Invited weeks ago to Seton Hall University’s conference on human trafficking, Rep. Chris Smith, the prime author of the nation’s landmark
Trafficking Victims Protection Act worked through the emergency budget session in Washington and delivered his keynote address by phone to the audience of students, faculty and local advocates huddled at the South Orange, New Jersey campus.
“As late as this morning I was still hoping to join the outstanding program in person,” said the senior foreign policy lawmaker in a live phone hookup from his Washington office. “This, and other awareness campaigns to educate students and the public on the pervasive problem of human trafficking, are central to combating this heinous crime and protecting victims who are typically women and children.”
Smith, now the author of four comprehensive anti-human trafficking laws, told the audience, “you may find it unsettling to know that when I introduced my original legislation twenty years ago, it was met with a wall of skepticism and opposition. People thought the bold new strategy of sheltering, asylum and other protections for the victims, long jail sentences and asset confiscation for the traffickers and tough sanctions for governments that failed to meet human rights standards was a solution in search of a problem.
“We overcame the naysayers. We persisted. It was bipartisan. It took over two years to muster the votes for passage and the bill was signed into law on October 28, 2000.”
Under Smith’s four laws the United States is now leading the world in a “whole government approach funding mutually reinforcing policies and ensuring that every federal agency devotes significant resources and talent to end modern slavery.” Smith noted lives are being saved and cited the national human trafficking hotline which reports that since 2007, “there have been between 38-40 thousand victims identified. New Jersey is consistently in the top 15 states for calls to the hotline underscoring that trafficking is a serious problem here but also that there is significant awareness of this important assistance tool,” he said.
Smith’s International Megan’s Law, which includes a notification program to forewarn countries when convicted pedophiles are intending to travel, is also working to protect child victims. Late last year, the Department of Homeland Security reported that in less than the program’s first 12 months, nearly 2,000 convicted pedophiles were denied entry by destination countries.
Named for Megan Kanka of Hamilton, NJ who was just 7 years old when she was kidnapped, raped, and brutally murdered in 1994 by a pedophile living across the street—unbeknownst to her family—the bill passed the House four times before finally being enacted in 2016. Today, other countries are already considering their own versions of “International Megan’s Law” which will make it much harder for pedophiles looking to travel for sex tourism.
Smith also reported that in June 2017, the House passed his newest trafficking bill, the Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act of 2017—HR 2200—which reauthorizes over $500 million over four years to put traffickers behind bars and tangibly assist trafficking survivors—as well programs to prevent human trafficking in the first place.
“Among its many provisions, the bill authorizes the Department of Health and Human Services to establish and support grant programs for age appropriate education of students so that they can avoid becoming victims of sex and labor trafficking. It will also educate school staff to recognize and respond to signs of trafficking,” Smith said.
Named for Frederick Douglass, the gifted orator, statesman and abolitionist, the bill will also help defund traffickers and train hotel and travel personnel on how to report and combat the crime. “Frederick Douglass is an example of a man who did what he could to fight slavery in his generation—giving the gift of freedom to generations to come. This bill honors his legacy and will help significantly fight the modern day slavery of human trafficking.”
Today’s panel was cohosted by the Seton Hall School of Diplomacy and International Relations and the Slave-Free Community Project which are both dedicated to ending this modern day slavery through education and support for victims. In addition to Smith, presentations were given by Ingrid Johnson, New Jersey mother of a trafficking victim survivor; Kate Lee, Administrator of the New Jersey Coalition Against Human Trafficking; historian and professor Dr. Bernard Freamon, and; Robert Boneberg of the Slave-Free Community Project.
Smith acknowledged the work of the other panelists and noted the particular leadership of the SHU’s School of Diplomacy and International Relations, Dean Andrea Bartoli.
“I would like to thank Dean Andrea Bartoli for hosting this important Community Conversation on Modern Slavery and for his extraordinary dedication to conflict resolution around the globe including his work with Sant’Egidio,” Smith said. “Dean Bartoli, you inspire us all to pursue peace and reconciliation and to take seriously our Lord’s words in the Beatitudes: “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called children of God.”
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