ATEST Urges Congress to Act on Anti-trafficking Legislation as 25th Anniversary of TVPA Approaches
September 15, 2025
Honorable Members of the United States Senate
Honorable Members of the United States House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. | Via email
Re: URGENT UNFINISHED BUSINESS REGARDING HUMAN TRAFFICKING
- Reauthorize the Trafficking Victims Protection Act on its 25th Anniversary
- Maintain Funding Levels for Anti-trafficking Programs in FY26
- Integrate Anti-trafficking Policies into State Department Reauthorization
- Urge the Administration to Release the Congressionally-mandated 2025 Trafficking in Persons Report
Dear Honorable Senators and Representatives,
There’s more than one pressing matter before Congress this fall involving human trafficking. There are four urgent actions Congress can take to safeguard survivors, prosecute perpetrators and prevent future victimization. We commend the long record of congressional action that has built America’s anti-trafficking response into the most comprehensive program in the world. We urge you to help keep it that way. While much of the current attention on trafficking is focused on investigating high-profile abuses of the past to assure justice for victims, Congress must also devote energy toward a broader goal of protecting the public from human traffickers in the future.
Reauthorize the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA)[1]
This fall marks the 25th anniversary of America’s cornerstone legislation to combat forced labor and sex trafficking. However, the law lapsed four years ago and requires full reauthorization. It would be a terrible signal to trafficking victims and survivors that on this 25th anniversary, Congress has failed to fully reauthorize the TVPA. Sections of the law were reauthorized in the 117th Congress, and both the House and Senate overwhelmingly passed bipartisan bills in the 118th Congress to reauthorize remaining parts. However, differences between House and Senate versions were not reconciled to allow final passage. Getting these provisions completed would be a fitting way to demonstrate the congressional commitment to combat trafficking. Bipartisan bills to get the job done in the current Congress have been introduced.[2] They reauthorize critical anti-trafficking activities at the departments of Justice, State, and Health and Human Services – including interagency coordination and the council of trafficking survivors who advise federal departments. ATEST supports both bills and urges quick congressional approval.
Maintain Funding Levels for Anti-trafficking Programs in FY26[3]
The U.S. has done more than outlaw human trafficking; it has funded the world’s first whole-of-government program to combat it. This includes key programs at the Departments of Justice, Homeland Security, State, Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and the Executive Office of the President. America must not surrender the progress of the past quarter-century by cutting these essential efforts. ATEST urges Congress to maintain FY26 appropriations at not less than FY24/25 levels. This includes maintaining grantmaking capacity at departments across the federal government that partner with implementing civil society organizations. Funding for human trafficking programs has always been a bipartisan effort that enjoys strong public support. Congress must not turn its back on victims and survivors who depend on these programs for shelter, medical and psychological care, legal assistance and other support to rebuild their lives in freedom. Congress must avoid sending a message to traffickers that they are free to expand their abhorrent abuses.
Integrate Anti-trafficking Policies into State Department Reauthorization[4]
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) took a historic step in 2012 by developing its Counter Trafficking in Persons Policy (C-TIP), which began to integrate anti-trafficking strategies and activities into all USAID planning and programs worldwide. This global innovation was based on the recognition that trafficking is a barrier preventing all forms of humanitarian assistance, lifesaving medical aid and disaster relief from reaching potential beneficiaries. C-TIP integration also increases efforts by the United States to protect American companies and workers from unfair price competition by other countries where human trafficking occurs in mining, farming, fishing, manufacturing and other businesses, and increases efforts to safeguard America’s homeland by thwarting the use of human trafficking by transnational criminal enterprises and terrorist organizations in ways that undermine U.S. national security. USAID’s C-TIP program was closed this year, but ATEST urges Congress to carry over the C-TIP integration policy into all foreign assistance programs moved into the State Department. The logical office to manage this new effort would be the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons.[5]
Urge the Administration to Release the Congressionally-mandated 2025 TIP Report
As congressionally mandated, each year the U.S. evaluates the anti-trafficking efforts of more than 150 countries, creating the world’s preeminent in-depth human trafficking desk reference. The annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report[6] is an invaluable tool for international diplomacy, and it is a first-stop comprehensive resource for American investors and companies when they conduct due diligence on the risks of engaging in business abroad. The report uncovers global trafficking trends that affect the U.S., such as online scam operations in Asia that target U.S. citizens, and recommends concrete steps to respond. Under 22 U.S. Code § 7107(b)(1) the Secretary of State is required to submit the annual report to Congress by June 30th detailing the U.S. and foreign governments’ anti-trafficking efforts and the nature of trafficking in persons in each country. This year’s edition has not yet been released. Congress should urge the administration to release the 2025 TIP Report immediately.
Background on Trafficking and its Impacts
Forced labor and human trafficking are national security, global trade, economic growth, public health and criminal justice issues – as well as violations of fundamental human rights. This is one of the fastest growing criminal industries in the world, affecting 28 million people, including millions of children,[7] generating $236 billion in illicit annual profits.[8] Inside the U.S., these illegal business practices undercut legitimate companies and incentivize violent, exploitative labor practices. Globally, these unfair international trade practices threaten American companies and workers. Ending forced labor and human trafficking is both the right thing and the smart thing to do. It will not only benefit millions of individuals directly, but it will also benefit the economy as a whole. Recent research calculates that a fully-funded, concerted, worldwide effort would generate a threefold return on investment through increases in global GDP.[9]
In Conclusion
We understand the many fiscal challenges our nation faces. However, we cannot lose sight of the human tragedies occurring every day within and beyond our borders. There are other anti-trafficking bills currently pending in Congress, many of which ATEST also supports. However, we urge you to prioritize the four key issues raised in this letter before the TVPA anniversary in late October, as they affect the fundamental infrastructure of America’s counter-trafficking effort.
Please reach out to ATEST Director Terry FitzPatrick if you have questions, need more information, or would like a personal briefing: (email terry.fitzpatrick@ATEST-US.org | cell 571-282-9913).
Thank you for your consideration,
The Alliance to End Slavery and Trafficking (ATEST)
The Alliance to End Slavery and Trafficking (ATEST) is a U.S.-based nonpartisan coalition that advocates for solutions to prevent and end all forms of human trafficking and forced labor inside the U.S. and around the world. We promote lasting solutions to prevent labor and sex trafficking, hold perpetrators accountable, ensure justice for victims and empower survivors with tools for recovery. Our collective experience implementing programs in more than 30 U.S. cities and 100 countries gives us unparalleled breadth and depth of expertise. For the past 16 years, ATEST has served as a trusted adviser to members of Congress. Learn more: www.endslaveryandtrafficking.org.
[1] PL 106-386, enacted October 28, 2000
[2] H.R. 1144 has passed the House Foreign Affairs Committee and awaits floor action; S.2647 has been included as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (S.Amdt.3608 to S.2296, Section 5641)
[3] ATEST budgetary justifications for FY26. Our detailed funding recommendations are based on programmatic need and are above current enacted levels; we recognize that across-the-board increases are unlikely and urge Congress to hold the line and avoid cuts.
[4] Protecting America’s Economic Prosperity and National Security by Combating Human Trafficking Abroad
[7] Global Estimates of Modern Slavery
[8] Profits and Poverty: The Economics of Forced Labor
[9] Acting Against Forced Labor: An Assessment of Investment Requirements and Economic Benefits
