Fighting Human Trafficking

Recently, the House passed two important bills to fight sexual assault and human trafficking. H.R. 6847, the Preventing Child Exploitation Act of 2018, contains harsher penalties for repeat sex offenders and offenders that fail to register or provide important information to law enforcement. It also extends the statute of limitations for victims of sexual assault as minors. This ensures that that survivors of sexual assault can rightfully seek justice. 

Unfortunately, human trafficking is a big business, and human traffickers generate roughly $150 billion in illegal profits per year. Much of that money moves through our financial and banking system undetected. H.R. 6729, the Empowering Financial Institutions to Fight Human Trafficking Act of 2018, would allow nonprofit organizations to help financial institutions better identify those who are moving around dirty money. Houston has the highest number of trafficking victims nation-wide, and I will continue to do everything in my power to fight modern-day slavery at home in Houston and worldwide.