Congress Passes Landmark Slavery Act

Late on Wednesday evening, Congress (FINALLY!) passed the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Act and by unanimous consent. It sounds like an easy achievement, but behind that unanimous consent lies the fact that this bill took two years to hammer out. Bureaucratic opposition was strong and yet almost mute.

Neither side got all it wanted, but the end result appears to be a commendable bill that offers hope for the hundreds of thousands of enslaved and trafficked human beings (mostly women in sex slavery and men in forced labor). Senators Joe Biden and Sam Brownback deserve high praise for their willingness to compromise and make sure an effective law was passed. Credit outside Congress the many human rights NGOs and give particular praise for Michael Horowitz of Hudson Institute who has labored on this and other human rights issues. We at Discovery are also proud once again of the role of our Senior Fellow John R. Miller.

Let us hope that the incoming Obama administration puts serious effort into enforcing the strong provisions of the law.