The road to a comprehensive bill – Part I

2010.04.08

What can compare with the misery of those going through hell on earth as modern slaves, trafficked victims, whether 12 year old kids sold for sex or adults trapped in forced labor? But I have a sense of great hope. There is a building momentum in Oregon at this very moment over ending human trafficking in our state.

Oregon got its first law defining human trafficking as a crime on the books in 2007. In '09, the State Legislature passed a bill granting confidentiality to victims in shelter. This year they unanimously passed a Polaris Project hotline-posting bill that is moving ahead with an army of volunteers and the full cooperation of the Oregon Liquor Commission Control (OLCC). The bill was a "heat and light" generating act that is already proving its worth. Meanwhile, our own state's U.S. Senator, Ron Wyden, has been leading the push for much needed Federal funding for victim shelters.

Deputy Keith Bickford of the Oregon Task Force has been a tireless advocate in moving us as a state forward on this issue. Multnomah County, thanks to the leadership of Commissioner Diane McKeel, is developing a "John school." Local agencies and various nonprofits such as "Door to Grace" are gearing up for rescue and recovery operations. The Oregon Anti-Crime Alliance is pulling together much needed hard data on the whole trafficking picture. And other groups such as Oregonians Against Trafficking Humans are streaming out a nonstop education campaign.

Now key players are beginning a bipartisan push to pass a much more comprehensive and desperately needed bill in the 2011 state legislative session. The legislative effort is already advancing on multiple fronts.

1. We are working with Legislative Aide James Barta of State Representative Brent Barton's office to line up a major press event and "stuffing brigade" as volunteers convene to assist the Oregon Liquor Control Commission in placing hotline stickers in 2,500 license renewal packets. The first of four such "stuffings" scheduled for the next twelve months will occur sometime in the week of April 19.
   

   
    

2. The first Human Trafficking Legislative Planning Meeting was convened March 24 at the Northwest Health Foundation. The meeting, convened by Stephanie Mathis, Executive Director of the Oregon Center for Christian Values (OCCV), included 15 government and nonprofit sector personnel. The group laid out plans to introduce comprehensive legislation in time for the 2011 Oregon Legislative session. This bipartisan group included legislative aides to three state representatives (Carolyn Tomei, Jefferson Smith and Brent Barton) and one state senator (Bruce Starr).
   

   
    

   Drew Olson of Commissioner McKeel's office pointed out that Washington State passed a bill the week prior, spearheaded by Shared Hope International, that 1) creates mandatory diversion for first time offenders, 2) allows for exploited children to be detained for up to 15 days without charging them (and treats them as victims), 3) increases sentencing and fines for Johns and Pimps; 4) impounds the cars of offenders with a $2,500 charge to get the vehicles back; 5) provides for such revenue to go for shelter and recovery for victims; 6) disallows offenders to claim they did not know the victim was underage; and 7) requires law enforcement to come up with a model and training before January 2011.
   

   
    

   It was agreed that, while one thing this new law leaves out is money for the D.A.s, all this is much better than anything we have in Oregon. California is working on a ballot initiative that will include money for D.A.s. The money factor for these initiatives is important and is the primary concern in whether comprehensive legislation can pass in Oregon next year.
   

   
    

   This group will work together over the coming months to prepare the comprehensive legislation, giving priority consideration to meeting or exceeding the level of enforcement and service provided in California and Washington, our neighboring states.
   

   
    

3. Meanwhile, the leadership of OCCV's Human Trafficking Advisory Committee is gearing up on the grassroots level for an intense advocacy push. Bryan Colbourne of Salem, Stacy Bellavia of Portland, and I met this past Monday to tool out plans for the coming year to present to OCCV's Executive Committee for approval. Plans include recruiting ten point leaders from local congregations who will in turn recruit ten point persons each. The HT Committee will provide the training and logistical coordination to prepare these point persons for advocacy work with the advent of the legislative season next January. We anticipate we'll have our kickoff training session for the point leaders on Monday, June 7.
   

It is no exaggeration to say that lives are at stake. Scripture is adamant that we as Believers have an obligation to rescue those in bondage among us. Reminding the Israelites that God had redeemed them from slavery, Moses commanded the people, "Do not deprive the alien or the fatherless of justice, or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge." (Deut. 24:17) Doing justice, according to Jeremiah (21:12), means rescuing "from the hand of his oppressor the one who has been robbed," in this case rescuing those who have been robbed of their humanity, their dignity and so much more.

Anyone having questions, needing information or wanting to help can contact the OCCV office at info@occv.org or call 503-222-2072.

Why I believe in Social Justice – Part III

[If you missed Part I or Part II…]

I think I understand where Glenn Beck and others are coming from who don't like the term "social justice" and who think that churches and websites (like mine) that mention this term are (perhaps unknowing) foils for Communism and Socialism. In their minds, I am guessing, social justice speaks of radical restructuring of society and the Big Brother type of government that freedom-loving people everywhere abhor. On top of the usual suspicion of government, the current economic times engender a pervasive edginess among everyone, even Believers who talk about the Rock of Ages being their "cleft." Seriously.

For me the question is not, Who is the enemy (as in big government or Communism)? It is not which party to join or what cause to fight. It is not even trying to figure out which catch phrases and sound bites should be treated with suspicion.

The questions that need to be asked, the concerns we need to be concerned about, have all to do with what the Word says, regardless of what someone else is saying. And as I've written before, the concept of "justice" is a very, very good one, being one of the most pervasive in the Bible.

Buried in the heart of a Mosaic passage about good governance is this gem of a verse: "Follow justice and justice alone, so that you may live and possess the land the LORD your God is giving you." (Deuteronomy 16:20) Look all around that verse and what you see is a mix of instructions about properly structuring worship (religion) and government (politics). They go hand in hand more than we sometimes care to admit, for the expression of God's rule in our lives is as much about how we relate to each other as it is how we relate to God. Thus, Jesus says, the two greatest commandments are to "love God with your whole being" and to "love your neighbor as much as you love yourself." (Matthew 22:37-40; Deuteronomy 6:5; Leviticus 19:18).

Loving one's neighbor as much as one's self is all about relating to parents, children, siblings and friends. It is also all about how nations get along and how people get along within nations. Justice is part and parcel to how we express our love toward God and toward each other. Let me explain.

Many languages have word couplets. Chinese has a zillion of them. English has its share as well. Like "sound and fury" – each word has meaning; put them together with the "and" in the middle and the two-for-one phrase as a whole takes on a special meaning of its own. As with English and Chinese, Hebrew has its share of these coupled terms, what is called by techies a parallelism. One of the most striking in the Scriptures is "Justice and Righteousness" (sometimes written in the reverse).

I don't want to get too technical here because the goal is not to impress you (or to embarrass myself). So let me state it simply. The words we translate "justice" and "righteousness" are really a two-for-one that defines our understanding of God's justice, which is, by the way, central to God's vision for all that He created and called good. The word we usually translate as "righteousness" has at its root the meaning for norm or standard, in other words, "what is right". Makes sense, doesn't it? So you could say righteousness is what God intends for us. The word we usually translate as "justice" means governing or judging and has to do with judicial or governing activity at every level – or the actual act of doing righteousness or doing right. When you see justice in light of these two words coupled together, what you get is the idea that God's justice is all about putting things right according to God's way.

So, as Stephanie Mathis says, "Justice is love in action." For God is love (can't get more basic than that with God), and God's way (righteousness) of expressing that love is doing justice, or making sure that God's righteousness gets carried out properly. So justice is God's expression of love towards us.

Now I have a feeling that so far we have everyone on the same train, Beckies and anti-Beckies alike. So where does the train tend to get derailed? We'll save it for next week. [Tune in next Tuesday to "Part IV" at my "Ethics for the 21^st Century" blog or find me on Facebook.]

Meanwhile, in all soberness and thanksgiving, let's all commemorate our Lord's death and resurrection this weekend by pondering what it means to give due honor in our nation and world to what our Lord has done in bringing God's justice to earth just "as it is in heaven."

[Thanks to two great resources that anyone can check out: Kingdom Ethics: Following Jesus in Contemporary Context by Glen H. Stassen and David P. Gushee (IVP, 2003) and Old Testament Ethics for the People of God by Christopher J. H. Wright
(IVP, 2004).]

To be continued…

Evaluating our State Legislators - Part II

A reader's comment earlier today provides the perfect segway to this week's posting:

"I agree--we do have a duty to evaluate our leaders and ensure they are accountable.… With the increasing complexity of lawmaking and politics, finding time to do a thorough evaluation that gains a fair understanding of what is really going on is next to impossible."

You're right, Brian, it can be a daunting task, which is why so few people even start or, if they do, they rely on sound bites and dubious cheat sheets (political parties or PACs being the most dubious). So let's take this one step at a time. As I said last post, we are not in this process alone.

No one evaluates legislative decisions with a blank slate. To make any assessment, you have to have some a priori foundation or point of view from which you begin. For example, a state-level advocacy organization such as the Oregon Center for Christian Values (OCCV) has already narrowed its task considerably to only legislation at the state and local level in Oregon.

Furthermore, OCCV is a Christian organization. Whatever does that mean? (I say that emphatically because Christian as a defining term these days defines very little.) But at least it serves as a starting point.

The challenge before us is to make certain we choose the right reference points to help us. Some people rely on particular columnists or TV personalities or even religious publications to do the work for them, but while we can rely somewhat on others, we have to know where they are coming from. Proven Christian scholars (whether biblical, ethical, or public policy experts) can be helpful. Determining where these reference points line up on the usual left-right political spectrum is not the way to start, however, for the political spectrum itself has to be evaluated and it is an unreliable reference when it comes to Christian concerns.

For all of these references and experts, the questions that must be asked (always) are: 1) What are the criteria by which they make their assessments? And, How do their criteria line up with what I believe is right?

As an ethicist I like to say that "Ethics is living out what you believe." The writer of James puts it this way: "I will show you my faith by what I do." (James 2:18) In other words, how we live and act springs from what we hold to be true in life. We cannot really live differently than we believe. We may say we believe something, but if we act differently, we don't really believe it.

So ethics, whether personal in action or public in policy, has to be grounded in a belief system. For me as a Christian, that belief system has a triple foundation: the Christian Scriptures (the Bible), the Community of Faith (the Church), and the Holy Spirit – all (hopefully) working in tandem. I doubt the Holy Spirit can make a mistake, though I can misunderstand what the Spirit is saying to me. And the same is true for the Bible, which I take (by faith) to be a reliable authority as long as I interpret it correctly (2 Timothy 2:15). The Community of Faith, well, that is trickier, but I do believe that at some level the Spirit speaks through God's people, and I consider OCCV in that category (meaning "community of faith" and "God's people").

All this is very basic, no doubt too basic for you, Brian, but as I have a mixed audience, I want to make sure everyone stays on the same page. So, to use a phrase from the OCCV's vision statement, we will work on these state and local issues as "Christian citizens" who are "rooted in the word". I'll capitalize Word, if you don't mind, so that our readers know we are talking about the specific written Word of God, as opposed to scriptures or texts from other religious or non-religious traditions.

But what does what the Bible say about issues from thousands of years ago have to do with whether Oregon bans plastic bags in grocery stores or provides health care for foster kids who age out of the system at 18 but are in legal limbo until they are 21? In The Scandal of Evangelical Politics (2008), Ron Sider states, "Every political decision should be grounded in fundamental beliefs about morality and the nature of persons."
Every political decision, which certainly includes decisions about shopping bags and health care for aging-out foster kids.

He adds, on the same page (41), that Christians "derive their normative vision from biblical revelation." We're not talking about proof-texting here or relying only on key justice or pro-life passages. For Sider, a biblical view of the world as a whole and persons specifically comes from the whole biblical story. He talks about "Biblical Paradigms", which are "comprehensive summaries of biblical teaching related to many concrete issues." And we apply these biblical paradigms and use particular Scriptural cases to illustrate a general principle, basically the same process a good sermon uses.

Now, fortunately, we don't have to go through this every time a legislative bill comes up as these paradigms apply to a broad range of issues. But we do want to start with these paradigms, making sure that we actually do base our actions and decisions on the Bible.

We'll pick this up again next week...

Evaluating our State Legislators - Part I

The Oregon State Special Legislative Session ends today. As the session winds down, various media spokespersons, experts, and citizen groups will be discussing the merits of the legislators' work. But I wonder how I as a Believer in Jesus Christ am to evaluate their month of concerted effort on behalf of Oregonians.

The intention of the legislators to go home early has been hampered by some minor controversy over a plan to make these sessions an annual affair. Constitutionally they are to convene every other year, but can if need be also meet in the off-year, which they have done regularly in the immediate past. In a time when significant events such as our current Great Recession can impact so many lives so suddenly, a more regular if not full-time presence of the Legislature makes sense. But what they do with those sessions is another matter, one that cannot so easily be written into the State Constitution or evaluated in media sound bites.

From a Christian perspective, the role of government is at minimum found in the words of the Apostle Paul in Romans 13:1-7. Our authorities, which certainly include our 30 State Senators and 60 State Representatives, have been established by God, according to Paul, to do us good, which includes but is not limited to making sure that wrongdoers are properly punished. For this reason we pay them our taxes and revenue, Paul says, as well our honor. One could proof text from verse 6 that they are be working full time, but be that as it may, they are, whether they know it or not, God's servants, for "there is no authority except that which God has established."

Obviously these 90 public servants are but one segment of the civic authorities in our lives, but how are we -- and they -- to account for the past month? How have they done as far as doing us good?

In recent weeks I have been working on an assignment for the Oregon Center for Christian Values (OCCV), helping to delineate the theological foundations for their advocacy work on the state and local level. The Scriptures do have much to say about good governance and the role of Believers in helping to shape that good governance. Paul's brief admonitions in Romans 13 are but the tip of the biblical "iceberg."

Ron Sider, in The Scandal of Evangelical Political Engagement (2008), writes that "Evangelical pronouncements on the role of government are often contradictory" and he calls for a commonly embraced, biblically grounded framework for doing politics." He proceeds to articulate in the erudite fashion we have come to expect from him how that framework should proceed. In so doing, he delineates how "every careful political decision requires four different yet interrelated components of a normative framework, a broad study of society and the world, a political philosophy, and a detailed social analysis on specific issues."

OCCV has already determined what it believes to be a political philosophy founded on the Scriptures and out of that has given much focus and effort to three specific bills in this legislative session which it believes fulfill Paul's teachings concerning "doing us good." Two of these bills it has endorsed and testified concerning: HB 3623 and HB 3664. On a third, HB 3703, it has given careful consideration. These three bills concern themselves with public safety and public health, specifically fighting human trafficking, promoting the welfare of children in the care of the state, and providing food safety for small children. For more information on OCCV's positions on these issues, you are welcome to go to www.occv.org.

On each of these bills, OCCV followed its usual pattern of careful research and analysis, evaluation, and effective advocacy, all with its political philosophy clearly in focus. That focus is threefold:

1. Our vision for Oregon is rooted in the Word and its understanding of Christ's vision for humanity.
   
2. We as a community of faith are called to shape public policy for the common good.
   
3. We shape public policy by advocating for biblical justice at a structural level in society.
   

OCCV's concerted efforts had a significant impact on getting HB 3623 and HB 3664 passed, which it determined according to this vision statement clearly warranted such an endeavor of faith.

But what of all the other bills that the State Legislature has wrestled with? What of the bills it has passed into law or rejected? How do these laws and actions line up with the biblical mandate to do us good?

As an individual citizen, I am to do my civic (and biblical) duty in closely examining and evaluating the work of the Legislature. As a Believer, I am to do so according to the Word and its mandate that government is instituted by God to serve the common good. In fulfilling these obligations, I pay due honor to my authorities. Fortunately, I don't have to do this work alone, for I am part of a great Community of Faith with which I can fulfill my supreme obligations to my God and to my neighbors (Luke 10:27).

To be continued...

HB3623 – On to the State Senate

The human trafficking hotline bill passed the Oregon State House unanimously last week as reported in the OCCV news release that follows. This past Tuesday I picked up my son, Stephen, from college and we drove once again to the state capital in Salem where I presented testimony on behalf of OCCV to the Senate Human Services Committee. After hearing several testimonies – including from the legislative sponsors, and two people who have been spearheading this fight against human trafficking in Oregon, Sherriff Deputy Keith Bickford and County Commissioner Diane McKeel – the Committee unanimously passed the bill.

Stephen and I then helped Stephanie Mathis, the OCCV Executive Director, visit every one of the 30 State Senators' offices and ask them to vote for the bill when it comes to the Senate Floor later this session. Stephen and I dropped in on to see our own legislators, Senator Mark Hass and Representative Tobias Read, and their great Aides Ryan and Eva. I also introduced Stephen to Legislative Aide James Barta. James works with Representative Brent Barton, one of the chief sponsors for HB 3623. James and Stephen both have something in common, as James was previously a high school math teacher, a career to which Stephen aspires.

Hopefully, the bill will come up for a vote on the Senate Floor sometime today or tomorrow, but for sure before this brief session ends later next week. We are hoping for another unanimous vote, believing that this bill can serve as "heat and light" for an issue in our state that demands even far greater attention from the legislators in next year's full session.

Most people have no idea human trafficking is a significant issue in our own state. Human Trafficking was written into the state's law books only as recently as 2007. Last year, the State Legislature passed SB 839 which among other things granted "confidentiality status" to victims of human trafficking. This year it is HB 3623 which promotes a human trafficking hotline number and sticker through the Oregon Liquor Licensing Control Commission's license renewal mailings to 12,000 retail centers. Next year we are praying for legislation to be passed that will be much more comprehensive.

What more needs to be done? Human Trafficking is on the law books, but are there any teeth to the law? What kind of sentencing provisions are provided, if any? What can we learn from New York's Safe Harbor Act and similar laws in California? What can we learn from the example of how Dallas, Texas, treats victims as victims and goes after the pimps and traffickers as well as the johns? Laws need funding to function, a point New York's Safe Harbor Act has made painfully clear.

In our own state, Bickford, McKeel and others are leading the way in changing the way human trafficking is understood and dealt with, particularly in Multnomah County. But with the I-5 and I-84 corridors, HT is a statewide problem. And it is not just a concern of rescue and recovery, but finding ways to shut the door on the entry end of human trafficking. Most crucially, human trafficking is all about supply and demand. Cut off the demand, make human trafficking unprofitable and painful even to the perpetrators and the supply will dry up.

Already plans are being laid to work toward the 2011 legislative session as soon as this session closes next week. There is a whole year to get ready. Unfortunately, for those enslaved or about to be, a year is a long time to waste in the life of even one victim.

For now, we are grateful for all who are helping HB 3623 become law. If you are a resident of Oregon, please contact your State Senator and urge her or him to make it a unanimous vote in the next few days. Send a message that Oregon cares about all of its citizens, even the "least of these" among us (Matthew 25:45).

***

Two other bills in this legislative session are also of concern. HB 3703 bans the use of Bisphenol A, a ubiquitous toxic chemical, which disproportionally affects the most vulnerable among us, namely our children. Since the 1960s, BPA has been used to make hard plastic polycarbonate bottles, like Nalgene, sippy cups for toddlers, and the linings of food and beverage cans, including the cans used to hold infant formula and soda. HB 3703 basically bans BPA from being used in containers intended primarily for consumption by children under three years of age. The bill is currently in the House Rules Committee, where Dr. Andy Harris has presented written testimony on behalf of OCCV in support of this bill.

HB 3664 is a bill that would extend health care benefits to foster children who age out of foster care, but who have not yet reached age 21. I wrote a member of the Ways and Means Committee this morning: "As an individual voter, I am very much in favor of our state extending health care to foster children who have aged out of foster care until they reach age 21.  I believe that we as a State have a responsibility to these children to help them achieve full adulthood.  As the father of four children ages 14 to 21, I well understand that none of them are ready to be on their own by age 18.  As a Christian, I believe that we as a society have a responsibility to care for the fatherless and orphans.  As a citizen, I am concerned that when we do not fulfill our responsibility towards the weak and the vulnerable, we pass on one generation's injustices to the next and we as a society pay for these injustices one way or another.  In that an ounce of prevention is always cheaper than a pound of cure, I urge Representative Barker to vote for HB 3664 extending health care to age 21 for foster children who have aged out of foster care."

***

OCCV News Release:

Human Trafficking Bill Unanimously Passes House and Senate Human Services Committee

The Oregon Center for Christian Values mobilizes advocates to support State Anti-trafficking bill.

The Oregon State House and Senate Human Services Committee unanimously passed HB 3623 which allows the Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) to include informational stickers with the National Trafficking Hotline Number to all 11,000 licensees across the state.

The estimated average age for a victim's first encounter with forced prostitution is thirteen. Because of the I-5 corridor, Oregon has become a hub for traffickers moving victims along the West Coast.

The bill's sponsors, Representatives Barton and Smith, praised the help of Multnomah County Commissioner Diane McKeel who launched the anti-trafficking campaign, the Polaris Project, which sponsors the hotline, Representative Tim Freeman (R-Roseburg), and the Oregon Center for Christian Values (OCCV). "This bill is a small first step to begin the fight against this problem," said Representative Smith on passage of the bill.

A months-long anti-trafficking advocacy effort by OCCV culminated last week with a hearing before the House Human Services Committee. At the hearing, Stacy Bellavia, member of OCCV's Human Trafficking Advisory Committee, presented testimony and introduced more than 20 OCCV members and friends from other organizations in attendance. These volunteer advocates then fanned out to visit the offices of all 90 of Oregon's state legislators, urging them to vote for the bill that could save trafficking victim's lives.

OCCV returned to the Capitol to testify before the Senate Human Services Committee with local anti-trafficking advocates and governmental officials. Senate Committee member, Senator Winters profoundly noted that trafficking is another word for modern day slavery.

"I have a lot of passion for justice," said Amy McDonald, one of four George Fox University students in the OCCV delegation. "Being able to go to the capitol and shake hands with people who have a direct impact on making changes in the vein of what I'm passionate about is incredibly encouraging to be a part of."

"It was so powerful when we all stood up in the hearing to show our support for the bill," said Lexie Woodward, Not for Sale's Co-Director of Oregon. "I feel there was and is a direct link between our organizations and the Capitol.  I feel very encouraged by this and that my input was and will be heard." 

OCCV's Human Trafficking Advisory Committee has served as a legislative facilitator for a host of other groups fighting human trafficking. This organizational network will coordinate efforts to recruit volunteers to help with the first mailing of the hotline stickers later this spring.

"While some bills are solutions in search of a problem," said Representative Barton, "this bill will save the life of at least one girl who would otherwise become the victim of human trafficking."

 

 

 

 

HB3623 – Before the Committee

There we were outside of the House Human Services Committee hearing room, praying together that God would bless our efforts that day on behalf of thousands of human trafficking victims in our state. We filled about a third of the room as James Barta and Stacy Bellavia testified briefly and then asked all of us with OCCV to stand.

James is the very capable Legislative Aide to Representative Brent Barton, who is sponsoring HB 3623, the "HT Hotline" bill we are advocating. Stacy, who served for two years in India with the International Justice Mission (IJM) and now works for the DHS hotline, is a very active member of our Human Trafficking Committee.

Only one member of the committee had a question, a good one, in fact, asking if the Department of Agriculture could become involved. The bill authorizes that hotline stickers be sent to all businesses authorized to sell alcohol (posting them is optional), but the agricultural department can help with gas stations and truck stops. Already the state's rest stops are being covered.

In all we had 22 in our number, filling a third of the hearing room and looking very impressive, especially when we all stood. All were there in response to our appeal from the Oregon Center for Christian Values, several representing other organizations also fighting HT, including OATH, Door to Grace, Not for Sale, along with some students from the IJM chapter at George Fox University.

After the hearing we connected with Representative Barton as well as Representative Jefferson Smith, the other avid sponsor of this bill, and then fanned out to visit every single office of Oregon's 90 State Senators and Representatives. I went to visit my own Senator Mark Hass and Representative Tobias Read, and also dropped in on the office of Representative Jeff Barker, the other representative sharing Senator Hass' district.

We'll keep close track of this bill as it winds its way through the Assembly and on to the Senate in the next few days. Meanwhile we are gearing up for making this bill effective once it is passed. There is no opposition to the bill. At most, some legislators are not familiar with the issue. The greater concern we have is that while this is a legislative bill, it depends entirely on private funds and the work of volunteers to implement.

In the next few months we trust we can find printers willing to donate their time and effort and individuals willing to fund the printing of 11,000 hotline stickers (Polaris Project, which runs the hotline, provides the initial batch of stickers). We already have lots of interest from friends wanting to volunteer to stuff the envelopes at the OLCC. ("What did you do over spring break?" "Oh, I worked at the Oregon Liquor Control Commission!") The first of four annual mailings gets prepared in April. Meanwhile over this next year, we will talk with businesses who sell alcohol to make sure they are posting the sticker.

The sticker itself is currently being designed, with input from Polaris Project, Representative Barton's office and Stephanie Mathis, OCCV's Executive Director. The sticker is about the size of a dollar bill. Hopefully very soon, people will be noticing it showing up all over Oregon.

Oregon is affected by this problem more than most states. With our location on the I-5 corridor, Oregon has become a hub for the smugglers and pimps who are forcing these victims into prostitution and other forms of modern slavery and moving them north and south to cities all along the West Coast. If you want to read through more of our OCCV talking points, check the post from this past Tuesday for the link.

As I wrote my legislators, "As a Christian, I am keen to head the call of Psalm 82:3, which says, 'Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed.' Not all human trafficking victims start out poor, but they all end up that way and all are greatly oppressed with no way out, their minds and bodies raped for the financial and power gain of others. I am compelled as a Believer to do all I can to speak out for biblical justice and to set the oppressed free."

If you live in Oregon and want to help, write your state legislator today, or for more information contact us at info@occv.org. If you live outside of Oregon, find out how you can make a difference in the lives of the world's 27 million human trafficking victims. Let's commit ourselves to releasing the oppressed (Luke 4:18) and making this world HT-Free!

 

 

HB3623 - Preparing for Tomorrow's Rally at the Capital

There are many steps we have to take to make Oregon HT-Free. While HT (human trafficking) is very alive and all too well in our state, concerned citizens of all theological and political persuasions are coming together to fight this endemic problem on every level. While other organizations are working to develop much needed rescue and recovery operations, our own Oregon Center for Christian Values (OCCV) is leading the way in advocating with our state legislature.


 
Last Wednesday, January 27 our OCCV Human Trafficking Advisory Committee convened a meeting at George Fox Seminary here in Portland and invited Legislative Aide James Barta to speak to us about HB 3623 and the reasons Representative Brent Barton has chosen to sponsor this bill with Representative Jefferson Smith. Our own executive director, Stephanie Mathis then walked us through the advocacy process. Bryan Colbourne, who co-chairs the HT committee with me, MC'd the meeting.


 
The Oregon Legislature meets for only a short month during its off year. That brief session started this week. The hearing in the House Human Services committee is scheduled for tomorrow, Wednesday, February 3, in Hearing Room D at 8:00 am. Since we met last week, we have been getting the word out for everyone we know to come to that hearing. Stacy Bellavia will be testifying for OCCV on behalf of HB3623 if there is time, but at the least we hope to fill that hearing room to let our representatives know that we as citizens of Oregon are deeply concerned about this issue.


 
In the January 27 meeting, several key anti-HT entities were represented. These included Oregonians Against Trafficking Humans (OATH), Door to Grace, Women of Vision (World Vision), International Justice Mission (IJM), OAASIS (Oregon Abuse Advocates and Survivors in Service), local churches, George Fox Evangelical Seminary, and OCCV.


 
The next night I represented OCCV at the IJM chapter at George Fox University in Newberg, Oregon. This chapter, led by students Amy McDonald and my son, Stephen, is affiliated with IJM which fights trafficking on an international level. On state and local issues, the Fox chapter partners with OCCV. About 20 students and faculty attended as I shared with them about HB3623 and encouraged them to write their representatives. As a result of that meeting, Amy is bringing a carload of students to the state capital tomorrow.


 
Over the weekend, the OCCV board held its annual retreat. Among other matters, Bryan reported for our committee on the progress we have been making against human trafficking this past year, starting with SB 839 last spring, which passed in part because OCCV advocated on its behalf. That bill protects Oregon's youth by defining and including "Victims of Human Trafficking" as a person eligible for the Address Confidentiality Program. Senator Bruce Starr thanked OCCV, "We couldn't have done it without you! OCCV is a true representation of God's mercy and love and the positive impact we can have on our cities and state when we work for the good of his plan."


 
In this weekend's retreat, we also took a look at our task to develop OCCV's theological foundation, a project that I have been assigned to coordinate as a theological consultant for OCCV. Our organization has had several key successes in recent legislative sessions on issues dealing with health care and poverty as well as human trafficking. It was great meeting with the board to which I was elected only late in 2009. OCCV is a wonderful place for me to call home missionally, a place I can work with great people fulfilling God's vision in our society for the common good.


 
So now we are preparing for tomorrow's hearing, writing letters to each of our Assemblymen as well as to our State Senators and scheduling appointments with them. If the House Human Services Committee votes to send HB2623 to the Assembly, a vote by that larger body will likely come up by this coming weekend. Then it is on to the Senate where we pray it will also move quickly through committee there, and on to be passed by the Senate and then to the governor for signing.


 
HB3623 should pass because it requires no state funds - and who would be FOR human trafficking? But we need much heat and light to come out of this bill so that we can generate private funds to pay for the needed 10,000 hotline stickers and to generate concern for a more substantial bill next year.


 
What does HB3623 do besides plaster a Polaris Project human trafficking hotline number wherever alcohol is sold in this State? It begins to let the people of Oregon know that there are thousands , yes, thousands of victims in this state who are trafficked in prostitution and other forms of forced labor. And it tells people that we as concerned citizens want to end oppression in any form in Oregon. One step at a time we march toward making Oregon HT Free!


For OCCV's "Talking Points" on HB3623, see: http://www.occv.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/hb3623-talking-points.pdf