Bill Text: TX HR975 | 2011-2012 | 82nd Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: Recognizing the last week of January 2012 as Texas Human Trafficking Awareness Week.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 1)
Status: (Passed) 2011-06-01 - Reported enrolled [HR975 Detail]
Download: Texas-2011-HR975-Enrolled.html
| H.R. No. 975 | ||
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| WHEREAS, Human trafficking, second only to drug smuggling | ||
| among criminal enterprises, is an issue of particular urgency in | ||
| Texas; and | ||
| WHEREAS, There are an estimated 800,000 victims of human | ||
| trafficking in the United States, nearly 250,000 of whom are | ||
| children and the great majority of whom are U.S. citizens; the Texas | ||
| attorney general has reported that almost 20 percent of these human | ||
| trafficking victims travel through Texas, while the Department of | ||
| Justice has identified Interstate 10 between El Paso and Houston as | ||
| a major human trafficking corridor; and | ||
| WHEREAS, The United States enacted the Trafficking Victims | ||
| Protection Act in 2000, beginning an enhanced effort to address | ||
| human trafficking; the same year, the United Nations focused the | ||
| attention of the global community on the scourge of human | ||
| trafficking by adopting the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and | ||
| Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, which | ||
| called for the criminalization of all acts of trafficking and for | ||
| governmental responses to incorporate the "3P" paradigm of | ||
| prevention, criminal prosecution, and victim protection; and | ||
| WHEREAS, In 2003, Texas became one of the first states in the | ||
| nation to recognize human trafficking as a crime, and it maintains a | ||
| reputation as a leader in the effort to shut down traffickers; yet, | ||
| as the Texas Human Trafficking Prevention Task Force noted in its | ||
| Report 2011, even measuring the full scope of this form of crime is | ||
| difficult because currently only four regions of Texas are entering | ||
| data into the national Human Trafficking Reporting System, which | ||
| collects information about investigations, prosecutions, | ||
| perpetrators, and victims; obtaining information at the local level | ||
| remains challenging because victims are difficult to identify, | ||
| since trafficking may look like a traditional crime such as | ||
| prostitution, domestic violence, or unpaid wages, and many victims | ||
| have been frightened into silence or are not aware that they are | ||
| protected under Texas and U.S. law; and | ||
| WHEREAS, The Texas Human Trafficking Prevention Task Force | ||
| has enumerated a number of priorities for state leaders, including | ||
| identifying additional prevention strategies, identifying victims | ||
| and presenting cases for prosecution, addressing gaps in victim | ||
| services and in resources for law enforcement agencies, and | ||
| implementing a statewide database to collect and share law | ||
| enforcement and prosecutorial data; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Texas has made significant progress toward raising | ||
| awareness and increasing investigations and prosecutions of human | ||
| trafficking, as well as toward ensuring that victims receive the | ||
| services they need, and the state must continue its efforts to push | ||
| back against this heinous crime; now, therefore, be it | ||
| RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 82nd Texas | ||
| Legislature hereby recognize the last week of January 2012 as Texas | ||
| Human Trafficking Awareness Week and encourage all Texans to learn | ||
| more about human trafficking and to alert the authorities to any | ||
| suspected related incidents. | ||
| Parker | ||
| ______________________________ | ||
| Speaker of the House | ||
| I certify that H.R. No. 975 was adopted by the House on May | ||
| 30, 2011, by a non-record vote. | ||
| ______________________________ | ||
| Chief Clerk of the House | ||
