Trafficking bill that includes CDL ban passes House

December 22, 2017

Mark Schremmer

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A bill that would disqualify someone from having a commercial driver’s license if they committed a felony involving a severe form of human trafficking was passed unanimously in the House on Thursday, Dec. 21.

The No Human Trafficking on Our Roads Act, S1532, was originally sponsored by Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., and received bipartisan support. The legislation passed the Senate in September.

However, Truckers Against Trafficking never endorsed the bill.

“While Truckers Against Trafficking would like to see every convicted human trafficker behind bars and severely penalized, we don’t believe this bill goes far enough. CDL holders convicted of human trafficking shouldn’t be the only ones losing their professional license,” said Kendis Paris, executive director of TAT. “What about the hotel staff who willingly allow their locations to be used to facilitate a crime? We’d like to see a more comprehensive bill move forward that doesn’t single out just one profession.”

The House also passed the Combating Human Trafficking in Commercial Vehicles Act, S1536, on Dec. 19. The legislation cleared the Senate in September.

Bill S1536 was sponsored by Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and designates a human trafficking prevention coordinator. Specifically, the bill “directs the Department of Transportation to designate an official to coordinate human trafficking prevention efforts across DOT modal administrations and with other federal agencies, and take into account the unique challenges of combating human trafficking within different transportation modes.”

Truckers Against Trafficking supported the Klobuchar bill.

“TAT is hopeful that the passage of S1536 will enable additional government agencies to combat human trafficking in even more strategic ways,” said Kylla Lanier, deputy director of Truckers Against Trafficking.