House passes legislation against human trafficking
July 13, 2017
The House of Representatives passed the Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act of 2017 (H.R.2200) in a bipartisan voice vote on July 12.
The chairman of the US bishops’ Committee on Migration supported the measure, describing it as “vital to continuing our nation’s efforts to eradicate human trafficking and assist human trafficking victims.”
In introducing the measure, the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), said he was “profoundly disappointed that the Obama Administration chose to politicize tier rankings” in an annual report on human trafficking worldwide “rather than speak the truth to power. If the Trump Administration follows that dangerous precedent I will be no less a critic.”
Discussing child soldiers, Rep. Smith also decried the “obscene practice” in Afghanistan, an ally of the United States, in which “boys are on the front lines fighting the Taliban by day and being used as sex slaves at night.”
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Further information:
- House passes bill to curb human trafficking (The Hill)
- Action urged on legislation against human trafficking (CWN, 7/12)
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