[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 13 (Tuesday, January 27, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E123]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    STRENGTHENING CHILD WELFARE RESPONSE TO TRAFFICKING ACT OF 2015

                                 ______
                                 

                               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 H.R. 469, the 
``Strengthening Our Child Welfare Response to Trafficking Act of 
2015,'' 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.
  Houston is a popular trafficking hub in part because the city is so 
diverse, with large Hispanic, Asian and Middle Eastern populations, 
which allows traffickers and their victims to blend into local 
communities.
  A recent report estimated that 25% of all trafficking victims in the 
U.S. end up in Texas.
  Rather, they are treated as youthful offenders and consigned to the 
criminal justice system.
  The city is so diverse, the traffickers and victims easily blend into 
the community.
  The TIP Report also contains tier rankings of each country on which 
it reports, which are used to help protect victims, prevent trafficking 
and prosecute traffickers.
  According to a report published in the Northwestern Journal of 
International Human Rights, Mexican authorities are working to address 
the problem of trans-border human trafficking, but the country's 
``legal framework remains largely untouched and hence limited in its 
crime-fighting scope and effectiveness.''
  According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Houston, Texas is one of 
the nation's largest hubs for human trafficking, with over 200 active 
brothels in Houston and two new ones opening each month.
  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.
  In general The Center shall carry out the following activities:
  1. Receive information on travel by child-sex offenders.
  2. Establish a system to maintain and archive all relevant 
information, including the response of destination countries to 
notifications under subsection where available, and decisions not to 
transmit notification abroad.
  3. 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.
  Mr. Speaker, one of the most important things that can and must 
continue to be done is to raise public awareness of the continuing 
prevalence of modern day slavery and human trafficking.
  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.
  Raising the visibility and status of the governmental entity charged 
with the responsibility of documenting the problems, successes, and 
remaining challenges confronting the United States and the 
international community in eradicating the scourge of human trafficking 
is a positive step forward in achieving this goal.
  I urge all of my colleagues to join me in supporting passage of H.R. 
469.

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