[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1259 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1259

    To amend the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection 
 Reauthorization Act of 2008 to prohibit the provision of peacekeeping 
operations assistance to governments of countries that recruit and use 
                            child soldiers.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 22, 2011

Mr. Durbin (for himself and Mr. Boozman) introduced the following bill; 
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To amend the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection 
 Reauthorization Act of 2008 to prohibit the provision of peacekeeping 
operations assistance to governments of countries that recruit and use 
                            child soldiers.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Trafficking Victims Enhanced 
Protection Act of 2011''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) There are as many as 300,000 child soldiers in use by 
        state-run armies, paramilitaries, and guerilla groups in 
        roughly 21 countries around the world and in almost every 
        region of the world.
            (2) The 2010 Trafficking in Persons Report defines a child 
        soldier as any person under 18 years of age who directly takes 
        part in hostilities, has been compulsorily or voluntarily 
        recruited as a member of a government's armed forces, or has 
        been recruited or used in hostilities by armed forces distinct 
        from the armed forces of a state.
            (3) Children are used as soldiers, combatants, spies, 
        scouts, decoys, guards, cooks, human mine detectors, and even 
        sex slaves, robbing them of their childhood. Children are 
        forced to join such groups physically, economically, or 
        socially, or lured with promises of food, money, or security.
            (4) Exploitation of these children leaves them stigmatized 
        and traumatized. Children also suffer higher mortality, 
        disease, and injury rates in combat situations than adults, 
        putting their health and lives at risk.
            (5) The William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection 
        Reauthorization Act of 2008 (Public Law 110-457) prohibits the 
        provision of International Military Education and Training 
        (IMET) and Foreign Military Funds (FMF) assistance to countries 
        found to use child soldiers.
            (6) The first report required under WTVPRA, published in 
        2010, identified 6 countries found to use child soldiers: 
        Burma, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Sudan, 
        Yemen, and Chad.
            (7) On October 25, 2010, President Barack Obama exercised 
        his waiver authority for 4 of the 6 countries to include the 
        Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Sudan, Yemen, and Chad, 
        which allowed the United States Government to provide both IMET 
        and FMF funding to these countries.
            (8) United States peacekeeping funds that were not 
        restricted in the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims 
        Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 have been provided to 
        Somalia, despite the use of child soldiers in that country and 
        United States efforts to halt such practices.

SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON PROVISION OF PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS ASSISTANCE 
              TO CERTAIN GOVERNMENTS.

    Section 404(a) of the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims 
Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 (22 U.S.C. 2370c-1(a)) is 
amended by striking ``section 516 or 541 of the Foreign Assistance Act 
of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2321j or 2347)'' and inserting ``section 516, 541, 
or 551 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2321j, 2347, or 
2348)''.
                                 <all>