Take Action: Call on Congress to support anti-Human Trafficking Bill 

On January 17th, Cardinal George Pell, Prefect of the Vatican Secretariat for the Economy, announced during a meeting of The Global Foundation that the Holy See is taking steps to "slave-proof" the Vatican supply chain and hopes that this announcement "will serve as encouragement for others to follow suit." At the same meeting, the Consumer Goods Forum, a consortium of major companies including Carrefour, Barilla, and Nestle, announced it had passed a resolution to eradicate forced labor from their supply chains.

In this country, we can follow the Vatican's effort by calling on our legislators in Congress to pass legislation on supply chain transparency. On February 8th, the feast of St. Josephine Bakhita, who was a survivor of human trafficking and a Canossian sister, we commemorate her struggle and remember all those caught in slavery by renewing our commitment to abolish all forms of human slavery. FAN joins members of Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) in urging our members to call members of Congress asking them to co-sponsor the Business Supply Chain Transparency on Trafficking and Slavery Act of 2015.

Please call the Capitol Switchboard, 202-224-3121, where you will be directed to your senators and your representative. If you can make all three calls, it would be great. Tell the office that you would like to speak with the staffer who handles human trafficking. If the staffer is not available, you can leave a message.

Here is a suggested script:
I am ____________ a constituent and member of Franciscan Action Network. I ask the Senator/Representative to co-sponsor S. 1968/H.R. 3226, the Business Supply Chain Transparency on Trafficking and Slavery Act of 2015. Human trafficking and the use of slave labor is a very serious concern for me. Businesses should be required to publicly disclose their efforts to eliminate human trafficking and child labor in their operations and supply chains. I hope that the Senator/Representative will co-sponsor this bill. If the Senator (or Representative) has already co-sponsored S 1968 or H.R. 3226, I offer my thanks.