[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.