U.S. Chamber Letter on H.R. 443, the "Enhancing Detection of Human Trafficking Act"

To the Members of the U.S. House of Representatives:

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce supports H.R. 443, “The Enhancing Detection of Human Trafficking Act.” This bipartisan bill would ensure that staff at the Department of Labor receive the appropriate training and continuing education to recognize instances of human trafficking and refer these cases to law enforcement agencies. 

This legislation directs the Department to implement a program to train and periodically retrain relevant agency personnel to detect and assist law enforcement in preventing human trafficking during the course of their primary responsibilities and ensure that such personnel regularly receive current information on matters regarding the detection of human trafficking. Such training may be conducted through in-class or virtual learning capabilities and include methods for identifying suspected victims and perpetrators of human trafficking, and location-or environment-specific training.

The Secretary of Labor would be required to regularly report the training and continuing education provided under the program for the preceding year, the number of cases referred during the preceding year to the Department of Justice and other appropriate authorities in which human trafficking was suspected, and the metrics used by such employees to accurately measure and track the response of the DOL to such cases.

The House Committee on Education and the Workforce reported this bill on a bipartisan basis on January 10, and the Chamber urges you to vote in favor when the bill is considered on the floor today.

Sincerely,

Neil L. BradleyExecutive Vice President Chief Policy Officer, and Head of Strategic AdvocacyU.S. Chamber of Commerce