[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 13 (Tuesday, January 27, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E126]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       INTERNATIONAL MEGAN'S LAW TO PREVENT DEMAND FOR CHILD SEX 
                              TRAFFICKING

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE

                                of texas

                  in the house of representatives

                        Monday, January 26, 2015

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, as a senior member of the Judiciary and 
Homeland Security Committees, I rise in strong support of H.R. 515 
International Megan's Law to Prevent Demand for Child Sex Trafficking.
  This legislation protects 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.
  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.
  Human trafficking is a problem for the United States because the U.S. 
State Department estimates that approximately 17,500 foreign nationals 
are trafficked into the United States, the largest number of people 
trafficked into the United States come from East Asia and the Pacific 
and the next highest numbers coming from Latin America and Europe.
  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.
  The commercial sexual exploitation of minors in child sex trafficking 
and pornography is a global phenomenon.
  The International Labor Organization has estimated that 1.8 million 
children worldwide are victims of child sex trafficking and pornography 
each year.
  It is estimated 2.8 million children living on the streets of this 
nation are at risk for trafficking into the sex industry.
  Children who are abused or victims of molestation are most 
vulnerable.
  If they are lured into human trafficking they are isolated from the 
rest of the world and start living lives controlled by pimps, escort 
and massage services, private dancing clubs, pornographic clubs and 
much worse.
  The State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in 
Persons produces the annual Trafficking in Persons Report (``TIP 
Report''), which is Congress' primary resource for human trafficking 
reporting, analysis and recommendations for the United States and 186 
countries around the world.
  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. 515 because it is focused on helping at-risk and 
vulnerable children 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. 515 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. 515 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.