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Washington, DC– This week, Congressman Brett Guthrie voted in support of a series of bills to combat human trafficking.

“The growing industry of human trafficking is incredibly troubling,” said Congressman Guthrie.  “Together, the House is taking a stand to end this horrific practice by providing additional support and resources to aid victims of trafficking.”

Among the eight bills passed by the House of Representatives this week were H.R. 5135, the Human Trafficking Prevention, Intervention and Recover Act and H.R. 5081, the Strengthening the Child Welfare Response to Trafficking Act. 

H.R. 5135 seeks to identify the best strategies to prevent trafficking by initiating a review of federal and state trafficking prevention activities by the Interagency Task-Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking and requiring a GAO report on existing federal programs targeted at combatting human trafficking or assisting victims. 

H.R.5081 would improve the identification and assessment by state child welfare systems of child sex trafficking victims.  According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, of the missing children reported to the center, 67 percent were in the care of child welfare. Congressman Guthrie authored the legislation to reauthorize the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which was signed into law on September 30, 2013.

Congressman Guthrie plans to host two roundtable discussions on human trafficking during the August District Work period to learn more from state and local leaders working on the issue directly.

“I hope to help raise awareness in the community and look forward to starting a dialogue on how to best combat human trafficking,” added Congressman Guthrie.

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