Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act of 2017
Latest action · Jan 10, 2018 Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 292.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedAug 1, 2017
- Passed SenateNot reached
- Passed HouseNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act of 2017
(Sec. 3) This bill amends the Communications Act of 1934 to specify that communications decency provisions protecting providers from liability for the private blocking or screening of offensive material shall not be construed to impair or limit civil action or criminal prosecution under state or federal criminal or civil laws relating to sex trafficking of children or sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion.
(Sec. 4) The bill amends the federal criminal code to specify that the violation for benefiting from "participation in a venture" engaged in sex trafficking of children, or sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion, includes knowingly assisting, supporting, or facilitating the violation.
(Sec. 5) The bill amends the federal criminal code to allow a state attorney general to bring a civil action in U.S. district court on behalf of the state's residents if the attorney general believes an interest of the residents has been or is threatened or adversely affected by any person who knowingly participates in the sex trafficking of children or sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion.
Cosponsors 70
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Aug 1, 2017 to Mar 21, 2018; 24 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-MN | Amy Klobuchar | Original | Aug 1, 2017 |
| D-FL | Bill Nelson | Original | Aug 1, 2017 |
| R-TN | Bob Corker | Original | Aug 1, 2017 |
| D-MO | Claire McCaskill | Original | Aug 1, 2017 |
| D-ND | Heidi Heitkamp | Original | Aug 1, 2017 |
| R-OK | James Lankford | Original | Aug 1, 2017 |
| D-NH | Jeanne Shaheen | Original | Aug 1, 2017 |
| R-AZ | Jeff Flake | Original | Aug 1, 2017 |
| R-TX | John Cornyn | Original | Aug 1, 2017 |
| R-ND | John Hoeven | Original | Aug 1, 2017 |
| R-AZ | John McCain | Original | Aug 1, 2017 |
| R-GA | Johnny Isakson | Original | Aug 1, 2017 |
| R-SC | Lindsey Graham | Original | Aug 1, 2017 |
| R-AK | Lisa Murkowski | Original | Aug 1, 2017 |
| R-FL | Marco Rubio | Original | Aug 1, 2017 |
Committees 1
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| Senate | Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee | Referred Aug 1, 2017Hearings Sep 19, 2017Markup Nov 8, 2017Reported Jan 10, 2018 |
Actions 6
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Jan 10, 2018Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Reported by Senator Thune with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. With written report No. 115-199.
- Jan 10, 2018Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 292.
- Nov 8, 2017Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
- Sep 19, 2017Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 115-590.
- Aug 1, 2017Introduced in Senate
In the Congressional Record 8
Days the Record’s own index lists this bill, newest first, with the pages and the members it names. Pages starting H are the House, S the Senate, E Extensions of Remarks.
| Where | In the Record | Members | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Senate | Debate and remarks S5100 | Rob Portman R-OH | Jul 19, 2018 |
| Senate | Debate and remarks S278 | Rob Portman R-OH | Jan 18, 2018 |
| Senate | Debate and remarks S145 | Steve Daines R-MT | Jan 11, 2018 |
| Senate | Debate and remarks S85–S87 | Richard Blumenthal D-CT, Rob Portman R-OH | Jan 9, 2018 |
| Senate | Debate and remarks S53 | Rob Portman R-OH | Jan 8, 2018 |
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Committee report
Congressional Budget Office cost estimate
- Jan 10, 2018S. 1693, Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act of 2017As ordered reported by the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation on November 8, 2017
Printed hearings 2
Hearings whose printed record names this bill, newest first: hearings on it, and wider hearings where it came up.
| Number | Hearing | Committee | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| S. Hrg. 115-328 | THE GAO REPORTS ON HUMAN TRAFFICKING OF NATIVE AMERICANS IN THE UNITED STATES71 pages | Indian Affairs Committee | Sep 27, 2017 |
| S. Hrg. 115-590 | S. 1693, THE STOP ENABLING SEX TRAFFICKERS ACT OF 2017101 pages | Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee | Sep 19, 2017 |
Related bills 1
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| HR 1865 | Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act of 2017 | Related bill | Apr 11, 2018 |
Titles 3
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- A bill to amend the Communications Act of 1934 to clarify that section 230 of that Act does not prohibit the enforcement against providers and users of interactive computer services of Federal and State criminal and civil law relating to sex trafficking.
- Short Titles as Introduced
- Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act of 2017
- Short Titles as Reported to Senate
- Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act of 2017
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement.
Text 2
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Jan 10, 2018Reported to Senate
- Aug 1, 2017Introduced in Senate
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
