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US Senate Approves Resolution 414 Combating Trafficking

On July 21, 2004 the United States Senate approved a resolution (S. Res. 414) supporting the bipartisan efforts of Congress, the Departments of Justice and State, and local law enforcement to combat human trafficking and slavery.

The resolution was sponsored by Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) and contains a number of findings, including:

The Department of Justice, under the leadership of the Civil Rights Division, has worked to strengthen anti-trafficking laws and to increase its own efforts to combat human trafficking in accordance with the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (P.L. 106-386) and the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2003 (P.L. 108-193);
- The State Department Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons continues to fight human trafficking and slavery around the world;
- The enactment of comprehensive state laws criminalizing human trafficking may be necessary to ensure that federal efforts are accompanied by "robust" efforts at the state and local levels;

At the first "National Conference on Human Trafficking" in Tampa, Florida, the Department of Justice announced a comprehensive model state anti-trafficking criminal statute and encouraged states to adopt laws based on the statute.