A bill designed to help law enforcement and financial institutions identify and report suspected human traffickers was approved by the House Foreign Affairs Committee last week.
The End Banking for Human Traffickers Act, sponsored by U.S. Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and Bill Keating (D-MA), would direct federal banking regulators to work with law enforcement to combat the use of the financial system for human trafficking. Further, the bill would add financial intelligence and regulatory officers to the President’s Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. It would also require the Task Force to develop recommendations for Congress and regulators to strengthen anti-money laundering programs to better target human trafficking.
“Human trafficking continues to devastate millions of lives around the world. This criminal conduct may seem a distant problem, but it is not. It exists right here in our own back yards. Traffickers use the global financial system to launder their illicit funds. Cutting off their access to the banking system is critical to putting an end to their abhorrent crimes,” Fitzpatrick said. “The End Banking for Human Traffickers Act will not only bolster our efforts to prevent human traffickers from using our domestic financial system, it sends a signal around the world to cut off traffickers from the global financial system. Today’s vote is another step we are taking to address this heinous crime.”
Human trafficking the third most lucrative criminal enterprise in the world, according to the International Labor Organization. Approximately $150 billion in illegal profits are made from forced labor each year and $99 billion are earned from the victims of sexual exploitation. By cutting off traffickers’ access to the banking system, law enforcement will be better positioned to end this activity.
“Unfortunately, human trafficking is a modern-day form of slavery as profitable as it is despicable. Rep. Fitzpatrick’s bipartisan bill will help choke off traffickers’ access to the formal financial system, through which they launder billions of dollars in profits earned off human suffering. I am proud to support the End Banking for Human Traffickers Act, which will ensure that America leads international efforts to prevent financial transactions involving the proceeds from this horrific practice,” Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX).