Rhode Island Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin and Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley this month announced they have joined a coalition of other attorneys general representing 46 states and territories in urging Congress to adequately fund programs to combat human trafficking.

A letter sent by the National Association of Attorneys General encourages Congress to pass the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act by the end of the year.

Congress authorized the Trafficking Victims Protection Act in December 2008 and it has been renewed three times since then. However, Congress needs to reauthorize the act by the end of this year or it will expire. In the association’s letter, the state and territorial attorneys general offer specific funding recommendations for programs within the U.S. Dept. of Justice, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and U.S. Department of Homeland Security to curtail the human-trafficking industry and provide the resources necessary to assist survivors. •