00:00Good morning, thank you everybody for being here on an issue that has bipartisan support
00:14in the state legislature.
00:16This is an issue involving human trafficking that Texas has zero tolerance for and that
00:23shows up in the legislation that I'm about to sign but also shows up every single day
00:28when you see and hear what members of the Texas legislature talk about.
00:33They are angry about human traffickers and they want to ensure that Texas has the toughest
00:39laws to prevent human trafficking in the state of Texas.
00:45Someone who shares that passion, someone who cares dearly about and actively involves herself
00:53in supporting the victims of human trafficking is the fabulous First Lady of Texas.
00:58Cecilia Abbott, who joins with us here today.
01:05I'm going to sign two laws today that address this issue.
01:11Before I do, however, I want to recognize in addition to the members of the legislature and
01:17the First Lady who are involved in this, we know that legislation like this gets across
01:23the finish line because there are unfortunately so many survivors and importantly those survivors
01:31come to the Capitol and let us know what the problems are or what the best solutions are
01:37to help those survivors.
01:40And I thank all the survivors of human trafficking for stepping up and telling their stories, sharing
01:45their insight, talking about what needs to be done to help their lives.
01:49And we've got advocates also who work on this every single day.
01:54When you add all that together, that's one reason why Texas is so successful in passing
02:00the anti-human trafficking legislation that we passed.
02:05So on the zero-tolerance side, we want to ensure that we do all we can so that human traffickers
02:13never walk the streets of Texas again.
02:17These two bills I'm going to sign and help achieve that goal.
02:20One is Senate Bill 1212.
02:23It increases the penalty for all human trafficking offenses to a first-degree felony.
02:30We want tougher penalties for our worst criminals, and Senate Bill 1212 gets that job done.
02:37And then the worst of the worst are human traffickers of children and people with disabilities.
02:47House Bill 2306 ensures that those traffickers will serve every single day of their prison sentence
02:55behind bars.
02:56No parole for these worst of the worst.
02:59Among other things, this will protect survivors from the trauma of having to attend parole hearing after parole hearing
03:07and have to go through that whole experience again.
03:11So I want to thank Senator Parker and Representatives Villalobos and Helen Kerwin
03:16for stepping up and getting this legislation to my desk.
03:59Senate Bill 2306 and House Bill 1212 are law in the state of Texas.
04:22Next we'll have Senator Parker.
04:25Well, thank you, Governor, for your leadership.
04:27Thank you for being so committed to this issue and this fight, all your years of service.
04:33I want to thank the First Lady as well for her incredible leadership on this topic.
04:37It means the world does to have both of you supporting us and your entire administration.
04:42Look, for me, it's been an incredible journey to work on these issues,
04:46to fight trafficking since my early days as a House member in 2008-2009 time frame.
04:52And we recognize that the moral fabric of this state and this nation matter.
04:58And we've got to stand up against the darkness and bring light.
05:02That's what we're doing with this package of bills.
05:05I'm so proud of all of my colleagues here with me, behind us, all those that support these critical pieces of legislation that put the most horrific predators and monsters behind bars where they deserve.
05:17And so, in particular, talking about the bill that I was blessed to sponsor, being able to make certain that those individuals that would ever traffic a minor, a child in this state, one of our precious children, or someone who is disabled, will never, ever receive parole.
05:36It's critical that they serve their full sentence and then some.
05:40We need to continue to be tough.
05:43We need to continue to be aggressive and press the battle because our children are worth it.
05:48And we need to celebrate these amazing, courageous survivors because they go from the darkest of challenging times to becoming survivors where we give them the tools and capabilities to be upwardly mobile again.
06:03But this is the fight of our time to make certain that we are addressing this horrific, horrific crisis that affects everyone in this state and in this nation.
06:15It knows no limitations the horrific work that these traffickers do.
06:20And under Governor Abbott's leadership, the Lieutenant Governor, our incredible legislature, we will continue to make certain that human trafficking is eradicated in Texas once and for all.
06:32Thank you again, Governor.
06:33Thank you, ma'am.
06:35Thank you, Senator Parker.
06:37Now, Representative Elams.
06:39Exactly one year ago today, you came down to Corpus Christi and we held a fundraiser.
06:46But I told you I was wanting to win this seat to make sure that any criminal convicted of trafficking our kids in Texas should never be eligible for parole.
06:56And I'm excited on the anniversary of that day, we were able to sign this bill.
07:02It's tremendous.
07:03Absolutely.
07:04Glad of all of you.
07:08One of my constituents actually testified during this bill hearing.
07:14Her stepdad trafficked her and immigrants in our country.
07:20He got caught, went to prison, got out early because of good behavior.
07:27He wasn't rehabilitated at all in our prison system.
07:31He was emboldened for getting out and he did it again.
07:35He went straight back to his stepdaughter, trafficked her and more girls in our state.
07:42And that is unacceptable.
07:43That is why we worked hard to author this bill.
07:49It got unanimously voted out of the House and the Senate.
07:52Thank you, Senator Parker, for getting it across the finish line.
07:58This bill is much needed today.
08:00And I'm excited going forward what it means for our children to be safe from these violent, violent criminals.
08:08Any criminal convicted of trafficking kids for sex, for labor or disabled individuals and any person that profits off of those heinous crimes will no longer receive parole.
08:21Thank you so much.
08:26Congratulations on that.
08:28You know, one thing that's so empowering for people who run for office is that they want to talk about issues that are so important to them and to their constituents, to our state.
08:36And to talk about that on the campaign and then to be able to come to Austin, Texas and be able to pass legislation on that as a freshman is really extraordinary.
08:46So congratulations to you on that.
08:51And now Representative Helen Kerwin.
08:53Well, thank you, Governor Abbott, so, so much for this opportunity that we have today to forward this amazing journey that we are taking.
09:08You have allowed it.
09:09Your wonderful First Lady has worked so hard.
09:12I was campaigning, and I had a lady come to me who has been trying to get this legislation passed for several sessions.
09:23And I told her, if I get elected, I will take this on.
09:27She came today.
09:28Her name is Mary.
09:30And she's standing behind me.
09:32And her daughter was a victim and murdered by a trafficker.
09:36So I was thrilled to be able to take this on.
09:39And the first thing I noticed was a flaw in the penalty system that we have where trafficking actually was still, in Texas, second degree as well as first degree.
09:52Mama.
09:52So what we did in this bill is we were able to establish all trafficking convictions, our now first degree felony, which is up to 99 years.
10:06So thank you, Governor Abbott.
10:08Good job.
10:10Good job.
10:12Another successful freshman.
10:14Well, listen, we wouldn't be here, again, without victims and victim family members, as pointed out, but also without the courage and commitment of the state legislators.
10:26I want to thank you all again for everything that you did to get this across the finish line.
10:30I have to immediately go to Kerrville to address and assist victims of the horrific flood.
10:39But, that said, I'll take a few questions before I leave.
10:42Go ahead.
10:42I have a two-part question.
10:44How hard is it to prosecute these people's actions to stand?
10:48As doctors, how will you ensure that our Texas DAs are empowered to prosecute these people who are assisted, even as we see prosecution rates kind of low around our state board?
10:58Does this charge to assist or reduce meeting?
11:01So on the prosecution side first, because of the way these laws in particular have been structured, as well as other laws that we have passed in the last couple of sessions or two,
11:11it actually is getting easier and easier to prosecute this crime.
11:15I would suggest it may be easier to prosecute the crimes like this in Texas than any other state.
11:21On your second part of your question, you raise a challenge, and that is we do have some district attorneys who refuse to do their job.
11:29District attorneys who knowingly allow dangerous criminals back out on the street,
11:34either because of the refusal to prosecute or the refusal to obtain indictments within the time period that's required.
11:44So know this.
11:45Just like we took action during the regular session against rogue district judges who were letting dangerous criminals back out on the streets,
11:54we are committed to taking action against rogue district attorneys who are refusing to go after the files and prosecute them and put them behind bars.
12:04The rogue district attorneys who are refusing to put these criminals behind bars, we are looking to impose consequences for them.
12:17And I missed the first part.
12:35You're talking about resources?
12:36There's all kinds of challenges that victims of human trafficking go through, not just once,
12:51but it's something that they relive day after day, year after year.
12:55And so we have already, and we will continue to ensure that they have access to the resources they need.
13:03Part of that is mental health resources, emotional support.
13:09Part of it, very importantly, is also working to help put them back on a very positive pathway,
13:16getting a job, allowing them to refocus their lives in a different pathway that's going to be very productive.
13:22All of these pieces work together to ensure that we are aiding and supporting the victims of human trafficking.
13:29I'm unaware of any state in America that does more to aid and support the victims of human trafficking than does Texas.
13:37And in another context is, what measures for punishment do you want to impose on the legislators in the great department?
13:45So there's, you probably know that I added to the special session agenda an item that requires punishment and consequences for people who break quorum.
13:59First, I believe that breaking quorum the way that it was done here violates the Constitution, and there have to be consequences for that.
14:06There have been several proposals already offered up in both the House and Senate.
14:11That's a good starting point to take a look at those proposals.
14:15And what typically happens is, when proposals like that arise, it's going to lead to other ideas and other strategies that members of the House and Senate will be able to consider.
14:24Mr. Governor Abbott, can you talk a little bit about how the Augustine Act did that issue got added to the policy?
14:30Sure. So this is an issue that actually has been bubbling up since the early days of COVID.
14:36And there was a lot of misinformation about ivermectin.
14:42And in the time since then, there's been a realization that this is a product that Texans want access to, that Americans want access to,
14:53and is shown to be not encumbered with all the dangers that so many people preached.
14:59And so what we want to do in the state of Texas is to provide the ability of Texans to be able to have access to that ivermectin.
15:09We've got a couple of state representatives here who have been really advancing this.
15:15One is Representative Schaffner, and the other is Representative Shelley Luther.
15:19And in part, the reason why this has come up on the agenda is because these House members, as well as others,
15:27undertook the process of understanding the need for this, leaning into it, pushing it,
15:34getting the signatures of a majority of their fellow members of the Texas House,
15:38and that qualified it for being put on the special session agenda.
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