WASHINGTON – ‎The Senate Judiciary Committee today advanced two bills to combat human trafficking in the United States. An amendment by Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, chairman of the committee, was unanimously adopted.

“Human trafficking is a terrible atrocity that unfortunately happens every day in this country. It is not limited to the big cities or our nation’s coasts; it stretches across the nation, even in rural parts of the Midwest. I’m pleased that my colleagues on the Judiciary Committee acted today to reduce human trafficking in the United States and help the victims to heal. I’m confident the bipartisan support for this effort in committee today will extend to the full Senate, and I welcome a vote by the full chamber as soon as possible.”

The Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act, which was introduced by Senator Cornyn of Texas and is cosponsored by Grassley, provides more services to victims while cracking down on those who engage in human trafficking. This bill was reported out of committee by a vote of 20 – 0.

The Stop Exploitation Through Human Trafficking Act of 2015, which was introduced by Senator Klobuchar of Minnesota, encourages states to adopt laws that treat children who are trafficked in the sex industry as victims rather than prostitutes. This bill was reported out of committee by a vote of 19 – 0.

Grassley offered his Combatting Human Trafficking Act as an amendment to Cornyn’s bill to improve the services available to human trafficking survivors.  Specifically, the amendment would:
•    clarify that federal grant resources can be used to meet the housing needs of trafficking victims and offer training on the effects of sex trafficking to those who serve runaway, homeless and at-risk youth;
•    update the federal statute that authorizes the cyber tip line of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, to ensure that child trafficking is specifically mentioned as a form of Internet-related child exploitation; and
•    require the Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking to identify best practices to prevent human trafficking.
The amendment passed by a voice vote.

Today’s markup followed a full committee hearing Tuesday to explore how Congress can act to better prevent human trafficking in the United States. Grassley’s prepared remarks from Tuesday’s hearing are available here.

At Grassley’s invitation, an Iowa law enforcement expert on trafficking testified on how the state’s status as a transportation hub requires a transportation-based approach toward the prevention and apprehension of criminals.  The testimony of Michael Ferjak is available here.

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