Stop Exploitation Through Trafficking Act of 2015

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

The manager, Mr. Sensenbrenner, is right. These are certainly both cases and legislation that, one, we are appalled at with the case studies that we have seen and with the legislation that we seek in a bipartisan manner to solve that exploitation.

I rise in support of H.R. 159, the Stop Exploitation Through Trafficking Act of 2015. The Stop Exploitation Through Trafficking Act is another weapon in the war against sex trafficking in our country.

Madam Speaker, we are truly at war. As we stand here today, some child is being sex-trafficked--some runaway who is away from her family, not able to be found, not finding a place of refuge--falling into the deadly hands, if you will, of someone who will take advantage of her almost for the rest of her life. In Houston, I met women who had engaged in or who had been subjected to that in the early part of their lives, and they will tell you how it follows them for a long, long time, so they subject themselves to drugs and alcohol to eliminate the pain.

This bill contains important victim-based initiatives to help combat sex trafficking. One of those initiatives,

the national safe harbor law, is essential to making sure that victims of sex trafficking are not criminalized but, instead, are diverted to Child Protective Services. Only 12 States have safe harbor laws for minor victims of sex trafficking. That is far too few. Obviously, we need all 50 States to have this safe harbor.

My colleagues, there is no such thing as a child prostitute. There are only child victims of rape. Children cannot give consent. There is no such thing as a child prostitute. Likewise, it is illegal for adults to have sex with children, children who by their very ages are under the age of consent. Sex with a minor, again, is rape. The seriousness of the offense is not diminished by having the john pay for the sex, making him feel good. It is still rape. It is time we stopped referring to the customer--the person having sex with a child--with such a polite title as a ``john.''

In addition, we must label those who provide the johns with children, with minors, as what they are--horrific and horrible and vile criminals. The person who is the john is a rapist, a child rapist. We must punish those who prey on the vulnerable, and that includes not only the pimps and the traffickers, but also the rapists.

On the other hand, in an effort to help their recovery, we must not continue to victimize the victims. This bill empowers victims by providing for a national hotline to request help. The importance of this national hotline must not be underestimated.

In my earlier statement, I spoke of a field hearing that I convened last March in Houston as a member of the Homeland Security Committee. During that hearing, Mr. McClelland, the chief of the Houston Police Department, testified that an 18-year-old victim of human trafficking contacted the national hotline asking for help to escape her violent pimp.

The young victim had been forced to have sex with a john who ended up stabbing her and leaving without paying any money--a stabbing. She was fearful and wanted to get the money. It was a horrible situation.

While her injuries were not life threatening, she did require medical attention for her injuries. However, the pimp refused to take her to get medical treatment, and she owed him to make up the money that the previous john who stabbed her did not pay.

Vice's human trafficking unit received the information from hotline personnel and were able to contact, locate, and rescue the young female. They also arrested the pimp and charged him with felony of compelling prostitution. Madam Speaker, I wish there was a harsher charge, but it was good work by the local law enforcement.

Madam Speaker, this story ends well. The young victim was reunited with family members that same day. This case serves as a great example of how law enforcement and nongovernmental organizations can successfully work together to not only rescue victims of human trafficking, but also arrest the perpetrators of this crime and get them off the street and away from other victims who are still out there.

H.R. 159 also helps victims obtain restitution, and this is what I like: it puts them back on the right track by giving them eligibility for the Job Corps program, where we have seen lives turn around. It wants to say to them: You are valuable, you are worthy, and you have a future.

This bill will help ensure that all victims of sex trafficking are treated as victims in every State and every jurisdiction. For these reasons, I join with my colleague, Mr. Sensenbrenner, and urge my colleagues to support this legislation as well.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 159, the ``Stop Exploitation Through Trafficking Act of 2015.''

The Stop Exploitation Through Trafficking Act is another weapon in the war against sex trafficking in our country. This bill contains important victim-based initiatives to help combat sex trafficking. One of those initiatives, the National Safe Harbor Law, is essential to making sure that victims of sex trafficking are not criminalized, but instead are diverted to child protective services. Only 12 states have safe harbor laws for minor victims of sex trafficking.

My colleagues, there is no such thing as a ``child prostitute''; there are only child victims of rape. Likewise, it is illegal for adults to have sex with children who, by their very age, are under the age of consent. Sex with a minor is rape! The seriousness of the offense is not diminished by having the ``john'' pay for the sex. It is still rape, and it's time we stopped referring to the customer, the person having sex with a child, with such a polite title as a ``john.'' He is a rapist, a child rapist! We must punish those who prey on the vulnerable, and that includes not only the pimps and traffickers but also the rapists.

On the other hand, we must not continue to victimize the victims. In an effort to help their recovery, this bill empowers victims with a national hotline to request help. The importance of this national hotline must not be underestimated.

In my earlier statement, I spoke of a field hearing that the Committee on Homeland Security held in Houston in March of last year. During that hearing Mr. Charles McClelland, Jr, Chief of Police, of the Houston Police Department, testified,

. . . an 18 year old female victim of Human Trafficking . .

. contacted the National Human Trafficking Resource Center

Hotline asking for help to escape her violent pimp. The young

victim had been forced to have sex with a ``john'' who ended

up stabbing her and leaving without paying her any money.

While her injuries were not life threatening, she did require

medical attention for her injuries, however, the pimp refused

to take her to get medical treatment until she earner him

more money to make up for the money that the previous

``john'' did not pay. Vice/Human Trafficking Unit personnel

received the information from Hotline personnel, and were

able to contact, locate, and rescue the young female, and

also arrest the pimp and charge him with felony compelling

prostitution.

Madam Speaker, this story ends well. This young victim was reunited with family members that same day. This case serves as a great example of how law enforcement and non-governmental organizations can successfully work together to not only rescue victims of Human Trafficking, but also arrest the perpetrators of this crime and get them off the street and away from other victims who are still out there.

H.R. 159 also helps victims obtain restitution and grants them eligibility for Job Corps programs. This bill will help ensure that all victims of sex trafficking are treated as victims in every state and in every jurisdiction.

For these reasons I support this bill and urge my colleagues to support it as well.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, it is my pleasure to yield 3 minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from Wisconsin (Ms. Moore), who has championed these bills.

I yield the gentlewoman an additional 30 seconds.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

In closing, we have all come today with an important project, and that is to help save our children.

I wouldn't want to leave this very important bill that talks about saving our children from sex trafficking without letting our colleagues know that we want every possible act of human trafficking to be reported at 1-866-347-2423. We want those who are victims to know that they can seek help, too, at 1-888-373-7888.

The statement we are making is that we are doing everything we can to extinguish and eliminate this heinous tragedy in our country. I ask my colleagues to support this legislation and to recognize that we must stop exploitation through trafficking.

I ask my colleagues to support H.R. 159, and I yield back the balance of my time.

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Madam Speaker, it is easy and comfortable to think that sex trafficking only happens in countries outside the United States. The truth is that more than 100,000 are at risk of being trafficked for commercial sex here in the United States each and every year, here in America.

We have a word for a situation when one group of people is dehumanized and has their basic human rights snuffed out for someone else's economic gain. That word is slavery. The problem we have today is not a thing of the past. It is not from some remote corner of the world that you can't find on a map.

Slavery in the form of human trafficking is happening right now. It is happening in our cities, suburbs, and rural communities. It is happening in each and every one of our congressional districts.

I am sad to say that Minneapolis, Minnesota, my home State, has actually been listed as one of the 13th largest centers for sexual exploitation of children in the entire country.

I realize how critical it is to educate our community about what I have learned from talking to victims like Dayanna, who became a 13- year-old trafficking victim. Dayanna didn't get a lot of love and attention from her mother or family.

While she took it upon herself to take care of her brothers and sisters, she longed for someone to give her love and attention. She ended up being seduced by a man who promised to be her ``boyfriend.''

Guess what? At age 13, within days after running away with him, she found herself being trafficked in Chicago and Philadelphia, without a home and separated from her family. Only a daring jump from a second- story window actually allowed her to escape.

Many might think that if Dayanna had come from a different family situation, she wouldn't have been trafficked; sadly, that is not the case.

I will never forget meeting with the mother of a young woman named Brittany. Brittany was a very young girl who was violently raped, murdered, and then found dead in an impound lot last February. Unlike Dayanna, Brittany had a loving family. She worked with children at a local recreation center and taught dance lessons.

Despite these circumstances, Brittany was also a victim of sex trafficking but was too embarrassed to speak out until it was too late. As Brittany's mother told me: ``It doesn't matter if victims have a home because if sex trafficking can happen to my daughter, it can happen to any young girl.''

That is exactly what we are talking about: young girls who are only 12, 13, or 14 years old. They are not old enough to have graduated from high school. They are not old enough to have voted in an election. They are not old enough to pass their driver's license exam. In fact, in most States, these girls would be considered criminals that should be incarcerated and charged with prostitution instead of being treated as victims.

We found that criminalization only traumatizes these girls and actually isolates them from the community and the services that they need and deserve. That is why, Madam Speaker, we need this legislation, H.R. 159, the Stop Exploitation Through Trafficking Act, which focuses on incentivizing States to have safe harbor laws.

Safe harbor laws ensure that these girls are treated as victims. Safe harbor laws will give legal protection for minor victims and provide them with specialized social services.

We know that by bringing these victims out of the shadows, we can make sure they get the services they need, including medical and psychological treatment, housing, legal services, educational assistance, job training, and more.

Law enforcement can then focus on actually bringing the perpetrators of these awful crimes to justice. This bipartisan legislation incentivizes States to adopt these safe harbor laws, so we can expand on the successes we have seen in States like Minnesota.

In 2011, Minnesota became the fifth State to approve safe harbor legislation. After their safe harbor laws went into effect, guess what? Law enforcement in Minnesota began arresting more johns than ever before, and human trafficking convictions more than doubled. Best practices evaluated by law enforcement and victims groups show that removing the fear of prosecution from victims actually works.

Today, only a little over a dozen States have full safe harbor laws. We have got to do more to protect these victims and be sure the pimps and johns are brought to justice.

This legislation also helps victims by codifying a national human trafficking hotline and making victims eligible for Job Corps services. By giving them an avenue to access for job skill training, they can begin to rebuild their lives.

Madam Speaker, the bill also helps law enforcement by allowing the U.S. Marshals Service to support other State, local, or Federal law enforcement agencies that are investigating missing child cases.

Finally, the bill increases oversight by requiring additional reporting to Congress on restitution orders in trafficking cases. These provisions are all essentially critically important pieces in the effort to combat sex trafficking.

I want to thank my colleague Gwen Moore from Wisconsin for her advocacy, passion, and partnership on this legislation and moving it forward on a bipartisan basis. I also want to thank the leaders of the Judiciary Committee team who have recognized that this is a top priority and moved it quickly early in this session of Congress.

I look forward to working with my colleague, Senator Klobuchar from Minnesota, as well, in passing each and every one of these anti- trafficking bills and getting them on the President's desk, so we can continue to save the lives of children.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 159) to stop exploitation through trafficking, as amended.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on H.R. 159, currently under consideration.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

This weekend is one of America's greatest sports traditions--the Super Bowl. As most Americans huddle around the television, either rooting for their teams or against the rival as the case may be, sadly, many American children are huddled on the streets or in hotel rooms-- the victims of sex trafficking.

A sinister side to major sporting events and to other large events is that a portion of the attendants come looking to abuse young children as much as they come for the headline events. While no one knows exactly how much the incidence of child sex trafficking increases during these events, it is known that pimps do bring children and other victims from around the country to offer them for sale at the Super Bowl and at other similar events. During last year's Super Bowl, the FBI and other law enforcement agencies arrested more than 45 traffickers and rescued 16 child victims of sex trafficking, including victims as young as 13 years old and some who had been reported missing by their families.

Compounding this tragedy is the fact that most States have no exception to their prostitution laws for minor victims of trafficking. These children must often fear arrest and prosecution when law enforcement manages to locate and rescue some sex trafficking victims. This must stop. In recognizing the need for protection and support for the growing number of child victims of commercial sex trafficking, an increasing number of States have taken steps to establish so-called ``safe harbor'' provisions that either decriminalize minor prostitution or divert minor victims to the services and support needed for recovery.

H.R. 159, the Stop Exploitation Through Trafficking Act, introduced by Mr. Paulsen of Minnesota and Ms. Moore of my own State of Wisconsin, seeks to continue this trend by encouraging the States, through preferential treatment in the Federal COPS grants, to enact safe harbor legislation that ensures these victims are treated as victims and not as criminals and that they are directed to support services and not to detention facilities.

The bill also codifies a ``national human trafficking hotline'' that ensures young victims are eligible for enrollment in the Job Corps program. It requires the Attorney General to report on sex offender convictions, and it clarifies the authority of the U.S. Marshals Service to help locate and recover missing children, many of whom are vulnerable to becoming sex trafficking victims.

This bill passed the Judiciary Committee by voice vote. Similar legislation passed on the House floor unanimously last Congress, but it was not enacted into law.

There is no such thing as a child prostitute--just victims of commercial sexual abuse at the hands of adults, so I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 159.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Committee on Education and the Workforce, House of

Representatives,

Washington, DC, January 26, 2015.

Hon. Bob Goodlatte,

Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary, House of

Representatives, Washington, DC.

Dear Mr. Chairman: I am writing to confirm our mutual

understanding with respect to H.R. 159, the ``Stop

Exploitation Through Trafficking Act of 1015.'' Thank you for

consulting with the Committee on Education and the Workforce

with regard to H.R. 159 on those matters within the

committee's jurisdiction.

In the interest of expediting the House's consideration of

H.R. 159, the Committee on Education and the Workforce will

forgo further consideration of this bill. However, I do so

only with the understanding this procedural route will not be

construed to prejudice my committee's jurisdictional interest

and prerogatives on this bill, or any other similar

legislation, and will not be considered as precedent for

consideration of matters of jurisdictional interest to my

committee in the future.

I respectfully request your support for the appointment of

outside conferees from the Committee on Education and the

Workforce should this bill or a similar bill be considered in

a conference with the Senate. I also request you include our

exchange of letters on this matter in the Congressional

Record during consideration of this bill on the House floor.

Thank you for your attention to these matters.

Sincerely,

John Kline,

Chairman.

Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Paulsen), the principal author of the bill.

Madam Speaker, we have no further speakers, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, this is another example of bipartisan cooperation in the House of Representatives. I do wish to commend the principal author of the bill, Mr. Paulsen from Minnesota, an original cosponsor; Ms. Moore from Wisconsin; and my colleague, the ranking member of the Crime Subcommittee, Ms. Jackson Lee of Texas.

We have all worked together. Hopefully, we can send this bill over to the other body, and they will promptly pass it.

With that, I yield back the balance of my time.

I want to thank the gentlewoman from Texas and the gentleman from Wisconsin.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 159, the Stop Exploitation Through Trafficking Act, which has been so diligently pushed through with the superb partnership of Congressman Erik Paulsen of Minnesota. It has been a thrill to partner with him throughout this process.

This is a bipartisan collaboration because, unfortunately, this is a bipartisan problem. Solving the problem of sexual exploitation of children will require work on all of our parts because it is a financial boom. People become multimillionaires in this illicit trade.

Also, the gentlewoman from Texas has worked so diligently to combat sex trafficking in places like Nigeria, and I joined with her on that initiative.

It is very disheartening to know that right here, within our own borders, the FBI estimates that at least 100,000 children in the United States of America are currently trafficked and another 200,000 are right on the cusp. They are at risk of sexual exploitation.

These victims are not ``women of the night'' or sexualized women who are doing it of their own free will--no. The average age of these victims is 13. It is an embarrassing statistic. It is embarrassing to report that my own hometown of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, has become known as a sex trafficking hub for both children and adults.

In 2013 alone, just on a random day, the FBI did a sweep and rescued 10 juvenile girls from sex traffickers in Milwaukee. Trafficking is all too common in communities across the Nation--from urban settings, rural settings, suburban settings, and from coast to coast.

Predators victimize vulnerable young people such as those in the foster care system. They prey upon those living in poverty; but what we do know is they also seek out higher-income children, going after those children who may have problems in their own homes. Some are LGBT identified.

There is no safe harbor for children unless we create it through laws such as this.

I am proud of this legislation, I am pleased to cosponsor it, and I urge all of my colleagues to support H.R. 159.