CATCH Traffickers Act of 2017

Mr. Speaker, as an original co-sponsor, I rise in strong support of H.R. 2200, the Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act of 2017.

I thank my colleagues, Congressman Christopher H. Smith and Congresswoman Karen Bass, the Chair and Ranking Member of the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, for their work in shepherding this bipartisan legislation to the floor.

H.R. 2200 authorizes $130 million to support a cause that has special significance for me--that is, the eradication of trafficking in persons--both domestic and abroad.

Throughout my tenure in Congress and as a founder and cochair of the Congressional Children's Caucus, I have consistently advocated on behalf of victims of human trafficking, especially children, who are the most vulnerable victims.

I am pleased that the title of this legislation honors the life and legacy of the great orator and abolitionist, Frederick Douglass, who vigorously opposed slavery not as a mere outside observer of the peculiar institution but as a survivor himself of what we could now call ``trafficking in persons.''

In fact, with regard to his own condition, Frederick Douglass famously said he would ``prefer death to hopeless bondage.''

In the 21st century, no one should be put in such a position where death becomes preferable in the face of being held captive against his or her own will.

Mr. Speaker, that is why I fully support this legislation's ``whole- of-government'' approach to eliminating this horrific crime wherever and whenever it is committed.

H.R. 2200 strengthens the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 by adding the following measures to reduce human trafficking including but not limited to:

1. Ensuring that vulnerable children and at-risk populations receive training on how to avoid traffickers;

2. Encouraging USAID to incorporate anti-trafficking measures during disaster relief efforts;

3. Pursuing the prosecution of individuals who use services provided by human trafficking victims as a deterrent for not only human traffickers but patrons as well;

4. Supporting the enforcement of the Tariff Act of 1930 to prohibit the importation of goods made by forced labor; and

5. Ensuring that foreign governments that use child soldiers are not the recipients of U.S. military assistance.

This legislation operates in the same spirit of H.R. 53, the CATCH Traffickers Act of 2017, which I reintroduced earlier this year that directs the Department of Homeland Security to create a national database to assist in human trafficking investigations.

In 2014, I also held a Homeland Security Committee field hearing focusing on human trafficking in my congressional district because Houston, Texas is one of the nation's largest hubs for human trafficking.

Mr. Speaker, both H.R. 2200 and H.R. 53 call on the federal government to formulate and utilize tools at its disposal to eradicate human trafficking.

Modern-day slavery which includes sex trafficking, child sex trafficking, forced labor, debt bondage, domestic servitude, forced child labor, and the recruitment and use of child soldiers is a violation of the principle of liberty that we hold dear in this country.

To effectively oppose human trafficking and eliminate modern-day slavery in all of its forms, the U.S. government must aggressively pursue, prosecute, and convict both traffickers and patrons of human trafficking victims .

Moreover, we must do everything in our power to educate and protect particularly vulnerable members of our human family from becoming victims of the barbaric practice of human trafficking.

I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 2200, the Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act of 2017.