Matt Gaetz Was Only No Vote on Trafficking Bill
The Claim
Representative Matt Gaetz was the only one to vote no to a trafficking bill in 2017.
News posted on
Emerging story
Many social media users shared the claim in late March 2021, referencing an article from Orlando Weekly with the headline “Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz was literally the only person to vote against an anti-human trafficking bill.”
In this article, Orlando Weekly says that “On Dec. 19, Gaetz cast the lone ‘no’ vote on a widely bipartisan human trafficking bill that passed unanimously through the U.S. Senate in September before sailing through the House by a count of 418 to 1."
Responses to this claim have been predominately negative.
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar’s investigation revealed that this claim is true.
The Combating Human Trafficking in Commercial Vehicles Act was designed to provide the government more resources and tools to leverage in combatting sex trade within the U.S. borders.
The act directs the Department of Transportation to designate officials to:
- "Plan and coordinate human tracking prevention efforts across modal administrations and other agencies.
- Take into account the unique challenges of combatting human trafficking within different transportation modes.”
In a video recorded from Facebook Live in late 2017, Gaetz defends this “no” vote by saying that the bill provided room for “mission creep” at the federal level when it developed this committee. He further stated, “I think it’s very important that we combat human trafficking, but I do not believe that the correct answer is a new federal agency.”
This news resurfaced pending recent allegations against Gatez that he has been sexually involved with a minor and paying for her travel alongside him. He is currently being investigated on sex trafficking charges but has yet to be charged.
