The bill
Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act of 2025
HR. 1144, 119th Congress — read as touching Private Prisons & Immigration Detention.
Sponsored by
Rep. Smith, Christopher H. [R-NJ-4]
ID: S000522
Follow the money
The bill
HR. 1144, 119th Congress — read as touching Private Prisons & Immigration Detention.
The sponsor
Every bill has someone who introduced it. That name is where the paper trail starts.
The money
21 itemised contributions to this sponsor, pulled from FEC filings.
Track this bill's progress through the legislative process
Latest Action
Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by Voice Vote.
July 21, 2025
📍 Current Status
Next: The bill will be reviewed by relevant committees who will debate, amend, and vote on it.
1. Introduction: A member of Congress introduces a bill in either the House or Senate.
2. Committee Review: The bill is sent to relevant committees for study, hearings, and revisions.
3. Floor Action: If approved by committee, the bill goes to the full chamber for debate and voting.
4. Other Chamber: If passed, the bill moves to the other chamber (House or Senate) for the same process.
5. Conference: If both chambers pass different versions, a conference committee reconciles the differences.
6. Presidential Action: The President can sign the bill into law, veto it, or take no action.
7. Became Law: If signed (or if Congress overrides a veto), the bill becomes law!
The Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act of 2025 - a bill so noble in name, yet so riddled with bureaucratic cancer that it's a wonder anyone expects it to actually accomplish anything.
**Main Purpose & Objectives:** This bill reauthorizes the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, because apparently, we need to keep reauthorizing laws to remind ourselves that human trafficking is bad. The main objective is to combat trafficking in persons, both domestically and internationally, by modifying existing programs and adding new ones.
**Key Provisions & Changes to Existing Law:** The bill makes several changes to existing law, including:
* Renaming the "Grants to assist in the recognition of trafficking" program to the "Frederick Douglass Human Trafficking Prevention Education Grants" because who doesn't love a good rebranding? * Expanding the scope of grants to include linguistically accessible, culturally responsive, and trauma-informed programs. Because, you know, that's exactly what we need - more buzzwords. * Adding new provisions for combating human trafficking abroad, including modifications to tier standards and counter-trafficking efforts in development cooperation and assistance policy.
**Affected Parties & Stakeholders:** The usual suspects are involved:
* Local educational agencies * Non-profit organizations specializing in human trafficking prevention education * Law enforcement * Technology or social media companies (because they're clearly the experts on preventing human trafficking) * The Secretary of Education, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Labor, and Attorney General - because who doesn't love a good interagency committee?
**Potential Impact & Implications:** This bill will likely have all the impact of a feather in a hurricane. It's a classic case of "legislative theater" - designed to make politicians look like they're doing something about human trafficking while actually accomplishing very little.
The real disease here is bureaucratic inertia and the desire for politicians to appear proactive without actually taking meaningful action. This bill is just another symptom of that disease, a Band-Aid on a bullet wound.
In short, this bill is a waste of time and resources, a feel-good measure designed to placate voters while doing nothing to address the root causes of human trafficking. But hey, at least we're reauthorizing something, right?
Rep. Smith, Christopher H. [R-NJ-4]
Congress 119 • 2024 Election Cycle
No PAC contributions found
No committee contributions found
This bill has 10 cosponsors. Below are their top campaign contributors.
ID: M000687
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ID: M001157
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ID: S000168
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ID: J000311
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ID: C001063
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ID: W000795
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ID: R000600
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No contribution data available
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ID: M001213
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Hub layout: Politicians in center, donors arranged by type in rings around them.
Showing 39 nodes and 36 connections (22 secondary connections hidden)
Total contributions: $163,450
Showing top 17 donors by contribution amount
Which industries are materially affected by specific provisions in this bill. 2 helped, 1 harmed.
Section 204(a) clarifies that nonhumanitarian, nontrade-related foreign assistance will not be provided to countries that do not meet minimum standards for combating human trafficking, which could impact private prison operators involved in immigrant detention.
Section 101(d) prioritizes local educational agencies that partner with law enforcement to assist in training efforts to protect children from labor trafficking and sexual exploitation.
Section 102(b)(10) provides assistance with obtaining victim compensation, direct victim assistance, or other funds for mental health care, which may involve health insurance providers.
To reauthorize the Kay Hagan Tick Act, and for other purposes.
119/hr/4348
Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Reauthorization Act of 2025
119/hr/5160
To name the Department of Veterans Affairs community-based outpatient clinic in Toms River, New Jersey, the Leonard G. 'Bud' Lomell, VA Clinic, and for other purposes.
119/hr/2170