Griffin Votes to Safeguard Children and Fight Human Trafficking

Griffin Votes to Safeguard Children and Fight Human Trafficking

Says, ‘We must be vigilant in our efforts to combat this horrific problem’

WASHINGTON – Congressman Tim Griffin (AR-02) issued the following statement after the House passed a series of bills to combat human trafficking and provide much-needed services to victims of human trafficking:

“Human trafficking is growing at an alarming rate, and we must be vigilant in our efforts to combat this horrific problem. It is essential that we strengthen current laws to fight human trafficking and better safeguard children as we strive to provide increased support and protection to its victims.”  

Rep. Griffin is an original cosponsor of H.R. 4058, the Preventing Sex Trafficking and Improve Opportunities for Youth in Foster Care Act. 

Today’s series of bills combat human trafficking by requiring states to provide better reporting on children at risk within the foster care system, providing law enforcement with better tools to address the demand side of trafficking, encouraging states to pass safe harbor laws, criminalizing the advertisement of minors for commercial sex acts and establishing a means to protect children in foreign countries from child-sex offenders traveling abroad.

For more information on these bills, please see the links below:

H.R. 3530 - Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2013 (Sponsored by Rep. Ted Poe / Judiciary Committee)

H.R. 3610 - Stop Exploitation Through Trafficking Act (Sponsored by Rep. Erik Paulsen / Judiciary Committee / Education and the Workforce Committee)

H.R. 4225 - Stop Advertising Victims of Exploitation (SAVE) Act (Sponsored by Rep. Ann Wagner / Judiciary Committee)

H.R. 4058 - Preventing Sex Trafficking and Improving Opportunities for Youth in Foster Care Act, as amended (Sponsored by Rep. Dave Reichert / Ways and Means Committee)

H.R. 4573 - International Megan’s Law to Prevent Demand for Child Sex Trafficking, as amended (Sponsored by Rep. Chris Smith / Foreign Affairs Committee / Judiciary Committee)

About Congressman Tim Griffin

Congressman Tim Griffin was re-elected as the 24^th representative of Arkansas’s Second Congressional District on November 6, 2012.  For the 113^th Congress, he is a member of the House Committee on Ways and Means while also serving as an Assistant Whip for the majority.  In the 112^th Congress, he served as a member of the House Armed Services Committee, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and the House Committee on the Judiciary.

Griffin is a graduate of Hendrix College in Conway and Tulane Law School in New Orleans, and attended graduate school at Oxford University.  He has served in the U.S. Army Reserve for 17 years, was deployed to Iraq and holds the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.  He also served as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas and Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of Political Affairs for President George W. Bush.  Griffin lives in Little Rock with his wife Elizabeth and their two children.

Griffin’s congressional offices are located in Little Rock, Conway and Washington, and are open from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. CT, except for federal holidays.  Office locations and directions are available online at www.Griffin.house.gov, by phone (501) 324-5941 or by writing the Office of Congressman Tim Griffin, 1232 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515.