Legislation has been introduced in Congress that would enable the U.S. to enter into compacts with foreign governments to create new laws and procedures to protect minors from being trafficked. But, the proposal lacks much in the way of funding and — perhaps more problematical — it relies on obtaining cooperation from nations where trafficking in humans is approaching epidemic proportions.

The Child Protection Compact Act (CPCA – H.R. 2737), sponsored by Rep. Christopher Smith (R-NJ), seeks to “to protect and rescue children from trafficking by the establishment of Child Protection Compacts between the United States and select eligible countries with a significant prevalence of trafficking in children.” The goal of the CPCA is to provide funding (through grants, cooperative agreements, and contracts) to foreign governments so that they can develop and implement national child protection strategies to combat the exploitation and trafficking of children.

The problem, according to two prominent anti-human trafficking advocates, Louis Klarevas and Christine Buckley, is that the proposal fails to provide anywhere near a sufficient amount of funding to get the efforts underway.

Nevertheless, the advocates point out, the concept of the CPCA — especially its emphasis on law enforcement training and codification of human trafficking statutes — reflects current strategic thinking about the best ways to grapple with the growing global business of trafficking.