Historic Trafficking Bill Clears Congress
- Dec 16, 2008 - 1
In one of their final days in session, Congress set aside differences to pass sweeping anti-trafficking legislation that will help rescue untold numbers of women and girls from the heinous sex-trade industry.
The House and Senate agreed Dec. 10 to the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, giving millions of human-trafficking victims both here and abroad hope for freedom this Christmas season. The two votes, just hours apart in the House and Senate, produced no objections—a rare feat for anything of historic and monumental proportions. Unanimous consent agreements are typically reserved for non-controversial measures, such as the naming of post offices.
Few people expected Congress to get anything done during this early December, lame-duck session of business, with the possible exception of a bailout for the Big Three auto industry. Thankfully, history can now tell of this bright story amid a gloomy economic season.
The William Wilberforce Act revolutionizes anti-trafficking efforts. It will empower federal prosecutors to come alongside state law enforcement to more effectively target those who enslave women—some of whom are hardly teenagers. It will make it easier for prosecutors to convict the pimps. And it will allow the U.S. to more aggressively hold other nations accountable for their trafficking industries. We must, and now it appears we will, lead by example.
The act brings closure to a months-long debate between a House-passed bill and competing legislation in the Senate. Sens. Sam Brownback (R-KS), a longtime advocate for life and human rights, and Joe Biden (D-DE), the vice president-elect, are to be commended for dropping their bill and negotiating for a final bill more in line with the original House-passed language the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission supported.
The William Wilberforce Act is the capstone to President George W. Bush’s commitment to anti-trafficking begun with passage of the original trafficking bill in 2001. The struggle to end this modern-day slavery may prove one day to be part of the human rights legacy of the outgoing president.
The achievement was the work not of one but of many. Concerned Women for America and the Salvation Army are just two of the many groups that have been at the center of the anti-trafficking battles with the ERLC for several years. Perhaps most responsible for the eleventh hour victory is Michael Horowitz. The Hudson Institute senior fellow guided the legislation through the thorny fields of Congress, working tirelessly to gain its passage. In the end, your calls to your congressmen and senators helped push the bill past its tipping point.
The William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Act packages both principle and empowerment to tackle the slavery of our time. This is a Christmas gift for which all can be grateful.
The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission works to fight against sex trafficking in America and around the world. If your church would like to purchase materials on this important issue, bulletin inserts are available at our online bookstore.
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1 On Dec 19th, 2008, at 8:25am, James Reeves wrote:
Bills have have passed previously to address these issues but enforcing the laws are paramont. If legal engineers can use these laws to tie up the court system in order to make more money they will.
The citizens of consience must adhere to personal ethical codes of conduct to stop these pimps.
James