WASHINGTON – Yesterday, Congressman David Valadao (CA-22) and Senator James Lankford (R-OK) introduced the Ensuring Accountability and Dignity in Government Contracting Act of 2025. The bipartisan, bicameral legislation, co-led by Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) and Reps. Mike Turner (OH-10), Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL-08), and Seth Magaziner (RI-02), closes gaps in federal rules that allow human trafficking to persist in government contracting while strengthening agency oversight, accountability, and reporting requirements.

“The United States has a zero-tolerance policy for human trafficking, yet recent reports make it clear that federal agencies are failing to take meaningful action to prevent trafficking in government contracts,” said Congressman Valadao. “I’m proud to introduce this bill which will ensure contractors have anti-trafficking compliance plans in place and guarantee that when violations occur, there are consequences. American taxpayers should never be complicit in human trafficking, and this legislation takes critical steps to prevent that from happening.”

“It is unthinkable that taxpayer dollars would fund human and labor trafficking,” said Senator James Lankford. “Lax standards and procedures have enabled traffickers to continue their abuse of vulnerable people. This bill puts proactive measures in place to make sure that no taxpayer funds are spent on federal contracts that don’t safeguard against trafficking.”

“We must do everything we can to prevent human trafficking,” said Senator Amy Klobuchar. “This bipartisan legislation is another step in the fight to end trafficking, by ensuring federal contractors have a plan to prevent human trafficking and to look into further contracting reform to stop trafficking.”

“The U.S. government must ensure that taxpayer dollars are never tied to human trafficking,” said Congressman Mike Turner. “The Ensuring Accountability and Dignity in Government Contracting Act of 2025 strengthens enforcement, closes oversight gaps, and holds contractors accountable—because zero tolerance must mean zero tolerance.”

“I’m proud to cosponsor the bipartisan Human Trafficking in Government Contracting Prevention Act to strengthen the oversight of human trafficking violations in government contracts,” said Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi. “By requiring contractors to provide anti-trafficking compliance plans, expanding certification requirements, mandating Inspector General investigations of credible violations, and authorizing the suspension of payment for violators, this legislation will reinforce our efforts to end human trafficking.”

“The United States must never rest in combating human trafficking – especially when that trafficking is enabled by taxpayer dollars,” said Congressman Seth Magaziner. “This bipartisan, bicameral bill will increase anti-trafficking efforts by improving oversight of government contracts, accountability for contractors, and strengthening enforcement of standards.”

The Ensuring Accountability and Dignity in Government Contracting Act of 2025 would:

• Require contractors to provide anti-trafficking compliance plans for covered contracts to contracting officers.
• Provide federal contracting officials with relevant information they can use when developing plans to oversee contractors’ trafficking prevention efforts, by expanding and strengthening the current contractor certification requirements.
• Require the Inspector General to investigate all credible information about potential human trafficking violations, including when recipients report it and indicate they have taken actions to address it.
• Direct OMB to assess and report on the feasibility of enhancing government anti-trafficking efforts by amending relevant laws for contractor compliance assessments, streamlining reporting processes, and mandating training for contracting personnel.
• Upon receipt of an Inspector General report of alleged noncompliance, suspend grant payments until the contractor has taken appropriate remedial action.

Background:

The U.S. government has a zero-tolerance policy for human trafficking among U.S. government employees and contractors. Despite Congress increasing federal contracting reporting requirements as part of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently published alarming reports that trafficking allegations within the federal contracting space continue.

In 2022, the End Human Trafficking in Government Contracts Act was signed into law. This legislation enhanced existing anti-human trafficking framework by requiring agencies to refer contractor reports of suspected human trafficking activity to an agency suspension and debarment official (SDO). Despite these efforts, in 2022 and 2023 the SDO offices at agencies, including the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Department of State, Department of Defense, and Agency for International Development, received no referrals of Inspector General-investigated trafficking allegations against contract recipients. The Ensuring Accountability and Dignity in Government Contracting Act of 2025 would ensure that agencies adopt a systematic approach to prevent trafficking in federal contracts, which they failed to do in the past.

Read the full bill here.

###