After a powerful debate on the House floor, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved legislation to reauthorize U.S. Rep. Chris Smith’s (R-NJ) first in the nation anti-trafficking law.

“Today’s vote is another step forward in our commitment to end this appalling form of modern-day slavery,” said Smith, the author of the nation’s first anti-trafficking law, the “Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000” (P.L. 106-386) and its two subsequent reauthorizations (P.L. 198-193 & P.L. 109-164). This reauthorization will help the United States expand our leadership role in the global effort to free the victims and punish the pimps and thugs who put them into bondage,” Smith said.

“The U.S. has taken the lead in protecting victims of trafficking who are mostly women and children. The implementation of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 has made an enormous positive difference. Reauthorizing the TVPA sends a signal to the world that ending this egregious practice remains a top human rights priority of the United States,” said Smith.

Smith is the lead Republican cosponsor of the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2007 (H.R. 3887) which was introduced by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Tom Lantos (D-CA) and passed the House today with near unanimous support by a vote of 405-2. On top of reauthorizing funds for U.S. anti-trafficking initiatives, the legislation increases assistance to victims of trafficking in other countries; tightens actions against governments failing to meet minimum standards; and enhances protections for child victims of trafficking.

Smith noted that in the six-year period before its enactment, the Department of Justice prosecuted 89 suspected traffickers and in the last 6 years, the Justice Department has prosecuted 360, representing a more than 300% increase. Worldwide, nearly 6,000 traffickers were prosecuted last year and more than 3,000 were convicted as a result of the breakthrough legislation Smith authored in 2000.

“The relative lack of visibility makes the task of combating trafficking all the more difficult. Trafficking, like germs, infection and disease, thrives in the shadows and in murky places, but simply can’t survive in the light,” said Smith.

“Today’s legislation brings the bright light of sustained scrutiny and enables us to do an even better job. With the lives of so many women and children hanging in the balance, failure is not an option. The United States together with other countries needs to continue to employ best practices and a well-honed strategy in order to win the freedom of those who have been sold into slavery and to spare others, especially through prevention initiatives,” said Smith.

Among the highlights of the new reauthorization is a provision that aims to correct what Smith has called a “creeping complacency” on the part of the State Department to let offending countries avoid sanctions by leaving them on the Tier 2 Watch List for multiple consecutive years instead of identifying them as egregious Tier 3 offenders.

“This provision reflects the original congressional intent that the watch list serve as an impetus to countries that are not complying with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking to commit the political will and resources necessary to seriously address this human rights abuse,” Smith said.

Other key provisions in H.R. 3887 are:
• A requirement that a comprehensive analysis of trafficking data to yield new information about where victims are going and how to free them is undertaken;
• An expansion of the T-Visa program to protect not only victims, but their families and witnesses for trafficking investigations;
• Authorization for the Department of Health and Human Services to provide interim assistance to child victims of trafficking for up to 120 days;
• Strengthening of criminal and civil actions against traffickers, including the creation of a new crime that punishes individuals that go abroad for sexual tourism; and
• A prohibition of U.S. military assistance to governments that have armed forces or government supported armed forces, including paramilitaries, militias or civil defense forces that recruit or use child soldiers.