Put Trafficking Victims First Act of 2019

Floor Speech

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Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 507, the Put Trafficking Victims First Act of 2019.

Human trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery, which has taken its toll on communities across our Nation. It is a multibillion-dollar criminal industry that denies freedom to nearly 25 million people around the globe.

Traffickers use violence, threats, deception, debt bondage, and other horrendous tactics to force people to engage in commercial sex or to provide labor or services against their will. This creates an enormous need for expanded victims services, improved data on the prevalence and trends of human trafficking, and effective mechanisms to identify and rescue trafficking victims.

H.R. 507 expresses the sense of Congress that a portion of the funds available under the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 should be devoted to increasing the safety of victim service providers, many of whom are threatened because of their positions. It also promotes a trauma-informed, evidence-based, and victim-centered approach for providing services to the victims of trafficking.

Additionally, H.R. 507 promotes the effective prosecution of human traffickers and individuals who patronize or solicit children for sex. It encourages States to improve efforts to identify and meet the needs of human trafficking victims.

The bill also establishes a working group to identify barriers to the collection of data on the incidence of sex and labor trafficking and recommended practices to promote better data collection and analysis.

Finally, H.R. 507 will provide assistance to trafficking victims seeking restitution, many of whom still face many obstacles in Federal court. The bill directs the Attorney General to report on efforts to increase mandatory restitution for victims by providing Congress with the relevant data.

Mr. Speaker, this has been an issue in my home State of Georgia. It is one that I am very proud to know that, under Governor Deal, our previous Governor, and continuing under Governor Kemp, that around, especially, the city of Atlanta, a very international city, it has also, unfortunately, become an area in which sexual exportation and human trafficking was something that became a scar and is still affecting our city. We saw that around the Super Bowl and the several arrests that took place.

This is something that needs to be erased from our vocabulary. This is something that does not need to be talked about. Again, human trafficking anywhere in the world is wrong and, hopefully, will be relegated to the annals of the history books at some point.

I want to commend the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Bass) and also my friend, the gentlewoman from Missouri (Mrs. Wagner), for their tireless devotion to continuing this path and bringing this forward each Congress.

I am looking forward to this actually becoming law during this session, and I would urge all of my colleagues to support this.

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Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. She is someone to whom this has been a tireless call. She has been a sponsor of this, and outspoken on this, a fighter on this, along with the other folks who have talked about this.

Mr. Speaker, much has been said about this bill. I think all of it is very timely, and I think, again, as we look at this, this is a time in which we all come together and make a very strong statement in support of this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support it, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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