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Ask Your Representative to Support H.R. 5575: Combat Child Sex Trafficking
  1. Signatures
    969 out of 1,000
    Petitioning
    1. The U.S. House of Representatives
  2. Created By
    Amanda Kloer
    Washington, DC
About this Petition Petition Letter Petition Updates
Why This Is Important

The Trafficking Deterrence and Victims Support Act (TDVSA), which was introduced by U.S. Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas) aims to address the significant issue of American children being trafficked for sex in the U.S. While existing legislation has provided tools and resources for children trafficked into the U.S. from other countries, American kids have traditionally been overlooked. The TDVSA would help fill that gap by providing much needed resources for victim services and law enforcement investigations.

The TDVSA passed the Senate Judiciary Committee on August 5, 2010. Now, it must also pass the House of Representatives. Please, take a moment to contact your Representative and ask him or her to support or co-sponsor H.R. 5575, the House version of the bill.

 

Recent Signatures

Support H.R. 5575: Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking Deterrence and Victims Support Act

Greetings,

As a constituent, I am writing to seek your support or co-sponsorship of H.R. 5575, which addresses the critical issue of child sex trafficking in America. This bill will provide important resources for assisting child sex trafficking victims, deterring child sex trafficking, and bringing to justice those who traffic children via block grants in six pilot locations. Each block grant would be funded at $ 2 - 2.5 million per year and could be renewed for two additional years. Items to be funded by the block grants would include:

• A shelter for trafficking victims;
• Clothing and other daily needs in order to keep victims from returning to the street;
• Victims' assistance counseling and legal services;
• Education or job training classes for victims;
• Specialized training for law enforcement and social service providers;
• Police officer salaries - patrol officers, detectives, investigators;
• Prosecutor salaries, and other trial expenses;
• Investigation expenses - wire taps, expert consultants, travel, other "technical assistance" expenditures; and
• Outreach, education, and prevention efforts, including programs to deter offenders.

The bill will also help boost prompt reporting of information on missing and abducted children to the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database. More timely reporting will help law enforcement identify repeat runaways, who are statistically proven to be more likely to be lured into prostitution.

The Senate version of this bill passed the Judiciary Committee on August 5, 2010. Please ensure it becomes law by supporting this important legislation.

Regards,

[Your name]