[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 12 (Monday, January 26, 2015)]
[House]
[Pages H553-H555]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
MISSING CHILDREN'S ASSISTANCE ACT AMENDMENT
Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 246) to improve the response to victims of child sex
trafficking.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 246
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. RESPONSE TO VICTIMS OF CHILD SEX TRAFFICKING.
Section 404(b)(1)(P)(iii) of the Missing Children's
Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5773(b)(1)(P)(iii)) is amended by
striking ``child prostitution'' and inserting ``child sex
trafficking, including child prostitution''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Michigan (Mr. Walberg) and the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Scott) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Michigan.
{time} 1700
General Leave
Mr. WALBERG. 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. 246.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Michigan?
There was no objection.
Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 246, and I
yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, today, the House of Representatives continues its
commitment to bolstering enforcement efforts against human traffickers
in the United States and ensuring that we properly identify and serve
victims.
I want to thank Congresswoman Joyce Beatty for her leadership on this
issue and for introducing H.R. 246, which will improve the ability of
law enforcement officials and others to respond to and assist these
victims.
The House voted 409-0 to pass this legislation last summer, and as
previous House efforts have done, the bills being considered today
attempt to change for the better how we view victims.
For too long, these victims have been seen as willing participants
and treated as actors in the criminal scheme; however, we now know
that, oftentimes, individuals are trapped as victims by human
trafficking organizations and, sadly, many of these victims are
children.
Congresswoman Beatty's legislation will ensure that we view victims
of sex trafficking not as participants, but as victims, and ensure that
child sex trafficking crimes are reported.
Under current law, the National Center for Missing and Exploited
Children operates the CyberTipline to provide online users and
electronic service providers a means of reporting Internet-related
child sexual exploitation in many areas, including child prostitution.
H.R. 246 would replace the term ``child prostitution'' with ``child
sex trafficking'' in the CyberTipline reporting categories to reinforce
that children who are sex-trafficked or sexually exploited are victims
whose situation should be taken seriously when reported.
It would also ensure the public recognizes that child prostitution is
included in how NCMEC uses the term ``child sex trafficking'' and thus
should still be reported to the CyberTipline.
Again, I want to thank Congresswoman Beatty, along with the Education
and the Workforce Committee and House leadership for recognizing the
need to steadfastly address this dreadful practice.
With that, Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 246, and
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 246, a bill to improve the
response to victims of child sex trafficking.
The bipartisan bill, sponsored by the gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs.
Beatty), would amend the Missing Children's Assistance Act by adding
the term ``child sex trafficking'' to the list of items which may be
reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's
CyberTipline.
Under the act, the center operates the CyberTipline to allow online
users and electronic service providers a way of reporting Internet-
related child sexual exploitation, including child prostitution.
The term ``trafficking'' more accurately describes the circumstances
by which children are sexually exploited and reinforces the notion that
they are victims, not criminals. Adding trafficking to the list of
items that may be reported to the center will not only help the center
continue its outstanding work of finding and helping victims, but it
will also help experts in the field of missing and exploited children
better understand the nature and extent of the problem.
I am grateful to the gentlewoman from Ohio for introducing this
important legislation, and I appreciate her partnership with the
majority, including the chairman of the full Committee on Education and
the Workforce, Chairman Kline; the gentleman from Michigan (Mr.
Walberg); and other sponsors.
I urge my colleagues to support the legislation, and I reserve the
balance of my time.
Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my
time.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may
consume to the gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs. Beatty), the sponsor of the
legislation.
Mrs. BEATTY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 246, a
bipartisan bill I introduced which will help victims of child sex
trafficking by decriminalizing their behavior.
First, I would like to thank Chairman Kline from Minnesota and
Ranking Member Scott from Virginia of the Education and the Workforce
Committee for bringing this important bill to the floor for
consideration.
I want to also thank Representative Walberg, who is managing the
bill, for his kind words and his leadership. He is managing the bill
today for the Republicans. I also thank Congresswoman Karen Bass and
Congresswoman Ann Wagner for their leadership and support.
Also, I would like to thank Senator Portman, who I partnered with on
this issue last Congress and who introduced the companion legislation
in the Senate. I look forward to working with him again during the
114th Congress to advance this legislation.
Mr. Speaker, last Congress, the House passed this exact bill
unanimously by a vote of 409-0. Today, I hope that my colleagues in the
House will again approve this legislation with overwhelming bipartisan
support so we can better assist victims of child sex trafficking and
ensure they are viewed and treated as victims, not criminals.
Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to participate in Ohio's
sixth annual Human Trafficking Awareness Day, which was held in my
district at the Ohio statehouse. It was standing
[[Page H554]]
room only. The event was chaired by State Representative Teresa Fedor
from Toledo, who has spent a lifetime on this issue. There, we heard
story after story from victims, survivors, and advocates, just like the
ones we heard on the House floor earlier today.
Almost every time I am home in my district in Ohio, I hear from
people who are concerned about the victims of child sex trafficking.
Constituents implore me to have Congress do more to protect those among
us who are the most vulnerable, those who are being forced into what
many deem modern-day slavery.
This is for a good reason. Human trafficking is one of the fastest-
growing crimes in the world. In fact, according to the U.S. State
Department, human trafficking is the world's second largest criminal
enterprise, after the illegal drug trade. Criminals involved in
trafficking trade prey on those children already at risk in our
society, the children who fall through the cracks in our society.
In the United States, some 300,000 children are at risk each year of
commercial sexual exploitation. Mr. Speaker, many of these children are
runaways, homeless, and in and out of foster care. These
children deserve better.
The average age of a trafficked victim in the United States is 12
years of age. Mr. Speaker, this is shameful. At 12 years old, children
should be playing sports, participating in their school science fair,
learning new languages, or just being children. They should not be for
sale night after night.
In my home State of Ohio, each year, there is an estimated 1,100 Ohio
children who become victims of human trafficking, and over 3,000 more
are at risk. Ohio is the fifth leading State for human trafficking
because of its proximity to a waterway that leads to an international
border and a system of interstate highways that allow an individual to
exit the State within 2 hours to almost anywhere.
The I-75 corridor runs through Toledo, Dayton, and Cincinnati. It is
infamous for subjecting children to the horrors of sex trafficking,
with reports of victims being repeatedly abused.
We know that no single system can successfully combat trafficking.
Preventing, identifying, and serving victims of trafficking requires a
multicoordinated approach across all levels of government. We need to
encourage all people: when they see something, say something.
How can concerned citizens report activities of suspected child
exploitation? Currently, the National Center for Missing and Exploited
Children operates a CyberTipline, which receives leads and tips
regarding suspected crimes of sexual exploitation committed against
children.
This CyberTipline is operated in partnership with the FBI,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the United States Postal
Inspection Service, United States Secret Service, United States
Department of Justice, as well as other State and local enforcement
agencies.
These reports are constantly monitored to help ensure children in
imminent danger get first priority. More than 2.8 million reports of
suspected child exploitation have been made to the CyberTipline between
1998 and October of 2014.
Under current law, child sex trafficking is not identified as one of
the types of sexual exploitation that should be reported to the
CyberTipline, even though the National Center for Missing and Exploited
Children encounters child victims of sex trafficking and currently uses
this term on its Web site in order to encourage the public's reporting
of these types of crimes.
Instead, the statute uses the term ``child prostitution''--yes, child
prostitution, Mr. Speaker--which we know does not fully and accurately
capture these types of crimes against children. My bill would add the
phrase ``child sex trafficking, including child prostitution,'' to
section b(1)(p) of the Missing Children's Assistance Act.
This legislation was crafted in order to improve and update the law
in order to reflect the current state of Federal laws and to reinforce
that children who are sex-trafficked or sexually exploited are victims
and not criminals.
Mr. Speaker, children in sex trafficking situations are often
misidentified as ``willing'' participants. We know there is a
widespread lack of awareness and understanding of trafficking.
Take, for instance, a story I recently heard about Holly, who is a
survivor of human trafficking. When Holly was 14 years old, she ran
away from home with a man she had met at a shopping mall. Holly and
this man exchanged phone numbers. He continued to pursue Holly over the
course of many months.
Convincing her to run away with him was not an overnight
accomplishment. He got to know her, analyzed her troubles, and asked
about her dreams. He did this so that when Holly was on her summer
break from the eighth grade, the pressures of her 14-year-old world
boiled to the surface.
With all this confusion and pressure Holly was feeling, this predator
was able to convince her to flee towards what she thought was
opportunity, possibility, and freedom. In reality, Holly ran right into
the clutches of a sexual trafficking ring. Within hours of running away
with what turned out to be a manipulative and threatening pimp, she was
coerced into prostitution.
Fortunately for Holly, eventually an officer on the street thought
that she seemed underage, so he approached her and arrested her. She
was soon recognized to be a victim and began the long journey toward
healing. Today, I am proud to say that Holly is an advocate for
stronger anti-trafficking laws and greater protection for survivors of
all forms of human trafficking.
This bill, H.R. 246, is intended to protect young children like
Holly, to rescue and restore them. By adding the term ``child sex
trafficking, including child prostitution,'' to the Missing Children's
Assistance Act, we will be able to continue to fight the perception
that sex trafficking is a voluntary, victimless crime, and this will
exclude them from prostitution.
I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.
{time} 1715
Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Speaker, we have no further speakers at this time,
and so I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, how much time is available on
this side?
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Virginia has 8\1/2\
minutes remaining.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may
consume to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Bass), who has worked
on all of the bills we have considered today.
Ms. BASS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 246, a
bill to improve the response to victims of child trafficking.
First, I would like to commend my colleague, Representative Joyce
Beatty, for her commitment to transforming the language that we use to
discuss child victims of sex trafficking and for taking the lead on
this important legislation. After all, a child cannot consent to sex,
so a child cannot be considered a prostitute. And her exploiter should
never be called a john; he should be called what he is, a child
molester.
While trafficking advocates and organizations have worked tirelessly
over the years to ensure that the framework and language we use to
describe child victims of trafficking recognizes that they are, in
fact, victims, we still have a long way to go. These children have gone
through enough trauma. They do not need to continue to hear language
that places the blame on them for a crime that an adult committed.
Phone hotlines and cyber tip lines operated by organizations
throughout the country are critical to ensuring that individuals have a
means to report these incidents of human trafficking and child
exploitation.
Under this legislation, reports of domestic minor sex trafficking to
the CyberTipline of the National Center for Missing and Exploited
Children would be classified as ``child sex trafficking'' and no longer
as ``child prostitution.'' This change would reinforce the fact that
the children are victims and not criminals.
Representative Beatty's bill is another critical building block to
transforming the framework and dialogue around child victims of sex
trafficking. I look forward to continuing to change the conversation
and urge my colleagues in the House to support this important
legislation.
[[Page H555]]
Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my
time.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, we have no further requests for
time. I want to thank all of the sponsors of the legislation for
bringing it forward, this and the other two bills that we have also
considered.
I urge my colleagues to support the legislation.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the remainder of my time.
The passage of this legislation shows the House's commitment to
providing the necessary tools and policies to help reduce child sex
trafficking and better serve these victims, and on the recommendations
and admonition of my colleagues today, again I would say, these victims
in the United States.
Mr. Speaker, this is good work that we are doing here. I submit, it
is probably the type of work that our constituents are calling us to
work across the aisle to accomplish.
During the human trafficking roundtables I have held in my district,
law enforcement officials have consistently raised the need to make
community members aware of the real and present threat of human
trafficking. We must work to not only educate children, but also
families and the general public, about the safety risks.
The statistics on sex trafficking and exploitation among young people
are startling. Approximately one out of six runaway youth are likely
victims of sex trafficking, and roughly one out of three youth are
lured into prostitution, victimization, sex-trafficked within 48 hours
of running away from home.
This is happening all over the country and not just in my home State.
Therefore, I urge all Members to lead efforts in their districts to
continue the conversation about human trafficking to learn what more we
can do in our communities and to curtail this heinous crime.
H.R. 246 is another step to educating our communities about human
trafficking victims, and it continues our work to ensure that we are
doing what we can to help reduce this horrible crime.
I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 246.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Walberg) that the House suspend the rules
and pass the bill, H.R. 246.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mrs. BEATTY. 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.
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