WASHINGTON – The U.S. House Judiciary Committee this week approved two bills to stiffen penalties for online sex trafficking, but Colorado Rep. Ken Buck, a former Weld County prosecutor, didn’t offer much of an opinion.

One of the bills amends the Communications Decency Act, which protects websites from liability for sex ads or other content posted by other persons. It has been used by online vendors like Backpage.com to avoid criminal and civil penalties.

The amended law makes the website operators liable if they “knowingly” advertise sex trafficking.

The other bill would revise the Mann Act, which seeks to punish forced prostitution. It could extend liability to websites that intentionally promote prostitution.

The website operators argued they should not be punished for the misdeeds of other persons who post information on websites that allow open access.

Buck, a Republican member of the Judiciary Committee, joined the unanimous vote, but didn’t have much to say about it, though.

“He just doesn’t have anything to add right now,” a spokesman for Buck said in response to an inquiry from Colorado Politics. “The bills really weren’t contentious since they passed by voice vote out of a really quick markup. He didn’t actually speak at the hearing. It went fast. I’m not sure that there’s any particular nexus for Colorado on the bills.”

The bills approved by the Judiciary Committee now go to a vote on the floor of the House of Representatives. The Senate already passed a similar bill last month called the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act.

Buck has a primary challenger in former Lone Tree Mayor Jim Gunning next year, while four candidates so far are in the Democratic primary in Congressional District 4: Larry Germanson, Chase Kohnem Karen McCormick and Richard Lyons Weil.