Washington, D.C.– Legislation authored by Congressman Erik Paulsen (MN-03) was included in a package of bills passed by the U.S. House of Representatives aimed at combating sex trafficking. Paulsen, a leader in Congress on sex trafficking prevention, had provisions he authored included in both H.R. 4980, the Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act, and H.R. 5081, the Strengthening Child Welfare Response to Trafficking Act. Both pieces of legislation passed the House with broad bipartisan support. The bills would improve the foster care and child welfare systems and develop better human trafficking data. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children says that 60% of missing children who are likely trafficking victims were in foster care or group homes when they ran away.  

“We know that sex trafficking victims go through unspeakable horrors and exploitation at the hands of pimps and traffickers,” said Paulsen. “The best thing we can do for these young girls is protect them from trafficking before they are involved. That means finding the most vulnerable of our youth – those in foster care and under child welfare agency watch – and improving their opportunities for success.”

Video of Paulsen’s floor speech can be seen here.

The House also passed six additional bills aimed at combating human trafficking:

H.R. 2283 – Human Trafficking Prioritization Act – Elevates State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking to “Bureau” level. Paulsen is a cosponsor.

H.R. 4449 – Human Trafficking Prevention Act – Establishes training and education for ambassadors and embassy offices on trafficking issues and prevention.

H.R. 5076 – Enhancing Services for Runaway and Homeless Victims of Youth Trafficking Act – Amends the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act to better cover human trafficking; includes requiring HHS to give priority to proposed projects relating to training staff about trafficking.

H.R. 5111 – To Improve the Response to Victims of Child Sex Trafficking – Amends the Missing Children’s Assistance Act to replace “child prostitution” with “child sex trafficking”; requires law enforcement to update the records of missing children within 30 days of the initial report.

H.R. 5116 – Human Trafficking Detection Act – Instructs Department of Homeland Security personnel to be trained to deter and prevent sex trafficking.

H.R. 5135 – The Human Trafficking Prevention, Intervention, and Recovery Act – Directs an Interagency Task Force to conduct a review of Federal, State, local, and nongovernmental organization activities to prevent children from becoming victims of trafficking. Paulsen is a cosponsor.

Congressman Paulsen is a long-time advocate for combating sex trafficking and has testified at a Ways and Means Subcommittee about what can be done to address the issue. He also is the author of H.R. 3610, the Stop Exploitation Through Trafficking Act, which expands safe harbor laws and ensures that minors who are trafficked are treated as victims instead of criminals. That legislation passed the U.S. House of Representatives in May.  

For more information on Congressman Paulsen’s work in Congress visit paulsen.house.gov. 

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