Senate Passes International Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act
Menendez-authored legislation reauthorizes and enhances critical programming, policy, and funding essential to combatting human trafficking worldwide
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Senate today approved comprehensive legislation to bolster U.S. efforts to combat human trafficking around the word. The International Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act was approved by voice vote after Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) took to the Senate Floor to urge and ensure its passage.
The bipartisan legislation proposes reforms to bolster the U.S. efforts to combat human trafficking globally, such as new requirements for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to integrate prevention efforts into its work. Among its other provisions, the legislation also amends the U.S. Foreign Assistance Act to ensure that nations’ commitment and progress toward implementing effective counter-trafficking measures are factors in determining recipients of U.S. development assistance.
“I come to the Floor today to get this body to act on the face of one of the most heinous forms of exploitation on the planet, which is human trafficking,” said Chairman Menendez. “ The year is almost over. The Congress is coming to a close. We're running out of time. And the Senate still has not passed the Menendez-Risch International Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, which was reported out of the Foreign Relations Committee by voice vote over five months ago.”
Find a summary of the International Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act HERE. A PDF of the full legislation can be found HERE.
Menendez has been a decades long champion in Congress to end the scourge of modern day slavery. His legislative work has included the passage of the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2017, the Anti-Trafficking Trade Act of 2018, the Combatting Trafficking of Cuban Doctors Act, as well as his robust oversight to prevent the politicization of the State Department’s annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report rankings for countries with poor human trafficking records.
###
CONTACT