ATEST Recommendations for 2019 Spending Sent to Congress
ATEST is asking Congress to maintain America’s commitment to combating modern slavery and human trafficking at home and abroad, with detailed recommendations for federal spending across seven agencies and departments.
“The number of trafficking victims significantly exceeds the availability of services,” ATEST communicated in letters to Congress. “These agencies, if properly resourced, are well positioned to prevent human trafficking and ensure that the most vulnerable do not become victims,” ATEST noted. Continued funding will help federal agencies and civil society organizations “better understand trafficking prevalence and provide comprehensive services to victims,” ATEST noted.
The letters to three House and Senate appropriations subcommittees cover programs at the Labor Department, Health and Human Services Department, Education Department, Justice Department, FBI, State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development.
See the full letters to the subcommittees, with specific dollar amounts, legislative report language and justifications here.
The battle against modern slavery has been a bipartisan cause for many years, with federal anti-trafficking programs receiving widespread support in Congress. ATEST is calling for a continuation of that commitment into the coming federal fiscal year, which begins in October.
“As a champion for the victims of child labor, forced labor and sex trafficking, you understand the complexities of these issues and the resources needed to respond,” ATEST wrote to Congress.