{"id":28987,"date":"2025-12-17T15:23:12","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T20:23:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/?post_type=press-releases&p=28987"},"modified":"2025-12-17T15:23:14","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T20:23:14","slug":"watch-senate-passes-sen-ossoffs-bipartisan-bill-to-stop-child-trafficking","status":"publish","type":"press-releases","link":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/press-releases\/watch-senate-passes-sen-ossoffs-bipartisan-bill-to-stop-child-trafficking\/","title":{"rendered":"WATCH: Senate Passes Sen. Ossoff\u2019s Bipartisan Bill to Stop Child Trafficking"},"content":{"rendered":"

This year, the Georgia Department of Public Health <\/em>reported<\/em><\/a> that more than 370 girls are trafficked in Georgia every month<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Washington, D.C. <\/strong>\u2014 U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff\u2019s bipartisan bill to stop child trafficking has passed the U.S. Senate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This week, the U.S. Senate\u00a0passed<\/a>\u00a0Sens. Ossoff and Chuck Grassley (R-IA)\u2019s bipartisan\u00a0Preventing Child Trafficking Act of 2025<\/em>\u00a0to strengthen coordination between the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to better stop child trafficking and protect kids.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to a 2023 U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report<\/a>, agencies within the Departments collaborate to prevent human trafficking broadly, but no mechanisms were in place to collaborate specifically on child trafficking prevention. Improving collaboration would \u201cenable the offices to overcome challenges specific to children and meet the distinct needs of child trafficking survivors,\u201d the GAO report said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sen. Ossoff spoke on the Senate floor<\/a> to secure passage of the bipartisan bill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI’ve got two young daughters at home, Mr. President, and I know that there is no more fundamental question for any human being than \u2018is my child safe?\u2019 And that’s why here in the Senate, despite whatever differences and divisions we might have, we have to work together to protect children from trafficking,\u201d Sen. Ossoff said.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is an important bill with an important objective, fostering communication between the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services with the result, we hope, of preventing children from falling prey to the evils of human trafficking,\u201d Grassley said.<\/strong> \u201cPreventing future instances of trafficking is very, very essential and I\u2019m happy to support this bill\u2019s advancement today.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sen. Ossoff continues working to protect children from abuse and human trafficking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier this year, Sens. Ossoff and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) introduced<\/a> the bipartisan Supporting Victims of Human Trafficking Act<\/em>, which would cut red tape to better respond to the needs of service organizations working with victims of human trafficking and create additional flexibility in certain grant programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year, Sen. Ossoff\u2019s bipartisan REPORT Act<\/em> with Sen. Blackburn became law<\/a>, which \u2014 for the first time \u2014 required websites and social media platforms to report crimes involving Federal trafficking and enticement of children to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2023, Sens. Ossoff and Grassley\u2019s bipartisan <\/em>Preventing Child Sex Abuse Act of 2023<\/em><\/a> was signed into law, which will strengthen Federal protections against the sexual abuse of children, including online exploitation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Click here<\/a>\u00a0to watch Sen. Ossoff\u2019s remarks on the Senate floor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Please find a transcript of Sen. Ossoff\u2019s remarks below.<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SEN. OSSOFF<\/strong>: \u201cMr. President, child trafficking in Georgia and nationwide is a crisis, and one of the most heinous crimes imaginable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn my state, the Georgia Department of Public Health this year reported that more than 370 girls are trafficked in Georgia every month. 370 girls every month. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s every parent’s worst nightmare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI’ve got two young daughters at home, Mr. President, and I know that there is no more fundamental question for any human being than \u2018is my child safe?\u2019 And that’s why here in the Senate, despite whatever differences and divisions we might have, we have to work together to protect children from trafficking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd that\u2019s why Senator Grassley and I, together, have authored the Preventing Child Trafficking Act <\/em>to strengthen prevention, investigation, and prosecution of child trafficking crimes, and to ensure that prosecutors and law enforcement officials work together with those who provide supportive services to victims and survivors. Because too often, the children who have endured this crime and this trauma fall through the cracks and are targeted and victimized again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNow the Government Accountability Office is one of the top Federal watchdogs, and its investigation found that this failure of prosecuting and enforcement authorities to work with those who provide services to victims leaves American children at risk \u2013\u2013 in Georgia and across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd we’ve also found through Congressional investigations that something that sounds simple \u2013 law enforcement working with those who serve victims \u2013 is essential to protecting children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd that’s why Senator Grassley and I have written this bill to solve this problem, to protect children in Georgia, in Iowa, and across the country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

# # #<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This year, the Georgia Department of Public Health reported that more than 370 girls are trafficked in Georgia every month Washington, D.C. \u2014 U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff\u2019s bipartisan bill to stop child trafficking has passed the U.S. Senate. This week, the U.S. Senate\u00a0passed\u00a0Sens. Ossoff and Chuck Grassley (R-IA)\u2019s bipartisan\u00a0Preventing Child Trafficking Act of 2025\u00a0to strengthen coordination between the U.S. Department […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28987","press-releases","type-press-releases","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_releases\/28987","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_releases"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/press-releases"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/74"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_releases\/28987\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28989,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_releases\/28987\/revisions\/28989"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}