Statement of Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte House Consideration of H.R. 285, the “Stop Advertising Victims of Exploitation Act of 2015”

Chairman Goodlatte: While it goes without saying that the growth of the Internet and smartphones has proved to be of great value in many aspects of our lives, these tools can also be used by criminals to facilitate the commercial sexual exploitation of children and other victims by providing an easy way for pimps, or traffickers, to market child sex trafficking victims to those who seek to do them harm.  With just a click of a button, individuals can now use websites to advertise, schedule, and purchase sexual encounters with minors, just like they would use these services to hire a ride home.

 The SAVE Act, introduced by Ms. Wagner from Missouri, makes a technical clarification to an existing federal sex trafficking statute, 18 U.S.C. 1591, to make clear that the law extends to traffickers who knowingly sell sex with minors and victims of force, fraud, or coercion through advertising, as well as to people or entities that knowingly benefit from the sale or distribution of such advertising. 

 While much of the growth of this terrible crime is on the Internet, this bill is technology neutral and applies to all advertising of children for sex, regardless of the medium.  It is important to note that these advertisements, as with all ads and other speech promoting illegal activity, are not protected speech under the First Amendment.

 H.R. 285 was the subject of robust Committee process both last Congress and this, and the bill was reported out of the Judiciary Committee last week by voice vote.  The legislation that is on the floor today strikes the right balance by protecting victims from commercial sexual exploitation, while also ensuring that constitutional rights are respected and innocent third parties are not wrongly prosecuted.  

 This legislation simply clarifies and modernizes federal criminal law to keep pace with the evolving trend of exploiting the Internet for criminal gains.  The bill passed the House floor last Congress with wide bipartisan support, but was not enacted into law.

 I commend my colleague, Ms. Wagner, for sponsoring this important legislation again.  I urge my colleagues to support this bill.