Washington, D.C., Dec 15, 2005 - Ms. GINNY BROWN-WAITE of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

The Acting CHAIRMAN. The Clerk will designate the amendment.

The text of the amendment is as follows:

Part B amendment No. 10 printed in House Report 109-347 offered by Ms. Ginny Brown-Waite of Florida:

At the end of title VI, insert the following new section:

SEC. 615. DECLARATION OF CONGRESS.

Congress condemns rapes by smugglers along the international land border of the United States and urges in the strongest possible terms the Government of Mexico to work in coordination with United States Customs and Border Protection of the Department of Homeland Security take immediate action to prevent such rapes from occurring.

The Acting CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to House Resolution 610, the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ginny Brown-Waite) and a Member opposed each will control 5 minutes.

The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Florida.

Ms. GINNY BROWN-WAITE of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Chairman, the reports of the lawlessness along our borders are unprecedented. Stories about the number of young girls and women who smugglers and society's dregs rape as they attempt to cross the border are widespread.

Numerous recent articles have told stories of Minuteman members who are haunted by cries of women who are being raped and abused, who when they first heard the cries, they actually thought they were coyotes wailing in the desert. These are women and young girls being raped. All along the southern border, the sight of women's undergarments hang from border fences as trophies. This is appalling, and yet it is also very telling. There are stories of mattresses tucked in caves for more convenient access to rape young girls as young as 8- and 9-years-old crossing the border. Violent acts against females in this manner are despicable. Congress cannot and should not tolerate this behavior.

H.R. 4437, the Border Protection, Antiterterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005, takes decisive action to reduce and eliminate this criminal activity. My amendment to the bill is a declaration that Congress condemns these rapes along the United States border.

Additionally, my amendment urges the Government of Mexico and U.S. Customs and Border Protection to work together to take immediate action to prevent such rapes from continuing.

We all understand that the best mechanism for preventing these rapes is to encourage legal citizenship and to stop people from crossing our borders illegally and therefore putting themselves in harm's way. By including my amendment in the underlying legislation, this House is sending a loud and clear message of its dedication to improving all aspects of border security. Urging both the United States and Mexico to take action is a good first step toward a peaceful, safe, and secure border.

The bill also provides a tremendous overhaul of the United States immigration policies, and I am very pleased that the House is debating this issue before we adjourn for the year. As a member of the Committee on Homeland Security, I look forward to implementing these measures, and I also look forward to the time when reports of rape and cruelty to young girls and women are not an issue on our border.

Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to support my amendment, and I thank the gentleman for his recognition of this amendment's merits.

Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Harris).

(Ms. HARRIS asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Ms. HARRIS. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in strong support of this amendment offered by my colleague from Florida. Shockingly, thousands of women who cross the U.S. border illegally from Mexico are promised safe passage in return for sex and money. These women are not given safe passage, but rather become the trophies of criminal rapists as they hang the undergarments of their victims on the border fences.

But human trafficking and sexual exploitation impacts every corner of the globe; and the United States must lead an intensive, multilateral effort to stop it. Last year, an estimated 27 million people were forced into slavery around the world. I have heard the heart-wrenching stories of women and children, young girls, who are tricked, kidnapped, and sold into sexual slavery.

These crimes occur in many forms, from sex trafficking to involuntary servitude. Women, even young girls, are told they will be taken out of the country where restaurants and hair salons need workers. When these girls enter the country, their identification is taken away and there is no restaurant, no salon, only brothels. Furthermore, these girls are commonly told they must pay a debt for their transportation into the country, and they are forced to sell their bodies to pay off this debt. Our borders must not become the avenues for pimps, traffickers to make millions of dollars.

These victims are left with insufficient housing, no access to social services, no education, or job opportunities. Sex trafficking rings are frequently linked to corruption, and law enforcement in some regions are even bribed to ignore these sex slavery rings. This must stop.

Mr. Chairman, this amendment before us today takes the necessary first step not only condemning the exploitation of people along our borders but also strongly urges immediate action to prevent such abuse from occurring in the future. I strongly urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this amendment and condemn this lawlessness on our borders.

The Acting CHAIRMAN (Mr. Simpson). Who claims the time in opposition to the amendment?

Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California. Mr. Chairman, I claim the time in opposition although I do not oppose the amendment.

The Acting CHAIRMAN. Without objection, the gentlewoman will control 5 minutes.

There was no objection.

Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Chairman, I support this amendment. The amendment calls on the Mexican Government to work closely with U.S. Customs and Border Protection to take immediate action to prevent the occurrence of rape along the U.S.-Mexican border.

Rape is a horrendous crime. Every 2 1/2 minutes somewhere in the United States someone is sexually assaulted, and only 36 percent of the rapes are reported to law enforcement in the United States. It is safe to assume that the rate of reporting is considerably less along the border.

The women who are crossing our border are extremely vulnerable, and they are unlikely to tell law enforcement officials that they were raped while trying to cross the border without their papers. The smugglers know that these women are vulnerable, and they take advantage of them. I think in many ways this amendment makes clear what many have been talking about today, and that is the need to gain control of the situation at the border.

I have talked today a lot about how dysfunctional the administration of our laws has been. We do not have enough Border Patrol agents; they are not properly equipped; we do not have enough prosecutors; we do not have enough judicial personnel; we are citing and releasing individuals and letting them go. We have a chaotic situation at the border, and we need to create an orderly situation at our borders. We need to take control of it. It is not occurring right now.

Part of that, and again this has been discussed, is to regularize the ability of individuals who want to come and be part of the American Dream so that they do not have to be with smugglers, vulnerable victims of crime, victims of rape; that there is some orderly manner for individuals to move back and forth across the border, to do the jobs that we know are not going to get done without them.

Earlier today, not on the record, someone said, Well, you know, if this bill passes, that is the end of salads in America. I think we need to contemplate the role that immigrant labor plays in the area of agriculture, fast food, tourism, the hotel industry, the tourist industry and the like. I think it is a mistake that the underlying bill does not deal with that issue.

I do agree, however, that the gentlewoman's amendment really calling on our two governments to coordinate, to fight this horrendous crime of rape is well intentioned, it is something I can support; and I hope it does some good.

Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

The Acting CHAIRMAN. The question is on the amendment offered by the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ginny Brown-Waite).

The amendment was agreed to.