Rep. Loudermilk (R-GA) issued the following statement after supporting legislation to help end human trafficking and modern day slavery:
“Human trafficking and modern day slavery are not problems in some distant country - they are here, and they are now. Just last year, 256 human trafficking cases were reported to the National Human Trafficking Resource Center in Georgia. The reason I serve in Congress is simple: my children and grandchildren deserve better than the America we are passing on to them. Georgia leads the nation in many areas - but human trafficking should not be one of them. I want to see a day where human trafficking is a relic of the past, and these bills take us closer to that goal.” Background
Today, the House passed three bipartisan bills to fight human trafficking and modern day slavery:
Named after renowned abolitionist, Frederick Douglass, H.R.2200, the Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Act, reauthorizes funding at current levels for the Departments of Justice, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Labor, and State, and the U.S. Agency for International Development, for anti-human trafficking efforts.
H.R. 2664, The Enhancing Detection of Human Trafficking Act, makes certain the Department of Labor trains its employees to identify and respond to the illegal trade of people.
H.R.2480, The Empowering Law Enforcement to Fight Sex Trafficking Demand Act, expands eligibility for the Department of Justice’s Edward Byrne Justice Assistance Grants Program (Byrne JAG) to local law enforcement agencies to fight sex trafficking.
In 2016, Georgia was sixth in the nation for reported human trafficking cases reported, according to the National Human Trafficking Resource Center (NHTRC).
Reported cases increased more than 25% from 2015 to 2016, according to NHTRC.
In 207 of the reported cases, the victims were female and 77 were minors, according to NHTRC.
