by Dave Williams | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., and Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., introduced bipartisan legislation Tuesday to strengthen support for victims of human trafficking.
Ossoff chairs the Senate’s Human Rights Subcommittee, and Blackburn is the ranking Republican on the panel.
The bill would give the Justice Department’s Office for Victims of Crime more flexibility in funding for programs that serve human trafficking victims and help increase training and technical assistance for organizations that receive federal grants to help those victims.
“Human trafficking in Georgia and nationwide is a crisis,” Ossoff said. “That’s why Sen. Blackburn and I are introducing this bipartisan bill to strengthen support and protections for victims of trafficking.”
“The modern-day slave trade of human trafficking is a $150 billion a year global industry that is devastating our communities,” Blackburn added. “By passing the Supporting Victims of Human Trafficking Act, the Department of Justice’s Office for Victims of Crime will be more responsive to the needs of organizations serving survivors of human trafficking.”
Ossoff and Blackburn also teamed up on the REPORT Act, which President Joe Biden signed into law in May. The measure requires websites and social media platforms to report crimes involving child trafficking to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Companies that knowingly and willfully fail to report child sex abuse material on their sites will face increased fines.
The new bill is being backed by key organizations that support victims of human trafficking, including Hope for Justice, Street Grace, Wellspring Living, 3Strands Global Foundation, Polaris, and Thistle Farms.
