[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2991 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2991

 To establish a Department of Homeland Security Center for Countering 
               Human Trafficking, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 18, 2021

Mr. Peters (for himself and Mr. Portman) introduced the following bill; 
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security 
                        and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 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;
                            (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--
                    (A) to encourage victim identification and 
                reporting to law enforcement; and
                    (B) 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 5(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.

SEC. 6. 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.
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