Fight Illicit Networks and Detect Trafficking Act

Floor Speech

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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.

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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.

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

The yeas and nays were ordered.

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