Press Releases

Today, Congressman French Hill (AR-02) issued the following statement after the House passed a bill by a vote of 388-25 to give states additional tools to fight human trafficking:

“Sex trafficking is an appalling criminal enterprise. According to the FBI, sex trafficking is the fastest-growing business of organized crime and the third-largest criminal enterprise in the world. As many as 300,000 children in the United States are at risk of becoming victims, and my vote today is for all of the Arkansans who agree that this scourge needs to be shut down once and for all. In Central Arkansas, I am proud to work with the Centers for Youth and Families, which, for over 130 years, has worked to buildup healthy children, families, and community centers. These centers have expanded their missions for care by providing trauma-informed treatment for victims of human trafficking. Partners Against Trafficking Humans (PATH) also provides key services to victims while raising awareness and advocating on their behalf to insure survivors receive the care and services they deserve. Closing the paths and punishing the perpetrators is the only way to stop the victimization of our children and communities, and I was proud to take this bipartisan vote today.”

Background:

The Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act, H.R. 1865, creates a new federal criminal law against websites that intentionally promote prostitution, lowers the standard of proof necessary to prosecute websites for hosting sex trafficking content, creates a civil right of action for sex trafficking victims, and ensures that certain state-level prosecutions for sex trafficking can proceed notwithstanding Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.