[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 13 (Tuesday, January 27, 2015)]
[House]
[Pages H589-H592]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
HUMAN TRAFFICKING PREVENTION, INTERVENTION, AND RECOVERY ACT OF 2015
Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and
pass the bill (H.R. 350) to direct the Interagency Task Force to
Monitor and Combat Trafficking to identify strategies to prevent
children from becoming victims of trafficking and review trafficking
prevention efforts, to protect and assist in the recovery of victims of
trafficking, and for other purposes.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 350
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 ``Human Trafficking
Prevention, Intervention, and Recovery Act of 2015''.
SEC. 2. INTERAGENCY TASK FORCE REPORT ON CHILD TRAFFICKING
PRIMARY PREVENTION.
(a) Review.--The Interagency Task Force to Monitor and
Combat Trafficking, established under section 105 of the
Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7103),
shall conduct a review that, with regard to trafficking in
persons in the United States--
(1) in consultation with nongovernmental organizations that
the Task Force determines appropriate, surveys and catalogues
the activities of the Federal Government and State
governments to deter individuals from committing trafficking
offenses and to prevent children from becoming victims of
trafficking;
(2) surveys academic literature on deterring individuals
from committing trafficking offenses, preventing children
from becoming victims of trafficking, the commercial sexual
exploitation of children, and other similar topics that the
Task Force determines appropriate;
(3) identifies best practices and effective strategies to
deter individuals from committing trafficking offenses and to
prevent children from becoming victims of trafficking; and
(4) identifies current gaps in research and data that would
be helpful in formulating effective strategies to deter
individuals from committing trafficking offenses and to
prevent children from becoming victims of trafficking.
(b) Report.--Not later than one year after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Interagency Task Force to Monitor
and Combat Trafficking shall provide to Congress, and make
publicly available in electronic format, a report on the
review conducted pursuant to subparagraph (a).
SEC. 3. GAO REPORT ON INTERVENTION.
On the date that is one year after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United
States shall submit to Congress a report, which shall
include--
(1) information on the efforts of Federal and select State
law enforcement agencies to combat human trafficking in the
United States; and
(2) information on each Federal grant program, a purpose of
which is to combat
[[Page H590]]
human trafficking or assist victims of trafficking, as
specified in an authorizing statute or in a guidance document
issued by the agency carrying out the grant program.
SEC. 4. PROVISION OF HOUSING PERMITTED TO PROTECT AND ASSIST
IN THE RECOVERY OF VICTIMS OF TRAFFICKING.
Section 107(b)(2)(A) of the Trafficking Victims Protection
Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7105(b)(2)(A)) is amended by inserting
before the period at the end the following: ``, including
programs that provide housing to victims of trafficking''.
SEC. 5. VICTIM OF TRAFFICKING DEFINED.
In this Act, the term ``victim of trafficking'' has the
meaning given such term in section 103 of the Trafficking
Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7102).
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Wisconsin (Mr. Sensenbrenner) and the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms.
Jackson Lee) each will control 20 minutes.
The Speaker recognizes the gentleman from Wisconsin.
General Leave
Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all
Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their
remarks and to include extraneous material on H.R. 350, currently under
consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Wisconsin?
There was no objection.
Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Madam Speaker, I rise today in favor of H.R. 350, the Human
Trafficking Prevention, Intervention, and Recovery Act of 2015
introduced by Representative Kristi Noem of South Dakota.
As we have heard on the floor repeatedly this week, human trafficking
generally and child sex trafficking specifically is a horrible crime
that sadly exists in all corners of our country. Studies suggest that
over 290,000 youth are at risk of human trafficking in the United
States, with children as young as 12 years old becoming victims of
commercial sexual abuse. While Federal, State, and local law
enforcement have made great strides to combat and eradicate human
trafficking, there remains work to be done on this front.
As in all things, to effectively combat human trafficking, we must
first fully understand the problem. H.R. 350 requires the existing
Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking to survey and
catalogue the methods being employed by our Federal and State
governments to deter individuals from committing trafficking offenses
and to report on best practices that can improve the response. The bill
also directs the Government Accountability Office to report on Federal
and State efforts to fight trafficking, including the grant programs
aimed at assisting victims and fighting this crime.
Finally, in order to help young victims move on from their trauma,
H.R. 350 clarifies that existing Federal trafficking grants may be used
for programs that provide housing for victims of sex trafficking.
Currently, 29 States do not have shelter beds dedicated to the victims
of sex trafficking. This provision would help address that travesty.
Similar legislation was passed in the House last Congress but was not
enacted into law.
I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle here and on the other
side of the Capitol to pass this bill, and I reserve the balance of my
time.
House of Representatives,
Committee on Foreign Affairs,
Washington, DC, January 26, 2015.
Hon. Bob Goodlatte,
Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary, Rayburn House Office
Building, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: Thank you for consulting with the
Committee on Foreign Affairs regarding H.R. 350, the Human
Trafficking Prevention, Intervention, and Recovery Act of
2015. As a result of those consultations, I agree that the
Foreign Affairs Committee may be discharged from further
consideration of that bill, so that it may proceed
expeditiously to the House floor.
I am writing to confirm our mutual understanding that, by
forgoing consideration of H.R. 350, the Foreign Affairs
Committee does not waive jurisdiction over the subject matter
contained in this, or any other, legislation. Our Committee
also reserves the right to seek an appropriate number of
conferees to any House-Senate conference involving this bill,
and would appreciate your support for any such request.
I ask that a copy of our exchange of letters on this matter
be included in the Congressional Record during floor
consideration of H.R. 350.
Sincerely,
Edward R. Royce,
Chairman.
____
House of Representatives,
Committee on the Judiciary,
Washington, DC, January 26, 2015.
Hon. Ed Royce,
Chairman, Committee on Foreign Affairs, Rayburn House Office
Building, Washington, DC.
Dear Chairman Royce, Thank you for your letter regarding
H.R. 350, the ``Human Trafficking Prevention, Intervention,
and Recovery Act of 2015.'' As you noted, the Committee on
Foreign Affairs was granted an additional referral of the
bill.
I am most appreciative of your decision to discharge the
Committee on Foreign Affairs from further consideration of
H.R. 350 so that it could proceed expeditiously to the House
floor. I acknowledge that although you waived formal
consideration of the bill, the Committee on the Foreign
Affairs is in no way waiving its jurisdiction over the
subject matter contained in those provisions of the bill that
fall within your rule X jurisdiction. I would support your
effort to seek appointment of an appropriate number of
conferees on any House-Senate conference involving this
legislation.
I will include a copy of our letters in the Congressional
Record during consideration of H.R. 350.
Sincerely,
Bob Goodlatte,
Chairman.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
I rise in support of H.R. 350, the Human Trafficking Prevention,
Intervention, and Recovery Act of 2015.
According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, sex trafficking is
the fastest growing business of organized crime and the third-largest
criminal enterprise in the world. The scourge of our society is
estimated to be a $9 billion industry in the United States and as much
as a $30 billion industry worldwide.
All of the criminals and all of those who wish to do wrong realize
that it is a bigger and better business than drugs because, tragically
and unfortunately and with great sadness, they use their product over
and over again. They use these innocent persons, many women, many
children, many boys, over and over again.
Because this criminal activity rarely occurs in public view, it is
difficult to say exactly how many children are being victimized. What
we do know, however, is that the problem is extensive. All you have to
do is walk along any of the streets of major cities and find homeless
teenagers, or even younger than that, and you will find out that in
some way they have been tainted and touched and brutalized by sex
trafficking.
Madam Speaker, an estimated 290,000 American children are at risk of
becoming victims of sex trafficking. The National Center for Missing
and Exploited Children estimates that one of every seven endangered
runaways who reported to the center are likely victims of minor sex
trafficking.
I am told that the average age of minors entering the sex trade is
between 12 and 14 years old. Vulnerable youth are primary targets. They
are more easily lured into prostitution and other forms of child
exploitation, while runaways and children in foster care are especially
vulnerable. Child victims of sex trafficking can and do come from a
type of home or socioeconomic background that makes them particularly,
if you will, in the line of fire.
The bottom line, however, Madam Speaker, is that all of these
children are deserving of rescue, recovery, protection, and shelter.
One of the advocacies that I had in my own hometown was to provide for
children in foster care that had aged out, because those are likely
victims, unbeknownst to themselves, and they are worthy of saving.
The bill before us, H.R. 350, the Human Trafficking Prevention,
Intervention, and Recovery Act of 2015, is an important step toward
pursuing traffickers and those who solicit the services of trafficked
individuals. It mandates a review of Federal and State prevention
activities by the Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat
Trafficking, and this review is to be done in consultation with
nongovernmental organizations. That is a great partnership.
The purpose of this review is to identify best practices in the
prevention of
[[Page H591]]
trafficking. This study, along with the mandated GAO, will provide
much-needed intelligence to be shared among those Federal, State, and
local agencies dedicated to combating sex trafficking.
And might I add, Madam Speaker, that what is also needed is a
commitment, an investment of resources, to not just have the studies
but to make sure that we match the importance of this legislation with
resources.
Witnesses testified at a Homeland Security Committee field hearing in
Houston in March of last year, which I convened and brought Members of
Congress to Houston for, which has a particularly serious problem.
First, one of the biggest limitations on the ability of area law
enforcement agencies to successfully combat human trafficking in and
around Houston is a lack of data sharing. Another witness said we--
local enforcement--need the Feds to build a Houston trafficking
regional database accessible only to vice and human trafficking
personnel to store, share, and search data on all aspects of Houston-
area human trafficking investigations.
{time} 1245
Madam Speaker, the need for the information that will be collected by
the GAO study and the Interagency Task Force to monitor and combat
trafficking is not only needed, it is long overdue.
This bill also addresses a major concern that anti-trafficking
advocates have shared with me--the lack of housing or shelter for
survivors. Trafficked kids need a way out, someplace to escape. Without
such refuge, these children will return to their traffickers, and their
traffickers will be waiting for them. This bill provides funding for
local shelters so they get the support they need to house survivors and
to get these young people started on the path to recovery.
Today, we are considering several bills that address domestic minor
sex trafficking, and it is right that we do all we can to protect our
children. Most statistics indicate that the average age of a female
when she is first victimized in human trafficking is a very young year
of age. With this fact alone, we can understand why the majority of
Federal investigations and prosecutions of trafficking involve minors.
One of the statements we made on the floor today with all of these
bills is that the minors are victims--they are not the criminals--and
they need to be saved. That is what we are committing to.
I will share with you the testimony of another witness at last year's
field hearing. The witness said:
Many of the females my officers are encountering on the
streets, in the massage parlors, at the strip clubs, and on
the Internet sites are typically 18 to 21. We know from
experience that, while these young women may be adults now,
they have, with all likelihood, been under the control of a
pimp trafficker for many years.
Madam Speaker, I met those women. Yes, they have been under the
horrible domination of these traffickers for many years, and some were
sold by their parents. We need to take definitive steps to ensure that
this group of victims does not fall through the cracks because we are
focusing on the minors. We do this by ensuring that the laws we pass
and the supportive assistance we establish are also available to these
older young women.
In closing, Madam Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to join me in
supporting H.R. 350, the Human Trafficking Prevention, Intervention,
and Recovery Act. I compliment the sponsors and cosponsors, and I
encourage them to remember that there are still those other victims of
human trafficking who are equally deserving of our consideration and
protection. While we will accomplish much in combating human
trafficking by our actions today, let us commit ourselves to doing
more.
Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 350, the ``Human Trafficking
Prevention, Intervention and Recovery Act of 2015.''
According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, sex trafficking is
the fastest growing business of organized crime, and the third largest
criminal enterprise in the world. This scourge of our society is
estimated to be a $9.8 billion industry in the United States and as
much as a $30 billion industry worldwide. Because this criminal
activity rarely occurs in public view, it is difficult to say exactly
how many children are being victimized. What we do know, however, is
that the problem is extensive.
Madam Speaker, an estimated 290,000 American children are at risk of
becoming victims of sex trafficking, and the National Center for
Missing and Exploited Children estimates that one of every seven
endangered runaways reported to the Center are likely victims of minor
sex trafficking. I am told that the average age of minors entering the
sex trade is between 12 and 14 years. Vulnerable youth are primary
targets. They are more easily lured into prostitution and other forms
of child exploitation, and while runaways and children in foster care
are especially vulnerable, child victims of sex trafficking can and do
come from any type of home or socioeconomic background.
The bottom line, however, Madam Speaker, is that all of these
children are deserving of rescue, recovery, protection and shelter. The
bill before us, H.R. 350, the Human Trafficking, Prevention,
Intervention, and Recovery Act of 2015, is an important step toward
pursuing traffickers and those who solicit the services of trafficked
individuals. It mandates a review of federal and state prevention
activities by the Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat
Trafficking, and this review is to be done in consultation with
nongovernmental organizations. The purpose of this review is to
identify best practices in the prevention of trafficking. This study,
along with the mandated GAO will provide much-needed intelligence to be
shared among those federal, state and local agencies dedicated to
combatting sex trafficking.
Witnesses at a Homeland Security Committee field hearing held in
Houston in March of last year testified,
First, one of the biggest limitations on the ability of
area law enforcement agencies to successfully combat Human
Trafficking in and around Houston is our lack of data
sharing.
Another witness stated,
We (local law enforcement) need the feds to build a Houston
Trafficking Regional Database, accessible only to Vice/Human
Trafficking personnel to store, share, and search data on all
aspects of Houston area Human Trafficking investigations.
Madam Speaker, the need for the information that will be collected by
the GAO study and the Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat
Trafficking is not only needed. It is long overdue!
This bill also addresses a major concern that anti-trafficking
advocates have shared with me--the lack of housing or shelter for
survivors. Trafficked kids need a way out, some place to escape to.
Without such a refuge, these children will return to their traffickers.
This bill provides the funding for local shelters to get the support
they need to house survivors and get these young people started on the
path to recovery.
Madam Speaker, today we are considering several bills that address
domestic minor sex trafficking, and it is right that we do all we can
to protect our children. Most statistics indicate that the average age
of a female when she is first victimized into Human Trafficking is
years old. For this fact alone, we can understand why the majority of
federal investigations and prosecutions of human trafficking involve
minors.
I must share with you, however, the testimony of another witness at
last year's field Houston field hearing. That witness said,
. . . (many of the females that my officers are
encountering on the streets, in the massage parlors and strip
clubs, and on the internet sites are typically age 18-21. We
know from experience that while these young women may be
adults now, they have, in all likelihood been under the
control of a pimp/trafficker for many years. We need to take
definitive steps to ensure that this group of `victims' does
not fall through the cracks because we are focusing on the
minors by ensuring that the laws we pass and the support/
assistance we establish is also available to these young
women.
In closing, Madam Speaker I encourage my colleagues to join me in
supporting H.R. 350, the Human Trafficking, Prevention, Intervention
and Recovery Act of 2015, and I encourage them to remember that there
are still those other victims of human trafficking who are equally
deserving of our consideration and protection. While we will accomplish
much in combating human trafficking by our actions today, there is
still much more to be done.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Madam Speaker, I yield such time as she may
consume to the gentlewoman from South Dakota (Mrs. Noem), the author of
this bill.
Mrs. NOEM. Madam Speaker, for many years, my perspective of human
trafficking was based off of a scene I had seen in a movie. It was a
scene in which a father came to a playground, took the hand of his 6-
year-old daughter, took her off to have sex with someone, and then
brought her back to play. That was a scene from a country far,
[[Page H592]]
far away, but it changed me forever. Oftentimes, when I have thought
about human trafficking or sex trafficking over those years, I have
thought about its being far, far away from home. Then I began to learn
about what a problem we have here in the United States.
It is not just happening in other countries. It happens here. It
happens in States like New York, Florida, and California, but it also
happens in South Dakota, and that is devastating for me for many
reasons. I have two daughters, and I know that the average age that a
young girl is trafficked is between the ages of 12 and 14. I have a son
who is 12, and the average age of boys who are trafficked is between
the ages of 11 and 13. I cannot imagine my children having to go
through what some of these victims have had to go through.
I also spent my life involved in many different youth organizations.
I have been a children's minister for many years. I still teach Sunday
school. I have also been involved with 4-H. I have spent my life with
kids, trying to help their lives become better so that they can build
the kinds of traits and character they need to benefit the world. I
recognize that many children don't have those opportunities; yet I see
the devastating effects of this industry here in our country.
They say one of the first steps to recovery is admitting that you
have a problem. We have got a huge problem in this country, and that is
why you will find these bills on the House floor today. We want to make
sure that we not only recognize that there is a problem, but that we
give our law enforcement officers as many tools as possible to get rid
of this industry and to help as many victims as possible.
Hundreds of thousands of children are trafficked every single year in
the United States. Most of these victims are women and girls. Many come
from tough backgrounds that have led them to the situations they are in
today; but did you know that most of them, if they are involved in the
sex trafficking industry, are forced to have sex 25 to 48 times a day?
That is unfathomable to me. We as a nation have a responsibility to do
everything that we can to prevent trafficking. When prevention efforts
fail, we have a responsibility to help those victims recover.
I know many of my colleagues today have also made this a priority,
and I am grateful for their leadership on this issue. Last year, we
passed many of these bills through this House, but they got hung up in
the Senate even though they were extremely bipartisan over here in the
House. That is why they are back again today, because we need to get
these bills signed into law to save our children.
Now, as we begin the 114th Congress, our resolve is brought forward
again to fight against human trafficking. I am grateful for everyone
here today who has sponsored the bills, who has worked on behalf of
these bills, and I am grateful for their leadership to make sure that
we pass these bills and get them signed into law.
The bill that I have sponsored here today is going to make sure that
when we spend Federal resources that they are spent in a manner that is
going to actually help kids and help people get out of this industry.
It is going to make sure that we are cooperating with nonprofits and
with other organizations that have been involved in the industry before
and that were being effective while we put those efforts forward. Then
it is going to make sure that we have the dollars available to have
shelters for those victims who are trying to come out of this
situation. We have fewer than 200 beds available for victims in this
country who want to recover, who want to heal, and who want to get on
with their lives in pursuing the American Dream, like so many other
people in this country have. That is why this bill is important. That
is why all of these bills are important. It is why we need to pass
them.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, as I have no further requests for
time, I will just close by saying our children need our response. They
are suffering. It is important that we work together to minimally
provide them with the shelter that they need and with the resources
that they need to eliminate the scourge of human trafficking and sex
trafficking. With that, I ask for the support of the underlying
legislation, H.R. 350.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Madam Speaker, I think this is an example that
this House can do important things on a bipartisan basis. I commend the
gentlewoman from South Dakota for introducing the legislation, and I
commend the gentlewoman from Texas for supporting the legislation, and
I urge an ``aye'' vote.
I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Sensenbrenner) that the House suspend the
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 350.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________