OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

Rep. Bass Teams Up with LA-based Children Uniting Nations to Combat Youth Trafficking

Press Release

Date: Aug. 13, 2011
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Minors and Children

U.S. Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA) teamed up with Children Uniting Nations (CUN), a leading organization dedicated to the well-being of at-risk youth, to host a day-long conference in Washington, D.C. focused on combating global child trafficking and youth exploitation.

A longtime advocate for improving the foster care system, Rep. Bass has a deep history championing causes and crafting policy to support at-risk youth and strengthen the child welfare system. Throughout the years, she has worked closely on these critical issues with Daphna Edwards Ziman, founder of Children Uniting Nations and host of the July conference.

"Our at-risk youth need champions at the highest levels of government to be their advocates and Congressmember Karen Bass is that person," said CUN Founder Daphna Edwards Ziman. "Children Uniting Nations stands ready to fight alongside her to end child trafficking and exploitation once and for all."

Earlier this month, Rep. Bass introduced two pieces of legislation to tackle this growing problem.

Strengthening the Child Welfare Response to Trafficking Act, H.R. 2730, seeks to improve the child welfare response to trafficking by strengthening the child welfare system to identify, document, and counsel children at risk of exploitation.

Eliminate and Stop Abuse, Frequent Exploitation, and Trafficking on the Internet (E-SAFETI) Task Force, H.R. 2801, will create a public-private task force to examine and make recommendations addressing the problems of cyber human trafficking. Members of the task force will include leaders from the public sector, academia, the advocacy and technology communities.

"With increased popularity of social networking sites, child trafficking has exploded online and in many of our communities," said Rep. Bass. "We as a society must do everything in our power to protect our children, even if they are not our own. These bills are critical to combat child trafficking and online exploitation."


Source
arrow_upward