Empowering Financial Institutions to Fight Human Trafficking Act of 2018

Floor Speech

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Mr. Speaker, H.R. 6729 is a well-intentioned bill aimed at countering human trafficking. My first concern with the bill, however, is the lack of a deliberative process surrounding the measure, which could lead to a number of serious unintended consequences as currently drafted.

The bill will give a sweeping safe harbor to nonprofits that share information with financial institutions regarding the involuntary trafficking of children, women, and men that will nullify all State and local defamation, libel, and privacy laws.

This means eligible nonprofits could share personally identifiable information about any person the nonprofit merely suspects of human trafficking with any financial institution, even if their information is false or misleading. Such sharing of information could, in turn, lead financial institutions to close an individual's account and deny them access to the financial system, even if the individual has not been arrested or indicted for a crime.

Importantly, this bill also explicitly states that the Treasury Department may not impose a requirement that the nonprofits share the information in good faith. Therefore, this bill doesn't protect against malicious or negligent reporting. In fact, the Due Process Institute has stated: `` . . . Surely not every suspicion or accusation that would come through a nonprofit will be accurate or truthful. Some suspicions or accusations might even be motivated by personal, political, ethnic, racial, cultural, or religious animus.''

Finally, Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record two letters of opposition to the bill from two coalitions of civil liberty and privacy advocates, including the American Civil Liberties Union, the Due Process Institute, Freedom Works, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the Project On Government Oversight, Defending Rights and Dissent, and New America's Open Technology Institute, among others.

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Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I remain committed to fighting against human trafficking, but this bill may result in serious unintended consequences for innocent people, including losing access to their money and to the financial system based on the mere accusation from a nonprofit. For this reason, I oppose this bill.

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Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Maloney).

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Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Sinema).

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Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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