SOAR to Health and Wellness Act of 2018

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to rise today in support of the Stop, Observe, Ask, and Respond to Health and Wellness Act, which is the acronym SOAR.

In April of 2016, I worked with the Department of Homeland Security to host a Human Trafficking Awareness Training program in Memphis at the University of Tennessee. We gathered State and local law enforcement, first responders, healthcare workers, faith-based groups, and educators to discuss the importance of and strategies to combat human trafficking. This event solidified my stance and activated me to go forward with the legislation to address the human trafficking that is occurring in the United States.

Shortly after, I was proud to introduce this bipartisan bill along with my colleagues: Congressman Kinzinger from Illinois, Congressman Cardenas from California, and Congresswoman Wagner from Missouri in the House, as well as Senators Heitkamp and Susan Collins in the Senate.

Human trafficking is the second fastest-growing crime in Tennessee, and it is amazing that every 2 minutes someone in the United States is entered into human trafficking. Every 2 minutes. In 2016, 8,042 cases were reported to the National Human Trafficking Hotline,

with 110 of those occurring in Tennessee. Those are just the cases that were reported. Human trafficking remains a hidden crime, and victims rarely seek help because of cultural barriers or due to fear of their traffickers, law enforcement, or of being deported, because many are imported into our country to engage in sex crimes.

In April 2016, I joined with the Department of Homeland Security in hosting our conference in Memphis, and from there came our legislation. The SOAR Act directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a program to provide training to healthcare providers at all levels on human trafficking.

Trafficking victims often end up in healthcare settings, and because traffickers want to maximize profits, victims will not have health insurance and will not often follow up on treatment. And pimps and johns will beat up the women, and they will end up in a public healthcare facility because they don't have insurance.

Mr. Speaker, 57 percent of trafficking victims report physical injuries, and nearly all report having faced either sexual abuse or physical violence. These injuries caused a reported 63 percent of trafficking victims to go to the emergency room when they are being exploited. Many victims also end up with sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, and are at high risk of pregnancy. As a result, nearly 88 percent of trafficked victims are seen by a healthcare provider at some point and, more likely than not, it is in an emergency room. So these are the people we seek out most to train and see the signs of trafficking to be able to report it to law enforcement and help these ladies out of the situation they are in.

Despite this, out of more than 5,600 hospitals in the country, only a handful have a plan for treating patients who are victims of trafficking, and over 95 percent of emergency room personnel are not trained to identify trafficking victims. As a result, it is estimated that only 1 percent of human trafficking victims are identified when they seek emergency care.

We must encourage healthcare professionals to be alert to possible instances of human trafficking when victims appear in clinics or doctors' offices for needed care, and we must provide them the additional training and resources to accomplish this goal.

I am proud to work on the SOAR to Health and Wellness Act and I urge my colleagues to help pass it today. I thank my cosponsors and the Republican leadership for scheduling this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I missed some votes on Wednesday, December 19, all votes on Thursday, December 20, and some votes today. Had I been present, I would have voted as follows:

Roll Call Vote Number 440 (Passage of H.R. 7327, the SECURE Technology Act): YES;

Roll Call Vote Number 441 (Passage of H.R. 7279, the Water Infrastructure Improvement Act): YES;

Roll Call Vote Number 442 (Passage of H.R. 6227, the National Quantum Initiative Act): YES;

Roll Call Vote Number 443 (Passage of H.R. 6652): YES;

Roll Call Vote 444 (Passage of S. 1520, the Modernizing Recreational Fisheries Management Act of 2018): YES;

Roll Call Vote Number 445 (Passage of S. 3530, the Museum and Library Services Act of 2018): YES;

Roll Call Vote Number 446 (Agreeing to H. Res. 1180): NO;

Roll Call Vote Number 447 (Agreeing to H. Res. 1181): YES;

Roll Call Vote Number 448 (Concurring in the Senate Amendment to the House Amendment to S. 756, the First Step Act of 2018): YES;

Roll Call Vote Number 449 (Passage of H.R. 7328, the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness and Advancing Innovation Act of 2018): YES;

Roll Call Vote Number 450 (Concurring in the Senate Amendment to H.R. 5075, the Ashanti Alert Act of 2018): YES;

Roll Call Vote Number 451 (Passage of H.R. 7093, the Clean Up the Code Act of 2018): YES;

Roll Call Vote Number 452 (Passage of S. 2896, the Justice Against Corruption on K Street Act of 2018 or JACK Act): YES;

Roll Call Vote Number 453 (Passage of S. 2961, the Victims of Child Abuse Act Reauthorization Act of 2018): YES;

Roll Call Vote Number 454 (Passage of S. 2679, the Veterans Small Business Enhancement Act): YES;

Roll Call Vote Number 455 (Passage of H.R. 7227, the Taxpayer First Act of 2018): YES;

Roll Call Vote Number 456 (Concurring in the Senate Amendment to H.R. 4227, the Vehicular Terrorism Prevention Act of 2019): YES;

Roll Call Vote Number 457 (Passage of S. 2652, the Stephen Michael Gleason Congressional Gold Medal Act): YES;

Roll Call Vote Number 458 (Passage of S. 2765, the RBIC Advisers Relief Act of 2018): YES;

Roll Call Vote Number 459 (Concurring in the Senate Amendment to H.R. 5509, the Innovations in Mentoring, Training, and Apprenticeships Act):

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Senate amendment to H.R. 767, the SOAR to Health and Wellness Act of 2018.

This bill establishes a training program for healthcare and social service providers in order to better identify potential victims of human trafficking when they come into contact with healthcare or social services professionals. The bill provides grants to appropriate entities to help train these providers on how to identify and appropriately treat potential victims of human trafficking.

Nearly 21 million people worldwide are victims of human trafficking, forced labor, or sexual exploitation. At some point, many of these unidentified victims will come into contact with a healthcare provider or social services professional. It is critical for these providers to know how best to care for these individuals and how to ensure they can coordinate their treatment with other providers in a way that is culturally relevant, trauma informed, and patient centered. Helping healthcare professionals better recognize the signs of trafficking and improve their ability to intervene can truly be the difference between life and death.

Mr. Speaker, the House passed H.R. 767 on February 26 of this year, and we are now considering the amendment to the bill that the Senate agreed to yesterday. These changes reflect bipartisan efforts to streamline the text of the legislation, while maintaining the bill's intent and scope as originally passed in the House.

I want to thank Congressman Cohen for sponsoring this important piece of legislation and for his leadership on this issue.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the bill. I have no further speakers, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 767) to establish the Stop, Observe, Ask, and Respond to Health and Wellness Training pilot program to address human trafficking in the health care system, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material into the Record on the bill.

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

Mr. Speaker, today I rise in support of H.R. 767, the Stop, Observe, Ask, and Respond to Health and Wellness Act of 2018, introduced by our colleague, Representative Steve Cohen from Tennessee.

This bill will help in the fight against human trafficking. Worldwide, nearly 21 million people are victims of human trafficking, forced labor, or exploitation. This bipartisan initiative expands and further codifies the Department of Health and Human Services' Stop, Observe, Ask, and Respond program, which enhances the healthcare system's response to human trafficking by requiring the program to provide grants to healthcare sites, to work with stakeholders to develop flexible training modules, and to provide technical assistance to health education programs. This legislation will teach health professionals to identify and to respond to victims of human trafficking.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Kinzinger), a valuable member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce and, in fact, the vice chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.

Mr. Speaker, this is a worthwhile bill. I urge my colleagues to support it.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 767, the Stop, Observe, Ask, and Respond to Health and Wellness Act. I am a proud colead of this important bill with Mr. Cohen from Tennessee, and I thank him for his work.

Mr. Speaker, when someone says ``human trafficking,'' oftentimes we view it as a problem far away from our shores that affects people who are not us. It is hard to imagine that this modern-day slavery is happening over here, hurting the people within our community every day. In my home State of Illinois, we have the fifth highest number of trafficking cases in this country; and the city of Rockford, in my district, is ranked second behind Chicago in human trafficking cases.

The most important thing we can do to combat this heinous crime is to raise awareness. That is what the SOAR to Health and Wellness Act is designed to do. This important legislation would expand on a pilot program with the Department of Health and Human Services by supporting the training of healthcare workers to identify victims and best care for them through established protocols and procedures.

Many times, when trafficking victims come to emergency rooms, healthcare professionals may not always spot the signs that their patient was a victim of human trafficking. Education is critical in combating human trafficking, and our awareness could, in fact, save a life.

Mr. Speaker, I strongly encourage my colleagues to support H.R. 767. I believe it can have an impact towards identifying cases of human trafficking and helping the most vulnerable and at-risk individuals of this evil crime.