Secretary of State nominee Hillary Clinton pledged in her confirmation hearing that U.S. anti-slavery efforts would be strengthened in the incoming Obama Administration.

This is welcome news for modern-day abolitionists who believe America’s leadership in the anti-slavery arena could lead other governments — eager to court favor with the new Administration — to more aggressively step up their efforts to go after human traffickers.

Secretary of State Nominee Hillary Clinton

Clinton pledged in her testimony to bring onboard a senior State Department official to head up anti-slavery efforts.  This official, she said, would be situated nearby her own office — a seemingly minor point but to anti-trafficking leaders, a decision of great significance.  Under President Bush, the State Dept. Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (created in 2000) operated out of a nondescript office building blocks away from the State Department’s Foggy Bottom headquarters. Although Bush appointees to the post of anti-trafficking “czar” received generally high marks for raising the profile of anti-trafficking programs, most observers felt that U.S. efforts to combat modern forms of slavery were under-funded and well down the list of Administration priorities.

Hillary Clinton — based on her confirmation hearing comments — appears willing to upgrade anti-slavery efforts. She will be helped by the recently enacted William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act. The new law gives the State Department a broader mandate to address global trafficking issues, and Clinton seems committed to move forcefully on the issue.