[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8974 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8974

   To direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish a Blue 
   Campaign Certification Program to encourage employers in covered 
industries to encourage employees to complete training to recognize and 
    respond to suspected human trafficking, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              July 9, 2024

 Mr. Valadao (for himself and Mr. Carter of Louisiana) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, 
and in addition to the Committee on Homeland Security, 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 direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish a Blue 
   Campaign Certification Program to encourage employers in covered 
industries to encourage employees to complete training to recognize and 
    respond to suspected 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 ``Human Trafficking Awareness Training 
Recognition Act of 2024''.

SEC. 2. AWARD.

    The Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 231 et seq.) is amended 
by inserting after section 434 the following:

``SEC. 434A. BLUE CAMPAIGN CERTIFICATION PROGRAM.

    ``(a) Program Established.--Not later than one year after the date 
of the enactment of this section, the Secretary of Homeland Security 
shall establish a Blue Campaign Certification Program (in this section 
referred to as the `Program') to encourage efforts by employers in 
covered industries to encourage employees to complete training to 
recognize and respond to suspected human trafficking. The Secretary 
shall provide a certificate of completion to eligible employers.
    ``(b) Application Process.--
            ``(1) Solicitation of applications.--During each year in 
        which the Secretary provides a certificate of completion, the 
        Secretary shall solicit applications, beginning not later than 
        January 31 and ending not earlier than April 30, from employers 
        to consider whether such employers should receive such 
        certificate.
            ``(2) Review of applications.--The Secretary, in 
        consultation with the Director of Homeland Security 
        Investigations, shall review each application received in a 
        year.
            ``(3) Contents of applications.--The Secretary shall 
        require each employer who submits an application to provide in 
        such application--
                    ``(A) information about the training to recognize 
                and respond to suspected human trafficking that such 
                employer provided to the employees of such employer; 
                and
                    ``(B) any other information the Secretary 
                determines appropriate.
    ``(c) Recognition of Recipients.--
            ``(1) Issuance of awards.--The Secretary shall provide a 
        certificate of completion to each employer whom the Secretary 
        determines is eligible. The certificate of completion shall 
        state that the recipient may display such certificate for a 1-
        year period beginning on the date on which such certificate is 
        provided.
            ``(2) Notice in federal register.--The Secretary shall 
        recognize each such recipient through publication in the 
        Federal Register.
    ``(d) Prohibited Display.--It is prohibited for any employer to 
publicly display a Blue Campaign Certification of Completion--
            ``(1) for the purpose of conveying, or in a manner 
        reasonably calculated to convey, a false impression that the 
        employer completed the Blue Campaign Certification Program, if 
        such employer did not complete such Program; or
            ``(2) for the purpose of conveying, or in a manner 
        reasonably calculated to convey, a false impression that the 
        employer received a certificate of completion through the Blue 
        Campaign Certification Program for a year for which such 
        employer did not receive such certificate.
    ``(e) Reports.--During each year beginning not later than two years 
after the date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary shall 
submit to the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of 
Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
Affairs of the Senate, a report on the Program, including--
            ``(1) the number of employers who submitted an application 
        for Blue Campaign Certification in the prior year;
            ``(2) the fees collected under subsection (f) from such 
        employers, and any changes in fees to be proposed in the 
        present year;
            ``(3) the number of Blue Campaign Certifications of 
        Completion provided in the prior year, including the name of 
        each employer to whom a Blue Campaign Certification of 
        Completion was awarded;
            ``(4) the cost of administering the Program in the prior 
        year; and
            ``(5) any other matter the Secretary determines 
        appropriate.
    ``(f) Authorization for Application Fees.--The Secretary is 
authorized to establish a reasonable fee to be imposed on employers 
submitting applications for a Blue Campaign Certification of Completion 
to cover the cost of carrying out the Program.
    ``(g) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Covered industry.--The term `covered industry' means 
        any industry that the Secretary has determined--
                    ``(A) has a relatively high prevalence of human 
                trafficking; and
                    ``(B) that human trafficking awareness training 
                could have a significant impact.
            ``(2) Employer.--The term `employer' has the meaning given 
        such term in section 3 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 
        (29 U.S.C. 203), except that such term does not include a 
        public agency (as defined in such section 3).
            ``(3) Human trafficking.--The term `human trafficking' has 
        the meaning given the term `severe forms of trafficking in 
        person' in section 103 of the Trafficking Victims Protection 
        Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7102).
            ``(4) Secretary of homeland security.--The term `Secretary 
        of Homeland Security' means the Secretary of Homeland Security, 
        acting through the Director of the Blue Campaign.
            ``(5) Training.--The term `training' means the training to 
        recognize and respond to suspected human trafficking.''.

SEC. 3. BLUE CAMPAIGN.

    Section 434(e) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 
242(e)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (7), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) by redesignating paragraph (8) as paragraph (9); and
            (3) by inserting after paragraph (7) the following:
            ``(8) increased coordination with experts from the private 
        sector, academic institutions, and other covered industries (as 
        such term is defined in section 434A).''.
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