Stop, Observe, Ask, and Respond to Health and Wellness Act of 2018

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. COHEN. 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.

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