HOUSTON – United States Reps. Sheila Jackson Lee D-Houston and Wesley Hunt R-Houston held a news conference on Monday to encourage lawmakers to pass the Stop Human Trafficking in School Zones Act.
The act is also named H.R. 30 and targets traffickers that try to lure children.
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“We’re trying to make sure that children are not the victims and that they are not preyed upon,” Jackson Lee said.
She also mentioned several recent cases of human trafficking and sex crimes, such as the incident where a kidnapped Texas teenager was rescued after writing “help me” on a sign.
There was also a recent case of a prostitution ring in Brazoria County involving six women from a local high school.
H.R. 30 is a bipartisan bill that lawmakers said wants to ensure children are not preyed upon. If someone broke this law, then their sentence could be increased by up to five years in addition to their sentence for human trafficking and sex offenses.
These sentences would have to be served consecutively.
This law would also protect schools, school sponsored activities, playgrounds, juvenile detention centers, public parks, public swimming pools and other locations where children gather.
“As we begin looking toward school opening again for many areas in three weeks, it is now the time for there to be the passage of H.R. 30,” Jackson Lee said.