Beatty’s Anti-Human Trafficking Bill Passes House
Beatty's Anti-Human Trafficking Bill Passes House
Bipartisan legislation would reduce the instances and impacts of child sex trafficking
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, bipartisan legislation introduced by U.S. Congresswoman Joyce Beatty (OH-03) to combat child sex trafficking passed the U.S. House of Representatives by a vote of 411-0. During consideration of her legislation which would improve the response to victims of child sex trafficking, H.R. 246, Rep. Beatty managed the House Floor.
"Today, Congress passed bipartisan legislation to help bring an end to human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation," said Rep. Beatty. "My legislation will clarify that children who are sex trafficked or sexually exploited are treated as victims and not criminals under the law. I will continue working to stop these heinous practices and support child sex trafficking victims. Ending this practice starts with all of us—if you see something, say something."
A long-time advocate in combatting human trafficking, Rep. Beatty's legislation would reduce the instances and impacts of child sex trafficking by de-criminalizing the behavior of child sex trafficking victims and making it easier for people to report potential instances to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children Cyber Tipline. Rep. Beatty successful passed the same legislation, H.R. 5111, in the 113th Congress. This is the first bill sponsored by Rep. Beatty to pass the 114th Congress.
Rep. Beatty's Floor speech in support of her legislation is below. A video is available HERE.
As prepared for delivery
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 246, a bipartisan bill I introduced which would help victims of child sex trafficking by de-criminalizing their behavior, and I yield myself as much time as I may consume.
I first would like to thank Chairman Kline from Minnesota and Ranking Member Scott from Virginia of the Education and Workforce Committee for bringing this important bill to the Floor for consideration.
I also thank Representative Walberg, who is managing the bill today for the Republicans.
I also thank Senator Portman, who I partnered with on this issue last Congress. I look forward to working with him again during the 114th Congress to advance this legislation.
Mr. Speaker, last Congress the House passed this exact bill unanimously by a vote of 409-0.
Today, I hope that my colleagues in the House will again approve this legislation with overwhelming bipartisan support so we can better to assist victims of child sex trafficking and ensure they are viewed and treated as victims and not criminals.
Earlier this month, I participated in Ohio's Sixth Annual Human Trafficking Day, which was held in my District, at the Ohio Statehouse.
There, we heard story after story from victims, survivors, and advocates just like the ones we heard on the House Floor earlier today.
Almost every time I am home in Ohio, I hear from people who are concerned about the victims of child sex trafficking. Constituents implore me to have Congress do more to protect the most vulnerable among us, those who are being forced into modern-day slavery.
This is for a good reason. Human trafficking is one of the fastest growing crimes in the world. In fact, according to the U.S. State Department, human trafficking is the world's second largest criminal enterprise, after the illegal drug trade.
Criminals involved in the trafficking trade prey upon those children already at risk in our society – the children who fall through the cracks in our society.
In the United States, some 300,000 children are at risk each year of commercial sexual exploitation.
Mr. Speaker, many of these children are runaways, homeless, and in and out of foster care. These children deserve better.
The average age of a trafficked victim in the United States is 12 years of age. Mr. Speaker, this is shameful.
At 12 years old, children should be playing youth sports, participating in their school's science fair, learning a new language or just enjoying being a child. They should not be for sale night after night.
In my home state of Ohio, each year an estimated 1,078 Ohio children become victims of human trafficking and over 3,000 more are at-risk.
Ohio is the fifth-leading state for human trafficking because of its proximities to a waterway that leads to an international border and a system of interstate highways that allows an individual to exit the state within two hours to almost anywhere.
The I-75 corridor – which runs through Toledo, Dayton, and Cincinnati – is infamous for subjecting children to the horrors of sex trafficking, with reports of victims being repeatedly abused.
We know that no single system can successfully combat trafficking. Preventing, identifying, and serving victims of trafficking require a multi-coordinated approach across all levels of government.
We need to encourage all people – when they see something, say something.
Like the residents of Central Ohio did recently. Mr. Speaker, two weeks ago, my hometown paper, The Columbus Dispatch, reported that a massage spa was serving as a front for organized prostitution and that local authorities received a tip on the activities occurring there included providing sex-related services to clients.
Because of the information received, local authorities raided the spa and found 18 individuals who speak little or no English and were likely trafficked to work in the sex trade.
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to have a copy of this article placed in the record.
And how can concerned citizens report activities of suspected child exploitation?
Currently, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children operates a Cyber Tipline, which receives leads and tips regarding suspected crimes of sexual exploitation committed against children.
This Cyber Tipline is operated in partnership with the FBI, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Department of Justice, as well as other state and local law enforcement agencies.
These reports are constantly monitored to help ensure children in imminent danger get first priority.
More than 2.8 million reports of suspected child sexual exploitation have been made to the Cyber Tipline between 1998 and October 2014.
Under current law, child sex trafficking is not identified as one of the types of sexual exploitation that should be reported to the Cyber Tipline – even though the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children encounter child victims of sex trafficking and currently uses this term on its website in order to encourage the public's reporting of these types of crimes.
Instead, the statute uses the term "child prostitution", which we know does not fully and accurately capture these types of crimes against children.
My bill would add the phrase "child sex trafficking, including child prostitution" to the Section b(1)(p) of the Missing Children's Assistance Act.
This legislation was crafted in order to improve and update the law in order to reflect the current state of federal law and to reinforce that children who are sex trafficked or sexually exploited are victims and not criminals.
Mr. Speaker, children in sex trafficking situations are often misidentified as "willing" participants. We know there is widespread lack of awareness and understanding of trafficking.
Take for instance, a story I recently heard about Holly, who is a survivor of human trafficking.
When Holly was fourteen years old, she ran away from home with a man she had met at a shopping mall.
Holly and this man exchanged phone numbers and he continued to pursue Holly over the course of many months.
Convincing her to run away with him was not an overnight accomplishment - he got to know her, analyzed her troubles, and asked her about her dreams.
He did this so that when Holly was on summer break from eighth grade, the pressures of her fourteen-year-old-world boiled to the surface. With all this confusion and angst Holly was feeling, this predator was able to convince her to flee toward what she thought was opportunity, possibility, and freedom.
In reality, Holly ran right in the inexorable clutches of a sex trafficking ring. Within hours of running away with what turned out to be a manipulative and threatening pimp, she was coerced into prostitution.
Fortunately for Holly, eventually, an officer on the street thought she seemed under age, approached her, and arrested her. She was soon recognized to be a victim and began the long journey toward healing.
Today, Holly is an advocate for stronger anti-trafficking laws and greater protection for survivors of all forms of human trafficking.
This bill is intended to protect young children like Holly. By adding the term "child sex trafficking, including child prostitution" to the Missing Children's Assistance Act, we will to able to continue to fight the perception that sex trafficking is a voluntary, victimless crime.
I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.