writing with respect to H.R.
4573, the ``International Megan's Law to Prevent Demand for
Child Sex Trafficking'' which the Committee on Foreign
Affairs ordered reported favorably on May 9, 2014. As a
result of your having consulted with us on provisions in H.R.
4573 that fall within the Rule X jurisdiction of the
Committee on the Judiciary, I agree to discharge our
Committee from further consideration of this bill so that it
may proceed expeditiously to the House floor for
consideration.
The Judiciary Committee takes this action with our mutual
understanding that by foregoing consideration of H.R. 4573 at
this time, we do not waive any jurisdiction over subject
matter contained in this or similar legislation, and that our
Committee will be appropriately consulted and involved as
this bill
[[Page H4532]]
or similar legislation moves forward so that we may address
any remaining issues in our jurisdiction. Our Committee also
reserves the right to seek appointment of an appropriate
number of conferees to any House-Senate conference involving
this or similar legislation, and asks that you support any
such request.
I would appreciate a response to this letter confirming
this understanding with respect to H.R. 4573, and would ask
that a copy of our exchange of letters on this matter be
included in the Congressional Record during Floor
consideration of H.R. 4573.
Sincerely,
Bob Goodlatte,
Chairman.
____
House of Representatives,
Committee on Foreign Affairs,
Washington, DC, May 15, 2014.
Hon. Bob Goodlatte,
Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary, Rayburn House Office
Building, Washington, DC.
Dear Chairman Goodlatte: Thank you for consulting with the
Committee on Foreign Affairs on H.R. 4573, International
Megan's Law to Prevent Demand for Child Sex Trafficking, and
for agreeing to be discharged from further consideration of
that bill. The suspension text contains edits to portions of
the bill within the Rule X jurisdiction of the Committee on
the Judiciary that were drafted in consultation with your
committee.
I agree that your forgoing further action on this measure
does not in any way diminish or alter the jurisdiction of the
Committee on the Judiciary, or prejudice its jurisdictional
prerogatives on this resolution or similar legislation in the
future. I would support your effort to seek appointment of an
appropriate number of conferees to any House-Senate
conference involving this legislation.
I will seek to place our letters on H.R. 4573 into the
Congressional Record during floor consideration of the
resolution. I appreciate your cooperation regarding this
legislation and look forward to continuing to work with the
Committee on the Judiciary as this measure moves through the
legislative process.
Sincerely,
Edward R. Royce,
Chairman.
Mr. ENGEL. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 4573,
known as International Megan's Law, and I yield myself such time as I
may consume.
Before I begin, I would first like to commend our colleague, Mr.
Chris Smith of New Jersey, for his leadership on human rights, on
antitrafficking issues, and for his and his staff's hard work on H.R.
4573. I can't begin to tell our colleagues how relentless Mr. Smith has
been and his staff has been. This has really been almost a personal
crusade for him.
I know, if it weren't for the gentleman from New Jersey, we would not
be this far on this legislation, so I really think our colleagues
should know of his dedication and hard work on this matter.
I also want to thank the Judiciary Committee for its bipartisan input
on this bill. I know all of the parties worked hard to make sure that
the bill is a practical and effective mechanism which will help make a
difference in the lives of those victimized by sexual predators.
We worked very closely with the Judiciary Committee on this bill as
well. This is a really good product with many bipartisan inputs from
several committees, primarily from Foreign Affairs and the Judiciary.
International Megan's Law aims to prevent child sex offenders and
traffickers from exploiting vulnerable children when they cross an
international border.
In many countries, extreme poverty and gaps in law enforcement create
zones of impunity in which sex offenders exploit vulnerable children.
Sometimes, local officials have no idea that this is going on.
Sometimes, they turn a blind eye; and sometimes, unfortunately,
officials are even complicit in this crime.
H.R. 4573 establishes an Angel Watch Center within Immigration and
Customs Enforcement that would provide advance notice to foreign
countries when a convicted child sex offender travels to that country.
The bill also calls on the President to negotiate agreements with
foreign governments that would encourage information sharing on known
child sex offenders.
Around the world, as many as 27 million people are victims of human
trafficking, many of them children exploited in prostitution. These
repugnant practices amount to modern slavery. They violate our deepest
moral values, and they demand a timely and effective response.
Madam Speaker, we need to do all we can to encourage governments
around the world to live up to their responsibilities and confront this
crime. Protecting trafficked children requires timely victim
identification, placing them in safe environments, and providing them
with comprehensive support services--physical and mental health care,
educational opportunities, legal assistance, and the reintegration with
family and community.
No single government or single law will put an end to child sex
tourism or to child sex trafficking, but every step we take strengthens
our ability to prevent these crimes, to protect its victims, and to
punish those responsible. So, Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to
support H.R. 4573.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. ROYCE. Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from New
Jersey (Mr. Smith), the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on
Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International
Organizations. He is also the author of this bill.
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. First of all, let me begin by thanking our
distinguished chairman, Ed Royce, for his leadership on combating human
trafficking in general and for his strong support for this legislation
today. To him and his staff, I am deeply, deeply grateful.
Then, to Eliot Engel, the ranking member, we work as a team, and he
works as a team, and it is one of the most bipartisan committees,
probably, in the House.
Thank you for your leadership on this as well and for your kind words
a moment ago. I do deeply appreciate it.
Madam Speaker, protecting women and children from violence and
predatory behavior is among the highest duties and responsibilities of
government.
{time} 1745
So today is truly a historic day--a historic day in the struggle to
end human trafficking and to protect the weakest and must vulnerable
from modern-day slavery.
As prime author of the landmark Trafficking Victims Protection Act of
2000, as well as reauthorizations of that law in 2003 and 2005, I
believe the five bills under consideration by the House today will
significantly prevent the horrific crime of human trafficking, protect
and assist victims, and prosecute those who exploit and abuse.
Madam Speaker, as we all know, legislative priorities in the U.S.
House of Representatives don't happen by default, nor by happenstance.
I especially want to single out Majority Leader Eric Cantor for his
extraordinary leadership in ensuring that these five bills--and there
will be others, I am sure, in their wake--were brought to the floor.
There were multiple referrals to committees and subcommittees. I know
that our bill was referred to the Judiciary Committee--we worked very
closely with the Judiciary Committee and their staff--as well as
Homeland Security, which also was very supportive. It is that kind of
coordination and leadership that makes what looks like an easy walk--
and this has not been an easy walk for these bills; it never is--to
come to the floor today with all of the differences of opinion.
We are united on the floor of the House of Representatives today in
saying in a bipartisan way absolutely ``no'' to this crime of human
trafficking.
So thank you Eric Cantor for that leadership. It is deeply, deeply
appreciated.
Madam Speaker, H.R. 4573, the International Megan's Law to Prevent
Demand for Child Sex Trafficking, is a serious attempt to mitigate
child sex tourism by noticing countries of destination concerning the
travel plans of convicted pedophiles. And to protect American children,
the bill encourages the President of the United States and everyone
else, like the Secretary of State, to use bilateral agreements and
assistance to establish reciprocal notification so that we will know
when a convicted child abuser comes to the United States.
Madam Speaker, in 1994, a young girl in my district, then my hometown
of Hamilton Township, was lured into the home of a convicted pedophile
who lived across the street from her home. Megan Kanka, 7 years old,
was raped and murdered.
[[Page H4533]]
No one, including Megan Kanka's parents or any of the other
neighbors, knew that their neighbor across the street had been
convicted twice and jailed for child sexual assault.
The combination of concern for at-risk children and outrage towards
those who abuse them led to enactment of Megan's Law--public sex
offender registries--in every State in the country. In 2006, Chairman
Sensenbrenner nationalized the whole idea and concept of the registry
as part of his historic law, the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety
Act.
Madam Speaker, it is imperative that we take the lessons learned on
how to protect our children from known child sex predators within our
borders and expand those to children globally. Child predators thrive
on secrecy, a secrecy that allows them to commit heinous crimes against
children with impunity and without any meaningful accountability.
Megan's Law, with its emphasis on notification, must go global to
protect American children and children worldwide.
Let's not forget the prevalence or the size of this abuse. Nobody
knows for sure exactly how many, but the International Labor
Organization estimates that 1.8 million children are victims of
commercial sexual exploitation around the world every year.
Madam Speaker, it is also worth noting that in 2010 the Government
Accountability Office issued a report entitled, ``Current Situation
Results in Thousands of Passports Issued to Registered Sex Offenders.''
They found that at least 4,500 U.S. passports were issued to registered
sex offenders in fiscal year 2008 alone. The GAO emphasized that this
number is probably understated due to the limitations of the data that
it was able to access and analyze.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mr. ROYCE. I yield the gentleman an additional 1 minute.
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Thank you, Chairman Royce.
Meanwhile, the law enforcement and media reports continue to document
Americans on the U.S. sex offender registries who were caught sexually
abusing children in East Asia and Central and South America and
everyplace in the world. It is the same horror movie replayed over and
over. We must do more to warn destination countries so that they can,
in turn, protect their children from sex tourism. We have the
information and technology that is employed to protect children.
Madam Speaker, I ask Members to support this legislation. It is the
second time that we have brought this bill to the floor. It is slightly
different than it was in 2010. It passed then. It got no action in the
United States Senate.
I hope all five of these historic bills are taken up in a very timely
fashion by the U.S. Senate because protecting the weakest and the most
vulnerable--women, children, and especially the at-risk population--
from this cruelty must be an imperative. And the Senate needs to act,
as we are acting.
I would like to thank the National Center for Missing and Exploited
Children for their support of the legislation.
Mr. ENGEL. I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms.
Jackson Lee).
Ms. JACKSON LEE. I thank the gentleman, the ranking member of the
Foreign Affairs Committee, for his leadership on so many issues of
compassion and passion, and certainly this issue. I thank the chairman
of the full committee, as well as the author of this bill, Mr. Smith.
I was on the Judiciary Committee when Megan's Law was passed. Now I
am on the Homeland Security Committee.
So I raise this paradoxical question: who equates sex trafficking and
tourism? That is what is going on internationally around the world.
Individuals who may have been convicted here in the United States,
may be labeled here in the United States, can secure passports and have
a full and flourishing and horrific ongoing experience by utilizing and
abusing the children in foreign countries.
Many times, these countries are developing nations. We can call the
roll of names. Many times, law enforcement are collaborating with these
sex tourists. There is an area set aside for these sex tourists. In
fact, it is called that. They go there with impunity and abuse
children--street children who have no other way to go.
This is an important initiative. Again, it is the round circle of
addressing this question holistically.
Just today in the markup in the border security and maritime security
committee we discussed, as I indicated in earlier debate, the 60,000
children that come across the border to the United States
unaccompanied.
We also mentioned the need to provide enhanced training for our CBP
officers at the border. That will complement this legislation, which
establishes protocols to discern those individuals who are coming into
our country who are convicted pedophiles.
It is Megan's Law International. It is Megan's Law relief for those
who are being abused outside of our border.
I am very pleased that there is an Angel Watch Center to assist the
CBP and that the effort has been made in this bill to ask our President
to collaborate on bilaterals with countries to establish the link
between their convicted sex predators and to be able to identify them,
as we identify them here in the United States, to stop this dastardly
act across and around the world.
So I congratulate the proponents of this legislation and I hope this
will be one more step in saving some child's life. They may not be in
our boundaries. They may not be within our borders, but they may be
outside of them. And I can assure my colleagues that it is documented
every day that sex tourism is a big business. Until we put a stop to it
in some way, it will continue to grow.
With that, I ask my colleagues to support this legislation, H.R.
4573, and I thank the proponents of the legislation.
Mr. ROYCE. Madam Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlelady
from Missouri (Mrs. Wagner), a member of the Committee on Financial
Services and author of the SAVE Act, an important antitrafficking
measure that was debated earlier this afternoon.
Mrs. WAGNER. Madam Speaker, I thank the chairman for his leadership
in this.
I rise today, Madam Speaker, in support of H.R. 4573, the
International Megan's Law to Prevent Demand for Child Sex Trafficking.
My very good friend, Congressman Chris Smith, a champion on all
issues around human rights, antitrafficking, and taking care of the
most vulnerable, has introduced this important legislation to protect
children at home and abroad from the scourge of sex trafficking.
H.R. 4573 will provide advance notice of foreign travel by registered
sex offenders to the government of the destination country.
Madam Speaker, this notice would allow the foreign government to
identify and scrutinize the sex offenders' activity, ensuring that they
do not engage in the ghastly practice of sex tourism.
Sex offenders often plan their trips by seeking out the locations
where the most vulnerable children can be found, many times in
countries where law enforcement is unable to effectively guard against
the problem. Madam Speaker, sex offenders should not be allowed to use
the anonymity provided by foreign travel to help hide their hideous
crimes.
The U.S. should take a leading role as a global defender of children
from sexual abuse. This is why I support H.R. 4573, because it will
give governments the information they need to prevent sexual offenders
from taking advantage of gaps in law enforcement.
Mr. ENGEL. Madam Speaker, in closing, I want to once again thank
Chairman Royce, Representative Smith of New Jersey, and the Judiciary
Committee for their hard work on this legislation.
Again, I want to single out Representative Smith for being relentless
in this bill.
I appreciate the willingness of all interested parties to make the
compromises necessary to ensure that this is a truly bipartisan
product. The result is an important tool in the fight against child sex
tourism and trafficking.
I want to thank Chairman Royce as well.
Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I yield
back the balance of my time.
[[Page H4534]]
Mr. ROYCE. Madam Speaker, you have heard today about the
unconscionable child sex tourism industry which has been operating now
for years overseas. There are child victims at home here, too.
Our proactive efforts to help countries identify incoming child
predators will also encourage them to alert us when those foreigners
convicted of sex offenses against children attempt to enter the United
States, just as we are going to control the process on this side.
I thank Mr. Chris Smith of New Jersey and Mr. Eliot Engel of New
York, and I encourage Members to support passage of the International
Megan's Law to Prevent Demand for Child Sex Trafficking.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. McCAUL. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4573, the
International Megan's Law to Prevent Child Sex Trafficking. This bill,
along with the others under consideration this week, will dramatically
improve our efforts to diminish the tragic effects of human trafficking
and child exploitation.
I am especially pleased to speak in support of this particular
legislation, which would curb child sexual exploitation. Recently I
chaired a field hearing in Houston on the unconscionable issue of human
trafficking and child exploitation in our major cities. In Houston, and
in many other cities across the United States, women and children, some
not even in their teens, are held against their will and forced into
prostitution rings.
At our hearing, one of the witnesses spoke about entering the world
of sex trafficking at age 12. Now, decades later, she is working to
rescue girls in the same situation. As a father of five children, I
cannot imagine what she went through.
As Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, I am pleased to
highlight some of the great work done by the Department of Homeland
Security in this area.
One of the provisions of H.R. 4573 I helped work on and am pleased to
highlight is a provision to authorize the Angel Watch Center. The
Center is led by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), in a
joint effort with Customs and Border Protection to proactively identify
registered sex offenders with an offense against a child, who are
travelling abroad from the United States.
The Angel Watch program currently provides publicly available child
sex offender information to notify and alert foreign law enforcement
partners when a child sex offender may be travelling to engage in sex
tourism with a minor.
Through the Angel Watch program, HSI has provided more than 1,700
leads to 100 countries as a preemptive notification in the fight
against child sex tourism.
However, despite the great work done by DHS to alert foreign law
enforcement partners, currently, only one country, Australia, sends
reciprocal information to the United States. That is why I am pleased
that the bill before us today includes language that will strengthen
reciprocal efforts for the United States to also receive information
from other foreign governments, so that our law enforcement officials'
are alerted when a child-sex offender may travel to the United States.
I want to thank Chairman Smith, the sponsor of this bill, for his
work on this important legislation, and I appreciate the opportunity to
highlight the important role that the Department of Homeland Security
plays in fighting sex trafficking.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from California (Mr. Royce) that the House suspend the rules
and pass the bill, H.R. 4573, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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