[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 13 (Tuesday, January 27, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E118]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              MISSING CHILDREN'S ASSISTANCE ACT AMENDMENT

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, January 26, 2015

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 246, a 
bill ``To Improve The Response To Victims Of Child Sex Trafficking,'' 
which broadens the issues to be reported on the federal tip line on 
Internet-related child sexual exploitation run by the National Center 
for Missing and Exploited Children to explicitly include child sex 
trafficking--specifically, by replacing the term ``child prostitution'' 
with the term ``child sex trafficking, including child prostitution.''
  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.
  The Justice Department's Internet Crimes against Children Task Force 
(which coordinates with 61 federal, state and local law enforcement 
task forces) reports that the number of child victims of prostitution 
increased by more than 900% between 2004 and 2008.
  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. 246 because it is focused on using technology to 
minimize the sex trafficking of vulnerable children and empowers people 
by giving the opportunity and means to report suspicious activity.
  Under current law, the Health and Human Services Department (HHS) 
provides an annual grant to the National Center for Missing and 
Exploited Children for a range of activities, including running a tip 
line that allows online users and Internet service providers to report 
Internet-related child sexual exploitation.
  This tip line includes reports on child pornography, online 
enticement of children for sexual acts, child prostitution, sex tourism 
involving children, extra familial child sexual molestation, 
unsolicited obscene material sent to a child, misleading domain names 
and misleading words or digital images on the Internet.
  I strongly support H.R. 246 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.

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