Strengthening Child Welfare Response to Trafficking Act of 2015

Floor Speech

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Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 469) to amend the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act
to enable State child protective services systems to improve the identification and assessment of child victims of sex trafficking, and for other purposes.

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Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the
Strengthening Child Welfare Response to Trafficking Act, and I yield
myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, domestic child trafficking is a serious problem, sadly,
in the United States. Around 300,000 American youth are at risk of
sexual commercial exploitation and trafficking each year. That is why
the House of Representatives is considering a number of bills this week
that seek to ensure that human trafficking victims are treated as
victims and have access to the services they desperately need.

As a Member of Congress, I have worked on legislation to help address
this problem in the past and will continue that important work this
year. I have also held local roundtables in Michigan with victims,
advocacy, and law enforcement groups to do everything I can to work
with my communities to address this heinous crime.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children estimates that
68 percent of likely sex trafficking victims were involved in the child
welfare system at one time. Instead of properly identifying and
assisting trafficked and exploited children, these children are often
sent to the juvenile justice system, where they are labeled and treated
as criminals. These innocent victims are victimized by the very system
that was designed to protect them.

That is why, Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 469. The
Strengthening Child Welfare Response to Trafficking Act of 2015 will
help protect child victims by improving practices within State child
welfare systems to identify, assess, and document sex trafficking
victims. The House passed this legislation by a voice vote last summer,
and I thank my colleague, Congresswoman Karen Bass, for her work on
this important legislation again this Congress.

H.R. 469 amends the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act to
direct States to implement and maintain procedures to identify and
assess reports involving children who are victims of sex trafficking.

The bill also requires that States train child protective services
workers on how to identify these children and the services necessary to
meet their needs, and it would improve reporting on the number of
children identified as sex trafficking victims.

Mr. Speaker, this bill requires the Secretary of Health and Human
Services to report on the type and prevalence of youth trafficking
victims in the welfare system, provide a summary of State practices for
serving youth trafficking victims, and report on any barriers in
Federal law that prevent identification and assessment of youth victims
of trafficking.

It is imperative that we continue to pass legislation that helps
victims of both labor and sex trafficking, to ensure that victims
receive the services they need to escape a life of abuse.

Again, I would like to thank Congresswoman Karen Bass and Chairman
Kline of the Education and the Workforce Committee for their work on
this important bill.

I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of H.R. 469, and I reserve the
balance of my time.

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Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the remainder of my time.

I think much has been said today that causes us to understand that
what we are dealing with in this bill is the fact that there are
entities that are supposed to be protecting children, that are supposed
to be providing resources--law enforcement and welfare and human
service entities--that are missing the mark. A lot of that comes from
inadequate recordkeeping statistics and from the lack of knowledge of
how this is having the greatest impact in negative ways on children's
lives. We would do very well today to follow the advice and direction
from speakers who have already spoken on this issue.

Pass this legislation, and provide further hope for children caught
in the trap of human trafficking and enslavement that comes from this
crime. I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 469.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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