[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3977 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3977

To require the Department of State to publish a list of countries that 
contract with the Government of Cuba for their medical missions program 
and ensure that such contracts are considered as factors in considering 
    Trafficking in Persons report rankings, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 17, 2020

Mr. Scott of Florida (for himself, Mr. Rubio, and Mr. Cruz) introduced 
the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 
                          on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require the Department of State to publish a list of countries that 
contract with the Government of Cuba for their medical missions program 
and ensure that such contracts are considered as factors in considering 
    Trafficking in Persons report rankings, 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 ``Cut Profits to the Cuban Regime Act 
of 2020''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The Department of State declared in September 2019 that 
        Cuba's overseas medical missions program, known as the ``Cuban 
        doctor's program,'' employs up to 50,000 healthcare 
        professionals in more than 60 countries, and are a major source 
        of income for the Cuban regime. However, former participants 
        describe coercion, non-payment of wages, withholding of their 
        passports, and restrictions on their movement. The Department 
        of State has documented indicators of human trafficking in 
        Cuba's overseas medical missions each year since the 2010 
        Trafficking in Persons Report (TIP Report), including in the 
        2019 TIP Report and remain deeply concerned about these abuses. 
        The Department of State urges host country governments and 
        civil society to examine the practices in Cuba's medical 
        missions in their countries and ensure the rights of healthcare 
        professionals are protected.
            (2) According to the Department of State, the Government of 
        Cuba collected $7,200,000,000 in a single year from the export 
        of professional services through programs like the foreign 
        medical missions and, while those services were ongoing, 
        refused to provide even a living wage to those who were 
        participating in it.
            (3) The Department of State estimates that globally there 
        are 24,900,000 victims of human trafficking, also commonly 
        referred to as modern slavery.
            (4) In the United States, Congress has led efforts to 
        eliminate severe forms of trafficking in persons domestically 
        and internationally, particularly with its enactment of the 
        Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 
        (Public Law 106-386). Division A of that Act, the Trafficking 
        Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA), established United 
        States antitrafficking policy to--
                    (A) prevent trafficking;
                    (B) protect trafficking victims; and
                    (C) prosecute and punish traffickers (known as the 
                three Ps).
            (5) A key element of the TVPA's foreign policy objectives 
        involved a new requirement for the Secretary of State to 
        produce an annual report on human trafficking and to rank 
        foreign governments based on their antitrafficking efforts. In 
        the ensuing reports, which the Department of State titled as 
        Trafficking in Persons (TIP) reports, the Department developed 
        a ranking system in which the best-ranked countries were 
        identified as Tier 1 and the worst-ranked as Tier 3. Moreover, 
        the TVPA stipulated that the worst performers (Tier 3 
        countries) in the TIP Report could be subject to potential 
        restrictions on certain types of United States foreign aid and 
        other United States and multilateral funds--a policy that is 
        intended to motivate countries to avoid Tier 3 by prioritizing 
        antitrafficking efforts.

SEC. 3. ACCOUNTABILITY FOR COUNTRIES THAT USE THE CUBAN DOCTOR'S 
              PROGRAM.

    (a) Requirement Report on Countries That Use the Cuban Doctor's 
Program.--The Secretary of State shall include in the report required 
under section 110(b) of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 
(22 U.S.C. 7107(b)) a list of countries that contract with the 
Government of Cuba to use that country's medical missions program, 
known as the ``Cuban doctor's program''.
    (b) Consequences for Enabling Trafficking in Persons.--Section 
110(b) of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 
7107(b)) is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(5) Consequences for enabling trafficking in persons.--In 
        preparing the report under this subsection, including 
        determining which countries to include on the lists pursuant to 
        paragraph (1), the Secretary of State shall consider whether 
        the government of a country enables the trafficking in persons 
        in another country, including by participating in programs with 
        foreign governments and organizations that involve or enable 
        trafficking in persons.''.
    (c) Recognition of Efforts To Prevent Funding Government of Cuba.--
A country's ranking for purposes of section 110(b)(1) of the 
Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7107(b)(1)) shall 
not be adversely affected as a result of a country's contracting with a 
doctor's program if the country using the program--
            (1) compensates medical professionals (or any service 
        professional) directly rather than through the government of a 
        country or an organization that is sponsoring them and pays 
        foreign medical professionals and personnel the same 
        compensation as domestic medical professionals and personnel 
        are paid for similar work;
            (2) ensures such professionals retain control of their 
        passports and earnings;
            (3) makes public the terms of the agreement with the 
        government or sponsoring organization;
            (4) ensures medical professionals are allowed to bring 
        their family (particularly spouses and minor children) with 
        them;
            (5) ensures medical professional's (and their family's) 
        travel are not restricted and that their activities and speech 
        are not monitored while in the host country;
            (6) ensures humane and safe working and living conditions, 
        in accordance with international law; and
            (7) ensures that the country providing the program is not 
        receiving any additional compensation from the host country or 
        any organization for the work of the medical professionals.
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