On May 9, the House Foreign Affairs Committee approved en bloc, by voice vote, legislation to address the abduction of girls from a school in Nigeria and international child sex trafficking.
Condemning the Abduction of Nigerian School Girls
Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-FL) sponsored H. Res. 573, a resolution condemning the abduction of nearly 300 girls in Nigeria by the group Boko Haram. The Senate approved a similar resolution (S. Res. 433) on May 6 (see The Source, 5/9/14).
The resolution supports US assistance to Nigeria in the search for the missing girls and encourages the Department of State and the United States Agency for International Development to “continue their support for initiatives that promote the human rights of women and girls in Nigeria.”
Protecting Children from Sex Trafficking
H.R. 4573, the International Megan’s Law to Prevent Demand for Child Sex Trafficking Act, sponsored by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), would establish within the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement the “Angel Watch Center” to receive information on travel by convicted child sex offenders. Among other provisions, the center would transmit notice of impending or current international travel by child sex offenders to other countries. The notices also would contain advisories regarding the offenders’ passport validity.
