GOP Says It’s War in Tennessee Against Human Trafficking – Watch

Tennessee Republicans declared war on human trafficking during a special session of the state legislature on Wednesday. The session was called in response to a recent report that found that human trafficking is a growing problem in Tennessee.

The state GOP declared its intention to eradicate human trafficking in the state at a Tuesday press conference during a hotly contested special session that has received national attention.

The conference was held to discuss a bill that would mandate an annual report from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and put more awareness on the issue of human trafficking in the state.

“One of the things we have not done enough of, is drag this issue out into the light,” House Majority Leader William Lamberth said. “Have the TBI and law enforcement work together with the legislature to identify every single community where this is happening and then allocate needs towards that.”

The bill, SB 7088, has the support of Lamberth and Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson. Unlike many of the other bills that have been filed during the special session, it made it through the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday.