At the recent Catholics at the Capitol in Madison, we heard about the dangers of human trafficking in our state and nation.
We need to invest more of our resources to fight against labor and sex trafficking, which sadly targets many young victims.
The U.S. House of Representatives took a step in the right direction on July 12. It passed an anti-trafficking bill which would put more than $500 million over the next four years into efforts to fight labor and sex trafficking both in the U.S. and abroad.
The bill — named after Frederick Douglass, who escaped slavery and became an abolitionist — now goes to the Senate for consideration.
Catholic News Service (CNS) quoted Representative Christopher Smith (R-New Jersey), author of the bill, as saying during House debate, “According to the International Labor Organization, nearly 21 million people in the world are enslaved — most of them women and children.
“Every human life is of infinite value. We have a duty to protect the weakest and most vulnerable from harm.”
CNS reported that the bill would allot funds over four years to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Homeland Security, the State Department, and the Department of Justice to work on this widespread problem.
Please contact our Wisconsin Senators Tammy Baldwin and Ron Johnson urging them to support this bill when it comes before the Senate.