[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 116 (Wednesday, July 23, 2014)]
[House]
[Pages H6704-H6709]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
STRENGTHENING CHILD WELFARE RESPONSE TO TRAFFICKING ACT OF 2014
Mr. HECK of Nevada. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass
the bill (H.R. 5081) to amend the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment
Act to enable State child protective services systems to improve the
identification and assessment of child victims of sex trafficking, and
for other purposes.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 5081
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Strengthening Child Welfare
Response to Trafficking Act of 2014''.
SEC. 2. CAPTA AMENDMENTS.
Section 106 of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act
(42 U.S.C. 5106a) is amended--
(1) in subsection (b)--
(A) in paragraph (2)(B)--
(i) by striking ``and'' at the end of clause (xxii); and
(ii) by adding at the end the following:
``(xxiv) provisions and procedures to identify and assess
reports involving children who are sex trafficking victims,
and which may include provisions and procedures to identify
and assess reports involving children who are victims of
severe forms of trafficking in persons described in section
of 103(9)(B) of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of
2000 (22 U.S.C. 7102(9)(B));
``(xxv) provisions and procedures for training
representatives of the State child protective services
systems about identifying and assessing children who are sex
trafficking victims, and which may include provisions and
procedures for such training with respect to children who are
victims of severe forms of trafficking in persons described
in section of 103(9)(B) of the Trafficking Victims Protection
Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7102(9)(B)); and
``(xxvi) provisions and procedures for identifying services
(including the services provided by State law enforcement
officials, the State juvenile justice system, and social
service agencies, such as runaway and homeless youth
shelters) and procedures for appropriate referral to address
the needs of children who are sex trafficking victims, and
which may include provisions and procedures for the
identification of such services and procedures with respect
to children who are victims of severe forms of trafficking in
persons described in section of 103(9)(B) of the Trafficking
Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7102(9)(B));'';
(B) in paragraph (2)(D)--
(i) by striking ``and'' at the end of clause (v);
(ii) by inserting ``and'' at the end of clause (vi); and
(iii) by adding at the end the following:
``(vii) the provisions and procedures described in clauses
(xxiv) and (xxvi) of subparagraph (B);''; and
(C) in paragraph (4)--
(i) by striking ``and'' at the end of subparagraph (A);
(ii) by striking the period at the end of subparagraph (B)
and inserting ``; and''; and
(iii) by adding at the end the following:
``(C) Sex trafficking victim.--The term `sex trafficking
victim' means a victim of--
``(i) sex trafficking (as defined in section 103(10) of the
Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C.
7102(10))); or
[[Page H6705]]
``(ii) a severe form of trafficking in persons described in
section 103(9)(A) of such Act (22 U.S.C. 7102(9)(A)).''; and
(2) in subsection (d), by adding at the end the following:
``(17) The number of children identified under clause
(xxiv) of subsection (b)(2)(B), and of such children--
``(A) the number identified as sex trafficking victims (as
defined in subsection (b)(4)(C)); and
``(B) in the case of a State that has provisions and
procedures to identify children who are victims of severe
forms of trafficking in persons described in section
103(9)(B) of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000
(22 U.S.C. 7102(9)(B)), the number so identified.''.
SEC. 3. REPORT TO CONGRESS.
(a) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and Human
Services shall submit to the Committee on Education and the
Workforce of the House of Representatives and the Committee
on Health, Education, Labor, and Pension of the Senate, a
report that--
(1) describes the specific type and prevalence of severe
form of trafficking in persons to which children who are
identified for services or intervention under the placement,
care, or supervision of State, Indian tribe, or tribal
organization child welfare agencies have been subjected as of
the date of enactment of this Act;
(2) summarizes the practices and protocols utilized by
States to identify and serve--
(A) under section 106(b)(2)(B) of the Child Abuse
Prevention and Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 5106a(b)(2)(B)),
children who are victims of trafficking; and
(B) children who are at risk of becoming victims of
trafficking; and
(3) specifies any barriers in Federal laws or regulations
that may prevent identification and assessment of children
who are victims of trafficking, including an evaluation of
the extent to which States are able to address the needs of
such trafficked children without altering the definition of
child abuse and neglect under section 3 of the Child Abuse
Prevention and Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 5101 note).
(b) Definitions.--For purposes of this section:
(1) Severe form of trafficking in persons.--The term
``severe form of trafficking in persons'' has the meaning
given the term in section 103(9) of the Trafficking Victims
Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7102(9)).
(2) Victim of trafficking.--The term ``victim of
trafficking'' has the meaning given the term in section
103(15) of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22
U.S.C. 7102(15)).
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Nevada (Mr. Heck) and the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Bass) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Nevada.
General Leave
Mr. HECK of Nevada. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all
Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their
remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 5081.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Nevada?
There was no objection.
Mr. HECK of Nevada. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
I rise today in support of H.R. 5081, the Strengthening Child Welfare
Response to Trafficking Act of 2014. Mr. Speaker, human trafficking has
reached epidemic proportions in the United States. Young people are
being forced into manual labor or commercial sexual activity in what
has become a $32 billion a year industry.
While we are fighting trafficking with every tool available, there is
more that can be done. The fact remains that domestic child trafficking
is a serious problem in the United States. Around 300,000 American
youth are at risk of sexual commercial exploitation and trafficking per
year.
Through my involvement with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police
Department, I have seen the exploitation and horrific abuses
trafficking victims have to endure. As an emergency room physician, I
have seen the physical, emotional, and psychological trauma inflicted
on victims, and as a father, it sickens me to think that one of my
children could become a victim.
As a Member of Congress, I have worked on legislation to help address
this problem and held a local roundtable in Nevada with victims,
advocacy, and law enforcement groups.
H.R. 5081, the Strengthening Child Welfare Response to Trafficking
Act of 2014, will help protect child victims by improving practices
within State child welfare systems to identify, assess, and document
sex trafficking victims.
This legislation amends the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act
to direct States to implement and maintain procedures to identify and
assess reports involving children who are victims of sex trafficking.
Additionally, this bill requires that States train child protective
services workers on how to identify these children and the services
necessary to meet their needs, and it would improve reporting on the
number of children identified as sex trafficking victims.
The bill also requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to
report on the type of prevalence of youth trafficking victims in the
welfare system, provide a summit of State practices for serving youth
trafficking victims, and report on any barriers in Federal law that
prevents the identification and assessment of youth victims of
trafficking.
Instead of properly identifying and assisting trafficked and
exploited children, these children are often sent to the juvenile
justice system, where they are labeled and treated as criminals. These
innocent victims are victimized again by the very system that was
designed to protect them.
This bill works towards a positive solution that ensures child
welfare agencies have the appropriate systems in place to properly
identify, assess, and document child victims of sex trafficking,
instead of treating them as criminals.
It is imperative that we continue to pass legislation that helps
victims of both labor and sex trafficking to ensure that victims
receive the services they need to escape a life of abuse.
Again, I would like to thank Chairman Kline of the Education and the
Workforce Committee, as well as the other original cosponsors of this
legislation--Representatives Karen Bass, Michele Bachmann, Tom Marino,
Jim McDermott, and Louise Slaughter--for their hard work on this bill.
With that, Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the
Strengthening Child Welfare Response to Trafficking Act of 2014 and
reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. BASS. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 5081, the Strengthening
Child Welfare Response to Trafficking Act of 2014, and I would like to
thank Chairman Kline and Ranking Member Miller for their support and
collaboration on creating momentum for this policy that will be a
critical step towards preventing child sex trafficking. I appreciate
both their insight and assistance in bringing this bill to the floor
today.
I also want to thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania, Representative
Marino. He has been a tireless advocate for children in the foster care
system. Mr. Marino, along with the Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth
cochairs, Representatives McDermott and Bachmann, all served as
original cosponsors of the Strengthening Child Welfare Response to
Trafficking Act, and their continuing commitment to transforming the
child welfare system has brought national attention to the intersection
between child sex trafficking and the child welfare system.
The U.S. Department of Justice reports that more than 300,000
children in the country are at risk of sexual commercial exploitation
and trafficking each year. These are 300,000 too many, and tragically,
this number shows that a comprehensive and aggressive response is
needed in order to combat child trafficking throughout the country.
In my city, the Los Angeles County Probation Department reports that
61 percent of identified trafficking victims are foster youth. The Los
Angeles STAR court is a specialized collaborative courthouse designed
to serve commercially exploited youth and reports that 80 percent of
these girls have been previously involved in the child welfare system.
As cochair of the Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth, I have had
the opportunity to travel throughout the country as part of our
nationwide listening tour. Unfortunately, the stories I have heard from
advocates and youth is that children in the child welfare system
continue to be preyed upon by traffickers who use their vulnerability
as an opportunity to exploit them.
The stories that emerge are those like Caroline's, a young girl who
grew up in a household where she was physically, sexually, and
emotionally
[[Page H6706]]
abused. When Caroline was just 13 years old, a 35-year-old man attended
a sporting event at her school and deceived her into believing that he
loved her and would give her the attention she craved.
Instead, this man began to sell Caroline to numerous men for sex.
Throughout this time, she had many encounters with the child welfare
system, but no one picked up that she was a victim of trafficking. The
social workers did not have the training or the proper tools to assess
that she needed specialized services.
Our bill would ensure that children like Caroline do not slip through
the cracks, as State and county child welfare departments have
protection plans that will outline provisions and procedures to
identify and assess all reports of children known or suspected to be
victims of sex trafficking.
State systems do not currently have the proper protections, services,
or protocols to adequately serve those in the system who have been
victims of trafficking. States also lack such support for victims who
enter the child welfare system.
In fact, during a site visit recently on the Foster Youth Caucus
listening tour to Missouri, a law enforcement officer told us that he
had no other option but to arrest the girls, to ensure that they
receive the proper services.
In Los Angeles, the child sex trafficking unit of the county
probation department specifically addresses the needs of child victims,
and it is the only such division in the country. I commend their
critical work and commitment to ensure the trafficking victims receive
the resources they need.
We must not continue to arrest these children in order to provide
them with these services. Our bill will be a first step toward ensuring
that there are policies and procedures in place to connect child sex
trafficking victims to public or private specialized services.
Last year, in a meeting with children in the child sex trafficking
unit of the Los Angeles County Probation Department, the girls all
echoed the same sentiment. While they were grateful to have the
resources they needed to begin to deal with their trauma, they felt
stigmatized by having to be arrested in order to receive these
services.
Our bill would ensure that each State has a training plan for child
protective service workers to appropriately respond to reports of
trafficking, so that trafficked children would be provided the same
resources as youth in the child welfare system and be classified as
victims of crime, not as criminals.
We have story after story across the country of children being raped
and sold as if they were little more than objects, but we do not have
the concrete data to help them find the appropriate services. H.R. 5081
requires that, within 1 year, the Department of Health and Human
Services report to Congress on the prevalence and types of trafficking
they have encountered.
Many advocates believe that labor trafficking is also a critical
issue with children in the child welfare system. The reality is we need
hard data to evaluate what is happening to the children, so that proper
resources can be allocated in the future. Our bill also allows States
to establish the same policy and procedures for children if they are
victims of labor trafficking.
The report will also assess State practices used to identify and
serve trafficking victims and Federal laws and policies that may
prevent States from supporting these victims, including the absence of
trafficking in the Federal definition of child abuse and neglect under
CAPTA, the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act.
These critical steps to reforming our child welfare system will help
ensure that victims are provided with the same resources and access as
other children. I strongly urge my colleagues to support our bill and
continue to build momentum to combat domestic child sex trafficking.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. HECK of Nevada. Mr. Speaker, I now yield 5 minutes to the
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe).
Mr. POE of Texas. I thank the gentleman from Nevada for yielding. I
also want to thank my friend from California (Ms. Bass) for introducing
this legislation.
Mr. Speaker, you are going to find tonight that there are eight bills
dealing with sex trafficking in the United States. You will also find
that these are bipartisan bills, and a lot of different Members are
involved in this legislation, which goes to say that on this issue of
modern-day slavery--the human sex trafficking that is taking place--
Members of Congress are working together in many different ways to come
to the same conclusion to present legislation to the House floor.
I would just encourage the Speaker in his role to get the Senate to
bring up this legislation as soon as it all passes, either tonight or
tomorrow.
We have already had some good pieces of legislation pass, a piece of
legislation called the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act,
sponsored by Carolyn Maloney from New York, a Democrat, and myself, a
Republican from Texas. That is about as bipartisan as you can get, Mr.
Speaker. We don't even speak the same language, but it passed the House
2 weeks ago, 409-0.
The House of Representatives is moving as fast as we can and as
carefully as we can to deal with this scourge of modern-day slavery.
You don't get much talk about it in the national media. It is just not
one of those controversial issues, but it is being done, and that is a
good thing.
{time} 1745
Mr. Speaker, there are two types of minor sex trafficking that are
taking place. There are children from foreign countries that are being
sold and delivered to the United States for sex trafficking, and then
there are Americans, kids that live in the United States, that are
being sold and delivered throughout the United States for domestic sex
trafficking. It is increasing for a lot of reasons, but awareness is
one of those reasons--or lack of awareness is a reason that we want to
hopefully stop--and the awareness needs to go to parents and children
about what can take place.
Also, when sex trafficking with minor children takes place, as my
friend Ms. Bass from California has said, when that child is rescued by
law enforcement, they don't have anyplace to take them. There is no
housing for those individuals, so they put them in the juvenile justice
system for their safety. But, yes, they are labeled. They are given
that stigma of a criminal. Even though it is juvenile criminal, they
are still a criminal.
They are not a criminal, Mr. Speaker. They are victims of crime,
victims of slavery.
For example, in the United States, there are 5,000 animal shelters,
and they are great. I have got three dalmatians--I call them the
weapons of mass destruction--and two of them came from dalmatian
rescue. But, Mr. Speaker, there are only 300 beds for minor sex-
trafficked children in the United States. That is it. There aren't any
more.
So we need to have the ability to take those children when rescued by
law enforcement or by child protective services or whoever to a shelter
where they have a place that they can stay other than the jailhouse.
That is one of the most important things that we can do.
As the gentleman from Nevada has said, this scourge is a multimillion
dollar business. It is second only to the illicit drug trade. The
reason is because children can be sold more than once each day--some up
to 20 times. Drugs are sold one time. Plus, the risk of apprehension
and the consequences for drugs is a whole lot more than that of sex
trafficking, and therefore that is why it is the second, will soon be
the highest, income for illicit activity, criminal activity, because
there is no risk involved.
So those are some things that are being addressed by these eight
pieces of legislation tonight. They are all good, and they are all
bipartisan. They are supported by most Members. There are a lot of
cosponsors on all of that legislation. Hopefully, we can get all eight
of those pieces of legislation passed and sent down the hallway to the
Senate and get their attention and vote on these.
And that is just the way it is.
Ms. BASS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
Washington State, Mr. McDermott.
(Mr. McDERMOTT asked and was given permission to revise and extend
his remarks.)
Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Strengthening
[[Page H6707]]
Child Welfare Response to Trafficking Act of 2014.
Today, more than 293,000 American youth are at risk of sexual
commercial exploitation and trafficking each year. Far too often, State
child welfare systems fail to properly identify and assist trafficked
and exploited children. The protective services and protocols
established for abused and neglected children within the child welfare
system are rarely extended to trafficked children and youth. In many
States, such children are often not even categorized as victims.
I would point out that we have on our borders today 57,000 youngsters
who have come in whatever way they have come to our attention. One of
the real dangers in sort of sending people back into whatever is that
you may well be sending them back into sexual trafficking. This is one
of the issues that should be looked at in every case where you find a
youngster roaming the streets. States have got to look at this issue
and figure out a way to deal with it.
We know that youngsters when they age out of foster care have no
skills, they have no job, and they have very little to keep themselves
alive, and, therefore, they easily become victims of sexual
trafficking. This is an issue that this country, if we really care
about children, we are going to look carefully at every kid and what
are the risks to which they are being exposed.
Mr. HECK of Nevada. Mr. Speaker, I now yield 3 minutes to the
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Marino), the cochair of the Foster
Care Adoption Caucus.
Mr. MARINO. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5081.
It is an absolute outrage that between 100,000 and 300,000 American
youth are currently at risk for becoming victims of commercial sexual
exploitation and trafficking right here in the United States.
Although we know there are many factors that make youth particularly
vulnerable to traffickers and exploiters, such as age range, history of
abuse, living in an impoverished community, and many others, the most
astounding indicator a child will be trafficked is whether or not he or
she is in foster care--in the foster care system at all.
In 2013, 60 percent of the child sex trafficking victims recovered as
part of an FBI nationwide raid from over 70 cities were children from
foster care or group homes. Make no mistake about it. Our foster care
system provides an essential service to our communities and our
children. In fact, my wife and I have housed children from this system.
However, we are simply not doing enough to protect these children from
being preyed upon.
This is why I have worked with my colleague, Congresswoman Karen
Bass, to introduce H.R. 5081, the Strengthening Child Welfare Response
to Trafficking Act of 2014. This bill would make much-needed reforms to
the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act to ensure States increase
their child protection service plans and that we increase the data
being reported to Congress.
To enact good law in Congress, we simply need as many facts at our
fingertips as possible. Sadly, criminals in the child trafficking
industry have become adept at lurking in the shadows and evading law
enforcement, leaving us with very poor records and data on the
activity.
This is why Congresswoman Bass and I are calling on States to work
with us to strengthen our records and data logs so that we can more
effectively craft laws to stop these criminals moving forward.
I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this important
bipartisan bill, because when it comes to those who are the most
innocent among us, they deserve as much protection as possible.
Ms. BASS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from New
York, Ms. Yvette Clarke.
Ms. CLARKE of New York. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from
California (Ms. Bass) for her tireless commitment to the children of
our Nation's child welfare system and for extending time to speak on
this timely and important legislation.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the House's legislative
efforts to combat human trafficking, a very cruel form of modern-day
slavery. I urge all my colleagues to support the legislation before us,
including H.R. 5081, the Strengthening Child Welfare Response to
Trafficking Act, a bill that seeks to improve the child welfare
response to trafficking by requiring States to have procedures for
identifying, assessing, and documenting child victims of trafficking.
H.R. 5081 would also help identify, assess, and document child victims
of sex trafficking throughout the United States.
Unfortunately, human trafficking is a big, booming business, and I
cannot--and I will not--stand idly by and watch as our country becomes
the center for smuggling human beings and human sexual exploitation.
We have a major crisis on the border of our Nation and in big cities
like New York and others across the Nation that have been exacerbated
and enabled by highly organized crime syndicates. If we understand the
methods these groups use and begin by eliminating their sources of
revenue, we can save people from human rights abuses and exploitation.
Young girls are sold as sexual property, and boys and men are forced to
work for cheap labor after they are convinced to sign unfair labor
contracts. Their government documents are taken from them, and they are
left with no one and nothing.
The people who want to do harm to our most vulnerable are likely to
get more money from trafficking a child for sex than from the illicit
drug trade. Awareness concerning human trafficking has increased
significantly in recent years, but awareness is not enough.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentlewoman has expired.
Ms. BASS. Mr. Speaker, I yield the gentlewoman an additional 1
minute.
Ms. CLARKE of New York. The United States is now considered a
destination country according to the United States Department of State.
Yes, Mr. Speaker, you heard it correctly. Human trafficking isn't
something that is just occurring in other countries or other
continents. It is happening right here in America.
In the United States, human trafficking rakes in $9.8 billion for the
use and abuse of victims, many of whom are children. The National
Center for Missing and Exploited Children estimates that each year
100,000 children are falling victim to the industry within our own
borders.
I am proud to join my colleagues and the ever-growing number of
Americans who are standing up to the objectionable practice of human
trafficking. Congress is taking the additional steps to protect our
children with this legislation. Again, I urge my colleagues to support
H.R. 5081 and all of the legislation concerning human trafficking
before the House. The time is now to protect children from being
victims of human trafficking.
Mr. HECK of Nevada. Mr. Speaker, I now yield 3 minutes to the
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Farenthold).
Mr. FARENTHOLD. Mr. Speaker, I am here today to support H.R. 5081,
the Strengthening Child Welfare Response to Trafficking Act of 2014.
It has been estimated that more than 293,000 children in the United
States are at risk of sexual exploitation, many of whom are imported
into this country along the routes used by the drug traders across the
Rio Grande and moved through Texas. This form of modern-day slavery is
absolutely unacceptable. No one, especially children, should have to
endure this kind of cruelty. We cannot ignore that child trafficking is
a serious problem taking place right here in our own backyard in the
United States of America.
Unfortunately, many State child welfare systems do not identify and
assist these exploited children appropriately. This bill strengthens
the response to child trafficking by conditioning grants to States on
their creating plans to protect children from these abuses and
atrocities.
We had a hearing of the Homeland Security Committee in Houston and
learned that often the trafficked children are not considered victims.
They are considered the perpetrators. We have got to educate the police
departments. We have got to educate the officers on the street. We have
got to educate all of America that these children are victims. They
need help. They don't need to end up in the juvenile justice system
being treated like criminals.
[[Page H6708]]
This legislation would help identify children who were forced into
sex trafficking and require States receiving grants to train their
child protective services workers to appropriately respond to these
activities.
Ideally, the child sex trafficking industry would not even exist.
Unfortunately, the monetary motivations and God knows what else keep it
going. It is happening right here, and we have got to stop it. This
bill and the other bills on the floor of the House tonight take very
important steps to combat this scourge.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support it and thank
Representatives Bass and Kline for moving us forward in this important
endeavor.
Ms. BASS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Rhode
Island (Mr. Langevin).
(Mr. LANGEVIN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. LANGEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, I am proud to speak today in support of the
Strengthening Child Welfare Response to Trafficking Act of 2014. I
would like to thank my good friend and colleague, Congresswoman Karen
Bass, for introducing this bill and for all she does on behalf of
foster youth.
Foster youth are some of the most at-risk children in our society.
They are often victims of abuse or neglect, and too many face trials
and tribulations beyond their years. So much that we take for granted--
a stable home, living with our siblings, or returning to the same
school year after year--are constant obstacles for these children.
Mr. Speaker, this legislation before us today will specifically
address the link between girls in foster care and sex trafficking, and
it will require States to develop a child protection plan to identify
and assess all reports involving children known or suspected to be
victims of trafficking.
{time} 1800
Additionally, States must provide training plans for child protective
services workers to appropriately respond to reports to child
trafficking and have procedures in place that will connect child
victims to public or private specialized services.
So I want to echo the comments of so many of my colleagues who have
spoken here today. I commend Congresswoman Bass and Congressman Kline,
and all those who have had a hand in this legislation and who are
looking out for the welfare of our children. I am proud to support this
bipartisan legislation. I urge my colleagues to support the bill.
Mr. HECK of Nevada. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. BASS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from
Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise to support this day and the
opportunity to be on the floor to have the Nation recognize the value
of our children and the importance of protecting them. In particular, I
thank Ms. Bass and Mr. Marino for their leadership of the Foster Care
Caucus, work that has been so important across America, and I thank the
Education Committee with Mr. Miller and Mr. Kline for aspects of this
legislation.
But I remember, Mr. Speaker, walking the streets of Houston with
Covenant House and finding in cubbyholes homeless children, homeless
teens. Many of them had aged out, and many of them during that time
when the language wasn't clear had been prostituted, they were being
sex-trafficked. No one was helping. So I am excited about legislation
that recognizes that this act of ignoring them is child abuse, and that
we need to ensure that they are not criminals and that the child
welfare system understands their needs.
I was the first to bring to Houston a Homeland Security hearing on
human and sex trafficking. It was an emotional hearing. The stories
that were being told through law enforcement and those who had been
victimized as children and how their lives were ruined would raise the
hairs on your head. So I support all of these human trafficking
initiatives, particularly as they take children away from the criminal
justice system, and I look forward to Homeland Security moving more
toward understanding this through the international process, and our
Nation recognizing that, as has been said before, that the
unaccompanied children are themselves victims of sex trafficking and
need due process protection.
But we start at home. Therefore, I look forward to introducing
legislation dealing with the homeland security human trafficking
component in that Department, but the legislation offered by Ms. Bass
and Mr. Marino, again, is a program that is long overdue. And I am
grateful that we will now have a system where these children will be
recognized not as criminals but will be recognized through the State
child welfare system to identify and help these children that have been
taken by this terrible industry, Mr. Speaker, and save their lives. The
bills on the floor today will save the lives of our children. I ask
support for all of the bills on human trafficking today.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. 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. 93-247) 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 Children's 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 year's 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 at-risk 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.
Mr. HECK of Nevada. I continue to reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. BASS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
The fight against child sex trafficking is a bipartisan issue, and I
appreciate that both parties have come
[[Page H6709]]
together today to support the development of legislation that would
make a significant impact on one of the most vulnerable populations in
our Nation.
The Strengthening Our Child Welfare Response to Trafficking Act is an
important step in ensuring that child welfare agencies have the proper
systems in place to identify, assess, and document child victims of
trafficking.
Stories like those of Caroline and the other young girls in the child
sex trafficking unit of the Los Angeles County Probation Department are
critical to understanding exactly the effect our bill would have in
laying the foundation of transforming the way our Nation responds to
child sex trafficking.
However, it is also important to recognize that this bill and the
other bills on the floor today are steps on that journey, and there is
still an enormous amount of work that needs to be done.
Again, I would like to thank members of the Education and Workforce
Committee and the Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth for their
continued commitment to advancing policies that help change the lives
of children.
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank my staff, Adriane
Alicea, and especially my former deputy chief of staff, Jenny Wood, who
did the lion's share of work to make this legislation happen, and
without her hard work and dedication, this legislation would not be on
the floor today.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. HECK of Nevada. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my
time.
Mr. Speaker, we have heard some compelling and moving stories this
evening that underscore our moral obligation as a society to do all we
can to combat this epidemic of child and human trafficking. I urge my
colleagues to support H.R. 5081 and all of the related legislation that
we will consider this evening.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the
Strengthening Child Welfare Response to Trafficking Act.
We all know that our nation's children are our most precious
resource, and we wish that every child had the opportunity to grow up
in a family that loved and protected them, but unfortunately that is
not the case.
As a result, about 400,000 children are in the foster care system as
we speak. In the last few years, there have been great improvements in
how we care for foster children, particularly the focus on supporting
youth as they age out of the system.
But there is a stain on the American foster care system that we have
not adequately addressed: child sex trafficking. Child sex trafficking
is truly one of the most deplorable and disgusting crimes any adult can
commit, and it's our job to do all that we can to end it--especially
when so many victims are children for whom we have taken responsibility
in the foster care system.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children tells us that
60% of runaways who are victims of sex trafficking were at one time in
the custody of social services or in foster care. In my home state of
New York, 85% of trafficking victims have prior child welfare
involvement. While state-specific numbers vary throughout the country,
they all tell us that something more needs to be done.
To add insult to injury, far too often, state child welfare systems
fail to properly identify and assist trafficked and exploited children.
Instead of being cared for and supported, these children are often sent
to the juvenile justice system and criminalized for, at no fault of
their own, being raped and trafficked! These children are victims, and
we have a moral obligation to protect them.
I'm a proud original co-sponsor of the Strengthening Child Welfare
Response to Trafficking Act, which would help identify exploited
children, train child protective services workers to appropriately
respond to them, and connect child victims to specialized services so
that they can begin the process of recovery. I am particularly pleased
that this legislation includes a directive for HHS to report on any
barriers in Federal laws or regulations that may be preventing States
from properly identifying, assessing, and serving children who are
victims of trafficking. I believe one such barrier is that currently,
under the Child Abuse Protection and Treatment Act, young victims of
trafficking are not automatically defined as victims of abuse and
neglect. Making a definitional change would ensure that these children,
who are clearly victims, are supported and protected, not sent to the
juvenile justice system for prosecution. I look forward to receiving
this report next year and working with my colleagues to make that
change for the sake of these young people who deserve our protection.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Collins of New York). The question is on
the motion offered by the gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Heck) that the
House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 5081.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Ms. BASS. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further
proceedings on this motion will be postponed.
____________________