[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 150 (Monday, September 19, 2022)]
[House]
[Pages H7914-H7922]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        NO TRAFFICKING ZONES ACT

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass 
the bill (H.R. 7566) to amend title 18, United States Code, to increase 
the punishment for human trafficking in a school zone, and for other 
purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 7566

       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 ``No Trafficking Zones Act'' 
     or the ``NTZ Act''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       Congress finds as follows:
       (1) Child sex trafficking can have devastating immediate 
     and long-term consequences, including health impacts, 
     psychological and physical trauma, and even death.
       (2) While any child can be targeted by a trafficker, 
     research, data, survivors' lived experiences, and expertise 
     have revealed that traffickers often target vulnerable youth 
     who lack strong support networks, supervision, care, or basic 
     necessities, have low self-esteem, have experienced violence 
     in the past, are experiencing homelessness, are experiencing 
     academic difficulties, or are marginalized by society, and 
     lure them into forced labor and prostitution and other forms 
     of sexual exploitation. Traffickers are masters of 
     manipulation and prey upon vulnerabilities using 
     psychological pressure, intimidation, and drugs to control 
     and sexually exploit the child for their benefit.
       (3) The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children 
     (NCMEC) has received reports of child sex trafficking in all 
     50 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. These 
     reports include incidents occurring in every type of 
     community, including suburban, rural, urban, and Tribal 
     lands. In 2021, NCMEC received more than 17,200 reports of 
     possible child sex trafficking.
       (4) Of 22,326 trafficking victims and survivors identified 
     through contacts with the National Human Trafficking Hotline 
     in 2019, at least 5,359 were under age 18.
       (5) Many underage victims of sex trafficking are students 
     in the United States school system. No community, school, 
     socioeconomic group, or student demographic is immune.
       (6) While the internet and social media make up the 
     majority of first encounters, traffickers regularly find 
     young people in shopping malls, through friends, at bus 
     stops, and at schools. Specifically, traffickers 
     systematically target vulnerable children and youth by 
     frequenting locations where young people congregate, 
     including schools. They also use peers or classmates, who 
     befriend the target and slowly groom them for the trafficker 
     by bringing the young person along to parties and other 
     activities.
       (7) A 2018 survey reported that 55 percent of young sex 
     trafficking survivors in Texas were trafficked while at 
     school or school activities and 60 percent of trafficked 
     adults say they were first groomed and solicited for 
     trafficking on school campuses.
       (8) Schools can and should be safe havens for students. 
     Schools are best positioned to identify and report suspected 
     trafficking and connect affected students to critical 
     services. Students are more likely to report instances of sex 
     trafficking, attempted sex trafficking, or grooming for the 
     purposes of sex trafficking where they feel most safe from 
     harm and threats.

     SEC. 3. INCREASED PUNISHMENT FOR HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN SCHOOL 
                   ZONES.

       Section 1591 of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
       (1) by redesignating subsection (e) as subsection (f); and
       (2) by inserting after subsection (d) the following:
       ``(e)(1) Whoever violates subsection (a) in a school zone, 
     or on, or within 1,000 feet of, a premises on which a school-
     sponsored activity is taking place, or on, or within 1,000 
     feet of a premises owned by an institution of higher 
     education, shall, in addition to the punishment otherwise 
     provided under this section, be imprisoned for not more than 
     5 years.
       ``(2) In this subsection:
       ``(A) The term `school zone' has the meaning given such 
     term in section 921.
       ``(B) The term `school-sponsored activity' means any 
     activity that is produced, financed, arranged, supervised, or 
     coordinated by a school or a State educational agency or 
     local educational agency or is under the jurisdiction of a 
     State educational agency or local educational agency.
       ``(C) The terms `State educational agency' and `local 
     educational agency' have the meanings given those terms under 
     section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 
     1965.
       ``(D) The term `institution of higher education' has the 
     meaning given such term in section 101 of the Higher 
     Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001).''.

     SEC. 4. INCREASED PUNISHMENT FOR COERCION AND ENTICEMENT IN 
                   SCHOOL ZONES.

       Section 2422 of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
       (1) in subsection (b), by striking ``individual who has not 
     attained the age of 18 years'' and inserting ``minor''; and
       (2) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(c)(1) Whoever violates subsection (a) or (b) knowing, or 
     having reasonable cause to believe, that the violation is 
     committed against a minor who is enrolled in school and is, 
     at the time of the violation, in a school zone or on, or 
     within 1,000 feet of, a premises on which a school-sponsored 
     activity is taking place, or against a person who is enrolled 
     in an institution of higher education and is, at the time of 
     the violation on or within 1,000 feet of a premises owned by 
     the institution of higher education, shall, in addition to 
     the punishment otherwise provided under this section, be 
     imprisoned for not more than 5 years.
       ``(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply in a case in which a 
     minor's presence on, or within 1,000 feet of, the premises on 
     which a school-sponsored activity is taking place is not 
     related to such school-sponsored activity, or the person's 
     presence on or within 1,000 feet of the premises owned by the 
     institution of higher education is not related to their 
     enrollment at such institution.
       ``(d) In this section:
       ``(1) The term `minor' means an individual who has not 
     attained 18 years of age.
       ``(2) The term `school' means a public, parochial, or 
     private school that provides elementary or secondary 
     education.
       ``(3) The term `school zone' has the meaning given such 
     term in section 921.
       ``(4) The term `school-sponsored activity' means any 
     activity that is produced, financed, arranged, supervised, or 
     coordinated by a school or a State educational agency or 
     local educational agency or is under the jurisdiction of a 
     State educational agency or local educational agency.
       ``(5) The terms `State educational agency' and `local 
     educational agency' have the meanings given those terms under 
     section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 
     1965.
       ``(6) The term `institution of higher education' has the 
     meaning given such term in section 101 of the Higher 
     Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001).''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee) and the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. 
Fitzgerald) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Texas.


                             General Leave

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and 
include extraneous materials on H.R. 7566, as amended.

[[Page H7915]]

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from Texas?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, this bill was introduced as an important response to 
stopping human trafficking and sex trafficking at schools. In fact, its 
name was Stop Human Trafficking in School Zones. I introduced that bill 
to stop human trafficking in school zones.
  I am glad to be here on the floor of the House to continue this 
journey in protecting our children. I want to start with the words from 
the Major Cities Chiefs Association, one of the major supporters of 
this legislation:
  Child sex trafficking is one of the most despicable crimes an 
individual can commit. Sadly, there are far too many children 
victimized by this scourge. For example, the National Center for 
Missing and Exploited Children received more than 17,200 reports of 
possible child sex trafficking in 2021.
  It is especially troubling that these crimes sometimes occur at 
schools which should be a safe haven for America's children.
  Besides gun violence, human trafficking, sex trafficking is a scourge 
that takes and destroys the lives of our children.
  H.R. 7566 will play an important part in addressing child sex 
trafficking by establishing additional penalties for offenders who 
commit these offenses in a school zone or within 1,000 feet of a 
school-sponsored activity.
  We want to be heard on stopping human trafficking and sex trafficking 
at our schools. And so the No Trafficking Zones Act, which was formerly 
the Stop Human Trafficking in Schools Act, would ensure that schools 
across the country, including institutions of higher learning, are safe 
spaces for learning and academic exploration, free from the menace of 
sex trafficking.
  H.R. 7566 would establish a sentencing enhancement of up to 5 years 
in several instances: First, in the case of any person who commits the 
offense of sex trafficking within a primary or secondary school zone or 
on or within 1,000 feet of the premises of a school-sponsored activity, 
or premises owned by an institution of higher learning.
  Second, for any person who commits the offense of coercion and 
enticement of a minor enrolled in a primary or a secondary school, or a 
person enrolled in an institution of higher learning, to travel in 
interstate or foreign commerce and engage in criminal sexual activity 
while the minor is in a school zone, or on or within 1,000 feet of 
premises where a school-sponsored activity is taking place, or while 
the person is on or within 1,000 feet of the premises owned by the 
institution of higher education.
  And third, for any person who commits the offense of coercion and 
enticement of a minor using the mail or facilities of interstate or 
foreign commerce, such as the text and instant messaging or social 
media platforms which have been used extensively, while the minor who 
is enrolled in school or an institution of higher education, is in a 
school zone, or on or within 1,000 feet of premises where a school-
sponsored activity is taking place, or premises owned by the 
institution of higher education.
  Human trafficking is one of the greatest threats to human rights in 
the United States. It destroys a human being's life, and it destroys, 
forever, a child's life.
  In 2020, 11,193 instances of potential human trafficking were 
reported to the United States National Human Trafficking Hotline, with 
at least 70 percent of those instances involving sex trafficking, while 
an estimated 25 percent of all human trafficking victims in this 
country are in my home State of Texas at any given time, many of whom 
are minors.
  Mr. Speaker, I gave and held the first human trafficking hearing, 
field hearing from Houston, Texas, with my cosponsor of this 
legislation, the honorable  Mike McCaul. I express my appreciation for 
his collaboration on this legislation, his enthusiastic collaboration, 
as he did join me when we held the first hearing on human trafficking 
in Houston, through the Homeland Security Committee.
  What I would say is that Houston had been the epicenter of human 
trafficking. It was a powerful hearing, and I am glad that we have 
joined together now to stop human trafficking at schools.

  Let me also offer my sympathy to him and his family for their loss.
  At least 5,359 trafficking victims and survivors identified through 
the hotline in 2019 were under the age of 18. And in 2021, the National 
Center for Missing and Exploited Children received more than 17,200 
reports of suspected child sex trafficking. Many of these young victims 
of sex trafficking are students in school systems, colleges, trade 
schools, and universities across the country.
  A 2018 survey reported that in Texas, where no trafficking zone 
legislation passed with bipartisan support earlier this year, 55 
percent of young sex trafficking survivors were trafficked while at 
school or school activities, and 60 percent of trafficked adults said 
they were first groomed and solicited for trafficking while on school 
campuses.
  That has been a hotbed of opportunity for the scourge of sex 
traffickers who want to prey upon our innocent children. I am grateful 
that the legislation in Texas generated out of an effort chaired by 
Bishop James Dixon, chair of the Houston Sports Authority at the NRG 
Arena, and began to develop a policy where there would be no 
trafficking zones around major stadiums and events.
  Members of this body know all too well that children are sexually 
exploited in many ways. Some young people are trafficked by their 
schoolmates or people they once considered friends. And while the 
traffickers seek out young people who have noticeable vulnerabilities, 
including problems at school, conflicts at home, or even the need to 
fill in a tuition gap caused by the loss of a scholarship, no child or 
young person is truly safe from the schemes of charismatic traffickers 
bent on exploiting and destroying young lives.

                              {time}  1630

  With the proliferation of social media and the myriad ways in which 
we communicate with one another, traffickers have put these same means 
of communication to their own use to find, target, lure, groom, 
victimize, and exert control over their victims while buyers are using 
technology to find and purchase sex anonymously.
  Traffickers have infiltrated every known form of communication, 
especially the sites, messaging apps, and social media platforms our 
children use most frequently, leaving young children more vulnerable to 
manipulation. Access to the internet, cell phones, and smartphones make 
it easier, Mr. Speaker, for traffickers and buyers to communicate with 
children and youth.
  Even when they are at school, in class, or attending school-sponsored 
activities, there are no barriers, no walls, no brick walls, cement 
walls, steel walls, that can keep a trafficker from getting a precious 
child.
  As a result, trafficking has reached the halls, lunchrooms, gyms, 
dormitories, and classrooms of schools, colleges, and universities in 
every corner of the United States of America.
  These staggering facts and statistics led me to introduce this 
bipartisan legislation, the No Trafficking Zones Act, along with 
Chairman Nadler and Representative McCaul, who I wish to thank for 
working with me, as I have said previously, as well as Representative 
Johnson of Louisiana for his amendment that included the protection for 
young people at institutions of higher education.
  We came together in a bipartisan manner to exert the influence 
necessary to protect America's children collectively. I, again, thank 
Chairman Nadler, Representative McCaul of Texas, and Representative 
Johnson of Louisiana. I am delighted to work with them.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve 
the balance of my time.
  Mr. FITZGERALD. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, human trafficking, especially the sex trafficking of 
children, is an abhorrent crime, and all convicted offenders should 
face serious criminal penalties.
  This bill would provide increased criminal penalties for human 
trafficking or coercing a minor to engage

[[Page H7916]]

in illegal sex acts in school zones or near school-sponsored 
activities, as my colleague from Texas stated.
  Texas recently enacted a similar law. According to the Texas State 
Senate bill report, 55 percent of young sex trafficking survivors in 
Texas were trafficked while at school or during school activities.
  The Justice Department's Office of Justice Programs reports that the 
average age of entry into prostitution is, unbelievably, 12 to 14 years 
old and that traffickers are known to recruit at schools and in after-
school programs.
  However, this legislation doesn't address a root cause of this 
serious problem, our unsecure southwest border. Tragically, we know 
that human smuggling and trafficking occurs daily at the southwest 
border.
  Under Democrat leadership, this Congress has failed to fix the 
completely broken immigration system or to address the Biden border 
crisis, which cartels and other organized criminal organizations have 
exploited to smuggle and traffic children into our country.
  Cartels and criminal organizations continue to take advantage of the 
Biden administration's complete failure to secure the southwest border.
  We should focus Congress' efforts on securing our southwest border to 
prevent the type of human trafficking this legislation seeks to 
address.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, the issue of stopping human trafficking in school zones 
is such a crucial issue that I would hope that the focus of our debate 
today would be on saving the lives of children.
  I will just simply make the point, being on the Committee on Homeland 
Security and chairing the Judiciary subcommittee that deals with Crime, 
Terrorism, and Homeland Security, that we all can work together for 
comprehensive immigration reform.
  Here we are today, specifically focused and pointed on ensuring that 
there are no trafficking zones in our country and specifically around 
our school zones where children cannot be harmed.
  Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record letters from the Major Cities 
Chiefs Association; Texas State Representative Ron Reynolds; NAACP, 
Bishop James Dixon, Branch President; Break the Cycle U.S.A., Valerie 
Winborne, mother of trafficking victim; and Courtney Litvak, 
surviving--a summary of her experience where she was trafficked.
                                                      Major Cities


                                           Chiefs Association,

                                                    July 13, 2022.
     Hon. Shelia Jackson Lee,
     House of Representatives,
     Washington, DC.
     Hon. Michael McCaul,
     House of Representatives,
     Washington, DC.
     Hon. Jerrold Nadler,
     House of Representatives,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Rep. Jackson Lee, Rep. Nadler, and Rep. McCaul: I 
     write on behalf of the Major Cities Chiefs Association (MCCA) 
     to register our support for H.R. 7566, the Stop Human 
     Trafficking in School Zones Act. The MCCA is a professional 
     organization of police executives representing the largest 
     cities in the United States and Canada.
       Child sex trafficking is one of the most despicable crimes 
     an individual can commit. Sadly, there are far too many 
     children victimized by this scourge. For example, the 
     National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received 
     more than 17,200 reports of possible child sex trafficking in 
     2021. It's especially troubling that these crimes sometimes 
     occur at schools, which should be a safe haven for America's 
     children. H.R. 7566 will play an important part in addressing 
     child sex trafficking by establishing additional penalties 
     for offenders who commit these offenses in a school zone or 
     within 1,000 feet of a school-sponsored activity. These 
     enhanced penalties will help establish a strong deterrent and 
     ensure those who commit these heinous acts are held 
     accountable.
       Thank you for your leadership and ongoing commitment to 
     protecting America's children. Please do not hesitate to 
     contact me if the MCCA can be of further assistance.
           Sincerely.

                                                Jeri Williams,

                                 Chief, Phoenix Police Department,
     President, Major Cities Chiefs Association.
                                  ____

                                                     Ron Reynolds,


                               Texas House of Representatives,

                                                    July 13, 2022.
     Hon. Jerrold Nadler,
     Chairman, House Judiciary Committee,
     House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
     Hon. Shelia Jackson Lee,
     Chairwoman, Subcommittee on Crime,
     House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
       Dear Chairman Nadler and Chairwoman Lee: As organizations 
     and leaders in the movement to end human trafficking, we want 
     to thank you for scheduling this important markup of H.R. 
     7566, the Stop Trafficking in School Zones Act, which you 
     introduced along with Representative Michael McCaul. The need 
     for legislation that makes clear that children and youth are 
     never to be trafficked or pursued by sex traffickers 
     especially while at school or participating off-campus in 
     school-sponsored activities.
       Human trafficking poses a grave danger to individual well-
     being, public health, public safety, national security, 
     economic development, and prosperity. Child and youth sex 
     trafficking can have devastating immediate and long-term 
     consequences, including health impacts, psychological and 
     physical trauma, substance use disorders, mental health 
     problems, and even death. While any minor can be targeted by 
     a trafficker, traffickers often target vulnerable youth, 
     including those who lack strong support networks, supervision 
     care, have low self-esteem, are experiencing academic 
     difficulties, are marginalized by society, or ostracized by 
     their peers. No child or community is immune. Recruiting and 
     grooming occur everywhere that kids can be found, even in 
     schools across the country. Traffickers frequent places where 
     young people can be found, including school-sponsored events 
     like basketball and football games, field trips, and talent 
     shows. They also use peers and classmates, who befriend the 
     traffickers' targets and groom them for the trafficker by 
     forming relationships with the students and brining them 
     along to parties and other activities, slowly acclimating 
     them to the traffickers and their lifestyle.
       Targeting youth online via social media, direct messaging, 
     and the like has become an increasingly common tactic among 
     traffickers. They will look vulnerable young people who are 
     receptive to their advances. Grooming occurs online or in 
     person, over an extended period. They gain their targets' 
     trust, fulfill their needs, make promises, gradually 
     isolating them and exerting control over their lives--
     sometimes virtually. Technology has made it much easier for 
     traffickers to seek out children and youth.
       To that end, we would like to express our strong support 
     for H.R. 7566 because young people should be safe at all 
     times--but especially while they are trying to learn or 
     pursue school-related endeavors that enhance their 
     educational experiences. We are thrilled that the House 
     Judiciary Committee will condenser this legislation that 
     would establish a sentencing enhancement for those who would 
     dare to commit sex trafficking or contact young people for 
     such purposes while they are at school-sponsored activities 
     and encourage members to vote yes.
       We thank you for your leadership and as survivors and 
     advocated dedicated to eradicating human trafficking, we are 
     grateful for your commitment to ensuring that those who 
     choose to target and victimize children will be held 
     accountable.
           Sincerely,
                                                     Ron Reynolds,
     State Representative.
                                  ____


                                                        NAACP,

                                                    July 13, 2022.
     Hon. Jerrold Nadler,
     Chairman, House Judiciary Committee,
     House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
     Hon. Sheila Jackson Lee,
     Chairwoman, House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism 
         and Homeland Security, House of Representatives, 
         Washington, DC.
       Dear Chairman Nadler and Chairwoman Lee: As organizations 
     and leaders in the movement to end human trafficking, we want 
     to thank you for scheduling this important markup of H.R. 
     7566, the Stop Trafficking in School Zones Act, which you 
     introduced along with Representative Michael McCaul. The need 
     for legislation that makes clear that children and youth are 
     never to be trafficked or pursued by sex traffickers 
     especially while at school or participating off-campus in 
     school-sponsored activities.
       Human trafficking poses a grave danger to individual well-
     being, public health, public safety, national security, 
     economic development, and prosperity. Child and youth sex 
     trafficking can have devastating immediate and long-term 
     consequences, including health impacts, psychological and 
     physical trauma, substance use disorders, mental health 
     problems, and even death. While any minor can be targeted by 
     a trafficker, traffickers often target vulnerable youth, 
     including those who lack strong support networks, supervision 
     care, have low self-esteem, are experiencing academic 
     difficulties, are marginalized by society, or ostracized by 
     their peers. No child or community is immune. Recruiting and 
     grooming occur everywhere that kids can be found, even in 
     schools across the country. Traffickers frequent places where 
     young people can be found, including school-sponsored events 
     like basketball and football games, field trips, and talent 
     shows. They also use peers and classmates, who befriend the 
     traffickers' targets

[[Page H7917]]

     and groom them for the trafficker by forming relationships 
     with the students and bringing them along to parties and 
     other activities, slowly acclimating them to the traffickers 
     and their lifestyle.
       Targeting youth online via social media, direct messaging, 
     and the like has become an increasingly common tactic among 
     traffickers. They will look for vulnerable young people who 
     are receptive to their advances. Grooming occurs online or in 
     person, over an extended period. They gain their targets' 
     trust, fulfill their needs, make promises, gradually 
     isolating them and exerting control over their lives--
     sometimes virtually. Technology has made it much easier for 
     traffickers to seek out children and youth.
       To that end, we would like to express our strong support 
     for H.R. 7566 because young people should be safe at all 
     times--but especially while they are trying to learn or 
     pursue schoolrelated endeavors that enhance their educational 
     experiences. We are thrilled that the House Judiciary 
     Committee will consider this legislation that would establish 
     a sentencing enhancement for those who would dare to commit 
     sex trafficking or contact young people for such purposes 
     while they are at school or school-sponsored activities and 
     encourage members to vote yes.
           Sincerely,

                                              James Dixon, II,

                                                 Branch President,
     NAACP Houston Branch.
                                  ____



                                              Break The Cycle,

                                                    July 13, 2022.
     Hon. Jerrold Nadler,
     Chairman, House Judiciary Committee,
     House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
     Hon. Sheila Jackson Lee,
     Chairwoman, Subcommittee on Crime,
     House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
       Dear Chairman Nadler and Chairwoman Lee: As an organization 
     and leader in this movement for over a decade to end human 
     trafficking, we want to thank you for scheduling this 
     important markup of H.R. 7566, the Stop Trafficking in School 
     Zones Act, which you introduced along with Representative 
     Michael McCaul. The need for legislation that makes clear 
     that children and youth are never to be trafficked or pursued 
     by sex traffickers, especially while at school or 
     participating off-campus in school-sponsored activities.
       Human trafficking poses a grave danger to individual well-
     being, public health, public safety, national security, 
     economic development, and prosperity. Child and youth sex 
     trafficking can have devastating immediate and long-term 
     consequences, including health impacts, psychological and 
     physical trauma, substance use disorders, mental health 
     problems, and even death. While any minor can be targeted by 
     a trafficker, traffickers often target vulnerable youth. 
     including those who lack strong support networks, supervision 
     care, have low self-esteem, are experiencing academic 
     difficulties, are marginalized by society, or are ostracized 
     by their peers. No child or community is immune. Recruiting 
     and grooming occur everywhere that kids can be found, even in 
     schools across the country. Traffickers frequent places where 
     young people can be found, including school-sponsored events 
     like basketball and football games, field trips, and talent 
     shows. They also use peers and classmates, who befriend the 
     traffickers' targets and groom them for the trafficker by 
     forming relationships with the students and bringing them 
     along to parties and other activities, slowly acclimating 
     them to the traffickers and their lifestyle.
       Targeting youth online via social media, direct messaging, 
     and the like has become an increasingly common tactic among 
     traffickers. They will look for vulnerable young people who 
     are receptive to their advances. Grooming occurs online or in 
     person, over an extended period. They gain their targets' 
     trust, fulfill their needs, make promises, gradually 
     isolating them and exerting control over their lives--
     sometimes virtually. Technology has made it much easier for 
     traffickers to seek out children and youth.
       To that end, we would like to express our strong support 
     for H.R. 7566 because young people should be safe at all 
     times--but especially while they are trying to learn or 
     pursue school-related endeavors that enhance their 
     educational experiences. We are thrilled that the House 
     Judiciary Committee will consider this legislation that would 
     establish a sentencing enhancement for those who would dare 
     to commit sex trafficking or contact young people for such 
     purposes while they are at school or school-sponsored 
     activities and encourage members to vote yes.
       We thank you for your leadership and as survivors and 
     advocates dedicated to eradicating human trafficking, we are 
     grateful for your commitment to ensuring that those who 
     choose to target and victimize children will be held 
     accountable.
           Sincerely,
     Break The Cycle USA.
                                  ____


                                                    July 13, 2022.
     Hon. Jerrold Nadler,
     Chairman, House Judiciary Committee,
     House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
     Hon. Sheila Jackson Lee,
     Chairwoman, Subcommittee on Crime,
     House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
       Dear Chairman Nadler and Chairwoman Lee: NTZ is a bi-
     partisan organization disrupting the criminal activity of 
     human trafficking. NTZ's mission is to create No Trafficking 
     Zones across the nation. In order to create no trafficking 
     zones, we must have policies set in place to protect our 
     communities from commercial sexual exploitation and human 
     trafficking. Children in America are being preyed upon every 
     single day in schools across our nation. In 2021, NTZ was a 
     part of the creation of the S.B.1831 ``No Trafficking Zone 
     Act'' for schools in Texas. The ``No Trafficking Zone Act was 
     authored by Rep. Senator Larry Taylor, was carried in the 
     House by State Representative Senfronia Thompson, and 
     approved with 100 percent bipartisan support. Our belief is 
     there needs to be unity in fighting for the protection of our 
     great Nation's children.
       In this letter, you will hear testimonies of Mother and the 
     names of their daughters. You will learn brutal detail of 
     what is sex trafficking. Sex trafficking is the slave trade 
     where a person is raped and owned by another.
       We want to thank you for scheduling this important markup 
     of H.R. 7566, the Stop Trafficking in School Zones Act, which 
     you introduced along with Representative Michael McCaul. 
     America needs legislation that makes it clear, that children 
     and youth are never to be commercially sexually exploited or 
     pursued by sex traffickers, especially while at school or 
     participating off-campus in school-sponsored activities
       An Alarming Fact: Did you know that 60 percent of 
     trafficked adults say they were first introduced to 
     trafficking (groomed or solicited) on school campuses?
       We have support across the nation. Parents and families 
     want their children safe while they are at school. Parents 
     and families across our country are picking up the pieces of 
     destruction as their children are being groomed and lured on 
     school campuses or during school functions. We have human 
     trafficking detectives, advocates, social workers, parents, 
     elected officials, law enforcement leaders, school district 
     superintendents, board members, PTO parents, survivor 
     leaders, nurses, doctors, and anti-trafficking specialists 
     coming together to say enough is enough. We need laws to 
     protect our youth while they are in school from sexual 
     predators. This is happening in all communities across our 
     nation.
       The term ``institutional grooming'' describes the 
     perpetrator using a position of trust to gain access to a 
     child/youth and avoid detection. Perpetrators of grooming can 
     use online and offline methods to reach their victims.
       Valerie Winbornes's daughter was trafficked in Virginia. 
     She like most families said she received no help and there 
     was no justice for her twelve-year-old daughter who was 
     trafficked from her school.
       Madelynn Bennetsen. She trusted a girl in JH who she 
     thought was her friend--who would later lead her on the path 
     of skipping class, running away from home, drugs, and 
     trafficking. If there were more awareness and training for 
     the staff in the school and even myself. We may have been 
     more alert to these behaviors as red flags instead of teenage 
     behavior problems. We make it our life's work to help others 
     in honor of Mady. Mady was murdered by her trafficker and 
     never returned home.
       Mary Well's daughter was a target because she had Autism. 
     She also was a young girl who was murdered and never returned 
     home.
       Courtney Litvack was trafficked out of Katy Texas. Katy is 
     a suburban wealthy area in Harris County. She was sold to 
     multiple traffickers and eventually taken to Las Vegas. Her 
     family as all of these other families will express with grief 
     that there was no justice.
       Leddie a fifteen-year-old girl committed suicide after she 
     could not get the proper help after being recovered from 
     being sex trafficked.
       Do you know traffickers pick out young girls on tick tok 
     and Instagram and tell groomers to go lure them from school? 
     In many states, the traffickers introduce girls as young as 
     twelve to strip clubs. Fourteen and fifteen-year-old girls 
     are trafficked by gangs, pimps, and organized crime and then 
     ``trained' and ``broken in' at strip clubs. They will form a 
     trauma bond with many of their traffickers and such a level 
     of shame that most girls will not know how to leave even if 
     they physically can. They will also have the girls become 
     addicted to drugs becoming numb to being raped. The teen's 
     addiction will have them not knowing or understanding 
     everything that is happening and controlling them through 
     their addiction and abuse. I have given definitions to the 
     terms in this paragraph.
       NTZ and I want to express our gratitude for scheduling this 
     important markup of H.R. 7566, the Stop Trafficking in School 
     Zones Act, which you introduced along with Representative 
     Michael McCaul. The need for legislation that makes clear 
     that children and youth are never to be trafficked or pursued 
     by sex traffickers, especially while at school or 
     participating off-campus in school-sponsored activities. 
     Every day kids are going missing and are being sex trafficked 
     from their schools or were contacted at their school. We must 
     change this. This is unacceptable. Nelsen Mandela said There 
     can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way 
     in which it treats its children.
       To that end, we would like to express our strong support 
     for H.R. 7566 because young people should be safe at all 
     times--but especially while they are trying to learn or 
     pursue school-related endeavors that enhance their 
     educational experiences. We are thrilled that the House 
     Judiciary Committee will consider this legislation that would 
     establish a sentencing enhancement for those

[[Page H7918]]

     who would dare to commit sex trafficking and slavery on our 
     children at schools. I encourage and pray the members will 
     vote yes.
           Respectfully,
                                                Jacquelyn Aluotto,
     President, No Trafficking Zone--NTZ.
                                  ____


                            Courtney Litvak

       Courtney has made it her mission to tell her story and 
     speak out to spread awareness about human trafficking and 
     help shape policy to protect other young people from falling 
     victim to the schemes of human traffickers, and to hold 
     traffickers accountable.
       Courtney first became entangled in sex trafficking when she 
     was still in high school.
       Despite what some believe about victims of human 
     trafficking, she grew up in a loving, church-going family, in 
     a safe neighborhood, and attended an upscale, suburban high 
     school in Texas. But, by the age of 17 she was under the 
     control of her first trafficker and she was being advertised 
     for illicit sex on websites like Backpage.com.
       Courtney was a junior in high school when a series of 
     traumatic experiences occurred, leaving her emotionally and 
     physically susceptible and in a downward spiral--like so many 
     victims of human trafficking. She began participating in 
     high-risk behaviors, including abusing drugs and alcohol.
       A trafficker, with ties to her high school, used fellow 
     students to prey upon her and use her vulnerabilities to 
     their advantage--offering her friendship and support when she 
     felt she had none, meanwhile drawing her gradually and deeper 
     into ``the life.''
       Courtney was actually being groomed by two different 
     organized crime networks simultaneously and each groomer 
     chatted with her through social media and messaging other 
     apps. One network even invested in grooming Courtney for 
     almost an entire year. She grew to trust these people, who 
     were in fact all friends of friends and all formerly attended 
     her high school.
       Her first trafficker picked her up from her school on 
     multiple occasions. Consequently, she was unenrolled from her 
     school and had her entire life uprooted in a desperate 
     attempt for her family to intervene in her exploitation. 
     Courtney returned back to her hometown where days after 
     turning 18 she was taken from her home by the other invested 
     trafficking network. She soon realized that this individual 
     she thought she loved meant to pass her on to her next 
     trafficker for a finder's fee of $500.
       Eventually, Courtney would be transported from Texas to 
     California, then, Las Vegas--passing from the clutches of one 
     trafficker to another.
       The coercive tactics of her captors varied from subtle to 
     overt, physical to psychological--from violent to caring.
       On an occasion when she attempted to seek help, law 
     enforcement officials treated her like a criminal, convincing 
     her that the safest place for her was with her trafficker.
       Fortunately, after years of exploitation, overdoses, and 
     mulitple suicide attempts, Courtney escaped her final 
     trafficker in 2018. She sought trauma counseling and attended 
     an intense out of state recovery program, became a 
     consultant, and, in 2020, was appointed to the U.S. Advisory 
     Council on Human Trafficking.

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I would just simply like to suggest 
that we can find trafficking in many other places.
  I also include in the Record the article: ``Epstein's `ground zero': 
How the financier reportedly wreaked havoc on Royal Palm Beach High 
School community.''

                 [From Business Insider, July 27, 2019]

Epstein's `Ground Zero': How the Financier Reportedly Wreaked Havoc on 
               the Royal Palm Beach High School Community

                           (By Kat Tenbarge)

       Former Royal Palm Beach High School Assistant Principal 
     Carolyn Brown told The Palm Beach Post it was an ``open 
     secret'' that female students were involved in something 
     suspicious that involved hundreds of dollars in cash and 
     resulted in girls being bullied for being ``prostitutes'' and 
     ``sugar babies.''
       What administers didn't know, or at least didn't act upon, 
     was that at least 15 underage girls enrolled at the high 
     school were sexually assaulted by financier and now convicted 
     sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, according to police reports 
     obtained by The Palm Beach Post.
       Like dozens of other accusations against the shadowy 
     financier, who is currently being held without bail on 
     charges of sex trafficking of minors and conspiracy in the 
     southern district of New York, Epstein's Royal Palm Beach 
     High accusers say he paid them to give him massages, during 
     which he would coerce them into sex acts.
       Epstein was well aware that his victims would have been 
     high schoolers, since The Post reported that a Royal Palm 
     Beach High transcript was found in 2005 in his bedroom desk 
     drawer at his $12 million Palm Beach estate, next to a 
     massage table and an armoire filled with sex toys.
       One Royal Palm Beach High accuser told police she was 16-
     years-old when Epstein asked her to give him a massage while 
     she was topless. She said she told him she was in high 
     school. He asked what her favorite sex position was.
       Another 16-year-old told police Epstein said he would help 
     her get into her dream college, New York University, after 
     reviewing her SAT scores and high school transcript.
       Epstein also wrote a note on his own Jeffrey E. Epstein-
     branded stationary, Palm Beach police officers found, which 
     instructed an employee to deliver a dozen roses to an 
     underage girl who performed in a Royal Palm Beach High play. 
     Police found the note in Epstein's garbage in 2005.
       These findings were some of the evidence brought forward 
     before Epstein signed a plea deal in 2008 that allowed him to 
     avoid federal prosecution and serve 13 months of an 18-month 
     prison sentence, during which he could work from a high-rise 
     in Palm Beach 12 hours a day, 6 days a week.
       Now, Epstein is pleading not guilty to sex trafficking 
     charges that accuse the elite financier of assaulting upward 
     of 80 women, many who were underage at the time of the 
     assault, including some as young as 14. The Palm Beach Post 
     reports that Epstein recruited girls from several Palm Beach, 
     Florida high schools, but that Royal Palm Beach High was his 
     ``ground zero.''
       The Post reports that girls who were part of Epstein's 
     underage sexual assault scheme were bullied for being 
     ``prostitutes'' and ``sugar babies,'' which administrators 
     took notice of when they found $300 in a girl's purse after 
     she was caught fighting with another female student.
       Attorney Adam Horowitz, who has represented some of 
     Epstein's accusers in eight civil lawsuits, was quoted as 
     describing the girls who were allegedly targeted as 
     vulnerable, with some ``living in trailer parks,'' in The 
     Post.
       Epstein asked girls to bring their friends, The Post 
     reported, paying girls up to $200 for recruiting new victims. 
     ``The younger the better,'' he instructed them, according to 
     one accuser who was first approached by an adult who worked 
     for Epstein in 2003 at a resort in Riviera Beach.
       That accuser went into her senior year at Royal Palm Beach 
     High with Epstein's goal in mind, with The Post reporting she 
     recruited at least eight other underage girls who then 
     recruited their own friends, including some girls who were on 
     the verge of homelessness and needed money, badly.
       ``Knowing what we know now, it's so sad what happened to 
     those girls,'' Brown, the former assistant principal, told 
     The Post.

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record an article: `` 
`Open secret' at Royal Palm High School: At least 15 students were 
lured to Jeffrey Epstein's Palm Beach mansion'' right out of the 
school.

  Open Secret at Royal Palm High: At Least 15 Students Were Lured to 
                  Jeffrey Epstein's Palm Beach Mansion

                           (By Lulu Ramadan)

       Tucked in the drawer of Jeffrey Epstein's bedroom desk, 
     near a massage table and a wooden armoire filled with sex 
     toys, was a teenage girl's Royal Palm Beach High School 
     transcript.
       She was 16 years old when Epstein lured her to his Palm 
     Beach home set at the end of a dead-end street behind a wall 
     of hedges.
       And she's one of at least 15 girls from Royal Palm Beach 
     High School who Epstein sexually exploited in that bedroom 15 
     years ago, police reports reveal.
       Epstein, a multimillionaire financier then in his 50s, 
     lured a procession of girls as young as 14 to his home to 
     perform nude massages for money, police and court records 
     say. The massages often ended with Epstein groping or 
     sexually assaulting the girls.
       Epstein's victims attended several Palm Beach County 
     schools, including Lake Worth Middle and Palm Beach Gardens 
     High.
       But Royal Palm Beach High, with about 3,000 students, many 
     from the county's rural reaches, was ground zero.
       Evidence suggests Epstein knew his victims were school 
     girls and the signs didn't escape Royal Palm Beach High 
     administrators. The girls endured teasing and classmates 
     called them ``prostitutes.'' After two girls fought, an 
     administrator found one of them had $300 in her purse.
       Aside from the student transcript found in Epstein's desk 
     in 2005, police collected more evidence and witness 
     statements that suggest Epstein knew his victims were still 
     school children:
       He scrawled a note on Jeffrey E. Epstein-branded stationery 
     instructing one of his employees to deliver a dozen roses to 
     a girl who performed in a Royal Palm Beach High play. Police 
     found the note in his trash.
       One 16-year-old girl described to detectives giving Epstein 
     a massage while she was topless. He asked her about herself 
     and she told him she was a student at Royal Palm High. He 
     then asked her which was her favorite sexual position, she 
     told police.
       Another girl, who met Epstein at age 16, said Epstein 
     reviewed her college applications and SAT scores and promised 
     to help her get into her dream school, New York University.
       Though Palm Beach detectives uncovered these details in 
     2005, the Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office and U.S. 
     Attorney's Office in Miami, then headed by Alexander Acosta, 
     cut Epstein a plea deal that landed him in jail for 13 months 
     on two charges of soliciting prostitution.
       This month, a decade after his release from a Palm Beach 
     County jail, federal agents in New York arrested Epstein, 66, 
     on charges of sex trafficking minors. The move came eight

[[Page H7919]]

     months after a Miami Herald investigation zeroed in on 
     Acosta's role in Epstein's plea deal and let victims tell 
     their stories publicly for the first time.
       Epstein preyed on dozens of girls, at least 32 identified 
     at the time by police but about 80 identified in 2018 by the 
     Herald.
       ``These girls had never even been to Palm Beach island,'' 
     said Adam Horowitz, an attorney who represented Epstein 
     victims in eight civil lawsuits filed against the 
     multimillionaire.
       ``Some of them were living in trailer parks. This was a 
     whole new world to them.''


                 For Epstein: `The younger the better'

       Some of the girls told Epstein they were uncomfortable with 
     being touched during massages, so he asked them to bring 
     friends instead, police reports and court records reveal.
       He paid girls about the same amount, around $200, to 
     recruit a friend as he paid the girls who stripped down and 
     performed massages, court records show.
       Royal Palm Beach High was a target by coincidence.
       ``One of Epstein's recruiters managed to infiltrate that 
     circle,'' Horowitz said.
       The ``recruiter'' approached a 17-year-old Royal Palm Beach 
     High School student in 2003 at a resort in Riviera Beach with 
     an offer to make $200 for an hour to give a massage, she told 
     police two years later.
       The teen went to Epstein's seven-bedroom home on the 
     Intracoastal Waterway, where an assistant led her up a 
     staircase lined with pictures of naked young girls and into 
     Epstein's bedroom, police say.
       In keeping with descriptions to police from many Epstein 
     victims, the teen found Epstein wearing only a towel, which 
     he later removed, before lying on a massage table.
       Epstein tried to grope her, but she resisted. She told him 
     she didn't want to be touched, she told detectives.
       So Epstein asked her to bring friends to his home for cash 
     instead. ``The younger the better,'' Epstein said, according 
     to her police statement.
       Going into her senior year at Royal Palm Beach High, the 
     girl became a conduit to the school, recruiting at least 
     eight other girls she'd met on campus, court depositions and 
     police testimonies reveal.
       And those girls recruited more girls.


                        Name-calling and a fight

       One Royal Palm Beach High student told detectives in 2005 
     that she targeted promiscuous teens on campus. Another said 
     she brought a friend on the verge of homelessness and 
     strapped for cash.
       School administrators knew something unusual was happening, 
     police reports show.
       Students teased the Epstein clique as ``prostitutes'' or 
     ``sugar babies,'' a term for young women who seek 
     relationships with wealthy, older men, The Post learned from 
     court depositions and former students.
       The tension came to the administration's attention in 
     February 2005, when a 14-year-old freshman, the first of 
     Epstein's victims to speak to police, got into a fight on 
     campus with a girl who called her a ``prostitute,'' police 
     said.
       But the school kept no disciplinary record of the fight and 
     didn't report anything, police learned in 2005.
       At the time, it appeared the girls were making money doing 
     something nefarious, one former administrator, then-Assistant 
     Principal Carolyn Brown, said in a brief interview this 
     month.
       It was an ``open secret,'' Brown said, stopping short of 
     saying whether school administrators knew the girls were paid 
     for sexual favors.
       Brown was subpoenaed to testify in the 2005 criminal case 
     against Epstein after she found $300 in the 14-year-old's 
     purse on campus shortly after the fight, court records 
     reveal.
       Administrators considered and then dismissed the idea that 
     it might be drug money, detectives wrote in a 2005 report.
       Brown, who is retired, never spoke to prosecutors. Soon 
     after her subpoena, federal prosecutors struck Epstein's plea 
     deal calling for 18 months in county jail, registration as a 
     sex offender and payments to victims.
       It wasn't clear if the principal at the time, Sheila Henry, 
     knew that more than a dozen students were involved with 
     Epstein. Henry wasn't mentioned in police reports and could 
     not be reached for comment.
       But two former students reached by The Post, who asked to 
     stay anonymous, said students gossiped that some girls had 
     rich, older boyfriends who bought them expensive gifts. Six 
     other students didn't recall any such talk.
       None of the girls knew then what the public knows now: That 
     a Palm Beach millionaire tapped a local high school to prey 
     on girls for his sexual gratification.
       ``Knowing what we know now,'' said Brown, the former 
     assistant principal, ``it's so sad what happened to those 
     girls.''

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record the article: 
``Police: Children recruiting other kids for human trafficking at 
schools.'' This was in Florida.

               [From WKMG ClickOrlando.com, Nov. 1, 2018]

Police: Children Recruiting Other Kids for Human Trafficking at Schools


 Florida ranks 3rd in the nation for calls to human trafficking hotline

                          (By Erik von Ancken)

       Orlando, FL.--Human trafficking is real and it is happening 
     in Central Florida.
       Crystal Blanton, co-chair of the Marion County Human 
     Trafficking Task Force, said she receives thousands of 
     reports from the National Human Trafficking Hotline every 
     year.
       ``Usually the reports are in the thousands, every year,'' 
     Blanton said. ``Thousands of people are being human 
     trafficked. Right here in Marion County and across the state 
     of Florida.''
       Blanton said it's not like the movies (``Taken'' 2008), 
     where young girls are taken during their summer vacations by 
     foreign human traffickers to be sold to sultans or sheiks.
       But local children, often as young as 12, are being 
     recruited into a life of forced prostitution.
       ``I just think it's the internet, I hate to say it,'' 
     Blanton said. ``Social media has grown the field of human 
     trafficking. It's easier for these traffickers to make 
     contact with victims.''
       Blanton said traffickers look for vulnerable teenagers 
     online--runaways, teenagers complaining about their lives and 
     their parents, young people with drug addictions--and 
     befriend them.
       But human trafficking isn't confined to any race or class, 
     according to Blanton.
       Some victims were on the honor roll headed to college.
       ``We've had doctors' children who have been intertwined,'' 
     Blanton said.
       Blanton also said human traffickers align with students and 
     use them and their schools as recruiting grounds.
       ``There are recruiters, juvenile recruiters in the schools, 
     working with a pimp of some kind, and they are sent out in 
     the schools and given a job to bring other minors on board,'' 
     Blanton said.
       Blanton said the task force has had success educating 
     Marion County elementary, middle and high school principals 
     in looking for signs of human trafficking and placing Human 
     Trafficking Hotline posters in schools.
       Mike Lanfersiek, a sergeant at the Human Trafficking Squad 
     at Orlando's Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation (MBI), said 
     the definition of human trafficking is forcing a person to 
     have sex or to work through force, fraud or coercion.
       ``Human trafficking is quite simply the exploitation of 
     another person for commercial sex or forced labor,'' 
     Lanfersiek said.
       Lanfersiek said once victims, female or male, enter into 
     the life of human trafficking, they are kept there by their 
     captor, taking advantage of their vulnerability.
       ``A vulnerability to substance abuse, the fear of physical 
     beating, or withholding passports or documents, things like 
     that,'' Lanfersiek.
       Lanfersiek's Human Trafficking Squad has rescued hundreds 
     of young women and children, often from hotels in the tourist 
     district of Orange and Osceola Counties.
       ``Anywhere where the trafficker thinks there might be 
     demand for commercial sex,'' Lanfersiek said.
       Traffickers often set up their prostitution operation at 
     hotels because they cater to visitors in town for business or 
     pleasure who are looking for sex, according to Lanfersiek.
       Lanfersiek said he just rescued a 15-year-old girl from a 
     hotel on International Drive.
       ``She had met someone on the `Plenty of Fish' website and 
     felt this person was her boyfriend, exploiting her 
     vulnerabilities, pimping her out,'' Lanfersiek said.
       In July, MBI agents arrested three men for luring a teenage 
     girl through a social media app to an International Drive 
     hotel and then prostituting her and having sex with her.
       In 2016, Orlando police charged two men with the death of a 
     14-year-old girl who they'd been allegedly prostituting, 
     driving her to men's homes to have sex.
       Lanfersiek said MBI regularly sets up undercover sting 
     operations to catch traffickers and rescue victims.
       MBI analysts spend their days online, searching through 
     postings by human traffickers looking for victims and 
     offering them for prostitution.
       Lanfersiek offered this warning: If you're coming to 
     Central Florida looking for a date for sex, you may get a 
     date with an undercover officer.

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, my good friend has spoken about the 
southern border. I include in the Record the article: ``Recruitment and 
Entrapment Pathways of Minors into Sex Trafficking in Canada and the 
United States: A Systematic Review.'' Northern border, by the way, that 
I would offer to say.

                    [From Trauma, Violence, & Abuse]

 Recruitment and Entrapment Pathways of Minors Into Sex Trafficking in 
           Canada and the United States: A Systematic Review

                 (By Kyla Baird and Jennifer Connolly)

       Abstract--the domestic sex trafficking of minors is 
     occurring across Canada and the United States. Understanding 
     the routes into sex trafficking, including the way 
     traffickers target, recruit and enmesh youth in the sex trade 
     is invaluable information for service providers and law 
     makers developing prevention and intervention initiatives. 
     This review synthesized research on the exploitation 
     processes and tactics employed by traffickers in the sex 
     trafficking of domestic minors in Canada and the US. The 
     authors comprehensively and systematically

[[Page H7920]]

     searched five electronic databases and obtained additional 
     publications and grey literature through a backward search of 
     the references cited in articles reviewed for inclusion. 
     Inclusionary criteria included: Studies published in the 
     English language between January 1990 and June 2020 
     containing original research with quantitative or qualitative 
     data on the recruitment or pathways into sex trafficking for 
     minors trafficked within the US and Canada. The search 
     yielded 23 eligible studies. The synthesis of the studies in 
     the review converged on the notion of sexual exploitation 
     occurring on a continuum comprising of three components; the 
     recruitment context, entrapment strategies utilized by 
     traffickers, and enmeshment tactics used to prolong 
     exploitation. Findings highlight the significant physical, 
     psychological and emotional hurdles faced by youth victims of 
     sex trafficking and point to the importance of comprehensive 
     and holistic approaches to prevention and intervention 
     practices.
       Human trafficking is a global problem that has garnered 
     significant international and national attention over the 
     past 2 decades. In 2000, 140 countries signed onto the 
     Palermo protocol agreeing that human trafficking is a 
     significant human rights violation and a criminal offense 
     that requires prevention, the protection of vulnerable 
     populations, and the prosecution of violators of the 
     protocol. In North America, both Canada and the United States 
     signed this protocol and have since passed legislation and 
     policies to combat human trafficking. Sex trafficking became 
     criminalized in Canada in 2005 when human trafficking entered 
     the criminal code under section 279.01 and in the United 
     States in 2000 with the passing of the Trafficking Victims 
     Protection Act (TVPA). Sex trafficking is one of the most 
     common forms of human trafficking consisting of the 
     recruitment and exploitation of an individual through the use 
     of threats, force, coercion, deception, or abuse of power for 
     the purpose of a commercial sex act (United Nations Office on 
     Drugs and Crime, 2014). A commercial sex act, as defined by 
     the American TVPA (2000), is ``any sexual act for which 
     something of value is given or received.'' Common examples 
     include prostitution, pornography, sexual massage parlors, 
     and strip clubs. Commercial sex acts may be exchanged for 
     money, drugs, shelter, clothing, or food (Cole & Anderson, 
     2013; Kotrla, 2010). Sex trafficking is rampant across the 
     United States and Canada (Clawson et al., 2009; Dalley, 
     2010). Despite various political and social differences 
     between these countries, they are united on the front of 
     combating sex trafficking within their borders and expanding 
     research to support effective evidence-based prevention and 
     intervention strategies.


                    Sex Trafficking of Minors (STM)

       Minors (under the age of 18) are overrepresented among 
     victims of sex trafficking, with the majority of victims 
     recruited between 12 and 14 years of age (Jordan et al., 
     2013; Smith et al., 2009). Given the elevated risk for 
     minors, research and legislation have begun to focus on the 
     specific issue of the STM. Consequently, our understanding of 
     the risks for recruitment, experiences, and needs of underage 
     victims is growing, and important policy actions have been 
     taken. In the past decade, both Canada and the United 
     States have passed legislation, reformed laws, and enacted 
     policies to combat issues of the STM. Legislative changes 
     in both Canada and the United States have transformed the 
     way victims are viewed and treated by law enforcement. 
     More specifically, American and Canadian federal consent 
     laws declared minors under the age of 18 unable to consent 
     to commercial sex and have shifted the lens of law 
     enforcement from criminalizing youth in the sex trade to 
     viewing them as victims (Adelson, 2008; Franchino-Olsen, 
     2019). Language in research on STM has followed suit, 
     shifting from calling underage victims of sex trafficking 
     ``teen prostitutes'' to ``victims of STM.''
       On the basis of age, youth from all sectors of society are 
     at risk for recruitment into sex trafficking. Developmental 
     vulnerabilities such as identity formation, the need for 
     belonging, desire for autonomy, desire for romantic 
     relationships, and evolving problem-solving skills make them 
     easily exploitable by traffickers who appeal to these 
     vulnerabilities (Schwartz, 2015). Based on the growing 
     literature, some youths are at greater risk for recruitment 
     than others. Several risk factors for STM have been 
     identified, including involvement with child protective 
     services, history of childhood sexual abuse, homelessness, 
     physical and emotional abuse, neglect, exposure to intimate 
     partner violence, problematic relationships with caregivers, 
     drug and alcohol abuse, and teen dating violence (Choi, 2015; 
     Countryman-Roswurm, 2012; Countryman-Roswurm & Bolin, 2014; 
     Farley et al., 2005; Franchino-Olsen, 2019; Kotrla, 2010; 
     Landers et al., 2017). Traffickers are known to be deeply 
     perceptive of the developmental vulnerabilities of youth and 
     target their unmet needs through strategic recruitment 
     methods.
       Simply being a girl places a youth at an elevated risk 
     status relative to boys (Estes & Weiner, 2001), with 98% of 
     victims being women and girls (International Labour 
     Organization, 2012). Adolescent girls are particularly 
     vulnerable to sexual exploitation due to social norms that 
     cast gendered expectations and power imbalances in relation 
     to sexual activities, with boys being expected to take sexual 
     initiatives. Sexual inexperience, desire for romantic 
     relationships, and insecurity among young girls can set the 
     stage for manipulation and exploitation by adolescent boys or 
     men (Hanna, 2002).
       Based on the differential needs and situations of youth, 
     the recruitment and exploitation of underage populations are 
     thought to differ from adult populations (Bouche & Shady, 
     2017; Dank et al., 2014). While it may be riskier to traffic 
     a youth due to increased policing efforts in protecting 
     minors and higher sentences for STM, it has been suggested 
     that these risks are offset by the youth being easier to 
     manipulate and control and being highly desired by 
     purchasers, bringing in more money for the trafficker (Dank 
     et al., 2014). Compared to adults, youths have greater needs 
     for protection, less life experience, and are dependent on 
     adults for basic needs such as food and shelter, making them 
     more vulnerable to traffickers who vow to provide care, 
     protection, and basic needs (Bruhns et al., 2018; Cole & 
     Anderson, 2013). Given youths' physical and emotional 
     dependency on adults, some research have suggested youths are 
     more trusting and less able to identify traffickers' coercive 
     and manipulative strategies to entrap them (Cole & Sprang, 
     2015). Adult victims, on the other hand, are generally less 
     psychologically dependent on their trafficker (Bouche & 
     Shady, 2017). In addition, literature on the trafficking of 
     adults identify several risk factors that are more unique to 
     adult victim populations, including needing to financially 
     support dependents, low educational attainment, and having 
     few job skills (Holger-Ambrose et al., 2013). Despite 
     differences in adult and underage victim populations, much of 
     the extant research on recruitment for sex trafficking have 
     pooled both underage and adult participants or examined 
     victimized adults only, limiting our understanding of the STM 
     specifically (Reid, 2014). In order to translate sex 
     trafficking research into evidence-based initiatives to 
     combat the STM, it is important for research to delineate the 
     specific ways in which traffickers target and recruit youth 
     into the sex trade. The current study aims to synthesize 
     research that focuses on youth recruitment into sex 
     trafficking in North America.


               North American Context of Sex Trafficking

       There have been few attempts to estimate the prevalence of 
     the STM in North America; however, available statistics are 
     often ``guesstimates'' rather than reliable rates (Franchino-
     Olsen et al., 2020; Stransky & Finkelhor, 2012). Available 
     estimates for STM most commonly come from the United States, 
     where the rates range from 1,400 to upward of 199,000 victims 
     (Banks & Kyckelhahn, 2011; Estes & Weiner, 2001; Snyder & 
     Sickmund, 2006; U.S. Department of Justice, 2004), with the 
     most commonly cited study estimating upward of 325,000 
     children at risk for sexual exploitation in the United States 
     each year (Estes & Weiner, 2001). However, available 
     statistics are problematic as they often fail to distinguish 
     between domestic and international victims, are based on 
     varying definitions of sex trafficking, are geographically 
     limited, and utilize nonreplicable, unreliable methodologies 
     (Fedina et al., 2019; Franchino-Olsen et al., 2020; Stransky 
     & Finkelhor, 2012). Researcher error aside, the very nature 
     of the sex trafficking industry presents barriers to the 
     acquisition of accurate statistics. Most significant among 
     these is the fact that trafficking occurs largely 
     underground, within criminal networks that are transient, 
     discrete, and often invisible, even to law enforcement 
     (Duger, 2015; Franchino-Olsen et al., 2020). Difficulty in 
     obtaining estimates of an invisible crime is compounded by 
     the fact that many individuals victimized by sex trafficking 
     do not view themselves as victims of a crime and therefore do 
     not report it in any official capacity (Mcclain & Garrity, 
     2011). Despite flawed and unreliable statistics, STM is known 
     to be widespread across Canada and the United States, 
     requiring immediate action and sound research to uncover 
     trends and pathways of youth into sex trafficking including 
     the way traffickers target, recruit, and enmesh youth in the 
     sex trade (Clawson et al., 2009; Cole & Sprang, 2015; Dalley, 
     2010).
       While STM defies geographic borders, a country's economic 
     environment, geographic positioning, laws, employment rates, 
     per capita income, and historical events shape the industry 
     and individual risk for recruitment (Hepburn & Simon, 2010; 
     C. O'Brien, 2009). As a result, trends in STM within North 
     America are different from the European context. The 
     permeable borders between European countries allow for easy 
     international movement between proximal countries (Lindstrom, 
     2004). For example, one report found only 5% of all 
     identified sex-trafficked victims in the United Kingdom (UK) 
     were originally from the UK, which is a stark contrast to the 
     picture of trafficking in NA where the majority of victims 
     are domestic persons (Baird, McDonald & Connolly, 2020; Banks 
     & Kyckelhahn, 2011; Mitchell et al., 2010; Royal Canadian 
     Mounted Police [RCMP], Human Trafficking National 
     Coordination Centre, 2014; Serious Organised Crime Agency, 
     2013). Given sex trafficking industries vary between 
     countries based on differences in social, geographical, 
     cultural, economic, and historical factors, it is not 
     appropriate to generalize understandings of STM across 
     countries that are dissimilar across these factors (Hepburn & 
     Simon, 2010). As such, the current study narrowed its focus 
     to systematically reviewing the recruitment of minors for sex 
     trafficking in two countries, Canada and the

[[Page H7921]]

     United States both of which have similar cultural, economic, 
     geographic, and historical contexts.
       The domestic STM is of major concern within Canada and the 
     United States (Clawson et al., 2009; Dalley, 2010). While 
     both countries adhere to the standards of affluent and 
     profitable nations that are alluring destinations for 
     international sex traffickers, research consistently shows 
     that domestic youth (i.e., youth trafficked within their 
     country of origin) comprise the majority of underage victims 
     in their respective countries (Baird et al., 2020; Kotrla, 
     2010; RCMP, Human Trafficking National Coordination Centre, 
     2014). Due to the risks and challenges associated with 
     transporting victims across borders, some research suggests 
     that domestic youths are preferred by traffickers (Smith et 
     al., 2009). In summarizing the literature on recruitment and 
     entrapment, it is important to distinguish between 
     international and domestic sex trafficking due to the nuanced 
     differences in the process of exploitation. Comparatively, 
     researchers suggest domestic sex traffickers more often 
     utilize interpersonal relationships and domestic violence to 
     entrap their target and international traffickers rely upon 
     kidnapping, parents' selling their children, and offering 
     false promises of jobs abroad for entrapment (Cecchet & 
     Thoburn, 2014). Understanding the specific ways American and 
     Canadian youths are recruited by traffickers and exploited 
     domestically is important in developing effective prevention 
     and intervention strategies.

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, then let me offer this point of 
importance. The victims are not here on this floor, but we must carry 
their story to this floor, to ensure that we do not see another victim.
  So I will offer these words from Courtney. Courtney has made it her 
mission to tell her story and speak out to spread awareness of human 
trafficking and help shape policy to protect other young people from 
falling victim to the schemes of human traffickers and to hold 
traffickers accountable.
  She became entangled in sex trafficking while still in school. 
Despite what some believe about victims of human trafficking, she grew 
up in a loving, church-going family, in a safe neighborhood, and 
attended an upscale suburban high school in Texas.
  At the age of 17, she was under the control of her first trafficker. 
She was being advertised for illicit sex on websites like Backpage. A 
trafficker with ties to her high school used fellow students to prey 
upon her and use her vulnerabilities to their advantage, offering her 
friendship and support when she felt she had none, meanwhile drawing 
her gradually and deeper into the life. She was actually groomed by two 
different organized crime networks simultaneously, and each groomer 
chatted with her through social media and messaging. One network even 
invested in grooming Courtney for almost an entire year.
  Her first trafficker picked her up from school. She was unenrolled 
from her school and had her entire life uprooted in a desperate attempt 
to intervene in an exploitation.
  She returned back to her hometown where days after turning 18, she 
was taken from her home by another invested trafficker. She soon 
realized she was in this world, and over and over again she was used 
and transported from Texas to California to Las Vegas, passing from one 
hand to the next.
  What a vile life. She is willing to share this life.
  It is extremely important that we pass this legislation and that we 
address the question of what can happen to our innocent children.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. FITZGERALD. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time 
for closing.
  I would just once again like to emphasize the idea that although 
human trafficking is at the forefront of what we are discussing here 
today, we must continue to focus on the southern border and making sure 
that we secure that soon.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume for closing.
  Let me express my appreciation to those who sacrificed to share with 
us their stories and those who worked on this very important effort: 
Bishop James Dixon, II, the No Trafficking Zone cofounder and senior 
pastor of the Community of Faith Church, Branch President of the NAACP, 
Houston Branch; Jacquelyn Aluotto, NTZ cofounder, founder of Real 
Beauty Real Women; and Courtney Litvak, a member of the U.S. Advisory 
Council on Human Trafficking, who will participate in unveiling their 
annual report later this week; and so many others who have really 
helped. Jacquelyn Aluotto was someone who inspirationally wanted to 
lead us in this direction and worked very hard.
  Each of us has a duty to protect young people, whether it be from 
drugs, gun violence, or sex traffickers. Our children deserve to be 
safe, and parents should know their children will be safe when they put 
them on the school bus or move them into their new dorms.
  To be sure, H.R. 7566, the No Trafficking Zones Act, provides 
increased accountability for anyone who would dare interrupt or 
interfere with a young person's ability to obtain an education and lay 
the foundation for a productive future for the purpose of sexual 
exploitation.
  In drafting this legislation, I am grateful for the contribution of 
the No Trafficking Zone Initiative and all of those whose names I have 
called, including those names not called, those victims silenced, or 
lives lost or destroyed.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge all my colleagues to support H.R. 7566. This is a 
great day for helping to stop sex trafficking, human trafficking, where 
our children should be most safe, and that is at our schools.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 7566, the bipartisan ``No Trafficking Zones Act,'' 
would ensure that schools across the country, including institutions of 
higher education, are safe spaces for learning and academic 
exploration--free from the menace of sex trafficking.
  H.R. 7566 would establish a sentencing enhancement of up to five 
years in several instances:
  First, in the case of any person who commits the offense of sex 
trafficking within a primary or secondary school zone, or on, or within 
1,000 feet of the premises of a school-sponsored activity or premises 
owned by an institution of higher education;
  Second, for any person who commits the offense of coercion and 
enticement of a minor enrolled in a primary or secondary school or a 
person enrolled in an institution of higher education--to travel in 
interstate or foreign commerce and engage in criminal sexual activity--
while the minor is in a school zone, or on, or within 1,000 feet of, 
premises where a school-sponsored activity is taking place or while the 
person is on, or within 1,000 feet of, premises owned by the 
institution of higher education;
  And, third, for any person who commits the offense of coercion and 
enticement of a minor using the mail or facilities of interstate or 
foreign commerce--such as text and instant messaging or social media 
platforms--while the minor who is enrolled in school or an institution 
of higher education, is in a school zone, or on, or within 1,000 feet 
of, premises where a school-sponsored activity is taking place or 
premises owned by an the institution of higher education.
  Human trafficking is one of the greatest threats to human rights in 
the United States. In 2020, 11,193 instances of potential human 
trafficking were reported to the United States National Human 
Trafficking Hotline with at least 70 percent of those instances 
involving sex trafficking, while an estimated 25 percent of all human 
trafficking victims in the country are in my home state of Texas at any 
given time--many of whom are minors. That is why the Stop Human 
Trafficking in School Zones Act that we are debating is so important to 
pass.
  At least 5,359 of trafficking victims and survivors identified 
through the hotline in 2019 were under the age of 18, and in 2021, the 
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received more than 
17,200 reports of suspected child sex trafficking.
  Many of these young victims of sex trafficking are students in school 
systems, colleges, trade schools, and universities across the country.
  A 2018 survey reported that in Texas--where No Trafficking Zone 
legislation passed with bipartisan support earlier this year--55 
percent of young sex trafficking survivors were trafficked while at 
school or school activities and 60 percent of trafficked adults said 
they were first groomed and solicited for trafficking while on school 
campuses.
  Members of this body know all too well that children are sexually 
exploited in many ways. Some young people are trafficked by their 
schoolmates or people they once considered friends.
  And while traffickers seek out young people who have noticeable 
vulnerabilities--including problems at school, conflicts at home, or 
even the need to fill in a tuition gap caused by the loss of a 
scholarship--no child or young person is truly safe from the schemes of 
charismatic traffickers bent on exploiting and destroying young lives.

[[Page H7922]]

  With the proliferation of social media and the myriad ways in which 
we communicate with one another, traffickers have put these same means 
of communication to their own use--to find, target, lure, groom, 
victimize, and exert control over their victims. While buyers are using 
technology to find and purchase sex anonymously.
  Traffickers have infiltrated every known form of communication--
especially the sites, messaging apps, and social media platforms our 
children use most frequently--leaving young people more vulnerable to 
manipulation.
  Access to the internet, cell phones, and smartphones makes it easier 
for traffickers and buyers to communicate with children and youth--even 
when they are at school, in class, or attending school-sponsored 
activities.
  As a result, trafficking has reached the halls, lunchrooms, gyms, 
dormitories, and classrooms of schools, colleges, and universities in 
every corner of this nation.
  These staggering facts and statistics led me to introduce this 
bipartisan legislation, the No Trafficking Zones Act, known as the Stop 
Human Trafficking in School Zones Act, along with Chairman Nadler and 
Representative McCaul, who I wish to thank for working with me, as well 
as Representative Johnson of Louisiana for his amendment, that included 
the protections for young people at institutions of higher education.
  Each of us has a duty to protect young people--whether it be from 
drugs, gun violence, or sex traffickers. Our children deserve to be 
safe; and parents should know their children will be safe when they put 
them on the school bus or move them into their new dorms.
  To be sure, H.R. 7566, the No Trafficking Zones Act, provides 
increased accountability for anyone who would dare interrupt or 
interfere with a young person's ability to obtain an education and lay 
the foundation for a productive future--for the purpose of sexual 
exploitation.
  In drafting this legislation, I am grateful for the contributions of 
the No Trafficking Zone Initiative, Bishop James Dixon, Jacquelyn 
Aluotto, and Courtney Litvak, who is also a member of the U.S. Advisory 
Council on Human Trafficking and will participate in unveiling their 
Annual Report later this week.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 7566, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________