By: Hunter (Senate Sponsor - Van de Putte) H.C.R. No. 68

(In the Senate - Received from the House April 5, 2011; April 20, 2011, read first time and referred to Committee on Criminal Justice; May 12, 2011, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 6, Nays 0; May 12, 2011, sent to printer.)

HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Human trafficking is a serious and escalating problem in the United States, particularly in Texas; and

WHEREAS, A multibillion-dollar business, human trafficking is second only to drug dealing in criminal profitability and is the fastest-growing illegal enterprise, according to the Polaris Project, a Washington, D.C.-based organization that maintains the National Human Trafficking Resource Center; it is estimated that 18,000 foreign nationals are trafficked into the United States each year and that the number of U.S. citizens trafficked within our own borders is even higher, with more than 200,000 American children at high risk for trafficking into the sex industry; and

WHEREAS, Texas is a major point of illegal entry into the United States; its large geographic size along with its demographics make the Lone Star State appealing to traffickers, who endeavor to blend into the population while exploiting their victims in forced labor and prostitution; and

WHEREAS, Although Texas has been recognized as a leader in the effort to end the scourge of human trafficking, eradication of this modern-day form of slavery is a difficult challenge, and every means of combating it should be explored; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That the 82nd Legislature of the State of Texas hereby request the lieutenant governor and the speaker of the house of representatives to create a joint interim committee to study the problem of human trafficking in Texas; and, be it further

RESOLVED, That the committee submit a full report, including findings and recommendations, to the 83rd Texas Legislature when it convenes in January 2013.

* * * * *