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House Passes Wagner Legislation Combating Sex And Drug Trafficking

January 28, 2019

WASHINGTON - Congresswoman Ann Wagner (R-MO-02) released the following statement after the House passed her bipartisan legislation, the Fight Illicit Networks and Detect (FIND) Trafficking Act of 2019 (H.R. 502). This bipartisan bill would require the Comptroller General of the United States to study how virtual currencies and online marketplaces are used to facilitate sex or drug trafficking and propose regulatory and legislative actions to put an end to these illicit activities. Through the Comptroller General's findings and proposals, Congress would craft legislative solutions to regulate the use of virtual currencies to prevent crimes such as sex trafficking and illegal drug sales.

"The FIND Trafficking Act will provide us with valuable intelligence on the different tools traffickers use to avoid detection and prosecution. We have taken tremendous steps forward in the fight against traffickers through passage of my Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act, which has severely diminished the online trafficking business. But there is still more to be done. The reality is that sex and drug trafficking are extremely profitable, and traffickers are using the anonymity of virtual currencies to finance their networks of exploitation both online and offline.

"Passage of the FIND Trafficking Act will better reveal how traffickers are hiding from law enforcement and abusing victims. Thank you to my colleague Congressman Juan Vargas for working with me in the fight against drug and sex trafficking and joining me as a voice for victims of trafficking."