Bill Text: TX HCR35 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: Recognizing human trafficking as a public health issue.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 4)
Status: (Passed) 2019-06-07 - Signed by the Governor [HCR35 Detail]
Download: Texas-2019-HCR35-Enrolled.html
| H.C.R. No. 35 | ||
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| WHEREAS, Human trafficking is a serious and escalating public | ||
| health issue in the United States, particularly in Texas; and | ||
| WHEREAS, It is estimated that there are more than 300,000 | ||
| victims of human trafficking in the State of Texas, and nearly | ||
| 80,000 of those are identified as minors; and | ||
| WHEREAS, The number of cases reported rose 82 percent from | ||
| 2015 to 2017, giving Texas the second-highest number of human | ||
| trafficking reports in the country, with explosive growth occurring | ||
| across all segments of our society in every ethnicity, gender, and | ||
| age, regardless of immigration, socioeconomic, or family status; | ||
| and | ||
| WHEREAS, Victims of human trafficking experience a severe and | ||
| complex trauma that is recognized by the medical community as one of | ||
| the most challenging to effectively treat; it requires long-term | ||
| counseling, therapy, and often inpatient treatment, which is | ||
| complicated by the fact that relatively few facilities in Texas are | ||
| trained in trauma-informed care; and | ||
| WHEREAS, The health problems engendered by human trafficking | ||
| are a crisis that impacts a substantial number of Texans in | ||
| communities across the state; sexual exploitation of women and | ||
| children account for 84 percent of cases and cost the state an | ||
| estimated $6.6 billion in additional physical and mental health | ||
| care and social services; this also creates additional strain on | ||
| our health care and law enforcement systems; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Gangs and cartels have combined drug and human | ||
| trafficking operations to become a primary controlling influence in | ||
| both, with the traffickers involved proving to be some of the most | ||
| dangerous and violent criminals to whom thousands more innocent | ||
| victims fall prey each year; and | ||
| WHEREAS, All forms of human trafficking are criminal acts, | ||
| and it is imperative that this issue be appropriately addressed so | ||
| that we may bring an end to this atrocious crime and help survivors | ||
| to move forward with their lives; now, therefore, be it | ||
| RESOLVED, That the 86th Legislature of the State of Texas | ||
| hereby recognize human trafficking as a public health issue. | ||
| Miller | ||
| Shaheen | ||
| Anderson | ||
| ______________________________ | ______________________________ | |
| President of the Senate | Speaker of the House | |
| I certify that H.C.R. No. 35 was adopted by the House on April | ||
| 26, 2019, by the following vote: Yeas 139, Nays 0, 2 present, not | ||
| voting. | ||
| ______________________________ | ||
| Chief Clerk of the House | ||
| I certify that H.C.R. No. 35 was adopted by the Senate on May | ||
| 21, 2019, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0. | ||
| ______________________________ | ||
| Secretary of the Senate | ||
| APPROVED: __________________ | ||
| Date | ||
| __________________ | ||
| Governor | ||
