Today, Education and Labor Committee Republican Leader Virginia Foxx (R-NC) and Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education Republican Leader Burgess Owens (R-UT) sent a letter to Comptroller General Gene Dodaro requesting the Government Accountability Office (GAO) examine the federal government’s efforts to combat child trafficking.
In the letter, the Members write: “Child trafficking is a horrific global humanitarian concern. Congress recently acted in a bipartisan manner to combat this form of modern-day slavery, passing several laws that created programs aimed at fighting trafficking of both children and adults." The Members continue: “Before creating new duplicative programs that double down on previously failed practices, we want a holistic view of what is working, what is not, and where there may be gaps or overlap between programs. GAO has completed various reports on this topic, but we are interested to know more about the federal efforts on child trafficking so we can improve the system and ultimately, save lives."