[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 1]
[House]
[Page 1188]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1830
        STRENGTHENING CHILD WELFARE RESPONSE TO TRAFFICKING ACT

  (Mr. FRANKS of Arizona asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute.)
  Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, I am honored today to be able to 
stand here in support of H.R. 469, the Strengthening Child Welfare 
Response to Trafficking Act. This is one of many pieces of legislation 
this week that we are going to be doing in the Congress, and I am so 
grateful to all of the people who have been involved in this critically 
important issue. I would especially mention the Co-chair of the 
Congressional Foster Youth Caucus, Karen Bass, for introducing this 
groundbreaking legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, Hubert Humphrey said a society is measured by how it 
treats those in the dawn of life, those in the shadows of life, and 
those in the twilight of life. This is such a critical issue to protect 
the 400,000 children in America who find themselves in foster care and 
vulnerable to being preyed upon by traffickers who know all too well 
how to exploit a child's hunger for love, acceptance, and a sense of 
belonging.
  We must put the structures in place to treat child victims of 
trafficking like victims instead of treating them like criminals.
  With that, Mr. Speaker, I remind us all that our first job here is to 
protect those who cannot protect themselves.
  Mr. Speaker, I am honored to able to stand here today in support of 
H.R. 469, the Strengthening Child Welfare Response to Trafficking Act. 
I commend my colleague Representative Karen Bass, the founder of the 
Co-chair of the Congressional Foster Youth Caucus, for introducing this 
groundbreaking legislation and for continuing to devote herself 
tirelessly to making a better future for these abused and neglected 
children.
  Hubert Humphrey said a society is measured by how it treats those in 
the dawn of life, those in the shadows of life, and those in the 
twilight of life. Mr. Speaker, this is so applicable to our nation's 
foster youth. Right now over 400,000 children in America find 
themselves in foster care for no fault of their own. . . . And it is 
that trauma of abuse or neglect, that brought them into foster care in 
the first place, on top of being in unfamiliar circumstances, that 
makes them exponentially more vulnerable to be preyed upon by 
traffickers, who know all too well how to exploit a child's hunger for 
love, acceptance, and a sense of belonging.
  For too long, and far too often, victims of trafficking have been 
allowed to fall through the cracks in the system. We have not put 
structures in place to treat child victims of trafficking like victims, 
and not treat them like criminals.
  This legislation will begin to bridge the gaps where law enforcement 
and child protection workers need to be better equipped in order to 
best protect children known or suspected to be victims of sex 
trafficking. It also requires the submission of annual reports on the 
number of child victims of sex trafficking, and the reporting of that 
data to Congress so that we can better assess how to prevent child sex 
trafficking, and remove barriers that keep us from truly serving those 
that have become victims, and most of all, to protect the hundreds of 
thousands of vulnerable children to keep them from ever having to 
endure the evil of sex trafficking.
  I am grateful for my colleague Representative Bass's leadership on 
this issue, and to House Leadership for recognizing the priority that 
must be placed upon protecting some of our nation's most vulnerable 
children. And I pray we will continue to work and stand together for 
the right of every child to be safe, protected, cherished, and loved.

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