[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 15] [House] [Pages 23348-23356] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]{time} 1700 DOMESTIC MINOR SEX TRAFFICKING DETERRENCE AND VICTIMS SUPPORT ACT OF 2010 Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the Senate bill (S. 2925) to establish a grant program to benefit victims of sex trafficking, and for other purposes, as amended. The Clerk read the title of the bill. The text of the amendment is as follows: Amendment: Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert: SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking Deterrence and Victims Support Act of 2010''. SEC. 2. FINDINGS. Congress finds the following: (1) Human trafficking is modern-day slavery. It is one of the fastest-growing, and the second largest, criminal enterprise in the world. Human trafficking generates an estimated profit of $32,000,000,000 per year, world wide. (2) In the United States, human trafficking is an increasing problem. This criminal enterprise victimizes individuals in the United States, many of them children, who are forced into prostitution, and foreigners brought into the country, often under false pretenses, who are coerced into forced labor or commercial sexual exploitation. (3) Sex trafficking is one of the most lucrative areas of human trafficking. Criminal gang members in the United States are increasingly involved in recruiting young women and girls into sex trafficking. Interviews with gang members indicate that the gang members regard working as an individual who solicits customers for a prostitute (commonly known as a ``pimp'') to being as lucrative as trafficking in drugs, but with a much lower chance of being criminally convicted. (4) National Incidence Studies of Missing, Abducted, Runaway and Throwaway Children, the definitive study of episodes of missing children, found that of the children who are victims of non-family abduction, runaway or throwaway children, the police are alerted by family or guardians in only 21 percent of the cases. In 79 percent of cases there is no report and no police involvement, and therefore no official attempt to find the child. (5) In 2007, the Administration of Children and Families, Department of Health and Human Services, reported to the Federal Government 265,000 cases of serious physical, sexual, or psychological abuse of children. (6) Experts estimate that each year at least 100,000 children in the United States are exploited through prostitution. (7) Children who have run away from home are at a high risk of becoming exploited through sex trafficking. Children who have run away multiple times are at much higher risk of not returning home and of engaging in prostitution. (8) The vast majority of children involved in sex trafficking have suffered previous sexual or physical abuse, live in poverty, or have no stable home or family life. These children require a comprehensive framework of specialized treatment and mental health counseling that addresses post- traumatic stress, depression, and sexual exploitation. (9) The average age of first exploitation through prostitution is 13. Seventy-five percent of minors exploited through prostitution have a pimp. A pimp can earn $200,000 per year prostituting 1 sex trafficking victim. (10) Sex trafficking of minors is a complex and varied criminal problem that requires a multi-disciplinary, cooperative solution. Reducing trafficking will require the Government to address victims, pimps, and johns, and to provide training specific to sex trafficking for law enforcement officers and prosecutors, and child welfare, public health, and other social service providers. (11) Human trafficking is a criminal enterprise that imposes significant costs on the economy of the United States. Government and non-profit resources used to address trafficking include those of law enforcement, the judicial and penal systems, and social service providers. Without a range of appropriate treatments to help trafficking victims overcome the trauma they have experienced, victims will continue to be exploited by criminals and unable to support themselves, and will continue to require Government resources, rather than being productive contributors to the legitimate economy. (12) Human trafficking victims are often either not identified as trafficking victims or are mischaracterized as criminal offenders. Both private and public sector personnel play a significant role in identifying trafficking victims and potential victims, such as runaways. Examples of such personnel include hotel staff, flight attendants, health care providers, educators, and parks and recreation personnel. Efforts to train these individuals can bolster law enforcement efforts to reduce human trafficking. (13) Minor sex trafficking victims are under the age of 18. Because minors do not have the capacity to consent to their own commercial sexual exploitation, minor sex trafficking victims should not be charged as criminal defendants. Instead, minor victims of sex trafficking should have access to treatment and services to help them recover from their sexual exploitation, and should also be provided access to appropriate compensation for harm they have suffered. (14) Several States have recently passed or are considering legislation that establishes a presumption that a minor charged with a prostitution offense is a severely trafficked person and should instead be cared for through the child protection system. Some such legislation also provides support and services to minor sex trafficking victims who are under the age of 18 years old. These services include safe houses, crisis intervention programs, community-based programs, and law-enforcement training to help officers identify minor sex trafficking victims. (15) Sex trafficking of minors is not a problem that occurs only in urban settings. This crime also exists in rural areas and on Indian reservations. Efforts to address sex trafficking of minors should include partnerships with organizations that seek to address the needs of such underserved communities. SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. It is the sense of the Congress that-- (1) the Attorney General should implement changes to the National Crime Information Center database to ensure that-- (A) a child entered into the database will be automatically designated as an endangered juvenile if the child has been reported missing not less than 3 times in a 1-year period; (B) the database is programmed to cross-reference newly entered reports with historical records already in the database; and (C) the database is programmed to include a visual cue on the record of a child designated as an endangered juvenile to assist law enforcement officers in recognizing the child and providing the child with appropriate care and services; (2) funds awarded under subpart 1 of part E of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3750 et seq.) (commonly known as Byrne Grants) should be used to provide education, training, deterrence, and prevention programs relating to sex trafficking of minors; (3) States should-- (A) treat minor victims of sex trafficking as crime victims rather than as criminal defendants or juvenile delinquents; (B) adopt laws that-- (i) establish the presumption that a child under the age of 18 who is charged with a prostitution offense is a minor victim of sex trafficking; (ii) avoid the criminal charge of prostitution for such a child, and instead consider such a child a victim of crime and provide the child with appropriate services and treatment; and (iii) strengthen criminal provisions prohibiting the purchasing of commercial sex acts, especially with minors; (C) amend State statutes and regulations-- (i) relating to crime victim compensation to make eligible for such compensation any individual who is a victim of sex trafficking as defined in section 1591(a) of title 18, United States Code, or a comparable State law against commercial sexual exploitation of children, and who would otherwise be ineligible for such compensation due to participation in prostitution activities because the individual is determined to have contributed to, consented to, benefitted from, or otherwise participated as a party to the crime for which the individual is claiming injury; and (ii) relating to law enforcement reporting requirements to provide for exceptions to such requirements for victims of sex trafficking in the same manner as exceptions are provided to victims of domestic violence or related crimes; and (4) demand for commercial sex with sex trafficking victims must be deterred through consistent enforcement of criminal laws against purchasing commercial sex. SEC. 4. SEX TRAFFICKING BLOCK GRANTS. (a) In General.--Section 204 of the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 14044c) is amended to read as follows: ``SEC. 204. ENHANCING STATE AND LOCAL EFFORTS TO COMBAT TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS. ``(a) Sex Trafficking Block Grants.-- ``(1) Definitions.--In this section-- ``(A) the term `Assistant Attorney General' means the Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Programs of the Department of Justice; ``(B) the term `eligible entity' means a State or unit of local government that-- ``(i) has significant criminal activity involving sex trafficking of minors; ``(ii) has demonstrated cooperation between State, local, and, where applicable, tribal law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, and social service providers in addressing sex trafficking of minors; ``(iii) has developed a workable, multi-disciplinary plan to combat sex trafficking of minors, including-- [[Page 23349]] ``(I) the establishment of a shelter for minor victims of sex trafficking, through existing or new facilities; ``(II) the provision of rehabilitative care to minor victims of sex trafficking; ``(III) the provision of specialized training for law enforcement officers and social service providers for all forms of sex trafficking, with a focus on sex trafficking of minors; ``(IV) prevention, deterrence, and prosecution of offenses involving sex trafficking of minors; ``(V) cooperation or referral agreements with organizations providing outreach or other related services to runaway and homeless youth; and ``(VI) law enforcement protocols or procedures to screen all individuals arrested for prostitution, whether adult or minor, for victimization by sex trafficking and by other crimes, such as sexual assault and domestic violence; and ``(iv) provides an assurance that, under the plan under clause (iii), a minor victim of sex trafficking shall not be required to collaborate with law enforcement to have access to any shelter or services provided with a grant under this section; ``(C) the term `minor victim of sex trafficking' means an individual who is-- ``(i) under the age of 18 years old, and is a victim of an offense described in section 1591(a) of title 18, United States Code, or a comparable State law; or ``(ii) at least 18 years old but not more than 20 years old, and who, on the day before the individual attained 18 years of age, was described in clause (i) and was receiving shelter or services as a minor victim of sex trafficking; ``(D) the term `qualified non-governmental organization' means an organization that-- ``(i) is not a State or unit of local government, or an agency of a State or unit of local government; ``(ii) has demonstrated experience providing services to victims of sex trafficking or related populations (such as runaway and homeless youth), or employs staff specialized in the treatment of sex trafficking victims; and ``(iii) demonstrates a plan to sustain the provision of services beyond the period of a grant awarded under this section; and ``(E) the term `sex trafficking of a minor' means an offense described in subsection (a) of section 1591 of title 18, United States Code, the victim of which is a minor. ``(2) Grants authorized.-- ``(A) In general.--The Assistant Attorney General, in consultation with the Assistant Secretary for Children and Families of the Department of Health and Human Services, is authorized to award block grants to 6 eligible entities in different regions of the United States to combat sex trafficking, and not fewer than 1 of the block grants shall be awarded to an eligible entity with a State population of less than 5,000,000. Each eligible entity awarded a block grant under this subparagraph shall certify that Federal funds received under the block grant will be used to combat only interstate sex trafficking. ``(B) Grant amount.--Subject to the availability of appropriations under subsection (g) to carry out this section, each grant awarded under this section shall be for an amount not less than $2,000,000 and not greater than $2,500,000. ``(C) Duration.-- ``(i) In general.--A grant awarded under this section shall be for a period of 1 year. ``(ii) Renewal.-- ``(I) In general.--The Assistant Attorney General may renew a grant under this section for two 1-year periods. ``(II) Priority.--In awarding grants in any fiscal year after the first fiscal year in which grants are awarded under this section, the Assistant Attorney General shall give priority to applicants that received a grant in the preceding fiscal year and are eligible for renewal under this subparagraph, taking into account any evaluation of such applicant conducted pursuant to paragraph (5), if available. ``(D) Consultation.--In carrying out this section, consultation by the Assistant Attorney General with the Assistant Secretary for Children and Families of the Department of Health and Human Services shall include consultation with respect to grantee evaluations, the avoidance of unintentional duplication of grants, and any other areas of shared concern. ``(3) Use of funds.-- ``(A) Allocation.--For each grant awarded under paragraph (2)-- ``(i) not less than 67 percent of the funds shall be used by the eligible entity to provide shelter and services (as described in clauses (i) through (iv) of subparagraph (B)) to minor victims of sex trafficking through qualified nongovernmental organizations; and ``(ii) not less than 10 percent of the funds shall be awarded by the eligible entity to one or more qualified nongovernmental organizations with annual revenues of less than $750,000, to provide services to minor victims of sex trafficking or training for service providers related to sex trafficking of minors. ``(B) Authorized activities.--Grants awarded pursuant to paragraph (2) may be used for-- ``(i) providing shelter to minor victims of trafficking, including temporary or long-term placement as appropriate; ``(ii) providing 24-hour emergency social services response for minor victims of sex trafficking; ``(iii) providing minor victims of sex trafficking with clothing and other daily necessities needed to keep such victims from returning to living on the street; ``(iv) case management services for minor victims of sex trafficking; ``(v) mental health counseling for minor victims of sex trafficking, including specialized counseling and substance abuse treatment; ``(vi) legal services for minor victims of sex trafficking; ``(vii) specialized training for law enforcement personnel, social service providers, and public and private sector personnel likely to encounter sex trafficking victims on issues related to the sex trafficking of minors; ``(viii) funding salaries, in whole or in part, for law enforcement officers, including patrol officers, detectives, and investigators, except that the percentage of the salary of the law enforcement officer paid for by funds from a grant awarded under paragraph (2) shall not be more than the percentage of the officer's time on duty that is dedicated to working on cases involving sex trafficking of minors; ``(ix) funding salaries for State and local prosecutors, including assisting in paying trial expenses for prosecution of sex trafficking offenders; ``(x) investigation expenses for cases involving sex trafficking of minors, including-- ``(I) wire taps; ``(II) consultants with expertise specific to cases involving sex trafficking of minors; ``(III) travel; and ``(IV) any other technical assistance expenditures; ``(xi) outreach and education programs to provide information about deterrence and prevention of sex trafficking of minors; and ``(xii) programs to provide treatment to individuals charged or cited with purchasing or attempting to purchase sex acts in cases where-- ``(I) a treatment program can be mandated as a condition of a sentence, fine, suspended sentence, or probation, or is an appropriate alternative to criminal prosecution; and ``(II) the individual was not charged with purchasing or attempting to purchase sex acts with a minor. ``(C) Prohibited activities.--Grants awarded pursuant to paragraph (2) shall not be used for medical care (as defined in section 2791(a)(2) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300gg-91)), except that grants may be used for mental health counseling as authorized under subparagraph (B)(v). ``(4) Application.-- ``(A) In general.--Each eligible entity desiring a grant under this section shall submit an application to the Assistant Attorney General at such time, in such manner, and accompanied by such information as the Assistant Attorney General may reasonably require. ``(B) Contents.--Each application submitted pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall-- ``(i) describe the activities for which assistance under this section is sought; and ``(ii) provide such additional assurances as the Assistant Attorney General determines to be essential to ensure compliance with the requirements of this section. ``(5) Evaluation.--The Assistant Attorney General shall enter into a contract with an academic or non-profit organization that has experience in issues related to sex trafficking of minors and evaluation of grant programs to conduct an annual evaluation of grants made under this section to determine the impact and effectiveness of programs funded with grants awarded under paragraph (2). ``(b) Mandatory Exclusion.--Any grantee awarded funds under this section that is found to have utilized grant funds for any unauthorized expenditure or otherwise unallowable cost shall not be eligible for any grant funds awarded under the block grant for 2 fiscal years following the year in which the unauthorized expenditure or unallowable cost is reported. ``(c) Compliance Requirement.--A grantee shall not be eligible to receive a grant under this section if within the last 5 fiscal years, the grantee has been found to have violated the terms or conditions of a Government grant program by utilizing grant funds for unauthorized expenditures or otherwise unallowable costs. ``(d) Administrative Cap.--The cost of administering the grants authorized by this section shall not exceed 3 percent of the total amount appropriated to carry out this section. ``(e) Audit Requirement.--For fiscal years 2012 and 2013, the Inspector General of the Department of Justice shall conduct an audit of all 6 grantees awarded block grants under this section. ``(f) Match Requirement.--A grantee of a grant under this section shall match at least 25 percent of a grant in the first year, 40 percent in the second year, and 50 percent in the third year. ``(g) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be appropriated to [[Page 23350]] the Attorney General to carry out this section $15,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2012 through 2014.''. (b) Sunset Provision.--Effective 3 years after the date of enactment of this Act, section 204 of the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 14044c) is amended to read as it read on the day before the date of enactment of this Act. (c) GAO Evaluation.--Not later than 30 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall conduct a study of and submit to Congress a report evaluating the impact of this Act and the amendments made by this Act in aiding minor victims of sex trafficking in the United States and increasing the ability of law enforcement agencies to prosecute sex trafficking offenders, which shall include recommendations, if any, regarding any legislative or administrative action the Comptroller General determines appropriate. SEC. 5. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. (a) Reporting Requirement for State Child Welfare Agencies.-- (1) Requirement for state child welfare agencies to report children missing or abducted.--Section 471(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 671(a)) is amended-- (A) in paragraph (32), by striking ``and'' after the semicolon; (B) in paragraph (33), by striking the period and inserting ``; and''; and (C) by inserting after paragraph (33) the following: ``(34) provides that the State has in effect procedures that require the State agency to promptly report information on missing or abducted children to the law enforcement authorities for entry into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, established pursuant to section 534 of title 28, United States Code.''. (2) Regulations.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall promulgate regulations implementing the amendments made by paragraph (1). The regulations promulgated under this subsection shall include provisions to withhold Federal funds from any State that fails to substantially comply with the requirement imposed under the amendments made by paragraph (1). (3) Effective date.--The amendment made by paragraph (1) shall take effect on the date that is 6 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, without regard to whether final regulations required under paragraph (2) have been promulgated. (b) Annual Statistical Summary.--Section 3701(c) of the Crime Control Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 5779(c)) is amended by inserting ``, which shall include the total number of reports received and the total number of entries made to the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, established pursuant to section 534 of title 28, United States Code.'' after ``this title''. (c) State Reporting.--Section 3702 of the Crime Control Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 5780) is amended in paragraph (4)-- (1) by striking ``(2)'' and inserting ``(3)''; (2) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ``, and a photograph taken within the previous 180 days'' after ``dental records''; (3) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``and'' after the semicolon; (4) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as subparagraph (D); and (5) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the following: ``(C) notify the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children of each report received relating to a child reported missing from a foster care family home or childcare institution; and''. SEC. 6. PROTECTION FOR CHILD TRAFFICKING VICTIMS AND SURVIVORS. Section 225(b) of the Trafficking Victims Reauthorization Act of 2008 (22 U.S.C. 7101 note) is amended-- (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ``and'' at the end; (2) by redesignating paragraph (2) as paragraph (3); and (3) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following: ``(2) protects children exploited through prostitution by including safe harbor provisions that-- ``(A) treat an individual under 18 years of age who has been arrested for offering to engage in or engaging in a sexual act with another person in exchange for monetary compensation as a victim of a severe form of trafficking in persons; ``(B) prohibit the charging or prosecution of an individual described in subparagraph (A) for a prostitution offense; ``(C) require the referral of an individual described in subparagraph (A) to comprehensive service or community-based programs that provide assistance to child victims of commercial sexual exploitation, to the extent that comprehensive service or community-based programs exist; and ``(D) provide that an individual described in subparagraph (A) shall not be required to prove fraud, force, or coercion in order to receive the protections described under this paragraph; and''. SEC. 7. PROTECTION OF CHILD WITNESSES. Section 1514 of title 18, United States Code, is amended-- (1) in subsection (b)-- (A) in paragraph (1)-- (i) by inserting ``or its own motion,'' after ``attorney for the Government''; and (ii) by inserting ``or investigation'' after ``Federal criminal case'' each place it appears; (B) by redesignating paragraphs (2), (3), and (4) as paragraphs (3), (4), and (5), respectively; (C) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following: ``(2) In the case of a minor witness or victim, the court shall issue a protective order prohibiting harassment or intimidation of the minor victim or witness if the court finds evidence that the conduct at issue is reasonably likely to adversely affect the willingness of the minor witness or victim to testify or otherwise participate in the Federal criminal case or investigation. Any hearing regarding a protective order under this paragraph shall be conducted in accordance with paragraphs (1) and (3), except that the court may issue an ex parte emergency protective order in advance of a hearing if exigent circumstances are present. If such an ex parte order is applied for or issued, the court shall hold a hearing not later than 14 days after the date such order was applied for or is issued.''; (D) in paragraph (4), as so redesignated, by striking ``(and not by reference to the complaint or other document)''; and (E) in paragraph (5), as so redesignated, in the second sentence, by inserting before the period at the end the following: ``, except that in the case of a minor victim or witness, the court may order that such protective order expires on the later of 3 years after the date of issuance or the date of the eighteenth birthday of that minor victim or witness''; and (2) by striking subsection (c) and inserting the following: ``(c) Whoever knowingly and intentionally violates or attempts to violate an order issued under this section shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both. ``(d)(1) As used in this section-- ``(A) the term `course of conduct' means a series of acts over a period of time, however short, indicating a continuity of purpose; ``(B) the term `harassment' means a serious act or course of conduct directed at a specific person that-- ``(i) causes substantial emotional distress in such person; and ``(ii) serves no legitimate purpose; ``(C) the term `immediate family member' has the meaning given that term in section 115 and includes grandchildren; ``(D) the term `intimidation' means a serious act or course of conduct directed at a specific person that-- ``(i) causes fear or apprehension in such person; and ``(ii) serves no legitimate purpose; ``(E) the term `restricted personal information' has the meaning give that term in section 119; ``(F) the term `serious act' means a single act of threatening, retaliatory, harassing, or violent conduct that is reasonably likely to influence the willingness of a victim or witness to testify or participate in a Federal criminal case or investigation; and ``(G) the term `specific person' means a victim or witness in a Federal criminal case or investigation, and includes an immediate family member of such a victim or witness. ``(2) For purposes of subparagraphs (B)(ii) and (D)(ii) of paragraph (1), a court shall presume, subject to rebuttal by the person, that the distribution or publication using the Internet of a photograph of, or restricted personal information regarding, a specific person serves no legitimate purpose, unless that use is authorized by that specific person, is for news reporting purposes, is designed to locate that specific person (who has been reported to law enforcement as a missing person), or is part of a government- authorized effort to locate a fugitive or person of interest in a criminal, antiterrorism, or national security investigation.''. SEC. 8. SENTENCING GUIDELINES. Pursuant to its authority under section 994 of title 28, United States Code, and in accordance with this section, the United States Sentencing Commission shall review and amend the Federal sentencing guidelines and policy statements to ensure-- (1) that the guidelines provide an additional penalty increase, if appropriate, above the sentence otherwise applicable in Part J of Chapter 2 of the Guidelines Manual if the defendant was convicted of a violation of section 1591 of title 18, United States Code, or chapters 109A, 109B, 110 or 117 of title 18, United States Code; and (2) if the offense described in paragraph (1) involved causing or threatening to cause physical injury to a person under 18 years of age, in order to obstruct the administration of justice, an additional penalty increase, if appropriate, above the sentence otherwise applicable in Part J of Chapter 2 of the Guidelines Manual. SEC. 9. PENALTIES FOR POSSESSION OF CHILD PORNOGRAPHY. (a) Certain Activities Relating to Material Involving the Sexual Exploitation of Minors.--Section 2252(b)(2) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting after ``but if'' the following: ``any visual depiction [[Page 23351]] involved in the offense involved a prepubescent minor or a minor who had not attained 12 years of age, such person shall be fined under this title and imprisoned for not more than 20 years, or if''. (b) Certain Activities Relating to Material Constituting or Containing Child Pornography.--Section 2252A(b)(2) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting after ``but, if'' the following: ``any image of child pornography involved in the offense involved a prepubescent minor or a minor who had not attained 12 years of age, such person shall be fined under this title and imprisoned for not more than 20 years, or if''. SEC. 10. REDUCING UNNECESSARY PRINTING AND PUBLISHING COSTS OF GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS. Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall coordinate with the heads of Federal departments and independent agencies to-- (1) determine which Government publications could be available on Government websites and no longer printed and to devise a strategy to reduce overall Government printing costs beginning with fiscal year 2012, except that the Director shall ensure that essential printed documents prepared for Social Security recipients, Medicare beneficiaries, and other populations in areas with limited internet access or use continue to remain available; (2) establish government-wide Federal guidelines on employee printing; (3) issue on the Office of Management and Budget's public website the results of a cost-benefit analysis on implementing a digital signature system and on establishing employee printing identification systems, such as the use of individual employee cards or codes, to monitor the amount of printing done by Federal employees, except that the Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall ensure that Federal employee printing costs unrelated to national defense, homeland security, border security, national disasters, and other emergencies do not exceed $860,000,000 annually for fiscal years 2012 through 2014; and (4) issue guidelines requiring every department, agency, commission or office to list at a prominent place near the beginning of each publication distributed to the public and issued or paid for by the Federal Government the following: (A) The name of the issuing agency, department, commission or office. (B) The total number of copies of the document printed. (C) The collective cost of producing and printing all of the copies of the document. (D) The name of the firm publishing the document. SEC. 11. ADMINISTRATIVE SUBPOENAS. Section 3486(a)(1)(D) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting ``2250,'' after ``2243,''. SEC. 12. BUDGETARY EFFECTS. The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go-Act of 2010, shall be determined by reference to the latest statement titled ``Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation'' for this Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, provided that such statement has been submitted prior to the vote on passage. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Scott) and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe) each will control 20 minutes. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Virginia. General Leave Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Virginia? There was no objection. Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, the primary purpose of this bill is to provide, for the first time, specific programs to assist children who are victims of the brutal and devastating scourge of domestic child sex trafficking in this country. S. 2925 authorizes grants to appropriate victims services entities to create comprehensive victim-centered approaches to address the sex trafficking of minors. In particular, this legislation allows funds under the Byrne and JAG Grant Programs to be used to provide education, training, deterrence, and prevention programs related to sex trafficking of minors. It also provides funding to implement the improvements in the National Crime Information Center. In addition, this legislation strengthens laws aimed at apprehending and punishing domestic traffickers, while also improving the ability of law enforcement and other entities to find, rescue, and assist child victims. Importantly, S. 2925 also encourages States to treat minor victims of sex trafficking as crime victims rather than as criminal defendants or juvenile delinquents. We have made steady progress in recent years in addressing international sex trafficking of minors, as well as adults, under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, which passed Congress in 2000 on a strong bipartisan basis. It was most recently reauthorized by the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008, which I was pleased to help develop and shepherd through the House. We have worked for some time through legislation and other efforts, such as the Congressional Caucus on Sex Trafficking, which I cochair with the gentlelady from New York (Mrs. Maloney), the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith), and the gentlelady from Texas (Ms. Granger), to bring more attention to the need to better address the issue of domestic sex trafficking, particularly trafficking of minors. Unfortunately, we have encountered barriers to having it recognized that these children are victims in the domestic sex trade and not criminals. Now, under the leadership of the Senator from Oregon, Senator Wyden, and House Members of the Congressional Caucus on Sex Trafficking, this is finally changing. We finally have legislation before us that not only recognizes that children caught up in domestic sex trafficking are victims, but also addresses the unique needs of these child victims in being rescued and helping them pursuing a productive life. We are amending the Senate bill to remove certain nonessential elements of the bill, and I urge my colleagues to support the bill. I reserve the balance of my time. Mr. POE of Texas. Madam Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume. Today the House considers this important bill, S. 2925, the Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking Deterrence and Victims Support Act of 2010. The bill was introduced by Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon and was recently amended and passed in the Senate by unanimous consent. We had a similar bill introduced in the House this year by my friends Mr. Smith from New Jersey and Mrs. Maloney from New York. I would like to thank them both for their leadership on this important issue. Domestic minor sex trafficking is modern-day slavery and a scourge on our society. According to Shared Hope International, at least 100,000 minor children are used in prostitution every year in just the United States. Some sources estimate the number of minors may be as high as 300,000, though the actual number is difficult to really track. Girls as young as 11 years of age are sold on Internet Web sites, exploited by men for their youth and by gangs for their quote, ``reusable qualities.'' These traffickers and the customers who buy them are the filth of humanity. In my other life, I was a judge in Texas, and a former Texas Ranger told me, ``Judge, when you find one of these traffickers in court, just get a rope.'' Not that we'd do that, but this is how bad this crime is affecting our communities. In my hometown of Houston, Texas, we have a Human Trafficking Rescue Alliance. It's one of 42 in the Nation. Texas is a tier 1 trafficking State, and Houston, unfortunately, is a hub for human trafficking. This means that the Rescue Alliance is on the front lines of the war against trafficking. They are doing all they can to combat trafficking in Texas and other States. But I hear from them over and over again they just need more resources to care for the victims of domestic minor sex trafficking. Too often in our system, crime victims, those women, those young girls who are sold into slavery, are treated like criminals. They are not criminals. They are victims of crime. And it's time we, as a community, treat them as victims, not criminals. Senator Wyden's bill, S. 2925, addresses the problem by authorizing the [[Page 23352]] Department of Justice, in working with the Department of Health and Human Services, to award grants to organizations in six regionally diverse locations that provide services for child sex trafficking victims. Such services may include temporary and long-term placement of victims, as well as 24-hour emergency services. The funding may also be used to provide mental health counseling. Most importantly, funding may be used for specialized training for law enforcement officials and social service providers to properly identify and care for minor trafficking victims. When this legislation passed the Senate, important amendments were added to strengthen the ability of law enforcement officials to further prevent the sexual exploitation of children. Unfortunately, a number of these amendments were stripped before the bill was brought to the House floor. I disagree with that approach. We need tougher laws, not weaker laws, to apprehend, convict, and incarcerate traffickers and those who buy young girls for sex. This bill is a good first start toward building our capacity to care for the victims of domestic minor sex trafficking. Not one more American child, not one more kid should be allowed to wander our streets with their innocence for sale. I reserve the balance of my time. Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentlelady from New York (Mrs. Maloney), who has been working hard on this bill and has been a leader in making sure this bill continues and has been very instrumental in making sure it saw the floor today. Mrs. MALONEY. I thank the gentleman for his kind statement and yielding to me. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of S. 2925, the Senate companion to my bill in the House, H.R. 5575, the Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking Deterrence and Victims Support Act of 2010, a bipartisan bill I introduced with Representative Chris Smith and have worked on with Jackie Speier and Chairman Bobby Scott and others. {time} 1710 I am grateful to Senator Wyden for his leadership on this extremely important and devastating issue that is found right here in our own backyards, and to Chairman Bobby Scott for his strong support and a record of action on this issue. I thank him for holding a hearing on this bill, having numerous meetings, and for his vital input into the bill. What we do today will impact the thousands of girls who have been duped, kidnapped, drugged, and forced into selling their young bodies for sex. It is truly a national tragedy. Too many people believe that child sex trafficking is a problem that exists only in foreign countries, but experts estimate that a minimum of 100,000 children in the United States, most of whom are American citizens, are exploited through commercial sex trafficking every year. The National Center For Missing and Exploited Children estimates that there are as many as 300,000 to 400,000 missing children and that most of them are in this terrible sex trade. Although it is hard to believe, the average age of first exploitation is 12 to 13 years old. In the years I have worked on this issue, the age keeps getting younger and younger and younger for these children. These are our daughters, their schoolmates, and their friends. As founder and cochair of the Human Trafficking Caucus, I have been working for years to end the slavery of the 21st century, the trade in human lives for sex. Human trafficking is a $10 billion industry worldwide. It is the third-largest organized crime ring in history, preceded only by drugs and guns. But unlike drugs and guns, which can be sold only once, the human body can be sold over and over again, and, sadly, a young girl of 12 or 13 is at even greater risk of being sold for a much longer period of time, usually until they die. Despite the need, a Congressional Research Service report that I requested found that funding for specialized services and support for these young girls, these victims of domestic minor sex trafficking, are very, very limited or nonexistent. Throughout the country, organizations helping them collectively have fewer than 100 beds to address the needs of an estimated 100,000 young children each year. This is simply unacceptable. This bill responds to the problem and gives law enforcement the tools to investigate and prosecute sex traffickers who exploit underage girls and force them into the sex trade. A pimp selling just four children can earn over $600,000 a year. The risks are low and the gain is high. We live in a country where a person is more likely to serve time for selling marijuana than selling a 14- year-old girl. This bill will change that and treat these young women as crime victims, not as criminals. It will create a six-State pilot program to help law enforcement crack down on pimps and traffickers, create shelters, and provide treatment, counseling, and legal aid for the underage girls that are forced into sexual slavery. Importantly, the legislation will strengthen deterrence and prevention programs aimed at potential buyers. The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentlewoman has expired. Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. I yield an additional minute. Mrs. MALONEY of New York. This bill cracks down on sex trafficking by focusing on the demand side, the users. The bill will be considered a model to help rescue the hundreds of thousands of under-aged girls believed to be forced into the sex trade in America. With this bill, we renew our promise of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution and redouble our efforts in the fight against human trafficking, the 21st century form of slavery. We set up a new standard to combat the sex trafficking of children in the U.S., and we accept our moral obligation to help the neglected victims of this horrible crime and crack down on their abusers. We must not let our children suffer any more. I urge my colleagues to vote unanimously for this bill. Mr. POE of Texas. Madam Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith), who has been instrumental in this legislation. Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. I thank my good friend Judge Poe for yielding, and I rise in very strong support of the legislation. I want to thank Chairman Scott and Carolyn Maloney, with whom I have worked very closely on the House companion bill. I will say at the outset, Madam Speaker, as the prime sponsor of the historic law to combat human trafficking known as the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, and as a Member of Congress who has devoted more than 15 years seeking to prevent trafficking, protect victims from exploitation and abuse, and prosecute those who enslave with up to life imprisonment, I am happy to say that in many of our States, laws have been passed that closely mirror the TVPA so that they too now have powerful weapons and tools to use against those who would so cruelly mistreat others through trafficking. Just by way of definition, you are considered a trafficking victim if you have not yet attained the age of 18 and have been sold for commercial sexual exploitation or for labor trafficking, or if you are 18 or over and there is an element of force, fraud, or coercion. So I do rise in strong support of this bill which takes us even further, S. 2925. Madam Speaker, human trafficking, or modern day slavery, is the third most lucrative criminal activity in the world. The ILO estimates illicit profits gleaned each and every year as something on the order of $31 billion. Under both Presidents Bush and Obama, domestic task forces to combat human trafficking have been established in over 40 cities, almost 900 American children have been rescued, and much thanks is owed to the FBI, State police, and local law enforcement. Still, Madam Speaker, much more needs to be done. The National Center For Missing and Exploited Children believes that at least 100,000 American children, perhaps tens of thousands more, some estimates put it as high as 300,000, mostly runaway girls, average age 13, are exploited in the commercial sex industry each year. [[Page 23353]] S. 2925 seeks to address the lack of shelter, the lack of a safe place to go for domestic trafficking victims. As Carolyn Maloney said a moment ago, estimates may be as few as 100 beds--some put it at 50--and that is unconscionable. As highly vulnerable victims, juvenile detention or some type of incarceration just doesn't meet the need. These girls require a place, a safe haven, a place where they can go where they will be helped to deal with the huge trauma that they have experienced. The legislation authorizes six pilot grants of between $2.2 million to $2.5 million each in order to provide safe havens and psychological care to address trauma. The legislation also provides law enforcement training and beefs up reporting requirements so that missing children are immediately entered into the national missing children's database, the latter so that law enforcement finds a missing girl before the pimps do. Madam Speaker, this is a good bill, it is a bipartisan bill, and will very tangibly assist our young runaways who sadly are so cruelly exploited by human traffickers. As prime sponsor of the historic law to combat human trafficking--the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000--and as a Member of Congress who has devoted more than 15 years seeking to prevent trafficking, protect victims from exploitation and abuse and prosecute those who enslave up to life imprisonment, I rise in strong support of S. 2925. Human Trafficking--modern day slavery--is the third most lucrative criminal activity in the world. The ILO estimates illicit profits of over $31 billion a year. Under both presidents Bush and Obama, domestic task forces to combat human trafficking have been established in over 40 cities. Almost 900 American children have been rescued and much thanks is owed to the FBI, state police, and local law enforcement. Still, much more needs to be done. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and Shared Hope International believe that at least 100,000 American children, perhaps tens of thousands more, mostly runaway girls of the average age of 13 years old, are exploited in the commercial sex industry each year. S. 2925 seeks to address the lack of shelter--the lack of safe place to go--for domestic trafficking victims. One estimate is that there are between 50 and 100 beds for victims of domestic trafficking. As highly vulnerable victims, private detention or some other type of incarceration fails to recognize these young girls as cruelly exploited victims desperately in need of help. The legislation authorizes 6 pilot grants of $2-2.5 million in order to provide safe havens and psychological care to address trauma. The legislation also provides for law enforcement training and keys up reporting requirements so that missing children are immediately entered into the national missing children database--the latter so that law enforcement finds a missing girl before the pimps do. Madam Speaker, my distinguished colleague Carolyn Maloney and I crafted the House version of the pending bill in a way that absolutely precluded the use of funds authorized by the bill from being used to subsidize the killing of the child in the womb by abortion. S. 2925 as amended includes the identical language. The Gentlelady from New York and I have deep differences on abortion, but worked in a spirit of cooperation and resolve in order to tangibly assist domestic victims of trafficking. Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Moran), a very strong supporter of the legislation and one who represents a shelter in his district that he is a strong supporter of. Mr. MORAN of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I thank my very good friend and extraordinary leader on the Judiciary Committee, Congressman Bobby Scott. I appreciate your principle, Congressman Scott, and I am not surprised of your strong backing, nor am I of the fact that Carolyn Maloney and Chris Smith authored this. This bill is clearly bipartisan. There is really no reason to oppose this and every reason for this entire Congress to get behind it. You know, the horrible situation we're addressing could happen to anyone, really, anyone that has a family. We are talking about adolescent girls, girls who are growing up. Sometimes they have a challenging family environment, but oftentimes it is simply the challenge of being an adolescent, lots of emotional issues and all. So sometimes they will run away, trying to prove something to their parents or whatever. Oftentimes they go to a shopping mall. The mall closes down. They are afraid to go back right away to their parents. A predator starts circling the mall, an older guy, somebody that suggests they will get them food or whatever, find them a place to stay, and they trust them. {time} 1720 Oftentimes that little girl is raped, given drugs, and then she's threatened that what has happened to her is going to be exposed to her parents or to her peers. She's scared to death, and so she's afraid to break away. In every one of these sex trafficking cases, this is about a form of slavery where the victim wants to escape and has nowhere to go. Unfortunately, as much as the need is enormous, as Mrs. Maloney and Mr. Smith said, 100,000--maybe it's 300,000--of these young girls, we have only a hundred shelter beds. Far too few of them. Most municipalities, particularly today, don't have the money. But there's also a whole lot of zoning issues and political reaction, NIMBYism. A neighborhood will say, Well, this is very important, just not in my neighborhood. But there's another neighborhood, for sure. But a hundred beds is all we've got. We're not going to get more unless the Federal Government takes the initiative, provides the funding. And this is tough. Initially, they have to put up a quarter of the cost. Then it's 40 percent. By the third year, they have to find 50 percent of the funding. And by the fourth year, when these girls are dependent upon the shelter, they have to find all other funding. So this is no handout. This is just a kick-start to get communities to do something that's terribly important. I know Mr. Smith particularly knows all the sex trafficking that goes on around the world. We're appalled at Cambodia and Thailand and Russia and say, Well, how can this happen? And yet it's pervasive within our own society. We would rather look the other way, not knowing about it; but it's there. And we've got to do something about it. This bill does something about it. It establishes a foundation. It will create model programs. And then what will happen is other communities realize the need. Some parents will start to speak up. And, most importantly, the victims will be empowered and secure enough to speak up themselves. They are leading this effort. We have a shelter called Courtney's House. A young adolescent victim of sex trafficking, she named it after her daughter. It's her life's work now. We've got to do this. It's the right thing. No good reason to oppose it. And I appreciate the fact that it's bipartisan. This should be one of the last bills this Congress passes because, hopefully, it will be something we can all be very proud of. Mr. POE of Texas. Madam Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Daniel E. Lungren), the former Attorney General of California. Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California. We rarely speak on this floor of evil. Most of the issues we talk about are areas of controversy where you can have men and women of good will with areas of disagreement. And in our society we shun the idea of talking about evil because it sounds judgmental. This is one example where evil reigns. This is an example of one of the worst kinds of evil in our society today because this affects the most vulnerable among us, and it is a population that is largely hidden from view, in some cases because we avert our eyes. In other cases because we just don't spend the time to know. The problem of domestic sex trafficking of minors is one that plagues virtually every community in America. That's the surprise for many people. They say, Not here, somewhere else. New York City. The big cities. But it's a problem that knows no jurisdictional boundaries, as traffickers and pimps seem to cross national and international borders with impunity. It is a [[Page 23354]] problem which exploits the young and vulnerable and robs them of their innocence, and it is a problem that we can do something about. Believe it or not, many of my constituents, many in the general Sacramento region, would be surprised to know that we hold the unfortunate distinction of having one of the highest incidences of domestic minor sex trafficking in the Nation, at least according to the FBI when they did their stings just a year or so ago. One of the reasons could be that we're at the intersection of major thoroughfares that go north and south and come east and west. That might be a comforting thought to others to think it's coming from somewhere else, but we find that most of the people come from our own region and most of them are victims. We have a courageous police chief just outside my district in the community of Truckee, right near Lake Tahoe, Police Chief Nick Sensley. He's one of the experts in the world on this. And one of the things he always stresses in the programs he's established is this: these young women, these girls are victims. They get caught up in arrests for prostitution and the system looks at them as criminals. Yet you look at almost every single one of them and they are victims. And we don't do much about it. Oftentimes, when these young girls are able to escape from their imprisonment because law enforcement intervenes, they're let out on the streets shortly thereafter with nowhere to go. And what happens? The pimps start coming around again. And guess what? They're the only one that gives them some perverted idea of love, affection, and commitment. This evil allows the perversion such that these young girls have no other place to look. We have got to do something about this. We're beginning to do something in California and in Sacramento. We're beginning to do it in other areas of the country. We have to do it as a Nation even more than we have done it before because, as I say, these pimps don't recognize boundaries. They certainly don't recognize laws. They recognize one thing and that is the vulnerability of these young girls. We have got to do something; and in this Christmas season, we can do nothing better than to give this great gift of a start towards helping communities understand the nature of the problem, begin to allow us to refuse to avert our eyes to what's happening in our own areas, and allow us to support this legislation which will help move us in the right direction. Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the young lady who has worked hard on this legislation, along with many others, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Speier). Ms. SPEIER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for calling me young and for your able leadership on this issue. A special recognition must be offered to Congresswoman Maloney for her effort in bringing this to our attention. And I'm very proud to be associated with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle who have come together in a true bipartisan effort here, because I think we recognize that this is a travesty. To speak about 300,000 youngsters in this country, girls and boys-- mostly girls, but girls and boys--who are caught up in sex slavery is an abomination. And while this is a great first step--and I applaud it and embrace it and support it--it is a mere $45 million and six projects throughout the country. And we've all admitted that we're talking about hundreds of thousands of young people impacted. So I hope as part of this effort today we are going to redouble our efforts and expand this program. Because I, like so many of you, have spoken to local DAs, have spoken to local U.S. Attorneys, have spoken to the FBI, have gone on ride-alongs in Oakland, and have witnessed firsthand what is going on. I've gone to Courtney's House. I've gone to many of the shelters and I've talked to the victims. And I want to share just one story about one victim here in Washington, D.C., age of 16, who got caught up in this sex trafficking because she wanted to leave home and saw this as a way to make a new life because this young man took her to McDonald's and bought her lunch and then wanted to be her boyfriend. And then they needed money so, of course, she needed to sell herself. And I asked her, How many times a day were you forced to have sex? And she said between 10 and 15 times a day before she finally was able to run away. This is horrific. And it's time for us to do much more than fund six projects across this country for $45 million. A good step--and I embrace it. But, Members, we have to do much more. {time} 1730 Mr. POE of Texas. I reserve the balance of my time. Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee). Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas. Let me thank the gentleman on the Crime Subcommittee. I think it is appropriate at this time to thank him for his leadership as chairman, as I have had the privilege of serving with him. I think we have had and accepted some of the most provocative and innovative bills that really changed the lives of human beings, and I thank him very much for his service. Let me applaud as well Congresswoman Maloney, Congressman Smith, and my colleague from Texas. Madam Speaker, slavery is alive, and I rise to support the underlying bill dealing with domestic trafficking and to thank the Senate for getting this over in the hours within which we have to function to make sure that we move this legislation forward. Houston is particularly an epicenter, if you will, for this kind of activity. Being not so far away from the border, we have seen the increase of human trafficking and smuggling grow exponentially, and certainly, we all are familiar with the tragedy that happened in Victoria just a few years ago where we saw the loss of human lives that were being trafficked. So we know there is a constant, steady flow of individuals who are coming, but this is the most dastardly and heinous aspect of it. I am glad my colleagues have already indicated that this is a domestic problem, that even though we can go to Bangladesh and we can go to parts of Africa and other parts of South Asia, we find human trafficking right here in our backyard. I remember our former colleague Hilda Solis, now the Secretary of Labor, mentioning the loss of lives of women on the Mexican-U.S. border who would just simply disappear. Some of them were prostitutes; some of them young girls; and to this day, lives and/or those girls are still missing. So the stories go on and on and on. Frankly, I think there could be no better initiative to come in these last hours than this legislation. I want to pay tribute to some of the individuals who are on the ground, if you will, who we don't hear of quite frequently. The sheriff in Harris County, Adrian Garcia, recognizes the devastation of human trafficking, has set up a task force, which we are working with, and has attempted to make sure that he has the funding to stop the tide of those who call themselves ``pimps'' but who project themselves as boyfriends and friends and counselors and nurturers, who take these young girls in--some girls that you never ever find again. I want to pay tribute as well to the Children at Risk, another Houston-based organization that acknowledged and wrote a report on human trafficking that occurs in our locale. It is important to know that these various organizations really had to be self-starters because, as they began to talk about human trafficking, no one else was, and you were in a city by yourself. Why are you talking about human trafficking? Isn't that global or international or something far away from here? I want to pay tribute to Kathryn Griffin, who has an organization that might have a provocative name--We've Been There Done That. She is dealing with not only this broad question of human trafficking but of prostitutes [[Page 23355]] who come in all ages who are attempting to rehabilitate themselves. She has established a home, and she is trying to counter the ridiculousness of 100 beds existing for these young girls who find themselves in these conditions. So, Madam Speaker, I started out by saying that slavery does exist. I, frankly, believe that one of the aspects of this bill is to be able to go after the service builders, if you will--the pimps, the users-- and to be able to ensure that there is a place for someone to go. The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentlewoman has expired. Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, how much time do I have remaining? The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Virginia has 1\1/2\ minutes remaining. Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Texas. Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas. This is to proclaim that we will not suffer this and tolerate this. As my colleague from Texas indicated, we may want to be tier 1 in education, but we are not trying to be tier 1 in modern slavery, human suffering, and human smuggling. Therefore, enough is enough. I look forward to this bill being signed by the President. I look forward to our bringing relief and acknowledging that slavery is here but that we are ready to stamp it out to save the lives of these young girls. Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of S. 2925, the ``Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking and Deterrence and Victims Support Act of 2010.'' This bill calls for funds awarded under the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program to be used to provide education, training, deterrence, and prevention programs relating to sex trafficking of minors. It also calls for states to treat minor victims of sex trafficking as crime victims rather than as criminal defendants or juvenile delinquents. States should adopt and amend laws that protect minors who are victims of sex trafficking, and make such minors eligible for compensation. Furthermore, S. 2925 calls for consistent law enforcement to be used to deter demands for commercial sex with sex trafficking victims. The issues associated with the exploitation of children here in the U.S., and all over, are ones that I am very passionate about. The fact that children are recruited, harbored, transported, provided, or obtained for the purpose of a commercial sex act is appalling and I believe we should thrust our efforts behind meaningful policies and laws, such as the Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking Deterrence and Victims Support Act, that will put an end to such acts. During the Congressional Black Caucus' Annual Legislative Conference, which took place this past September at the Washington Convention Center, I held an issue forum to bring attention to issues plaguing our Nation's children--missing children who are exploited in the commercial sex trade. In this forum, we brought together a number of professionals and experts to bring light to this issue and, more importantly, determine best practices for deterring such behavior in order to put an end to these horrid practices. Many of the methods and practices highlighted in that forum are present in S. 2925; yet another reason why I so fervently support this bill. Hearing the statistics about the exploitation of children will make you cringe, as they are especially disturbing. Nationally, 450,000 children run away from home each year. One out of every three teens on the street will be lured toward prostitution within 48 hours of leaving home. Statistically, this means at least 150,000 children are lured into prostitution each year. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) data shows 100,000 to 293,000 children have become sexual commodities. Twelve is the average age of entry into pornography and prostitution in the U.S. This is a universal problem-- these children can come from any race, ethnic group, or religious background, and all socio-economic classes. The common denominator amongst these children is their vulnerability. Many of these children have been emotionally bruised as a result of abuse--sexual assault and/or familial molestation. Many children vulnerable to domestic minor sex trafficking are homeless, runaways, throwaways, and youth who have ended up in the foster care system and child protective services. Of the 2.8 million children living on the streets, which alone is an appalling statistic, over a third of them are lured into prostitution as a way to support themselves financially. Others are recruited through forced abduction or deceptive agreements between parents and traffickers. These children are often shipped off to different locations and isolated from family and peers, left to rely on a system of pimp-controlled sexual exploitation--escort and massage services, private dancing, pornographic clubs, just to name a few. The fact that we live in a virtual world now has had a major impact on how domestic minor commercial sex trafficking takes place. The Internet has completely changed the dynamics of prostitution and trafficking, making it easier for prostitutes and traffickers to connect with clients without too many layers of intermediaries. As a result, the Internet has become an intermediary, often without the knowledge of those Internet service providers (ISPs) who are the conduits. Increasingly, certain Web sites and online marketplaces have been bearing the brunt of much criticism for providing a medium for online minor sex trafficking. The Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking Deterrence and Victims Support Act allows us to take the necessary actions to combat this new tech-savvy generation of prostitution and minor sex trafficking. As a senior member of the House Judiciary Committee, I have had the opportunity to examine how children are trafficked in the U.S., including the role that the Internet plays, and the challenges that these cases pose to law enforcement. It is my hope that the passage of S. 2925 will make way for implementation of prevention methods that will help law enforcement place an effective road block on this horrendous practice. Furthermore, the Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking Deterrence and Victims Support Act addresses the unique needs of those who have been victimized by sex trafficking. As mentioned before, many of the children who end up as victims of this practice enter into the world of minor sex trafficking with scars, and leave with even more. They come from broken homes, are victims of abuse, assault, and may suffer from emotional problems. Passage of S. 2925 will provide support for victims of minor sex trafficking and help to rehabilitate survivors so that they may re-enter society successfully. Again, I would like to reirecate, my strong support for S. 2925, the Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking Deterrence and Victims Support Act, for it is an important first step in addressing a problem that plagues our nation and the world. Mr. POE of Texas. I yield myself such time as I may consume. I do want to thank the gentlelady from New York (Mrs. Maloney) and the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith), who are both sitting here together to show their support for this bipartisan legislation. I believe that important, good legislation passes this House when it is bipartisan, and nothing could be more important than trying to protect the greatest resource we have in our community, which is those young children who live among us. This legislation is important for a whole lot of reasons. It is ironic, Madam Speaker, that in international sex trafficking, if we have that situation in the United States where, say, a young girl is trafficked into the United States from Honduras, and she is rescued by law enforcement, she is treated like a victim of crime because she is an international individual. If the same situation occurs where an American citizen, a young girl, is trafficked from Sacramento to Houston and she is rescued in Houston, she is not treated as a victim of crime; she is generally treated as a criminal. That especially is true in places like Texas, where domestic trafficking victims are treated as criminals. Not to blame law enforcement, but they don't know what to do with these young girls. There is no place to put them. There is no place to take them. So they file charges on them for prostitution, minors committing prostitution, so they can protect them by locking them up. That is why many times they file charges. However, though, they are not criminals. They are victims of criminal conduct. Once she has that label of prostitute, even though she is a minor, we all know because of public records nowadays that that sticks with that young girl forever no matter how it turns out in that criminal case. So we have to change the mindset in this country to make sure that we understand when a victim--a young girl--is put in that situation because of her environment or whatever and is forced into modern day slavery, that we treat [[Page 23356]] her as a victim of crime, and when she is rescued by law enforcement, that she is rescued and not put into the criminal justice system. This bill moves us in that direction, and it is important that we continue to understand that. This is a hard situation. For the young girls who find themselves in that position--who go into prostitution because of being forced to do so--once they are rescued, they are difficult to deal with. They have a hard time coming back into a normal society because they are beat down emotionally and they are beat down physically. So it is difficult to deal with them, and it is not easy to bring them back. But just because it is hard, it is no reason we shouldn't be involved in helping the youth of our community and in making sure that we rescue them one at a time. It is no reason we shouldn't take whatever funds are necessary to make sure that we treat them with the dignity that they deserve. Then, on the other end, when we capture that trafficker, that individual who makes money--that filthy lucre--from transporting a child from one part of the United States to another, we treat him as he deserves, and he gets justice at the courthouse. Then the customers who buy those children for sexual favors, we treat those people with justice. They get justice whether they want it or not, and we hold them accountable for the ways they have treated the youth of this Nation. {time} 1740 So we have a long way to go; but this is a start, recognizing that those young girls, mainly young girls, are victims of crime. I want to thank the sponsors of this legislation. I, too, want to compliment those in the Houston area and the Rescue Alliance, the Children At Risk, a nongovernment agency that's doing everything they can to rescue those children; Sheriff Adrian Garcia, Constable Ron Hickman, all working together to stop this epidemic that is consistently growing in this country. And I can agree that there's no more important legislation that we could pass than legislation this time of year to take care of our greatest natural resource: young children. I yield back the balance of my time. Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from Texas for his statement; again, thank the gentleman from New Jersey and the gentlelady from New York for their hard work on this bill. Many children in the future will benefit from the work of these two individuals and the House of Representatives and U.S. Senate. With that, Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the bill. Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD. Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of S. 2925, the Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking Deterrence and Victims Support Act. It is fitting that as one of the last acts of this Congress which has done so much to aid the most vulnerable in our society, we are considering legislation that would protect children from sex traffickers. Tragically, this heinous crime is becoming more common with as many as 100,000 young people trafficked every year within our borders. To address this heartbreaking trend, the legislation before us authorizes a comprehensive grant program to identify and assist victims and strengthens the National Crime Information Center, NCIC, database that enables law enforcement officials to track missing and exploited children. These commonsense steps will make a real difference in the lives of thousands of kids who have experienced unimaginable ordeals. S. 2925 mirrors House legislation authored by my colleagues Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney and Congressman Chris Smith. I applaud their hard work on behalf of these forgotten young people and commend them for their leadership in devising smart solutions to fight the scourge of child prostitution in America. The Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking Deterrence and Victims Support Act will significantly augment our efforts to help children traumatized by the worst kind of criminal act and I urge its swift passage. In an era characterized by bitter partisanship, it is exceedingly gratifying for me that members of this body can still reach across the aisle and stand together in defense of children caught in perilous circumstances. It is my sincere hope that next year we can come together in the same spirit of bipartisanship to help young people apprehended along our southern border. Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. I yield back the balance of my time. The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Scott) that the House suspend the rules and pass the bill, S. 2925, as amended. The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed. A motion to reconsider was laid on the table. ____________________