[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 500 Introduced in House (IH)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 500

To establish the United States Advisory Council on Human Trafficking to 
         review Federal Government policy on human trafficking.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 22, 2015

Mr. Honda (for himself, Mr. Poe of Texas, Mr. Rodney Davis of Illinois, 
    Ms. Bass, and Ms. Lee) introduced the following bill; which was 
 referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the 
Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined 
 by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as 
        fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To establish the United States Advisory Council on Human Trafficking to 
         review Federal Government policy on human trafficking.

    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 ``Survivors of Human Trafficking 
Empowerment Act''.

SEC. 2. UNITED STATES ADVISORY COUNCIL ON HUMAN TRAFFICKING.

    (a) Establishment.--There is established the United States Advisory 
Council on Human Trafficking (referred to in this section as the 
``Council''), which shall provide advice and recommendations to the 
Senior Policy Operating Group (referred to in this section as the 
``Group'') established under section 105(g) of the Victims of 
Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7103(g)) and 
the President's Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat 
Trafficking established under section 105(a) of that Act (22 U.S.C. 
7103(a)) (referred to in this section as the ``Task Force'').
    (b) Membership.--
            (1) Composition.--The Council shall be composed of not 
        fewer than 8 and not more than 14 individuals who are--
                    (A) survivors of human trafficking; or
                    (B) nongovernmental experts or professionals in the 
                human trafficking field.
            (2) Representation of survivors.--To the extent 
        practicable, not less than 50 percent of members of the Council 
        shall be survivors of trafficking, who shall accurately reflect 
        the diverse backgrounds of survivors of trafficking, 
        including--
                    (A) survivors of sex trafficking and survivors of 
                labor trafficking; and
                    (B) survivors who are United States citizens and 
                survivors who are aliens lawfully present in the United 
                States.
            (3) Appointment.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, the President shall appoint the 
        members of the Council.
            (4) Term; reappointment.--Council members shall serve for 
        terms of 2 years and may be reappointed by the President to 
        serve additional 2-year terms.
    (c) Functions.--The Council shall--
            (1) be a nongovernmental advisory body to the Group;
            (2) meet, at its own discretion, or at the request of the 
        Group, not less frequently than annually to review Federal 
        Government policy and programs intended to combat human 
        trafficking, including programs related to the provision of 
        services for victims, and serve as a point of contact for 
        Federal agencies reaching out to human trafficking survivors 
        for input on programming and polices relating to human 
        trafficking in the United States;
            (3) formulate assessments and recommendations to ensure 
        that United States policy and programming efforts conform, to 
        the extent practicable, to the best practices in the field of 
        human trafficking prevention; and
            (4) meet with the Group not less frequently than annually 
        and not later than 45 days before the next meeting of the Task 
        Force to formally present the Council's findings and 
        recommendations.
    (d) Reports.--Every year beginning after the date of the enactment 
of this Act, the Council shall submit a report that contains the 
findings derived from the reviews conducted pursuant to subsection 
(c)(2) to--
            (1) the chair of the Task Force;
            (2) the members of the Group; and
            (3) the Committees on Foreign Affairs, Homeland Security, 
        Appropriations, and the Judiciary of the House of 
        Representatives, and the Committees on Foreign Relations, 
        Appropriations, Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, and 
        the Judiciary of the Senate.
    (e) Employee Status.--Members of the Council--
            (1) shall not be considered employees of the United States 
        Government for any purpose; and
            (2) shall not receive compensation other than reimbursement 
        of travel expenses and per diem allowance in accordance with 
        section 5703 of title 5, United States Code.
    (f) Nonapplicability of FACA.--The Council shall not be subject to 
the requirements under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. 
App.).

SEC. 3. SUNSET.

    This Act shall cease to be effective on September 30, 2021.
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