Floor Remarks by Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa
Senate President Pro Tempore
“National Human Trafficking Hotline”
Wednesday, October 15, 2025
We senators disagree on a lot of issues in this body.
However, there’s one topic that we should all agree on, and that is the effectiveness of the National Human Trafficking Hotline.
Recently, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced they’ve awarded the contract to run the hotline to a new contractor.?
[That’s] very good news! The Trump administration moved on from the current contractor, Polaris.
On [May] 5th of this year, I sent a letter to HHS. The letter makes public alarming whistleblower disclosures.
These disclosures alleged that Polaris failed to report tips of human trafficking, including child sex trafficking, to law enforcement.
On July the 29th of this year, HHS sent me a letter confirming that Polaris had failed to report some tips to law enforcement.
For example, an audit of 294 cases was carried out.?
According to HHS, of the 294 cases, four trafficking cases weren’t correctly reported because of a clerical error.
In 24 trafficking cases, staff managing the hotline didn’t follow reporting protocol.
That’s a nearly 10 percent failure rate in a sample of 294 cases.
Now project that failure rate to the hotline receiving nearly 1.5 million tips.?
So, as you can see, the Trump administration has thus far shown an aggressive commitment to fighting human trafficking.
This senator will continue his oversight of the hotline and its new contractor, to ensure women and children who fall victim to these horrific acts have a way out.
-30-