The House of Representatives is poised to pass Rep. Chris Smith’s (R-Hamilton) Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (HR 2620), legislation that enhances the nation’s current trafficking law (also authored by Smith) and helps the U.S. continue to lead the global battle against modern-day human slavery.

    Smith’s bill passed the House 422 to 1. It will now head to the Senate.

    “The Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 has made an enormous positive difference in our efforts to end modern-day slavery, a nefarious enterprise that, according to the United Nations, nets the exploiters something in the order of $7 billion to $10 billion each year,” Smith said.

    “The three-year-old landmark law – with its numerous mutually reinforcing provisions to prevent trafficking, protect victims, and prosecute to the max those who traffic – has been a model statute worldwide with many of its provisions being adopted into law by governments around the world,” Smith added.

    “HR 2620 enhances existing efforts so we can build on the many successes achieved through the original trafficking law.  There have been lessons learned since the first law was enacted three years ago. They are incorporated into this legislation as we try to do a better job in mitigating the suffering of the victims while simultaneously going after those who traffic and countries that harbor traffickers,” Smith said.

    Major enhancements included in HR 2620 are: adding human trafficking to the list of racketeering offenses covered under the federal RICO Statute; allowing trafficking victims to sue their captors in U.S. courts; and prohibiting any U.S. funds authorized to fight trafficking from being used to promote, support, or advocate prostitution or efforts to legalize prostitution.

    HR 2620 allows the U.S. government to terminate international contracts of any company or employee found to be engaging in trafficking or sex with trafficked persons, or found to be using forced labor to execute the contract.  (This is in response to a problem uncovered last year with a firm working on a U.S. government contract in Bosnia).

    It also provides increased support to help victims rebuild their lives, and requires the Administration to provide information on our nation’s laws against sex tourism to airline passengers headed to certain destinations where sex tourism flourishes. Additionally, it provides for the creation of a “watch list” to aggressively monitor countries that are borderline and working to improve their record on trafficking. In total, the bill authorizes about $130 million over two years to combat human slavery.