[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4007 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4007

   To direct the Attorney General to study issues relating to human 
                  trafficking, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 20, 2024

Mrs. Gillibrand (for herself, Mr. Rubio, and Mr. Hawley) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                             the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To direct the Attorney General to study issues relating to 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 ``Put Trafficking Victims First Act of 
2024''.

SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING TRAINING FOR PROSECUTIONS OF 
              TRAFFICKERS AND SUPPORT FOR STATE SERVICES FOR 
              TRAFFICKING VICTIMS.

    It is the sense of Congress that a portion of the funds available 
for training and technical assistance under section 107(b)(2)(B)(ii) of 
the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 
7105(b)(2)(B)(ii)) should be devoted to advancing the following goals:
            (1) Increasing the personal safety of organizations working 
        in the human trafficking field, who may face intimidation or 
        retaliation for their activities.
            (2) Promoting a trauma-informed, evidence-based, culturally 
        competent, and victim-centered approach to the provision of 
        services for victims of trafficking.
            (3) Ensuring that law enforcement officers and prosecutors 
        make every attempt to determine whether an individual is a 
        victim of human trafficking before arresting the individual 
        for, or charging the individual with, an offense that is 
        related to the trafficking victimization of the individual.
            (4) Effectively prosecuting traffickers and individuals who 
        patronize or solicit children for sex, and facilitating access 
        for child victims of commercial sex trafficking to the services 
        and protections afforded to other victims of sexual violence.
            (5) Encouraging States to improve efforts to identify and 
        meet the needs of human trafficking victims and individuals at 
        risk for trafficking victimization, through methods that are 
        responsive to the needs of victims in their communities.

SEC. 3. WORKING GROUP TO DEVELOP METHODOLOGIES TO ASSESS PREVALENCE OF 
              HUMAN TRAFFICKING.

    (a) Working Group.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, the Attorney General, in 
        consultation with other Federal entities engaged in efforts to 
        combat human trafficking, shall establish an expert working 
        group, which shall--
                    (A) utilize, to the extent practicable, existing 
                efforts of agencies, task forces, States, localities, 
                tribes, research institutions, and organizations;
                    (B) identify barriers to the collection of data on 
                the incidence of sex and labor trafficking; and
                    (C) recommend practices to promote better data 
                collection and analysis.
            (2) Membership.--The working group established pursuant to 
        paragraph (2) shall include--
                    (A) survivors of human trafficking;
                    (B) experts on sex and labor trafficking;
                    (C) representatives from organizations collecting 
                data on human trafficking; and
                    (D) law enforcement officers.
            (3) Pilot testing.--Not later than 3 years after the date 
        of the enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall 
        implement a pilot project to test promising methodologies 
        studied under paragraph (1).
    (b) Report.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 3 years after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, the Attorney General, in 
        consultation with the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of 
        Health and Human Services, the Secretary of Homeland Security, 
        and the Director of the Center for Countering Human Trafficking 
        of the Department of Homeland Security, shall submit a report 
        to Congress that includes--
                    (A) a description of Federal efforts to estimate 
                the prevalence of human trafficking at the national and 
                regional levels;
                    (B) the effectiveness of current policies and 
                procedures to address the needs of victims of 
                trafficking;
                    (C) an analysis of demographic characteristics of 
                victims of trafficking in different regions of the 
                United States; and
                    (D) recommendations for how to address the unique 
                vulnerabilities of different victims.
            (2) Input from relevant parties.--In developing the report 
        required under paragraph (1), the Attorney General shall seek 
        input from--
                    (A) the United States Advisory Council on Human 
                Trafficking;
                    (B) victims of sex and labor trafficking;
                    (C) human trafficking survivor advocates;
                    (D) service providers for victims of sex and labor 
                trafficking; and
                    (E) the President's Interagency Task Force on Human 
                Trafficking.
    (c) Survey.--Not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment 
of this Act, the Attorney General, in coordination with Federal, State, 
local, and Tribal governments, and private organizations, including 
victim service providers and expert researchers, shall--
            (1) develop and execute a survey of survivors seeking and 
        receiving victim assistance services for the purpose of 
        improving the provision of services to human trafficking 
        victims and victim identification in the United States; and
            (2) make the results of such survey publicly available on 
        the website of the Department of Justice.
    (d) No Additional Funds.--No additional funds are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section.

SEC. 4. REPORT ON PROSECUTORS SEEKING RESTITUTION IN TRAFFICKING CASES.

    Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
the Attorney General, in consultation with the Administrative Office of 
the United States Courts, shall submit a report to Congress that 
describes efforts to increase restitution to victims of human 
trafficking.

SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS ENCOURAGING STATES TO ADOPT PROTECTIONS FOR 
              VICTIMS OF TRAFFICKING.

    Congress recognizes and applauds State legislative bodies that have 
taken tremendous steps to adopt protections and services for victims of 
trafficking and encourages States--
            (1) to uphold the dignity of human trafficking survivors;
            (2) to ensure the safety, confidentiality, and well-being 
        of victims of trafficking, while recognizing symptoms of trauma 
        and coping mechanisms that may impact victims' interactions 
        with law enforcement, the justice system, and service 
        providers;
            (3) to implement screening mechanisms to identify and 
        extend appropriate services to children in the custody of child 
        protective services agencies, the juvenile justice system, or 
        the criminal justice system who are or may be victims of 
        trafficking;
            (4) to promote greater access to child welfare services and 
        other appropriate victim services for, rather than 
        criminalization of, child victims of sex trafficking;
            (5) to develop a 24-hour emergency response plan by which 
        victims of human trafficking may receive immediate protection, 
        shelter, and support from a victim assistance coordinator when 
        those victims are first identified;
            (6) to adopt protections for adult victims of trafficking, 
        such as protection if the victim's safety is at risk, 
        comprehensive trauma-informed, long-term, culturally competent 
        care and healing services, mental health services to relieve 
        traumatic stress, housing, education (including, where 
        appropriate, vocational training and employment assistance), 
        mentoring, language assistance, drug and substance abuse 
        services, and legal services;
            (7) to ensure that child trafficking victims--
                    (A) are treated as children in need of child 
                protective services; and
                    (B) receive appropriate care from child welfare and 
                other appropriate victim services, rather than from the 
                juvenile justice system;
            (8) to adopt procedures for human trafficking victims that 
        are consistent with the procedures afforded to victims of 
        sexual assault, rape, child sexual abuse, or incest to allow 
        human trafficking victims to clear records, expunge 
        convictions, and vacate adjudications related to prostitution 
        and nonviolent offenses that arose as a direct result of being 
        trafficked; and
            (9) to ensure victims of trafficking, including United 
        States citizens, lawful permanent residents, and foreign 
        nationals, are eligible for victim assistance services.
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