As chairman of the Virginia Commission on the Prevention of Human Trafficking, I introduced legislation to expand the definition of abduction to include forced labor and added trafficking-related crimes to the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations statute. HB 2016 passed the House of Delegates and the Senate unanimously. (Trafficking is modern day slavery, obtaining a human being for forced labor or services–including sexual servitude–using force, fraud or coercion.)

Advocating for the bill were the the internationally recognized Polaris Project as well as the Family Foundation, the National Organization for Women and the Virginia Catholic Conference. Claire Guthrie Gastanaga and the Virginia Coalition of Latino Organizations were particularly helpful.