THE House Foreign Affairs Committee approved a bill on Thursday, April 23 that creates a survivors-led advisory council to guide and recommend federal policies and programs related to human trafficking.
With the passage in the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Survivors of Human Trafficking Empowerment Act (H.R.500) — a landmark bipartisan measure introduced by Representatives Mike Honda (D-Calif.), Ted Poe (R-Texas), Karen Bass (D-Calif.) and Rodney Davis (R-Illinois) in January— is one step closer to becoming law.
The group, called the US Human Trafficking Survivors Advisory Council, created by the bill would be the point of contact for federal agencies working on programs and policies for human trafficking survivors. It would provide a platform for the Administration and lawmakers to hear directly from victims.
The council’s ultimate goal is to learn how human trafficking can be prevented, and how to best and respectively treat those who have been trafficked.
The advisory group will also represent the diversity of sex and labor trafficking survivors, as well as US citizens and foreign nationals, so that policymakers understand the full scope of human trafficking and can better address all facets of it.
“I’m glad this bill is one step closer to becoming law,” Rep. Honda said in a press statement. “It was great to be able to work across the aisle to make sure the voices of the survivors of human trafficking are heard.”
Honda also thanked committee chairman Royce and ranking member Engel “for bringing my bill before the committee, and I am glad to see it move forward with the full committee’s unanimous support.”
“By letting those who have experienced this ordeal tell their stories to, and work with, key policymakers, we will be able to write better laws and regulations to eliminate this atrocity once and for all.”
The next step for the measure is a vote by the full House of Representatives.
“I am working with Chairman Royce to convince Speaker Boehner and the House Leadership to schedule a vote on this important legislation,” Honda said. “This is a bill with robust bipartisan support; it addresses a serious problem, and offers a path to help solve that problem.”
(With reports from Inquirer)
(www.asianjournal.com)
(LA Midweek April 29 – May 1, 2015 Sec. A pg.1)
