By: Miller (Senate Sponsor - Huffman) H.C.R. No. 35
         (In the Senate - Received from the House April 29, 2019;
  April 30, 2019, read first time and referred to Committee on State
  Affairs; May 14, 2019, reported favorably by the following vote:  
  Yeas 9, Nays 0; May 14, 2019, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
 
 
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
 
  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.
 
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