[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2991 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        S.2991

                    One Hundred Seventeenth Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America


                          AT THE SECOND SESSION

           Begun and held at the City of Washington on Monday,
          the third day of January, two thousand and twenty two


                                 An Act


 
  To establish a Department of Homeland Security Center for Countering 
               Human Trafficking, 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 ``Countering Human Trafficking Act of 
2021''.
SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
    It is the sense of Congress that--
        (1) the victim-centered approach must become universally 
    understood, adopted, and practiced;
        (2) criminal justice efforts must increase the focus on, and 
    adeptness at, investigating and prosecuting forced labor cases;
        (3) corporations must eradicate forced labor from their supply 
    chains;
        (4) the Department of Homeland Security must lead by example--
            (A) by ensuring that its government supply chain of 
        contracts and procurement are not tainted by forced labor; and
            (B) by leveraging all of its authorities against the 
        importation of goods produced with forced labor; and
        (5) human trafficking training, awareness, identification, and 
    screening efforts--
            (A) are a necessary first step for prevention, protection, 
        and enforcement; and
            (B) should be evidence-based to be most effective.
SEC. 3. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY CENTER FOR COUNTERING HUMAN 
TRAFFICKING.
    (a) Establishment.--
        (1) In general.--The Secretary of Homeland Security shall 
    operate, within U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland 
    Security Investigations, the Center for Countering Human 
    Trafficking (referred to in this Act as ``CCHT'').
        (2) Purpose.--The purpose of CCHT shall be to serve at the 
    forefront of the Department of Homeland Security's unified global 
    efforts to counter human trafficking through law enforcement 
    operations and victim protection, prevention, and awareness 
    programs.
        (3) Administration.--Homeland Security Investigations shall--
            (A) maintain a concept of operations that identifies CCHT 
        participants, funding, core functions, and personnel; and
            (B) update such concept of operations, as needed, to 
        accommodate its mission and the threats to such mission.
        (4) Personnel.--
            (A) Director.--The Secretary of Homeland Security shall 
        appoint a CCHT Director, who shall--
                (i) be a member of the Senior Executive Service; and
                (ii) serve as the Department of Homeland Security's 
            representative on human trafficking.
            (B) Minimum core personnel requirements.--Subject to 
        appropriations, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall ensure 
        that CCHT is staffed with at least 45 employees in order to 
        maintain continuity of effort, subject matter expertise, and 
        necessary support to the Department of Homeland Security, 
        including--
                (i) employees who are responsible for the Continued 
            Presence Program and other victim protection duties;
                (ii) employees who are responsible for training, 
            including curriculum development, and public awareness and 
            education;
                (iii) employees who are responsible for stakeholder 
            engagement, Federal interagency coordination, multilateral 
            partnerships, and policy;
                (iv) employees who are responsible for public 
            relations, human resources, evaluation, data analysis and 
            reporting, and information technology;
                (v) special agents and criminal analysts necessary to 
            accomplish its mission of combating human trafficking and 
            the importation of goods produced with forced labor; and
                (vi) managers.
    (b) Operations Unit.--The CCHT Director shall operate, within CCHT, 
an Operations Unit, which shall, at a minimum--
        (1) support criminal investigations of human trafficking 
    (including sex trafficking and forced labor)--
            (A) by developing, tracking, and coordinating leads; and
            (B) by providing subject matter expertise;
        (2) augment the enforcement of the prohibition on the 
    importation of goods produced with forced labor through civil and 
    criminal authorities;
        (3) coordinate a Department-wide effort to conduct procurement 
    audits and enforcement actions, including suspension and debarment, 
    in order to mitigate the risk of human trafficking throughout 
    Department acquisitions and contracts; and
        (4) support all CCHT enforcement efforts with intelligence by 
    conducting lead development, lead validation, case support, 
    strategic analysis, and data analytics.
    (c) Protection and Awareness Programs Unit.--The CCHT Director 
shall operate, within CCHT, a Protection and Awareness Programs Unit, 
which shall--
        (1) incorporate a victim-centered approach throughout 
    Department of Homeland Security policies, training, and practices;
        (2) operate a comprehensive Continued Presence program;
        (3) conduct, review, and assist with Department of Homeland 
    Security human trafficking training, screening, and identification 
    tools and efforts;
        (4) operate the Blue Campaign's nationwide public awareness 
    effort and any other awareness efforts needed to encourage victim 
    identification and reporting to law enforcement and to prevent 
    human trafficking; and
        (5) coordinate external engagement, including training and 
    events, regarding human trafficking with critical partners, 
    including survivors, nongovernmental organizations, corporations, 
    multilateral entities, law enforcement agencies, and other 
    interested parties.
SEC. 4. SPECIALIZED INITIATIVES.
    (a) Human Trafficking Information Modernization Initiative.--The 
CCHT Director, in conjunction with the Science and Technology 
Directorate Office of Science and Engineering, shall develop a strategy 
and proposal to modify systems and processes throughout the Department 
of Homeland Security that are related to CCHT's mission in order to--
        (1) decrease the response time to access victim protections;
        (2) accelerate lead development;
        (3) advance the identification of human trafficking 
    characteristics and trends;
        (4) fortify the security and protection of sensitive 
    information;
        (5) apply analytics to automate manual processes; and
        (6) provide artificial intelligence and machine learning to 
    increase system capabilities and enhance data availability, 
    reliability, comparability, and verifiability.
    (b) Submission of Plan.--Upon the completion of the strategy and 
proposal under subsection (a), the Secretary of Homeland Security shall 
submit a summary of the strategy and plan for executing the strategy 
to--
        (1) the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 
    of the Senate; and
        (2) the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of 
    Representatives.
SEC. 5. REPORTS.
    (a) Information Sharing to Facilitate Reports and Analysis.--Each 
subagency of the Department of Homeland Security shall share with 
CCHT--
        (1) any information needed by CCHT to develop the strategy and 
    proposal required under section 4(a); and
        (2) any additional data analysis to help CCHT better understand 
    the issues surrounding human trafficking.
    (b) Report to Congress.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
the enactment of this Act, the CCHT Director shall submit a report to 
Congress that identifies any legislation that is needed to facilitate 
the Department of Homeland Security's mission to end human trafficking.
    (c) Annual Report on Potential Human Trafficking Victims.--Not 
later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, and 
annually thereafter, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall submit a 
report to Congress that includes--
        (1) the numbers of screened and identified potential victims of 
    trafficking (as defined in section 103(17) of the Trafficking 
    Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7102(17))) at or near the 
    international border between the United States and Mexico, 
    including a summary of the age ranges of such victims and their 
    countries of origin; and
        (2) an update on the Department of Homeland Security's efforts 
    to establish protocols and methods for personnel to report human 
    trafficking, pursuant to the Department of Homeland Security 
    Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking, the Importation of Goods 
    Produced with Forced Labor, and Child Sexual Exploitation, 
    published in January 2020.
SEC. 6. TRANSFER OF OTHER FUNCTIONS RELATED TO HUMAN TRAFFICKING.
    (a) Blue Campaign.--The functions and resources of the Blue 
Campaign located within the Office of Partnership and Engagement on the 
day before the date of the enactment of this Act are hereby transferred 
to CCHT.
    (b) Other Transfer.--
        (1) Authorization.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
    the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security may 
    transfer the functions and resources of any component, directorate, 
    or other office of the Department of Homeland Security related to 
    combating human trafficking to the CCHT.
        (2) Notification.--Not later than 30 days before executing any 
    transfer authorized under paragraph (1), the Secretary of Homeland 
    Security shall notify the Committee on Homeland Security and 
    Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Homeland 
    Security of the House of Representatives of such planned transfer.
SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
    In addition to amounts otherwise authorized to be appropriated, 
there is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of Homeland 
Security to carry out this Act $14,000,000, which shall remain 
available until expended.

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.