Matt Gaetz, MTG and these 18 Republicans vote against sex trafficking reauthorization act

Twenty House Republicans, including Rep. Matt Gaetz, are being pilloried by Democrats and their media allies for voting against the Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention & Protection Reauthorization Act of 2022.

The bill would appropriate $1.1 billion over five years to boost programs designed to support victims of trafficking. It’d also “implement a new contractual preference for hotels and motels with a policy of zero-tolerance for human trafficking,” according to the Congressional Budget Office.

The 20 Republicans were the only House members to vote against the bill, which otherwise easily passed the House 401-20. Even Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy voted “yes,” which raises the question of why these 20 voted “no.”

The evidence suggests they voted “no” to prevent further government expansion and limit additional government spending.

The evidence includes the fact that many of the 20 Republicans have, at one point or another, been called “libertarian-leaning,” which is relevant because libertarians passionately oppose expanding the size of the government.

Below is a list of all 20 Republicans who voted “no”:

  • Brian Babin of Texas
  • Andy Biggs of Arizona
  • Lauren Boebert of Colorado
  • Mo Brooks of Alabama
  • Ken Buck of Colorado
  • Andrew Clyde of Georgia
  • Matt Gaetz of Florida
  • Louis Gohmert of Texas
  • Paul Gosar of Arizona
  • Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia
  • Andy Harris of Maryland
  • Jody Hice of Georgia
  • Thomas Massie of Kentucky
  • Thomas M. McClintock of California
  • Mary Miller of Illinois
  • Troy Nehls of Texas
  • Ralph Norman of South Carolina
  • Scott Perry of Pennsylvania
  • Chip Roy of Texas
  • Van Taylor of Texas

 

The second piece of evidence is what Gaetz said in 2017 when he was the lone member of Congress to vote against the Combating Human Trafficking in Commercial Vehicles Act. In a Facebook Live video posted afterward, he called the bill “mission creep” and an “expansion of the federal government.”

“Unless there is an overwhelming, compelling reason that our existing agencies in the federal government can’t handle that problem, I vote no because voters in Northwest Florida did not send me to Washington to go and create more federal government,” he said.

“If anything, we should be abolishing a lot of the agencies at the federal level like the Department of Education, like the EPA and sending that power back to our state governments,” Gaetz added.

Listen:

 

Why I stood alone on a recent vote.

Posted by Matt Gaetz on Thursday, December 28, 2017

It’s presumed he and the other 19 Republicans voted against the latest trafficking bill for the same reason. It’s hard to tell either way because none of them have posted statements explaining their vote.

But by not posting statements, they’ve opened themselves up to attack from the left, which has predictably rushed to impugn their unspoken motivations.

Gaetz, in particular, has faced the brunt of the attacks because of the thus-far fruitless criminal sex-trafficking investigation into the congressman.

Case in point:

The congressman has been under federal investigation over allegations pertaining to the sex trafficking of a 17-year-old girl.

“[T]he federal investigation into the Florida congressman was opened in the final months of the Donald Trump’s administration, following a previous investigation into Gaetz’s political ally and friend Joel Greenberg, who has since pleaded guilty to sex trafficking,” according to Newsweek.

There have, however, since been no charges filed against Gaetz, though related charges have been filed against a man who tried to extort the congressman.

Gaetz likewise has denied any wrongdoing.

“I have never, ever paid for sex. And second, I, as an adult man, have not slept with a 17-year-old. It comes as no surprise that my political opponents want to sensationalize and criminalize my prior sex life just as I am getting engaged to the best person I’ve ever known. It is regrettable that the battle of ideas should thus become so personal,” he said last year.

Vivek Saxena

Comment

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.

Latest Articles