House OKs Kilili’s anti-trafficking bill

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (Ind-MP) led the Democratic side of the aisle yesterday during debate on a bill he jointly introduced with Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Michigan) aimed at preventing human trafficking.

The Enhancing Detection of Human Trafficking Act, H.R. 2664, “ensures the Department of Labor can effectively train its employees to spot the illegal trade of people—and respond quickly and effectively when cases are detected,” in the words of House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin). Ryan featured the bill on his website. The House passed H.R. 2664 and two other bipartisan bills yesterday, all aimed at preventing human trafficking.

Sablan expressed his appreciation to Walberg, who is chairman of the Subcommittee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, where Sablan serves as ranking member for the Democrats. “Mr. Wahlberg and I have found common ground on a number of important issues facing the American people, and human trafficking is one of them,” Sablan said during the House floor debate.

“We may think that human trafficking is something that occurs in far-off countries. Unfortunately, however, the injustice of human trafficking happens right here in the United States, as well.

“I have seen cases of this terrible scourge, firsthand, in my own district, the Northern Mariana Islands. A number of construction companies lured foreign workers to come to the Marianas with false promises and misrepresentations about pay and conditions. The companies then withheld the employees’ wages and confiscated their passports.”

Walberg, too, identified his home state as a place where human trafficking is occurring.

Sablan gave credit to the U.S. Department of Labor, which has worked to address the problem and helped workers recover their back wages.

“But we need to identify human traffickers and prevent cases like these before they happen,” the Marianas delegate said.

The Enhancing Detection of Human Trafficking Act directs the Department of Labor to work on training its staff to detect human trafficking and sets up a clear course of action for referring suspected cases to the Department of Justice for prosecution.

The bill also requires the Department of Labor to report back to Congress within a year on what progress is being made.

“Congress needs to do more than simply enact programs with lofty goals,” Sablan said. “We also need to build in mechanisms to tell us whether our programs are working as intended.”

According to Polaris, a nonprofit that operates the National Human Trafficking Resources Center Hotline, over 8,000 cases of human trafficking were reported in the U.S. last year, an increase of 35 percent over the year before. (PR)