Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2664, the Enhancing Detection of Human Trafficking Act, a bill to assist the U.S. Department of Labor in identifying and preventing cases of human trafficking.

Human trafficking is a global and domestic threat to basic human rights and humanity as we know it. However, the injustice of human trafficking is not just a global program. Human rights abuses are happening right here in the United States every day and in every region across the country.

Polaris, a nonprofit that operates the National Human Trafficking Resource Center hotline here in the U.S. received reports of over 8,000 cases of human trafficking in our country last year, an increase of 35 percent over the year before.

Government agencies must continue to work together to identify and eradicate all cases of human trafficking. We can and must do better to prevent cases of abuse before they happen. That is the purpose of this bill, the Enhancing Detection of Human Trafficking Act.

H.R. 2664 directs the Department of Labor to train appropriate Department staff on how to detect human trafficking and ensure that all personnel at the Department of Labor are provided with regular screening tools to identify and detect trafficking activity.

This bill establishes training for a clear course of action, including referring cases of suspected human trafficking to the Department of Justice and other appropriate authorities to properly investigate and prosecute offenders.

This bill also requires the Department of Labor to report back to Congress within a year on the progress that is being made by such efforts.

Mr. Speaker, the Enhancing Detection of Human Trafficking Act supports current efforts to combat human trafficking by providing the Department of Labor the tools and resources it needs to identify and properly respond to human rights abuses.

I ask my colleagues for a vote in favor of this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2480, the Empowering Law Enforcement to Fight Sex Trafficking Demand Act, a simple but powerful bill that will amend the Byrne JAG Grant Program to include funding initiatives aimed at disrupting and reducing the demand for sex trafficking.

As we know, dismantling the multifaceted web of sex trafficking requires collaborative and comprehensive action at every level of government. I am pleased to join Representative Hartzler and so many of my colleagues as we continue to address this problem.

In conjunction with a number of bills introduced this Congress to strengthen and reauthorize the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, H.R. 2480 acknowledges that a comprehensive approach to eliminate sex trafficking necessarily requires the inclusion of demand reduction efforts. Specifically, this bill provides support to State and local jurisdictions working to eliminate sex trafficking by expanding the designated use of Byrne JAG funding to include the express purpose of combating sex trafficking demand.

It is important that we support concrete and effective measures in furtherance of demand reduction as a critical component of law enforcement. Yet in nearly every State across the country, especially when it comes to underage youth, the buyers of sex tend to be treated as johns. When we are looking at underage girls, anybody that is purchasing sex should be viewed as a child molester.

Just as we are beginning to see the need to acknowledge the shift in how we see and respond to victims of sex trafficking--most of whom are minors, 59 percent of all reported cases in 2016 per Polaris National Hotline, and nearly all of them having involvement in the child welfare system, 86 percent as reported in the 2016 National Center for Missing & Exploited Children--there must be a paradigm shift in how we see and respond to those engaged in the illicit buying of women and children for sex.

Sex trafficking reduction programs under this bill would support enhanced efforts to arrest and prosecute these offenders. This bill would further help jurisdictions implement and facilitate necessary training programs designed to help law enforcement understand, identify, and appropriately respond fundamentally to those who buy and perpetrate sex trafficking.

Just as law enforcement must make critical efforts in distinguishing and identifying victims in need of services from petty criminals, so, too, must efforts be made to identify and prosecute dangerous and predatory sex offenders. Thus, State and local justice systems would be eligible to receive Byrne JAG money to support innovative advancements in developing and acquiring cutting-edge technology.

For example, H.R. 2480 would support the use of programs like Spotlight, a web-based tool used by over 4,000 law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and Canada to enable them to collaborate across jurisdictions for streamlined tracking of child sex trafficking victims.

Mr. Speaker, over the past year, reports showed that Spotlight identified, on average, five kids per day, and that law enforcement using Spotlight daily are seeing a 60 percent time savings in their investigative process.

For these reasons, I urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan bill and the need to invest in comprehensive measures to prevent and attack sex trafficking demands.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2200, a bill to reauthorize $130 million in currently appropriated funds in order to continue, over the next 4 years, critical and necessary work to fight sex and labor trafficking. This bill builds upon the remarkable work of the original Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, the cornerstone of Federal human trafficking legislation.

I want to thank my colleagues Chairman Royce and especially Chairman Chris Smith for his pioneering leadership.

Despite great strides and the tremendous progress we have made in exposing and beginning to understand the complexities and growing obstacles of human trafficking, we still have much to do.

I am particularly thankful for the inclusion of my language in section 103, which provides a modification to grants for victims services in order to provide a necessary focus on young victims in the child welfare system. Specifically, this section will amend the Trafficking Victims Protection Act to address a key reason children and women have difficulty leaving their exploiter: the lack of housing. They have nowhere to go.

As with all antitrafficking measures, I am particularly concerned about what we are doing to combat the devastating epidemic of young girls in the foster care system falling prey to child exploitation and sex trafficking. The average age of a girl entering into sex trafficking is 12 years old.

In 2016, an estimated one out of six endangered runaways reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children were likely child sex trafficking victims. Of these reported victims, 86 percent were in the care of social services or foster care when they ran.

One seasoned detective in Los Angeles recently reported during a demonstration on law enforcement technology used to identify victims that every single girl he has ever encountered through sex trafficking or commercially exploited sex activity has been in the child welfare system.

It cannot be overstated that the purpose of the child welfare system is to protect children who are abused or neglected. It is our responsibility to make sure these children do not fall between the cracks. It is devastating to know that we have failed many of them.

Just as if one of our own children in our family went missing, a child that is under the care of the government that goes missing demands our most aggressive response and effort to find, save, and protect them.

Our most urgent priority should be disrupting the child welfare-to- trafficking pipeline and finding better, more effective ways to meet the critical needs of this vulnerable population. In particular, as we continue to tackle child sex trafficking in the United States, it is imperative that we provide a special focus on the immediate and long- term housing needs of at-risk foster youth. Young girls and disconnected youth have particular and sensitive needs as trafficking victims.

Current funding for housing and shelter for victims of child sex trafficking is insufficient to meet the growing demand for youth services, especially young foster girls exploited through their emotional and financial vulnerabilities. At every level of government, we have an urgent responsibility to shut down pathways for child sex trafficking and to invest in critical housing needs for vulnerable youth and girls. This responsibility includes supporting and adopting

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee), who is the ranking member on the Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations Subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Hawaii (Ms. Gabbard).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs. Beatty).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Frankel).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Davis).

Mr. Speaker, I thank the author of this important legislation, Mr. Chris Smith; and I thank Chairman Royce for bringing it to the floor. I support this bill and I encourage my colleagues to do so as well.

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

Mr. Speaker, today I congratulate Diane Griffiths on a long career of service to the State of California, and on her retirement on June 1, 2017.

Diane Griffiths served many years as chief of staff to my friend and former colleague in the California legislature, Robert Hertzberg, including during his two terms as the 64th Speaker of the California Assembly, as well as after his election to the California Senate. As a former Speaker myself, I know how vital a role the Speaker's chief of staff plays in the success of each legislative session and the legislature overall. Diane worked diligently to keep herself informed on the substance of a wide range of issues, while also handling the myriad management tasks involved in the running of an operation as complex as a legislative leadership office.

She has worked in the Legislature in many different roles and handled a broad range of policy, legal and administrative issues. Senator Hertzberg describes her as ``the consummate chief of staff'' and praises her for always striving to help others to be as effective as possible.

Previously, Diane served as chief of staff to the University of California Board of Regents. She was also General Counsel to California's Fair Political Practices Commission. A graduate of the Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley, she clerked for the California and Alaska Supreme Courts after graduation.

Diane will be missed, but I appreciate the decades of service that she gave to the citizens of California and I wish her all the best in her new endeavors.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to honor the life and memory of Walker Alexander Williams. Born in East Orange, New Jersey in 1940, Walker lifted his eyes well beyond our shores and developed an international reputation as a businessman and an advocate for the African and Caribbean diaspora communities. His passion for economic empowerment led him to create Alternative Marketing Access, Leadership Global (formerly Leadership Africa USA) and NiQuan Energy as platforms for development. Walker leaves behind a legacy of uplifting others and promoting the advancement of under-represented groups, especially those of African and African American descent.

Walker also recognized the importance of training people to fill leadership roles and developing talent to serve in African political and economic contexts. He had a vision for developing countries in which their diverse communities and nations overall could reach their full potential. His distinguished career included testifying in Congress on ``The Future of Energy in Africa'' where he urged this body to support and encourage partnerships to improve Africa's access to energy. He also provided vital leadership around the initial passage of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), arranging several Congressional briefings for African Ambassadors, key members of Congress, and Administration officials on AGOA and its potential effect on infrastructure, energy, agriculture, health, nutrition, and security.

During his long career as a businessman, advocate, and philanthropist, Walker remained committed to mentoring and empowering young people and professionals, and he always aimed to make those who worked with him feel valued. He worked with more than 100 non- governmental organizations over thirty-plus years, and he facilitated scholarship and educational opportunities in Africa and the Caribbean through the Education Africa Presidential and Premier Education Awards, Nelson Mandela Presidential Medallions, and the Walter Sisulu Scholarship and Training Fund. He encouraged Africans and Americans alike to envision and achieve personal power and a more prosperous future. Walker believed that a better Africa and Caribbean meant a better United States of America.

Walker is remembered by his partner, children, and grandchildren as a humble and dedicated man. I would like to celebrate a life of service while I offer condolences to those he has left behind.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to honor the life and memory of Walker Alexander Williams.

Born in East Orange, New Jersey in 1940, Walker lifted his eyes well beyond our shores and developed an international reputation as a businessman and an advocate for the African and Caribbean diaspora communities. His passion for economic empowerment led him to create Alternative Marketing Access, Leadership Global (formerly Leadership Africa USA) and NiQuan Energy as platforms for development. Walker leaves behind a legacy of uplifting others and promoting the advancement of under-represented groups, especially those of African and African American descent.

Walker also recognized the importance of training people to fill leadership roles and developing talent to serve in African political and economic contexts. He had a vision for developing countries in which their diverse communities and nations overall could reach their full potential. His distinguished career included testifying in Congress on ``The Future of Energy in Africa'' where he urged this body to support and encourage partnerships to improve Africa's access to energy. He also provided vital leadership around the initial passage of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), arranging several Congressional briefings for African Ambassadors, key members of Congress, and Administration officials on AGOA and its potential effect on infrastructure, energy, agriculture, health, nutrition, and security.

During his long career as a businessman, advocate, and philanthropist, Walker remained

committed to mentoring and empowering young people and professionals, and he always aimed to make those who worked with him feel valued. He worked with more than 100 non-governmental organizations over thirty- plus years, and he facilitated scholarship and educational opportunities in Africa and the Caribbean through the Education Africa Presidential and Premier Education Awards, Nelson Mandela Presidential Medallions, and the Walter Sisulu Scholarship and Training Fund. He encouraged Africans and Americans alike to envision and achieve personal power and a more prosperous future. Walker believed that a better Africa and Caribbean meant a better United States of America.

Walker is remembered by his partner, children, and grandchildren as a humble and dedicated man. I would like to celebrate a life of service while I offer condolences to those he has left behind.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of my legislation, in conjunction with Representative Faso, to support the education and advancement of foster youth. I want to thank the Representative for his leadership on this issue. I also want to thank Chairman Brady and Ranking Member Neal for their leadership on behalf of the Nation's foster youth.

I do think it is very remarkable, as several other speakers have said, that today we are bringing forward five bipartisan bills to improve the Nation's foster care system. Each one of the bills addresses a serious challenges or gap in that system.

H.R. 2847, the Improving Services for Older Youth in Foster Care Act, allows States to expand the Chafee Grant Program to foster youth up to the age of 23. Currently, the program ends at 21. The Chafee Grant Program provides educational grants and other services to help young people transition into adulthood and become independent.

In May, as part of National Foster Youth Shadow Day that is organized by the National Foster Youth Institute, I had the opportunity to meet a young woman named Doniesha Thomas. Doniesha is from Los Angeles, and spent 20 years in foster care before she aged out. She described her foster home as abusive, and eventually she had to move several times.

Against tremendous odds, Doniesha has continued to persevere and is currently a college student at Los Angeles Trade Tech College, majoring in the administration of justice and minoring in paralegal studies.

Doniesha is just one of a small number of foster youth who actually make it to college. This is despite nearly 70 percent of foster youth expressing a desire to attend college. Those, like Doniesha, who are accepted and attend college face another hurdle, which is graduating. Currently, only 3 percent of foster youth who attend college graduate. Programs like Chafee are designed to help foster youth advance in college, trade school, and employment.

During National Foster Youth Shadow Day, I had the opportunity to speak to many other young people, and several of them described challenges that they face after--well, if they were lucky to graduate high school, where they attend college and then something happens; either they run out of resources or their housing falls through and they have to leave college, so their college is interrupted.

That is why this legislation is so important, because it allows for the flexibility; if the young person is not able to complete college in 4 years, they do have a couple of other years.

One of the things that many people don't realize is that when young people age out of the foster youth system--which typically is at 18, sometimes is at 21, depending on the State--that many times we literally put these young people on the street. They are 18 years old. They are in their foster home. They are given a bag, typically a large- sized trash bag, with all of their belongings, and they are put out on the street left to fend for themselves. With today's economic challenges, there are no 18-year-olds that can fend for themselves without a safety net.

If we think of middle class children, transitioning into adulthood is typically what happens at college. They go to college and they have housing. But if they have any challenges, they can always call home. They can text their parents. Their parents are there to rescue them in case they run out of money or something happens with their housing or their grades.

If we think of a young person out of the child welfare system who is literally put on the streets at the age of 18, you can only imagine what happens; which is why so many children in the foster care system wind up incarcerated. Many young girls wind up trafficked; and we did legislation on that a few weeks ago.

So if we want to stop what happens on the other end, with many young children winding up incarcerated, or early pregnancies, or other challenges, we need to make sure that we provide support for them early on.

H.R. 2847 will allow the flexibility for a student, again, who might need more time to complete their education. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, to give foster youth the same type of flexibility and support that we provide our own children.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2866, and I want to congratulate my good friends, Representatives Sewell, Kelly, and Smucker for this legislation to reduce barriers for relative caregivers.

Ironically, in the 1990s, when the crack cocaine epidemic hit, that was the first time that women started using drugs equal to men. It hadn't happened before, and so families fell apart. One of the things that happened, in the early 1990s, was in the middle of the night a grandmother might be called and three grandchildren delivered to her by Children's Protective Services. The grandmother would take the children without any support and without any knowledge of how to deal with the trauma that the children faced.

During those years, we actually discriminated against relatives. We said very negative things about them such as: the apple doesn't fall far from the tree; and, if your daughter wound up on drugs, why should we give the children to you?

So during those years, we would rather pay a stranger--and there can be wonderful foster parents--but a stranger to take care of children instead of families.

One of the things we did in Los Angeles was we organized the grandmothers, and we trained them how to go before the board of supervisors and advocate on their own behalf. That happened all around the country. So there really was a movement of relatives who rose up and said: We want our children; we just need help. We might be on a fixed income, and we can't really support the children.

It is actually more expensive to put a child in foster care. So there began a national movement for relative caregivers to fighting for their rights and for services. So over the years, we really evolved to the point where we have legislation like this where we recognize the benefit of having relatives take care of children.

Ironically, the last piece of legislation we were talking about was about children aging out of the system. Before we prioritized relatives, what would happen is a young child who was aging out of foster care, we would put them on the street, and the first thing they would do would be to go look for their families because they might have family somewhere, and they would often do that.

This legislation, I think, is extremely important to allow flexibility for licensing of relative caregivers. Examples of grandmothers who I worked with directly who wanted to take in their grandchildren but they were told they didn't have enough bedrooms in their house, and so we were going to put the children in more expensive foster care and break them up and send them to different foster homes instead of leaving them with the grandmother or assist her in moving.

So legislation like H.R. 2866, I believe, will begin to address some of these challenges and do what every child needs, which is to be in a loving home with family.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2742, the Modernizing the Interstate Placement of Children in Foster Care Act.

Children who cannot be safely returned home deserve to be placed in the best setting possible for them, regardless of the State where the setting is located; and no child should have to wait to move to that best setting because it is across the State line.

Separation from a parent or long-term caregiver is always traumatic for a child. Even if relatives come forward right away, it may take months to get licensed, months in which the child may bond with the foster family. When the relative lives in another State, the licensing process can often take as long as 6 months, so that might mean 6 months in foster care. Sometimes our well-intentioned efforts to protect children actually do them more harm.

H.R. 2742 provides States with resources to automate this process so that social workers no longer have to photocopy documents and submit them on paper through a succession of offices.

Last year, the National Foster Youth Institute organized a listening tour in Representative Vicky Hartzler's district; and during a meeting with child welfare professionals, they described the challenges they face when relatives are identified in different States and they are unable to quickly place the child with family and must keep the child in foster care. The judges, social workers, and families specifically requested Members of Congress to change the law and asked the National Foster Youth Institute to please advocate for change. I look forward to communicating with Representative Hartzler and her constituents about this legislation.

I ask my colleagues to support the legislation sponsored by Representatives Walorski and Davis, H.R. 2742.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2834, the Partnership Grants to Strengthen Families Affected by Parental Substance Abuse Act.

This piece of legislation is responsive to countless pleas of youth and families seeking necessary assistance and support without fracturing critical family bonds and relationships.

The majority of children who are removed from home are actually removed for neglect and not physical or sexual abuse. Over 60 percent of children are removed for neglect, and neglect is secondary to substance abuse, mental health issues, and abject poverty.

In the 1990s, when the crack cocaine epidemic hit, we didn't understand much about addiction, and so we were angry. We punished the mothers. We imprisoned the mothers. We took the children away, and we didn't realize that actually not addressing the underlying substance abuse issue would really be more harmful to the children than removing them and putting them into foster care.

Now that we are experiencing another epidemic related to drugs, both with meth and with heroin, at least our knowledge base has grown a lot. We have drug courts. We have evidence-based treatments. We have a lot of ways that we can address families.

One of the things that we have learned is that, if you can put the entire family in treatment, then, that way, one, the parents are not separated from their children, the children can get help, and the parents can get help as well.

What often happens if you remove the child from the parent is that you set the parent up to relapse or to never actually go into treatment because they will cycle into depression, and they will continue their cycle of addiction.

We have had many children who actually wound up growing up in foster care because their parents were removed ask us, why didn't we help the family, why didn't we help their parents. Sadly, what has happened to many of these children, when they grow up, they continue the same cycle of going into depression, winding up in addiction.

Over the years, the National Foster Youth Institute in conjunction with the Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth have organized many different delegations and trips around the country looking at the different foster care systems. Our very first listening tour was in Los Angeles, and we visited a program called SHIELDS for Families.

SHIELDS for Families is a very large drug treatment program that has functioned for over 20 years by keeping the entire family together, and some of these families can remain in residential care for as long as a year. They have been able to reduce the number of children who were removed and go into the foster care system because they provide treatment for the family as a whole.

This bill would modify the award criteria for Health and Human Services to consider whether a partnership has a track record of selective collaboration among child welfare, substance abuse disorder treatment, and mental health agencies. Simply put, this bill is designed to keep families together.

I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 2834.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2857, to support foster care maintenance payments for children with parents in a licensed residential facility.

Last month, when the National Foster Youth Institute sponsored Foster Youth Shadow Day, several of the youth, in a townhall meeting that we had, described their parents' challenges with substance abuse. One young lady said that both of her parents were addicted to heroin, and that she was taken into court and, in front of her, the judge said to her parents: ``If you don't clean up, we're going to take your children away.''

After she left court, she was taken away. She was removed from her parents. Ultimately, her parents continued to use, and, sadly, both of them died. This young woman grew up feeling guilty and feeling that part of the reason why her parents passed away was because she was used as leverage, and that if her parents had been kept together in drug treatment along with her maybe she wouldn't be an orphan today and her parents would have lived and she wouldn't have had to grow up in foster care. H.R. 2857 will allow programs like SHIELDS for Families that does address parental substance abuse and keeps families together to have the resources to expand their programs.

Today, we heard five bills that addressed challenges in the child welfare system. We know that there is a lot more that needs to be done, but today we passed bills addressing substance abuse, relative caregivers, we identified and addressed barriers to placement, and I am hoping that one next step we could take would be to extend the kinship navigator programs so that organizations like Community Coalition can continue to provide support to relatives and expand their Kinship in Action program.

As we improve various parts of the system, at some point we need to address the structural problem with how the system is financed. Right now, we have to remove a child and break up a family in order to have the resources to help the child. We know much more now. We know what leads a parent to neglect the child: substance abuse, mental health issues, poverty. We need to continue to reform the system and provide the resources to prevent a crisis. When problems are identified, why should we wait for the neglect to occur?

Once again, I want to thank Chairman Brady, Ranking Member Neal, and all of the sponsors of the legislation today, and I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 2857.

Mr. Speaker, May is the month when people come together across the country to acknowledge the half million young people in the Nation's child welfare system. This is National Foster Youth Month.

The child welfare system is designed to protect children whose parents or caretakers have abused or neglected them.

I am proud to say that Members of the bipartisan Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth are hosting over 100 young adults from 98 different congressional districts from the National Foster Youth Institute. I thank all of the Members of Congress who are allowing a young adult to shadow them this morning. They are here today on the Hill shadowing Members of Congress to share their stories, their challenges, their successes, and to help us understand how to improve the child welfare system.

On Monday evening, the National Foster Youth Institute had a forum in which we were able to hear from many of the youth. They raised several issues. The young adults have already accomplished a lot in their life, and many are here to learn about the Capitol, their Members of Congress, the legislative process, but also to teach us.

Here are several of the issues that the young folks raised on Monday:

One individual raised the challenge of being raised in the system and being separated from his siblings. He said that he had six siblings, and even had a twin. It was very sad and upsetting to him when his twin was sent to one city and he had to live in another city. It took him many months to reestablish a relationship with his siblings.

Another individual told us about her parents having a drug problem. She didn't understand why she was removed and why her parents weren't helped. In fact, she felt as though the court system used her as leverage over her parents in a way, to tell her parents that they should sober up if they wanted to retain custody. She then told us that the result was both of her parents passed away. She believed that they passed away from their addiction, and that one of the things that made their addiction worse was the fact that she had to be removed from the parents.

Another individual raised the issue of sex trafficking. We have been discussing legislation in the House. We have passed several bills related to sex trafficking. But one of the things that many Members of Congress have grown to be aware of over the last few years is that a large percentage of underage girls, and some boys, who get caught up in sex trafficking are actually foster youth that have fallen through the cracks.

Any time a foster youth falls through the cracks, the government is responsible. When we remove children from their parents, we, meaning the government, become the parents and we are responsible for them. So we are working on legislation to improve that.

Another individual raised the issue that she was adopted, but the adoption didn't work out. She asked: Why don't social workers follow up after a child has been adopted, just to make sure that everything is okay? That adoption didn't work out, and she had a lot of challenges afterwards.

Another individual told us, in no uncertain terms, that, although many young people come to the Capitol and volunteer in internships, foster youth would love to be here and participate in internships as well, but when foster youth turn 18 and become an adult, we-- essentially meaning the government again--wash our hands of them and put them out on the street. How can a young person volunteer? They need to be paid. She raised the issue that we should have interns at the Capitol, but they should be paid.

Those were very important issues and they all raise areas of policy that need to be addressed.

I am very honored and fortunate to have three outstanding young individuals with me. I want to tell you about them.

Doniesha Thomas is from Los Angeles. She was in foster care for 20 years. She aged out of the system, but during the time she was in foster care, she was moved seven different times.

She grew up in Los Angeles. She was in a foster home with her sister and brother. She was fortunate that her siblings were able to be kept together. She described her experience in the foster home wasn't the best. She said that, sadly, her foster mother was abusive mentally, physically, and emotionally.

She eventually left the home and then had to move from place to place, but she persevered and is currently a college student at Los Angeles Trade Tech. She is majoring in the administration of justice and minoring in paralegal studies. It is her dream to be a probation officer for juveniles. She also hopes to one day open up a group home so that, growing up in the system and knowing what the problems are, she can start a program where she addresses those problems.

The second individual, Leonardo Jimenez, is 21 years old. He is also from Los Angeles. He was recently aged out of foster care. He decided to participate in the program because, as he gets older, he wants to learn to be a part in helping foster youth in his community.

The last individual is Michael Rogalski. He is from Ohio. He was in foster care for 5 years and had 13 different placements, but he is succeeding in Ohio, working in the area of child support.

Mr. Speaker, I hope that we remember the foster youth in our country this month.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2473, the Put Trafficking Victims First Act of 2017. I thank Ranking Member Jackson Lee, Chairman Goodlatte, and also Representative Ann Wagner of Missouri for her leadership in combating trafficking in America. The importance of a bipartisan approach cannot be overstated or diminished.

Over the years, we have made tremendous progress, but the work is far from over. The Put Trafficking Victims First Act is a great first step forward in addressing the perilous deficiencies in sex trafficking policies and services in America.

As an original cosponsor of this bill, I am grateful for the inclusion of my amendments that serve to further support and strengthen this important legislation by providing necessary language and focus on young victims in the child welfare system.

In drafting legislation that calls for data collection assessments to help identify and implement effective and responsive models of justice and relief services, we must always be cognizant of the need to draw awareness and find solutions to eradicate the devastating epidemic of young children who are in the U.S. child welfare system from becoming victims of sex trafficking.

In particular, it is imperative that we better identify and screen the characteristics of children and youth involved in the child welfare and justice systems and that we provide greater access to appropriate housing and services from trained trauma-informed care service providers. Far too often, we hear stories about victims who cannot access housing, shelter, or mental healthcare and are unable to expunge or seal their criminal records and are treated like criminals rather than victims.

As the cofounder of the Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth, I am

particularly concerned about what we are doing to combat the devastating epidemic of young girls in the foster care system falling prey to child exploitation and sex trafficking. I hear horrific stories of foster girls who have been trafficked far too often, and I hear that the average age of a girl being involved in trafficking is 12 years old.

Mr. Speaker, this week we have over 100 youth here from 98 different congressional districts who will be shadowing their Members of Congress tomorrow. We met with the youth yesterday, and a number of them stepped forward and talked about being involved in the trafficking system and how they fell through the cracks in child welfare.

It is important that we remember that the purpose of the child welfare system is to protect children who are abused or neglected. When we take custody of these children, then we--meaning the local, State, or Federal Government--in effect become their parents. So if your own child showed up missing and you don't do anything about it, then obviously you are considered responsible. This is exactly what is happening with child sex trafficking in the United States.

H.R. 2473 further encourages States to implement screening mechanisms for all children entering the child welfare system and criminal and juvenile justice systems to better identify child trafficking and connect them with appropriate services. I urge my colleagues to vote for H.R. 2473.

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

I rise in strong support of the U.S. Wants to Compete for a World Expo Act. Let me thank our chairman, Ed Royce, for his leadership of the Committee on Foreign Affairs. I also want to thank my colleagues from Minnesota, Ms. McCollum and Mr. Emmer, for their hard work on this measure.

World Fairs and World Expos explore and bring millions of people together from around the globe. They drive billions of dollars of investment to host cities, and they provide a forum for working toward new and creative solutions to serious problems. Across more than a century, these Expos have given us some of the world's most iconic architecture: the Golden Gate Bridge, the Space Needle, and the Eiffel Tower. They have brought together world leaders and experts to discuss topics ranging from nutrition to the future of energy.

The last Expo held in the United States was in 1984, and Minnesota is a potential candidate to host the 2023 World Expo. This Expo could bring in about 12 million visitors and $4 billion of revenue to Minnesota and connect the public and private sector to discuss Wellness and Well-Being for All.

Mr. Speaker, we are at a grave disadvantage in competing for this event. In 2001, at the direction of Congress, the State Department withdrew from numerous international associations, including the Bureau of International Expositions, or BIE. Then-Secretary of State Colin Powell warned that this action could force the U.S. to pay a higher fee for participation and decrease the chance of an American city being selected as a host city.

We are currently facing these consequences. As a nonmember of the BIE, the United States faces significantly higher costs to participate in expositions and will also face substantial barriers in hosting since preference is given to member nations.

Mr. Speaker, the remedy is simple. We must rejoin the BIE. Private sector companies have shown interest in paying membership dues, so rejoining the BIE would not be an additional burden to taxpayers.

Hosting the World Expo would increase revenue and tourism to Minnesota and the U.S. generally, put us at the forefront of international discussion on health, and increase our chances to hold specialized and World Expos in the future. I am proud of the hard work that has gone into this by my colleagues. I am glad once again that we are working in a bipartisan manner to pass legislation that advances our interests.

Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``yes'' vote, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise to express my strong support for H. Res. 187, Relating to Efforts to Respond to the Famine in South Sudan, as amended, which passed out of the Foreign Affairs Committee, and has received bipartisan support.

As always, Mr. Speaker, I thank and appreciate the leadership of Chairman Royce, Chairman Smith, and Ranking Member Engel.

The United Nations has declared what is going on now in four countries as potentially the worse humanitarian crisis since the U.N. was formed in 1945. Famine has been declared in one country, and three others are at risk of famine. Famine might be averted in Somalia if the rains come. In Nigeria and Yemen, famine might be averted if the world acts in time.

But South Sudan, which is the world's newest nation, is currently experiencing famine. The United Nations defines famine as meaning over 20 percent of the population has access to only 2,100 calories per day. Thirty percent of children are malnourished. And 2 to 4 people die per day because of lack of food. Tragically, South Sudan meets all three conditions.

Over the years, the U.S. has played a leadership role in the region. The U.S. has helped South Sudan throughout their struggle for independence, and has tried to help the world's newest nation over the last several years before and during the conflict.

The tragedy is the people of South Sudan are in the midst of a famine, not because of a drought or other natural disaster, but because of ongoing conflict. There is heavy responsibility on all sides of the fighting. There is no innocent party here.

In South Sudan, the U.N. has reported roughly 5 million people who are in urgent need of food and nutritional assistance. There are almost 2 million internally displaced persons in camps in South Sudan, and 2,400 South Sudanese refugees arrive in Uganda every single day.

If the world does not act, 5 million people will be at risk for starvation by mid-2017. Without urging humanitarian intervention, more civilians will continue to die from acute malnutrition, and millions more will remain at risk.

If we fail to act prior to the upcoming rainy season, which is May to August, this will create additional problems that will further impede humanitarian efforts. Unfortunately, the areas where famine has been declared have also seen some of the most intense fighting.

The amendment to H. Res. 187 calls for USAID to continue providing desperately needed and locally appropriate food aid through the Food for Peace and Emergency Food Security Programs, and calls on the Government of South Sudan to declare and observe a cessation of hostilities to allow food and essential supplies to reach affected civilians.

The resolution urges the Government of South Sudan to allow immediate and unrestricted humanitarian access to the southern unity region, where the famine is currently underway.

The amendment also condemns all threats and violence against civilian populations and aid workers, including over 70 humanitarian aid workers that have been killed since the conflict began.

The resolution condemns the brutal attack by the South Sudanese military on humanitarian aid workers, including Americans at the Terrain Camp in July of last year.

The resolution condemns the multiple instances in which security forces have looted humanitarian assistance destined for civilians in need, and supports the effort of the U.S. Government working with partners in the international community, including the U.N., the African Union, and the European Union, to facilitate humanitarian access to affected areas, and encourages greater diplomatic pressure on the parties to return to the negotiation table to stop the violence and to allow full humanitarian access.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Crowley), my good friend and Democratic Caucus chairman.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee), my good friend and colleague and the chair of the Nigeria Caucus.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Suozzi), my fellow colleague on the Foreign Affairs Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I have no more speakers. I propose to close.

Mr. Speaker, this crisis can be stopped in its tracks. There is no need for millions to die. The world needs to step up as it did in the Ebola crisis.

The U.S. needs to continue to lead. Our contribution is vital and is based on the size of our economy and the fact that other countries who are not as fortunate contribute in different ways. But the entire world should and does participate.

In 2011, 200,000 people had to die in Somalia before the world took notice and acted. This should never happen again.

Mr. Speaker, I ask for an ``aye'' vote, and I yield back the balance of my time.