[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2283 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2283

To prioritize the fight against human trafficking within the Department 
 of State according to congressional intent in the Trafficking Victims 
   Protection Act of 2000 without increasing the size of the Federal 
                  Government, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              June 6, 2013

   Mr. Smith of New Jersey introduced the following bill; which was 
              referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To prioritize the fight against human trafficking within the Department 
 of State according to congressional intent in the Trafficking Victims 
   Protection Act of 2000 without increasing the size of the Federal 
                  Government, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Human Trafficking Prioritization 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The International Labor Organization estimates that 
        nearly 21,000,000 people are subjected to modern slavery around 
        the world at any given time and that the majority of the 
        enslaved are women and girls.
            (2) Congress authorized the creation of a Department of 
        State Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons in 
        the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (Public Law 106-
        386) in order to directly assist the Secretary of State in his 
        or her effort to coordinate a United States Government 
        interagency response to domestic and international trafficking 
        in persons.
            (3) The Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons 
        monitors trafficking worldwide and produces the online and 
        printed versions of the annual Trafficking in Persons Report, 
        which is Congress' primary resource for human trafficking 
        reporting, analysis, and recommendations on the United States 
        and 186 countries around the world.
            (4) The annual Trafficking in Persons Report contains tier 
        rankings of each country on which it reports, and these tier 
        rankings have become an essential diplomatic tool for promoting 
        protection for victims, prevention of trafficking, and 
        prosecution of perpetrators.
            (5) Some countries have openly stated, and many others have 
        confided, that dramatic improvements in the country's human 
        trafficking record were directly related to avoidance of a low 
        tier ranking in the annual Trafficking in Persons Report.
            (6) Ambassador Mark Lagon, former Ambassador-at-Large to 
        Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (2007-2009), 
        testified before the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, 
        Global Human Rights, and International Organizations of the 
        Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives on 
        April 18, 2013, that ``[T]he State Department does a tremendous 
        job in producing a report which tells it like it is, offering 
        objective rankings. Yet at times it pulls punches, typically 
        due to the urging of regional specialists rather than the TIP 
        Office's dedicated experts on trafficking.''.
            (7) Ambassador John Miller, former Ambassador-at-Large to 
        Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (2002-2006), recently 
        stated that, ``Upgrading the status of the Office to a Bureau 
        will not create additional bureaucracy--it will simply give 
        JTIP and the Ambassador-at-large who heads it equal standing 
        with regional and functional bureaus at the State Department. 
        That standing is absolutely essential for the issue to remain a 
        priority, especially when multiple U.S. interests are 
        engaged.''.
            (8) The tier ranking process authorized by Congress in the 
        Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 has been in some 
        instances compromised by the Office to Monitor and Combat 
        Trafficking subordinate stature within the Department of State.
            (9) It is essential for Congress and the Secretary of State 
        to be accurately informed regarding United States and foreign 
        country successes and failures in the fight against human 
        trafficking.
            (10) The diplomatic power and credibility of the 
        Trafficking in Persons Report is based on rigorous scholarship 
        and scrupulous application of the minimum standards for the 
        elimination of human trafficking and is undermined by 
        political, rather than factual, tier rankings.
            (11) Strong and effective anti-slavery policy requires that 
        officials from the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking 
        have equal hierarchical standing with State Department regional 
        bureaus and direct access to the Secretary of State.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the Sense of Congress that--
            (1) the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking of the 
        Department of State will be more effective in carrying out 
        duties mandated by Congress in the Trafficking Victims 
        Protection Act of 2000 if the Office status is changed to that 
        of a Bureau within the Department hierarchy;
            (2) the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking will be 
        more effective in carrying out duties mandated by Congress in 
        the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 if the Office is 
        headed by an Assistant Secretary with direct access to the 
        Secretary of State, rather than an Ambassador-at-Large; and
            (3) the change in status from Office to Monitor and Combat 
        Trafficking with an Ambassador-at-Large to a Bureau led by an 
        Assistant Secretary can be accomplished without increasing the 
        number of personnel or the budget of the current Office.

SEC. 4. OFFICE TO COMBAT TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS.

    (a) In General.--Section 105(e) of the Trafficking Victims 
Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7103(e)) is amended--
            (1) in the heading, by striking ``Office to Monitor and 
        Combat Trafficking'' and inserting ``Bureau to Combat 
        Trafficking in Persons'';
            (2) in paragraph (1)--
                    (A) in the first sentence, by striking ``Office to 
                Monitor and Combat Trafficking'' and inserting ``Bureau 
                to Combat Trafficking in Persons'';
                    (B) in the second sentence,--
                            (i) by striking ``Office'' and inserting 
                        ``Bureau'';
                            (ii) by striking ``Director'' and inserting 
                        ``Assistant Secretary of State''; and
                            (iii) by striking ``, with the rank of 
                        Ambassador-at-Large''; and
                    (C) in the third sentence, by striking ``Director'' 
                and inserting ``Assistant Secretary of State'';
                    (D) in the fourth sentence, by striking 
                ``Director'' and inserting ``Assistant Secretary of 
                State'';
                    (E) in the fifth sentence, by striking ``Director'' 
                and inserting ``Assistant Secretary of State''; and
                    (F) in the sixth sentence, by striking ``Office'' 
                and inserting ``Bureau''; and
            (3) in paragraph (2)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``Office to 
                Monitor and Combat Trafficking'' and inserting ``Bureau 
                to Combat Trafficking in Persons''; and
                    (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``Director'' 
                and inserting ``Assistant Secretary of State''.
    (b) Conforming Amendments.--
            (1) In general.--Any reference in the Trafficking Victims 
        Protection Act of 2000 or in any other Act to--
                    (A) the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking 
                shall be deemed to be a reference to the Bureau to 
                Combat Trafficking in Persons; and
                    (B) the Director or Ambassador-at-Large of the 
                Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons 
                shall be deemed to be a reference to the Assistant 
                Secretary directing the Bureau to Combat Trafficking in 
                Persons.
            (2) State department basic authorities act of 1956.--
        Section 1(c)(1) of the State Department Basic Authorities Act 
        of 1956 (22 U.S.C. 2651a(c)(1)) is amended, in the first 
        sentence, by striking ``24'' and inserting ``25''.
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