Horsford Votes For Bipartisan Bills To Prevent Human Trafficking

Press Release

Today, Representative Steven Horsford (NV-4) voted to approve five bipartisan bills aimed at preventing human trafficking and supporting victims of trafficking.

"Human trafficking is a disgusting practice that devastates families across America every year," Horsford said. "We must overcome the belief that trafficking is a third-world scourge that could never happen here. In reality, it's happening in our hometowns, and we cannot turn a blind eye to that fact. Today, Congress took steps toward eradicating a black market that puts as many as 300,000 American children at risk. Las Vegas is among the top twenty human trafficking jurisdictions in the country; that is an unacceptable reality that we must fight to change."

In 2013, Representative Horsford joined community leaders in a special 30-minute documentary that shed light on sex trafficking in Nevada.

Below is a list of the five bills that were passed:

H.R. 3530 -- Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act

This bill takes a number of actions to combat sex trafficking, particularly the sex trafficking of minors.
Among its provisions, it creates a new victim-centered grant program to provide assistance to states and local law enforcement to bolster the investigation and prosecution of sex trafficking and to help the victims of such crimes.
It strengthens the ability of law enforcement to investigate and prosecute sex trafficking -- including by targeting individuals who purchase sex from human trafficking victims in an effort to reduce "demand" and by making it easier for states to obtain wiretapping authority in cases of sex trafficking.

H.R. 3610 -- Stop Exploitation Through Trafficking Act

This bill encourages states to enact "safe harbor" laws that better protect minors who are victims of sex trafficking by giving states that enact such laws priority for federal grants under the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program.
It also makes trafficking victims eligible to participate in the federal Jobs Corps program; requires an existing federal task force to expand its reporting on trafficking-related crimes; and requires the Health and Human Services Department to provide funding for a national hotline for trafficking victims beginning in 2017.

H.R. 4225 -- Stop Advertising Victims of Exploitation (SAVE) Act

This bill makes it a crime to advertise sex either with minors or with individuals who are being prostituted through force, fraud or coercion. This offense would apply to both online and traditional print advertisements.
Under the measure, people or entities that knowingly benefit from such advertising also could be prosecuted -- such as website operators who accept advertisements.
H.R. 4058 -- Preventing Sex Trafficking and Improving Opportunities for Youth in Foster Care Act

This bill requires states to take steps to prevent, identify and address sex trafficking of youth in foster care, including by developing policies for assisting victims of sex trafficking.
It also modifies foster care policies to improve the foster care experiences of children who may be at risk of falling victim to sex trafficking -- including by giving foster parents more authority to make day-to-day decisions regarding their foster child's participation in age-appropriate activities, encouraging states to more quickly move kids out of foster care and into permanent families and giving older children a greater say in the development of their own case plans.

H.R. 4573 -- International Megan's Law to Prevent Demand for Child Sex Trafficking

This bill seeks to diminish child sex tourism both overseas and in the United States by creating a center within the Homeland Security Department to notify foreign governments of U.S. child-sex offenders who are traveling to their countries so that they can be monitored. The bill also encourages foreign nations to establish similar notification systems when known child-sex offenders are planning to travel to the United States.

"Assembly Bill 67, championed by Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto and passed unanimously by the Nevada Legislature in 2013, ensures Nevada is taking proactive steps to end human trafficking of young people," Horsford concluded. "The package of bills just passed by Congress will assist states like Nevada that have established task forces to work toward ending human trafficking. I look forward to working with the Nevada Attorney General and leaders from our state on how we can pursue these much-needed resources to fight the scourge of human trafficking."

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