Ocean County Leader

Reps. Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) today introduced the HOTEL Act of 2024 (HR 9681), bipartisan legislation aimed at bolstering federal efforts to combat human trafficking in hotels.

“Hotels are hotspots for identifying and responding to sex and labor trafficking,” said Congressman Smith, the author of five major laws to combat human trafficking.

“This critical legislation will help empower hotels to train their staff using free online trainings and resources, adopt procedures to regularly educate and report violations, and provide information and resources to potential victims,” Smith said. “We also want to protect employees who report these crimes from any retaliation and ensure proper coordination with local and federal authorities.”

“Hotel employees are uniquely positioned to help report and stop human trafficking, but only if they have the knowledge and ability to recognize it,” Congressman Krishnamoorthi said. “By creating a federal employee travel preference for accommodations that voluntarily train their staff to identify human trafficking, the HOTEL Act will help ensure many more hotel staff members are equipped to stop exploitation and help survivors.”

Specifically, the Halting of Trafficking and Exploitation in Lodging (HOTEL) Act would ensure that the U.S. Government’s “preferred places of accommodation for hotel and lodging”—where federal agencies host conferences and federal employees stay when they travel—are committed to training staff on how to recognize, prevent, and respond to human trafficking.

The HOTEL Act has already received support from some of the nation’s leading anti-trafficking organizations and lodging associations, including the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA), PACT (Protecting All Children from Trafficking), and Hope for Justice.

“The HOTEL Act recognizes the crucial role hotels play in the fight against human trafficking, and we are proud to support this important legislation,” said AHLA Interim President & CEO Kevin Carey. “We look forward to working with Reps. Smith and Krishnamoorthi as well as lawmakers across the House and Senate to pass this legislation."

“The HOTEL Act will help ensure that hotel staff are equipped to identify and safely report suspected human trafficking cases,” said Yvonne Chen, Director of Private Sector Engagement at PACT. “Protect All Children from Trafficking (PACT) stands behind Rep. Smith's & Rep. Krishnamoorthi’s bipartisan efforts by providing hotel staff with proper resources informed by survivors.”

“Hotels are among the most common places where human trafficking takes place," said Tim Nelson, CEO at Hope for Justice. "Employees are also uniquely well-placed to spot signs of suspicious activity—but only if they have training in place." He added that parts of the industry have pioneered such training but making it a condition for government contracts would be transformational.

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