House votes to target human traffickers with cash rewards

The House easily passed legislation on Monday that would allow the State Department and law enforcement agencies to offer cash rewards for the arrest of international human traffickers.

The measure, easily approved on a voice vote, expands the State Department’s current program offering cash rewards for information on people committing international organized crimes to include human trafficking.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-Calif.), who authored the bill, noted that the rewards programs have assisted in capturing terrorists and international drug traffickers.

{mosads}“A reward on one’s head creates real fear for terrorists and criminals,” Royce said during House floor debate. “We want human traffickers to know the fear of being hunted.” 

“It will give law enforcement a proven method to help finally bring an end to this modern-day slave trafficking,” said Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.).

The House is considering a slate of legislation this week aimed at combatting human trafficking and protecting children from abuse.

Lawmakers also approved bills on Monday to create a program allowing organizations that offer assistance to vulnerable populations to get information from background checks in the FBI’s fingerprint database, as well as require internet service providers to wait 180 days before notifying consumers in child predator cases that law enforcement has requested data about them. 

Additional bills are expected to be approved by the House later this week, including to require athletic governing bodies to establish policies and procedures for reporting of child sex abuse to law enforcement.