Statement of Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte House Consideration of H.R. 181, the “Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015”

Chairman Goodlatte: Few nightmares equal the terrible reality that thousands of American children awake to each day.  Held against their will, before the day is out they will be forced to share perhaps a dozen strangers’ beds, and be subjected to arbitrary violence for any real or imagined infraction.

Child sex trafficking is one of the fastest growing criminal enterprises in our country and we must update our laws to combat it.  H.R. 181, the “Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015,” is a targeted effort to deploy our law enforcement and social resources against the very worst offenders: those who sexually exploit children and other vulnerable victims. 

Rather than simply increasing penalties, the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act directly aids the survivors of this crime.  The bill creates a comprehensive, victim-centered grant program to train law enforcement, rescue exploited children, prosecute traffickers, and restore the lives of victims.  The bill also streamlines existing law enforcement tools by providing that Child Advocacy Centers can and should use their resources to help victims of trafficking and other types of child exploitation.

H.R. 181 clarifies that state prosecutors may obtain wiretaps, pursuant to a showing of probable cause, for trafficking and other child sex crimes.  Additionally, the bill adds several of the federal anti-slavery statutes as federal wiretap predicates – something that should have been done long ago.  These important tools simply give police the same investigatory tools they would have if these criminal gangs sold drugs or stolen property instead of sex with children and other victims.

The bill makes the law clear that the men who purchase these children’s innocence will be held to the same standard as those who make it available for sale, and holds sex traffickers accountable by increasing the standard for claiming an affirmative defense by requiring defendants to show by clear and convincing evidence that they believed the victim to be 18 years of age or older.

We in Congress have no higher duty than to protect the innocent children of this nation.  The Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act, introduced by my friend and Judiciary Committee Colleague Judge Poe, is a critical step toward banishing human trafficking to where it belongs: the realm of nightmares.  Please join me in supporting this bill.