An enduring but little noticed facet of the process of federal lawmaking is the way in which U.S. government agencies often engage in promoting — or opposing — legislative proposals. It’s one of those gray areas of government (and the Constitution) in which the traditional separation of powers among the legislative, executive and judicial branches is blurred, if not ignored, as federal bureaucrats whose job is it to implement and uphold laws enacted by Congress instead engage in behind-the-scenes efforts to either kill proposals they don’t like, or advocate enactment of legislation they favor.
This dynamic appears to be operating full throttle in Washington as the Senate takes up a House-passed measure to strengthen the nation’s anti-slavery law, the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000. Not only did the House approve the new bill, it did so overwhelmingly by a margin of 405 for to only 2 against. You’d be hard-pressed to find a better example of clear legislative intent.
Yet the Department of Justice is opposing the bill in the Senate, apparently hoping to either kill it outright or persuade Senators to back another, weaker proposal.
At a time when global slavery is fast becoming a scourge of the 21st Century, both at home and abroad, the DoJ’s position is hard to fathom. But in an Op-Ed page article in today’s New York Times , former State Department Ambassador John Miller explains that government attorneys oppose the stronger bill because they object to treating prostitution as a form of sex slavery, as the new bill envisions.
This is a huge, contentious issue, and many people and organizations besides DoJ lawyers do not want prostitution categorized as a form of human trafficking. In fact, lobbying has been underway for some time to legalize prostitution in the United States.
Miller, a respected public policy advocate and self-described 21st Century Abolitionist, indicates that lawmakers are pushing back against the Justice Department’s opposition, but the bill’s fate is uncertain. After you read his article, post your comments on the Justice Department’s position, and let us know what you think about prostitution as a criminal activity or a manifestation of modern slavery.
Tags: Ambassador John Miller, Dept. of Justice, DoJ, legalized prostitution, sex slavery, U.S. government, Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2
Posted on Friday, July 11th, 2008 at 8:41 am in Commentary, Slavery Today.
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Prostitutes in America. is simply that. I can’t put in a category of human trafficking. I mean they are working in the oldest profession, and in america don’t they have a choice?