STOP Organ Trafficking Act
Latest action. Committee Agreed to Seek Consideration Under suspension of the rulesA House fast track for uncontroversial bills: 40 minutes of debate, no amendments, and a two-thirds vote to pass.Read the full definition (opens a new tab), by unanimous consentDoing business by universal agreement instead of votes. Most Senate floor action happens this way, which is why a single objecting senator has real power.Read the full definition (opens a new tab).
Strategy To Oppose Predatory Organ Trafficking Act or the STOP Organ Trafficking Act
This bill states that it shall be U.S. policy to combat trafficking in human organs and promote the establishment of voluntary organ donation systems.
The bill authorizes the Department of State to refuse to issue a passport to, or revoke a previously issued passport from, a person convicted of trafficking in human organs who used a passport or otherwise crossed an international border in committing such offense.
The Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 is amended to: (1) include trafficking of persons for the removal of their organs in the definition of severe forms of trafficking in persons, and (2) direct the Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking to collect and organize data from human rights officers at U.S. embassies on host country laws against trafficking in human organs.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on July 17, 2018. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on September 27, 2018: Committee Agreed to Seek Consideration Under Suspension of the Rules, by Unanimous Consent.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 115th Congress (2017-18), 442 of the 11,421 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.9 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
David Trott (R-MI) introduced it on July 17, 2018, and 5 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 5 Democrats.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on July 17, 2018, 2977 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 2905 days ago, on September 27, 2018.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 115th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2019 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers