Congressman Chris Smith was the guest speaker at a meeting on human trafficking on March 24 in Monmouth County, NJ .
    At an event hosted by by the St. Leo the Great Church's Social Concerns Committee, Smith addressed 150 citizens in the school cafeteria concerned about human trafficking in New Jersey, the United States and around the world. 
    Smith talked about legislation to address domestic and international human trafficking. Sundy Goodnight, of the activist group Stop Child Trafficking Now, was a co-panelist. Goodnight is
SCTNow's National Campaign Director.
    In 2000, Smith authored the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA), Public Law 106-386, the first federal law specifically enacted to prevent victimization, protect victims and prosecute perpetrators of human trafficking. Smith’s TVPA created real penalties for traffickers and authorized extensive protections for victims of trafficking, authorizing grants to shelters and rehabilitation programs in the United States. The TVPA encompasses domestic minor sex trafficking (DMST) or “the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for the purpose of commercial sex act” where the person is a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident who has “not attained 18 years of age.”
    In his remarks, Smith noted the significant impact U.S. anti-human trafficking legislation has had in locking up traffickers as well as prompting other countries to pass their own laws to combat trafficking and help the victims within their own borders.
    But he also pointed to remaining areas of concern that he said must be addressed with renewed energy and commitment to further safeguard vulnerable populations, especially teenage girls. He called trafficking "modern day slavery."
    Smith, a senior member of the House International Relations Committee, said trafficking is a problem all over the world and the United States is no exception. 
    His TVPA increased penalties for traffickers, created new shelter and treatment programs for victims, provided for sanctions against countries that do not work to combat trafficking within their own borders and mandated the annual State Department human trafficking reports. The report critiques 175 countries this year and comprehensively details the progress or lack of progress that countries have made in combating trafficking.  
    Smith’s two subsequent anti-trafficking laws (PL 108-193 and PL 109-164) increased resources primarily for crime prevention, prosecution and expanded treatment assistance for victims. Data shows that after Smith pushed through his second law, The Trafficking Victims Reauthorization Act of 2003, there have been over 19,700 convictions worldwide and over 100 countries now have anti-trafficking laws patterned after Smith’s law—where they previously had little or no protections.
    Smith also spoke of his bill, H.R. 1623, the International Megan’s law.  Similar to the domestic Megan’s Law (named after Megan Kanka of New Jersey) which provides for community notification when a sex offender is living in the area, H.R. 1623 would alert officials abroad when U.S. sex offenders intend to travel, and likewise encourage other countries to keep sex offender lists and to notify the U.S. when a known sex offender may be coming to the United States for sex tourism.