1-Year Anniversary for Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act
Floor Speech
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Mr. WEBER of Texas. Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to be here and to work in a bipartisan fashion across the aisle for this very worthwhile cause.
I will tell you, Judge Poe is exactly correct. In Texas, we like to say that things are bigger in Texas. But, unfortunately, Texas has one record that we really didn't want, and that is that we have 25 percent of the sex trafficking in the country. We are 1 of 50 States, and yet we have 25 percent of the victims of sex trafficking going on right there in Texas.
We were able to pass Texas House Bill 4009, which did a number of things. It actually instructed the enforcement officials to take a look at some of these young girls that were picked up--and, I guess, for that matter, young men as well--and to not just assume that they were willfully participating in the sex trade, but to look deeper into the background there.
Some of these girls we found out were actually held against their will, were drugged and beat into submission. Some, as young as 12, were dancing in some of these strip clubs and, like Judge Poe said, some of the patrons would take notice of that and would actually get them help.
In Texas, we did identify that pretty early on, about 5 or 6 years ago now, and were able to pass legislation to get the HHSC to put law enforcement together, to get some training for these officers, to get these NGOs together to say, look, we need to get some programs for these young girls to rehabilitate them. How in the world do you ever get them back to normal life after something like this? We needed more facilities, more beds, more training. So I am proud to say that, in Texas, we actually did take the lead on that.
One of my favorites was in the town of Waco. You mentioned three things: going after the perpetrators; going after the demand, the money; and, of course, helping the victims. Well, the town of Waco had a way of dealing with the johns. What they did was, when someone was arrested in Waco, they would put that john's picture on a billboard in the city with the headline, ``Arrested for solicitation of prostitution.''
Now, that will ruin your family life at home and in a little town like Waco. So we took some lessons from that to say, look, we are going after the demand, after the johns, to try to dry up that money stream
Mr. Speaker, Judge Poe ought to be commended. It has been almost a year since the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act was signed into law. This comprehensive legislation tackled a number of issues to combat human trafficking. It took a stand against the seller, which we have been talking about, and the buyer by criminally pressing charges on both for the first time.
It also provided smart solutions to help victims of trafficking get back on their feet, which is what I said from my days in the Texas Legislature. They needed a program. They needed people to understand. They needed counseling. Good Lord, how do those young girls ever get back to some semblance of normalcy after something like that?
Thanks to the JVTA, States are now incentivized to draft and pass what we call safe harbor legislation, which helps victims of trafficking expunge their criminal records in an effort to start fresh without the ghosts of their past haunting them.
Legislation like this also addresses the need for shelter, for more beds, for facilities for those NGOs, a place for rehabilitation.
As you know, currently, 34 out of the 50 States have versions of safe harbor legislation, which is an increase of 14 States just since the passage of the act. Training on the identification of trafficking victims has also increased within the airline, the hotel, and even in the medical industries.
Mr. Speaker, victims of human trafficking are men, women, and children. This is not a victimless crime, I might add. We all have undoubtedly passed these victims in an airport, at a hotel, or maybe even at the fuel station. Until society at large stops sexualizing our children, we will be unable to prevent the predators' interest in our minors.
We have made crucial steps, Mr. Speaker, toward combating human trafficking, as evidenced by the very success of the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act we are talking about here tonight. Yet, we still have a long way to go to eradicate this scourge of human slavery. But we have a good start on it, and we are committed to seeing it through to the end and making a difference. Mr. Speaker, you know I am right.
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