[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 1]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 1339]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




            PROTECTING THE VICTIMS OF CHILD SEX TRAFFICKING

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                           HON. LOU BARLETTA

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 27, 2015

  Mr. BARLETTA. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to support a number of bills 
this week that will improve identification of, and services for, 
children who are victims of sex trafficking, including runaway and 
homeless kids.
  Every year, as many as 300,000 young people become the victims of sex 
trafficking, while others are forced into a life of virtual slavery in 
hard labor and the drug trade. In particular, homeless young people are 
at risk of falling into this tragic life.
  Unfortunately, many of our young that fall prey to the dark 
characters who run these trades have already been involved in the child 
welfare system at one government level or another. What this screams to 
us is that the welfare system has failed these children. It seems clear 
that the evils of trafficking are not something our child welfare 
workers are sufficiently prepared to deal with.
  We must improve the ability of child welfare workers to identify and 
assess child victims of trafficking--including runaway and homeless 
youth--and the services they need. We must engage in a coordinated 
effort at the federal, state, and local levels to collect and share 
information that will help analyze and identify youth trafficking. We 
must also identify state efforts that successfully serve youth 
trafficking victims in order to spread best practices to other states.
  These are commonsense solutions to better identify and serve victims 
of youth trafficking.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support these important bills.

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