Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, I thank my friend and colleague of the Judiciary Committee for managing this bill, and I acknowledge the ranking member, Mr. Conyers, and our chairman, Mr. Goodlatte, for the expeditious way in which we have moved forward on some very crucial bills.

I also thank both of my friends, my colleague, a former judge, Ted Poe from Texas and, as well, my colleague Carolyn Maloney from New York for their astute collaborative work which is so very important for really what we are trying to do here today.

Let me lay the groundwork for all that has been done, and that is that we want to stamp out human slavery that has been an epidemic and a plague and a cancer on this country and certainly around the world.

I am glad my friend mentioned the tragedy in Nigeria. Being in meetings on this issue today, it is obviously an epidemic and one that emphasizes a very special point, and that is young girls underage cannot consent to marriage, they cannot consent to be kidnapped or to be associated with someone that is going to do them harm on the basis that they are married. They are enslaved. They are being trafficked. They are being threatened unto their lives. Therefore, it is crucial for us to acknowledge what it is. Boko Haram is clearly a dastardly example of the tragic thugs that participate in human trafficking. They may be that group in Nigeria, but certainly we know that there are those here.

On the day that we had a Homeland Security field hearing on human trafficking, the day before there was a massive finding of individuals who had been trafficked. Certainly it was a question of whether they had been trafficked or whether they were smuggled, but sometimes, our law enforcement says, it meshes together.

It says that one study estimates that over 290,000 American youth are at risk of becoming a victim of sex trafficking. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children estimates that one of every seven endangered runaways reported to the center is likely a victim of minor sex trafficking.

I am glad the Judiciary Committee and the Homeland Security Committee are working together and, under this legislation initiated by Mr. Poe, who does bring his experience as a man who has seen these victims come and cry out for help, that there are certain elements of this bill that are so very important, and that is the availability of sums in the Crime Victims Fund.

The testimony we heard in the Homeland Security field hearing in Houston indicated that victims go unnoticed sometimes in terms of getting help. I am glad to be able to have grants awarded to the establishment of the enhancement of specialized training programs for law enforcement officers, first responders, and health care officials to identify victims and the acts of child human trafficking.

I thank Mr. Poe for looking forward to working with me for some additional training regarding visas. I am also grateful that we have a place of refuge for these individuals so that they are not the criminal, but they are in fact the victim.

We are going a long way to embrace these victims, to get their lives standing up, and to get those dastardly persons that would sex traffic, human traffic, child traffic, and, in essence, hold them in slavery. This is a very important step going forward.

I look forward to this body discussing our efforts going forward and more such bills coming to embrace those who need our help and to save lives. It is now long overdue, and I am very grateful the Judiciary Committee has taken this step forward. Congratulations to the sponsors of this bill. I am delighted to be a cosponsor.

Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 3530, The Justice For Victims of Human Trafficking Act of 2014.

Let me offer my appreciation and thanks to my colleague from Texas, Judge Poe, for his work on this legislation and decades long commitment and advocacy on behalf of victims of crime, especially child victims, who are the most vulnerable and innocent victims.

Both Judge Poe and I along with our colleagues on the House Homeland Security Committee held a field hearing in Houston on ``Combating Human Trafficking in Our Major Cities.'' It was a fitting venue because, regrettably, Houston is the human trafficking capital of the United States.

Trafficking in humans, and especially domestic child trafficking, has no place in a civilized society. Those who engage in this illicit trade should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

That is why I was pleased that my Judiciary Committee colleagues adopted my amendment during the markup of this important legislation last month.

My amendment stated what should seem obvious in a modern, open society which in many ways is benevolent:

It is the ``Sense of Congress that child human trafficking has no place in a civilized society, and that persons who commit crimes relating to child human trafficking should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.''

That means we need to ensure that state and local law enforcement agencies have the tools, resources, and training necessary to identify, apprehend, and prosecute criminals who ruthlessly traffic in children and young persons.

And one of the most effective resources in bringing criminals to justice is the cooperation and assistance of their victims.

Perpetrators of crime know that they are more likely to evade detection and punishment when their victims refuse to assist or cooperate with law enforcement. That is why they make it a point to instill fear in their victims--for their own safety or that of family and loved ones.

My second amendment offered during the Judiciary Committee Markup would have strengthened the bill's enforcement regime but was withdrawn in an effort to further refine it. The amendment complements the bill by providing another tool in law enforcement's arsenal to tip the balance in favor of victims so that they can utilize certain T and U visas.

In 2000, Congress passed the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act (VTVPA), which created the T-Visa, and reserved it for those who are or have been victims of human trafficking.

The Nonimmigrant Status (``T-Visa'') protects victims of human trafficking and helps law enforcement by allowing victims to remain in the United States to assist in the investigation or prosecution of human traffickers.

These non-immigrant visas were established by Congress to provide temporary legal status to victims of trafficking and enumerated crimes who assist with the investigations or prosecutions of the criminal activity in order to combat human trafficking.

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