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Human Trafficking
Texas is a hub for international human trafficking because of its many busy interstate highways, international airports, countless bus stations, the shipping commerce through the Gulf of Mexico, and its shared border with Mexico.
May 31st, 2017
Monday, May 29, marked the 2- year anniversary of the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act, called the JVTA. Democrats and Republicans in the House of Representatives and the Senate worked together in a bipartisan manner...
May 8th, 2017
I supported the passage of the Omnibus Appropriations bill, which funds the federal government through the end of the 2017 fiscal year, and includes funding for several Department of Justice programs and priorities important...
March 28th, 2017
A 14- year-old girl last week was kidnapped off the streets of Houston, Texas. After being held against her will for 5 days, she was taken to a motel, where she met a person named Denise Coronado.
February 21st, 2017
On a recent flight, flight attendant Shelia Fredrick of Alaska Airlines noticed a young girl, 14 or 15 years old, with blonde hair. Shelia approached two individuals, but the young girl refused to speak or make contact with...
February 3rd, 2017
As the United States is gearing up for the Super Bowl in Houston, unfortunately, so are many human sex traffickers.
January 26th, 2017
A newly released report from the University of Texas in Austin revealed that there are more than 300,000 victims of human trafficking in the Lone Star State. Nearly 79,000 of those are minors.
November 15th, 2016
One hot summer day in Houston, a single mother (we will call her Amy) met a man. At the time, Amy was lonely and struggling to make a life for her young children. He was charming, funny and a talented member of the music...
September 19th, 2016
Modern day slavery is happening all around us, and it occurs in the form of human trafficking. Victims are sold into sex slavery, drugged, beaten, threatened and forced to engage in horrifying acts at the demand of their...
August 3rd, 2016
A Texas jury in Corpus Christi wasted no time in handing down a 40-year prison sentence following their conviction on Friday of a man who was sex trafficking a 15-year-old girl.
May 31st, 2016
It happened right under the entire community’s nose. Eight year old Jen Spry was raped and tortured on a daily basis.She was not kidnapped by a stranger in a dark alley. She was trafficked just a few doors down from her...
May 24th, 2017
I'm happy to announce that soon I'll be introducing legislation that reauthorizes several critical provisions to help fight human trafficking and bring us one step closer to ridding our country of this heinous crime.
March 30th, 2017
Today, Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and I, along with Senators Dean Heller (R-NV) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), introduced the PROTECT Our Children Act to reauthorize the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force...
March 2nd, 2017
In her formative years, Lena wore turtlenecks and baggy clothes to school every day. Why did she do so? To hide the bruises that covered her entire body. Soon, Lena’s abusive foster mother lost custody of her. And when her...
February 16th, 2017
Houston recently hosted the exciting Super Bowl LI. As Texas welcomed people from across the United States, the message was clear: no trafficking, not in our city, not in our State, not in our country.
February 1st, 2017
She was a 14-year-old girl when she was forced into sex trafficking. Her name is Tina Frundt.Like so many other trafficking victims, she was lured away from the safety of her home—a home nearby to the United States Capitol—...
January 12th, 2017
Today, Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY) and I introduced H.R. 440, the SHAME Act. The bi-partisan bill will ensure that federal judges have the ability to publish the names and photographs of criminals...
October 28th, 2016
James Patrick Manning of Tampa is the first criminal to be sentenced under JVTA after he responded to an advertisement posted on Backpage.com by an undercover federal agent in an attempt to purchase sex from a 14-year-old...
September 8th, 2016
This summer, while Congress has been out of session, I have undergone treatment here in Houston for Leukemia. Fortunately, just eight weeks into treatment, I am feeling like myself again and am confident that I will beat...
July 22nd, 2016
Three Texas men are in a Waller County Jail after allegedly attempting to meet up with a minor for the purpose of having sex. The men were busted in an online solicitation sting where they thought they were chatting with a...
April 26th, 2016
The NCAA Men’s Final Four is a time of excitement, suspense, and this year, it’s an opportunity to display Houston’s hospitality to the hundreds of thousands of people who will travel to our great city for the games. We...
