[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 48 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 48

  Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding trafficking in persons.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 10, 2005

Mr. Lugar submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
  Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding trafficking in persons.

Whereas an estimated 600,000 to 800,000 people are trafficked annually;
Whereas approximately 70 percent of trafficked persons are female and 50 percent 
        are children;
Whereas approximately 250,000 people are trafficked in, out, and through the 
        South East Asia region each year;
Whereas the tsunami that struck South East Asia, South Asia, and East Africa on 
        December 26, 2004, killed more than 160,000 people, affected 5,000,000 
        people, and left an estimated 35,000 children orphaned;
Whereas these orphaned children are particularly vulnerable to being trafficked 
        for sexual exploitation, forced labor, or to be child soldiers;
Whereas governments of countries affected by the earthquake and tsunami in the 
        Indian Ocean have taken measures to prevent the trafficking of children 
        and other vulnerable persons;
Whereas President Susilo Bambang Yudhyono of Indonesia has ordered that 
        immigration and police officers not allow children from Aceh to be 
        removed from the country;
Whereas Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi of Malaysia undertook measures to prevent 
        child trafficking by directing immigration enforcement officials at 
        entry points in Malaysia to be on the alert for child trafficking and by 
        imposing a temporary ban on the adoption of foreign children;
Whereas, in India, the State Government of Tamil Nadu opened shelters to protect 
        orphaned or separated children and pledged that it would provide orphans 
        of the tsunami support and education;
Whereas the Royal Thai Government has placed all tsunami orphans in that country 
        in the protective custody of extended family members and has awarded 
        boarding school scholarships to children affected by the tsunami;
Whereas, in Sri Lanka, the National Child Protection Authority (NCPA), UNICEF, 
        and nongovernmental organizations have mobilized teams to identify and 
        register all children who have been separated from their immediate 
        families;
Whereas the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime 
        (hereafter in this resolution referred to as the ``Organized Crime 
        Convention'') and the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish 
        Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, a protocol to the 
        Organized Crime Convention (hereafter in this resolution referred to as 
        the ``Trafficking Protocol''), require countries to enact laws to 
        criminalize trafficking in persons, punish traffickers, and assist 
        victims;
Whereas the United States, on December 13, 2000, signed, but has not yet 
        ratified, the Organized Crime Convention and the Trafficking Protocol;
Whereas ratification by the United States of the Organized Crime Convention and 
        the Trafficking Protocol would enhance the ability of the United States 
        Government to render and receive assistance on a global basis in the 
        common struggle to prevent, investigate, and prosecute trafficking in 
        persons; and
Whereas, like the United States, most countries affected by the tsunami disaster 
        have signed, but not yet ratified, the Organized Crime Convention and 
        the Trafficking Protocol: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that--
            (1) combating trafficking in persons should continue to be 
        a priority of United States foreign policy;
            (2) the United States should ratify the United Nations 
        Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime and the 
        Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in 
        Persons, Especially Women and Children;
            (3) the President should commend the efforts of the 
        governments of those countries affected by the December 26, 
        2004, tsunami to protect their children from the dangers of 
        trafficking; and
            (4) the President should urge all countries to ratify the 
        United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime 
        and the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in 
        Persons, Especially Women and Children, particularly those 
        countries that have been most affected by the tsunami and in 
        which children face the resulting increased risk of being 
        abducted and trafficked.
                                 <all>