House votes to reauthorize bill making it easier to go after human traffickers

The House of Representatives passed the Trafficking Victims Protection Act in a landslide 414-11 vote. The bill was first signed into law in 2000, and with this reauthorization, the programs and funding associated with it will last until 2028.

“This bill saves lives and it is a bipartisan cause,” Rep. Kathy Manning, D-N.C., said. “It is not about politics. This is about doing the right thing, it is about our common humanity.”

The Frederick Douglass Act, this year’s reauthorization, is named after the renowned abolitionist and endorsed by his great-great grandson.