FIND Trafficking Act

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 502, the FIND Trafficking Act.

Consider this: In 2017 alone, more than 47,000 Americans died from opioid overdoses. Additionally, it is estimated that the total number of human trafficking victims in the U.S. reached into the hundreds of thousands.

These shocking numbers point to a deep, systemic issue happening right in our backyards, where bad actors use any means necessary--even financial products--in order to lure people into horrible situations. One of the ways they do this is by using virtual currencies to evade the oversight of institutions, like government agencies.

While virtual currencies may possess a great opportunity for society, we don't quite know the extent of their utility in human trafficking.

Mr. Speaker, these virtual currencies are one of the most versatile payment options available today, yet they are among the least understood. We need to do more work in order to understand their utility and their opportunity.

It is precisely this lack of understanding that risks making virtual currencies ripe for exploitation by these bad actors engaged in human trafficking and the sale of illicit drugs. In its 2017 National Drug Assessment, the

Drug Enforcement Administration concluded that transnational criminal organizations are increasingly using virtual currencies for illicit activities, including drug trafficking. This includes illicit transactions with China, as well as the sale and purchase of narcotics, including those involved in our country's opioid epidemic.

This bipartisan legislation before us is an instrumental first step toward analyzing how virtual currencies and online marketplaces are used to buy, sell, or facilitate the financing of goods and services associated with human and drug trafficking.

By directing the Government Accountability Office to study how virtual currencies are linked to the supply chain of drugs and human trafficking, this bill will give lawmakers insight in how to sever that link. We need to know how virtual currencies are being used; the scope of their use; and, most importantly, how our Federal and State agencies must respond, and can respond, to impede their use for illicit activities.

Let me add, Mr. Speaker, that nothing in this legislation is meant to demonize the use or the development of virtual currencies for legitimate economic activity. As my colleagues know, there are few Members more committed than I am to how new technologies can facilitate commerce and growth. But in order for such technologies to flourish, we need a rigorous discussion on the risks in enabling new routes for illicit finance.

We need to understand that as policymakers. This bill is important because it enables us to have the measurement tools necessary for us to smartly legislate in this area. Mainstream acceptance of innovation depends on mainstream forms of accountability, and this bill does just that.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from California (Mr. Vargas) for his sponsorship of the bill. I thank my vice ranking member on the Financial Services Committee, my second in command on the Financial Services Committee, Mrs. Wagner of Missouri, for her sponsorship and leadership on this important issue of human trafficking that she is so very committed to and so smart on legislating around. I thank them both for setting the right tone for our committee jurisdiction, smart legislating, and reaching across the aisle. I know they will continue to lead the fight against trafficking as Members of the House Financial Services Committee this Congress, as they have in previous years as well.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote for this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentlewoman from Missouri (Mrs. Wagner), the vice ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee, who will be the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Diversity and Inclusion on the Financial Services Committee as well.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Riggleman), a new Member of Congress from Afton, Virginia, and a new member of the Financial Services Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, in closing, I think it is important that Congress understand. The objective of this bill is to understand the contours of human trafficking that occur here in the United States, and to understand the contours of how drugs are financed. It is incumbent that we have the proper data and the public have the proper data so we can understand how to respond.

That is what this measure is about, the plight of those human- trafficking victims, and the plight of those who are suffering the impairments and the devastating consequences that opioids have brought in our society. We know those in our community.

What we have to understand is the deeper issues around the movement of money, which is what the Financial Services Committee can do. It doesn't fix the full problem, and we should focus on fixing the larger issues around human trafficking and drug overdoses, and the horrible effects of illicit drugs on our society.

But what we can do here is understand the contour so we can cut off that siphon of money that is fueling this epidemic in our communities all across America.

I want to thank Mr. Vargas and Mrs. Wagner, who just departed, for their work on this important issue.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes,'' and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairwoman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues to support H.R. 502, the Fight Illicit Networks and Detect Trafficking Act, or, as you heard, the FIND Trafficking Act.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairwoman Waters and Ranking Member McHenry for their support and their guidance of this legislation.

I also especially thank my colleague, Representative Wagner, for her leadership on this issue and for agreeing to co-lead this commonsense, narrowly tailored legislation. I thank her for her guidance and her leadership.

As you may know, a virtual currency is a digital representation of value that can be digitally traded. Since the creation of bitcoin, the first and most widely known example of a cryptocurrency, thousands of cryptocurrencies have emerged that are designed to serve a variety of purposes.

Some forms of virtual currency provide a digital alternative to cash that lacks the oversight of a government or a central bank, and, potentially, offers greater anonymity than conventional payment systems.

Just as virtual currencies have grown in use in legitimate commerce, as we heard from the ranking member, they have also, unfortunately, become an increasingly popular financial payment method for criminals.

Virtual currencies have been, and continue to be, exploited to pay for goods and services associated with illicit sex and drug trafficking. These are two of the most detrimental and troubling illegal activities sold online.

According to the DEA 2017 National Drug Assessment, transnational criminal organizations are increasingly using virtual currencies, due to their ease of use and the anonymity they provide. While evidence points to a growth of virtual currencies as a payment method for illicit sex and drug trafficking, the true scope of the problem and potential solutions have not been fully established.

According to the International Labour Organization, in 2016, 4.8 million people in the world were victims of forced sexual exploitation, and, in 2014, the global profit from commercial sexual exploitation was $99 billion.

Unfortunately, virtual currencies are also being used as a payment method for transnational drug traffickers. As we all know too well, and as was stated here, the United States is struggling to combat the rising number of lives cut short by tragic opioid use. In 2016 alone, the CDC estimated that there were 64,000 deaths in the U.S. related to drug overdose, and the most severe increase in drug overdoses were those associated with fentanyl and fentanyl analogs.

Fentanyl is an extremely deadly opioid, about 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine. Fentanyl is being illicitly manufactured in China and Mexico, with most of the illegal fentanyl in the United States originating primarily in China, and it is readily available to purchase through online marketplaces.

If we are to craft effective regulatory and legislative solutions to combat these transnational criminal organizations, we need to fully study and analyze how virtual currencies and online marketplaces are used to facilitate sex and drug trafficking to determine how to best eliminate their use.

H.R. 502, the FIND Trafficking Act of 2019, requires the Comptroller General of the United States to: one, carry out a study on how virtual currencies and online marketplaces are used to facilitate sex or drug trafficking; and, two, make recommendations to Congress on legislative and regulatory actions that would impede the use of virtual currencies and online marketplaces in facilitating sex and drug trafficking.

It is my sincere hope that this bill is a first step, as we heard, toward crafting bipartisan legislation to impede and, eventually, eliminate the use of virtual currencies by transnational criminal organizations to facilitate drug and sex trafficking.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues for the bipartisan nature of this bill--in particular, again, Representative Wagner--and I urge my colleagues to support the bill.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 502) to require the Comptroller General of the United States to carry out a study on how virtual currencies and online marketplaces are used to buy, sell, or facilitate the financing of goods or services associated with sex trafficking or drug trafficking, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on this legislation and to insert extraneous material thereon.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I support H.R. 502, the Fight Illicit Networks and Detect Trafficking Act, which would advance efforts to counter the illicit uses of virtual currencies and marketplaces in drug trafficking and sex trafficking.

The study in the report designed to drive action from government and its partners is needed now more than ever.

In 2017, more than 70,000 Americans died of drug overdoses, a 10 percent rise from the previous year. The percentage of those deaths from synthetic drugs like fentanyl and its analogs increased sharply as well. It is said that Americans are now more likely to die from opioid overdose than a car wreck, dropping our collective life expectancy.

Further, the International Labor Organization estimates that there are 4.8 million people trapped in forced sexual exploitation globally. Online marketplaces and cryptocurrencies facilitate this abuse, not just abroad, but in our own communities, where victims are exploited by bad actors, forcing men, women, and children into horrifying situations from which it is difficult to escape.

The bill would require the GAO to study how online marketplaces and virtual currencies are being used for drug and sex trafficking.

It will examine the participants in these trafficking supply chains and how they cash in and out of their digital marketplaces, returning their illicitly gained proceeds to the formal banking system.

The study will also tell us about existing Federal and State efforts to impede such activities, so we can identify how to better tackle these crimes.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Vargas and Congresswoman Wagner for introducing this bipartisan legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I urge support for this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Vargas), the sponsor of the bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Michigan (Ms. Tlaib).

Mr. Speaker, yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Massachusetts (Ms. Pressley).

Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Massachusetts.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania (Ms. Dean).

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 502, the FIND Trafficking Act, is an important bill in the fight against human trafficking and drug trafficking. There are millions of victims trapped in forced sex exploitation globally, and there were over 70,000 drug overdose deaths in the United States in 2017.

This bill will study how virtual currencies and online marketplaces facilitate human trafficking and drug trafficking, and it will study the participants who are abusing these mediums. The research that results from this bill will assist Congress in finding effective measures to address these harmful, illicit trades.

Lives can be saved because of this legislation. Once again, I thank Congressman Vargas and Congresswoman Wagner for introducing this bipartisan legislation.

Again, this is the second bill that we have here on the floor today where we have bipartisan cooperation. They are great bills that both sides can support. Again, I am very grateful for the vision of Congressman Vargas and Congresswoman Wagner, in introducing this legislation, and I urge support for the bill.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Madam Speaker, due to a scheduled medical procedure, I was physically absent from the House of Representatives from January 10, 2019 to February 5, 2019. During that time, I missed 44 recorded votes. Had I been present for those votes, I would have voted: on Roll Call No. 22 on the Republican Motion to Recommit on H.R. 267, I would have voted ``Yea;'' on Roll Call No. 23 on the Passage of H.R. 267, I would have voted ``Nay;'' on Roll Call No. 24 on the Republican Motion to Recommit on H.R. 265, I would have voted ``Yea;'' on Roll Call No. 25 on the Passage of H.R. 265, I would have voted ``Nay;'' on Roll Call No. 26 on the Republican Motion to Recommit on H.R. 266, I would have voted ``Yea;'' on Roll Call No. 27 on the Passage of H.R. 266, I would have voted ``Nay;'' on Roll Call No. 28 on the Passage of S. 24, I would have voted ``Yea;'' on Roll Call No. 29 on the Passage of H.R. 221, I would have voted ``Yea;'' on Roll Call No. 30 on the Passage of H.R. 116, I would have voted ``Yea;'' on Roll Call No. 31 on the Passage of H.J. Res. 27, I would have voted ``Nay;'' on Roll Call No. 32 on the Passage of H. Res. 41, I would have voted ``Yea;'' on Roll Call No. 33 on the Passage of H.R. 135, I would have voted ``Yea;'' on Roll Call No. 34 on Ordering the Previous Question on H. Res. 43, I would have voted ``Nay;'' on Roll Call No. 35 on the Adoption of H. Res. 43, I would have voted ``Nay;'' on Roll Call No. 36 on the Passage of H.R. 190, I would have voted ``Yea;'' on Roll Call No. 37 on the Passage of Amendment No. 2 offered by Mr. McGovern (D- MA), I would have voted ``Nay;'' on Roll Call No. 38 on Ordering the Republican Motion to Recommit, I would have voted ``Yea;'' on Roll Call No. 39 on the Passage of H.R. 268, I would have voted ``Nay;'' on Roll Call No. 40 on the Adoption of H. Res. 52, I would have voted ``Nay;'' on Roll Call No. 41 on the Passage of H.R. 150, I would have voted ``Yea;'' on Roll Call No. 42 on the Passage of H.J. Res. 30, I would have voted ``Yea;'' on Roll Call No. 43 on Republican Motion to Recommit, I would have voted ``Yea;'' on Roll Call No. 44 on the Passage of H.R. 676, I would have voted ``Yea;'' on Roll Call No. 45 on the Passage of H.R. 328, I would have voted ``Yea;'' on Roll Call No. 46 on the Passage of H.J. Res 28, I would have voted ``Nay;'' on Roll Call No. 47 on the Passage of H. Res. 61, I would have voted ``Nay;'' on Roll Call No. 48 on the Republican Motion to Recommit, I would have voted ``Yea;'' on Roll Call No. 49 on the Passage of H.R. 648, I would have voted ``Nay;'' on Roll Call No. 50 on the Republican Motion to Recommit, I would have voted ``Yea;'' on Roll Call No. 51 on the Passage of H.J. Res. 31, I would have voted ``Nay;'' on Roll Call No. 52 on the Passage of H.R. 624, I would have voted ``Yea;'' on Roll Call No. 53 on the Passage of H.R. 502, I would have voted ``Yea;'' on Roll Call No. 54 on Approving of the Speaker's Journal, I would have voted ``Yea;'' on Roll Call No. 55 on the Motion to Adjourn, I would have voted ``Nay;'' on Roll Call No. 56 on the Passage of H.R. 428, I would have voted ``Yea;'' on Roll Call No. 57 on the Passage of H.R. 449, I would have voted ``Yea;'' on Roll Call No. 58 on the Passage of H.R. 769, I would have voted ``Yea;'' on Roll Call No. 59 on the Motion to Table the Motion to Reconsider H. Res. 77, I would have voted ``Nay;'' on Roll Call No. 60 on Ordering the Previous Question on H. Res. 87, I would have voted ``Nay;'' on Roll Call No. 61 on the Passage of H. Res. 87, I would have voted ``Yea;'' on Roll Call No. 62 on the Passage of Amendment No. 3 offered by Mrs. Trahan (D-MA), I would have voted ``Nay;'' on Roll Call No. 63 on the Republican Motion to Recommit, I would have voted ``Yea;'' on Roll Call No. 64 on the Passage of H.R. 790, I would have voted ``Nay;'' and on Roll Call No. 65 on the Passage of H. Res. 79, I would have voted ``Nay.''

Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairwoman Waters for her lifetime of service and commitment to those who are ignored, left out, and left behind.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 502, the FIND Trafficking Act. Moreover, I rise today on behalf of the survivors of sex trafficking in my district, Massachusetts' Seventh Congressional District, and across our Nation.

The sex and drug trafficking industry is a $150 billion industry across the globe and throughout our communities. This bill would bring us one step closer to combating this pervasive and insidious industry.

I rise today to lift up the lived experience of one of its survivors: Casey, a 13-year old who grew up in the care of the child welfare system after surviving an abusive home. Before being referred to My Life My Choice, a program in my district that is survivor led that works with those impacted by trafficking, Casey had been placed in multiple residential programs.

Just this year, Casey went missing for 1 week. Casey describes an experience that is harrowing and, unfortunately, not unique. Craving friendship, companionship, and safety, she built relationships online that turned into in-person meetings.

Those meetings did not provide the safety or support Casey hoped for; rather, they led to her exploitation. She found herself at parties where men she trusted demanded she have sex with other men. She lived in fear, and endured many indignities. Her safety was compromised and her humanity marginalized.

To Casey and survivors across the Nation watching, I affirm loud and clear: What happened to you is not your fault. We believe you and we are here fighting for you.

We know that trafficking is enabled by many factors. Broken systems destroy the lives of too many. I would like to thank Representative Vargas and Representative Wagner for their bipartisan leadership to tackle these issues, and to shed light on the ways that virtual currencies are being manipulated by traffickers to commit horrific human rights abuses, and contributing to our country's drug crisis.

Mr. Speaker, the FIND Trafficking Act will require the Federal Government to investigate the ways in which sex and drug trafficking rings are capitalizing on the anonymity, such as bitcoin, to finance the worldwide industry of modern-day slavery and sexual exploitation without fear of detection. This would provide policy and regulatory recommendations on ways to crack down on these horrendous abuses.

It is estimated that more than 45 million men, women, and children are affected by sex and human trafficking across the globe. Since 2011, my home

State of Massachusetts has been working to tackle this growing industry. We have been working to end this modern-day slavery and exploitation through coalitions and innovative partnerships between survivor-led, community-based organizations, businesses, and local and State government agencies.

While these coalitions are making progress, they cannot do it alone. The Federal Government has a critical role to play in providing resources and research to guide this work. The FIND Trafficking Act will shed much-needed light in the ways that technology-based currencies have fueled and financed these human rights abuses. We will not rest until every survivor receives justice, and we dismantle these systems of oppression and exploitation that drive trafficking and abuse.

To all survivors: We see you. We believe you, and we are fighting for you.