[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 185 (Wednesday, December 10, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10886-S10887]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE TRAFFICKING VICTIMS PROTECTION REAUTHORIZATION ACT

  Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 7311, which was received 
from the House.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The clerk will state the bill by title.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (H.R. 7311) to authorize appropriations for fiscal 
     years 2008 through 2011 for the Trafficking Victims 
     Protection Reauthorization Act of 2000, to enhance measures 
     to combat trafficking in persons, and for other purposes.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, I am glad the Senate today passed the 
William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Act, a bill that 
will strengthen our efforts to stop the abhorrent practice of human 
trafficking in the United States and around the world. I congratulate 
Senators Biden and Brownback, Congressman Berman, and the many others 
who worked hard on this important legislation. I commend Senate and 
House leaders on this bill for putting aside significant differences to 
reach consensus on this important issue. I was pleased to support this 
bill as it moved through the Judiciary Committee this summer, and I am 
heartened that it will soon become law.
  This bill enhances protections to the victims of these terrible 
crimes and provides new laws against the immoral practice of recruiting 
children to be soldiers. Human trafficking is a modern-day form of 
slavery, involving victims who are forced, defrauded or coerced into 
sexual or labor exploitation. These practices continue to victimize 
hundreds of thousands around the world, mostly women and children, and 
we must continue to make the laws banning human trafficking more 
effective and meaningful.
  The coerced and often violent subjugation and exploitation of women, 
girls, and children continues to plague many regions of the world. As 
news reports continue to reveal, women and girls from many nations are 
sold as slaves and forced to engage in the sex industry. Children are 
recruited, and sometimes even drugged, to become soldiers in war-torn 
regions of the world, and poor destitute immigrant workers are often 
duped or coerced to work in intolerable conditions that amount to 
forced labor. Even in the United States, we are not immune to the 
scourge of human trafficking, as evidenced by recent reports of Haitian 
children being brought to the United States as servants, who are then 
beaten and abused into servitude. Progress has been made to address 
these horrific problems, but we must continue to do more. This bill 
does.
  I want to thank Senator Biden for introducing this bill in the 
Senate. I commend him for working with all the Federal agencies and 
constituent interests to address new issues that continue to come up in 
the fight against human trafficking. This bill will provide more 
protection to victims, particularly child victims of human trafficking, 
and will give prosecutors new tools to gain cooperation from witnesses 
and informants who can provide vital testimony in human trafficking 
prosecutions. This bill also contains tools to combat the equally 
abhorrent practice of recruiting or using child soldiers. I 
particularly appreciate Senator Biden's work to remove language that 
would have resulted in unintended mandatory minimum penalties in the 
bill.
  We must rededicate our efforts to the prevention of human 
trafficking, the protection of its victims, and prosecution of those 
who would commit these heinous offenses. Nowhere on earth should it be 
acceptable to deceive, abuse, and force a person into a life of 
enslavement. To deny a person their right to freedom is an affront to 
the ideals of this Nation. Passage of this legislation is a first step 
toward correcting this terrible problem.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Madam President, I thank my colleagues for supporting 
the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization 
Act of 2008.
  This trafficking bill includes a provision I authored over 8 years 
ago--the Unaccompanied Alien Minor Act--to ensure that unaccompanied 
children receive humane and appropriate treatment while in the custody 
of the U.S. Government.
  Today Congress took an important step to protecting unaccompanied 
alien children, the most vulnerable immigrants.
  I believe we have a special obligation to ensure that these children 
are treated humanely and fairly. Unfortunately, without this 
legislation, there would be no procedure to make sure that happens.
  Currently, when a child is apprehended by immigration authorities, 
that child usually knows nothing about U.S. courts or immigration 
policies and frequently does not speak English. As a result, many are 
sent to detention facilities--often with adults or hardened criminals 
with no idea that they might be eligible for foster care or immigration 
relief.
  This bill is necessary because every year, more than 7,000 
undocumented and unaccompanied children are apprehended in the United 
States or at our borders. This bill deals with how these thousands of 
children will be treated while awaiting a final decision on their 
immigration status in this country.
  Today Congress took the first step to ensure that unaccompanied 
minors in temporary Federal custody are treated as children and not as 
criminals.
  I first became involved in this issue when I saw the treatment of a 
15-year-old Chinese girl, who fled persecution in her country and had 
spent 9 months in a juvenile jail. She came to her asylum hearing 
shackled and in prison clothing. As she told her story to an 
immigration judge, she could not wipe away her tears because her hands 
were chained to her waist.
  This bill seeks to protect children like this girl, who have escaped 
traumatic situations such as armed conflict, sweatshop labor, human 
trafficking, forced prostitution, and other life-threatening 
circumstances.
  These children have seen their family members threatened, tortured 
and even murdered. Many have been targets of attacks themselves.
  Indeed, it is through their resilience and indomitable spirit that 
they have found themselves in our country. And they need our help.
  Yet, our Nation's response over the several years has been 
unacceptable. According to a report issued by Amnesty International in 
June of 2004, unaccompanied children have too often languished in an 
unregulated immigration system.
  According to Amnesty International, investigators identified 
situations where children were strip-searched or kept in solitary 
confinement. Others were victims of extreme brutality or refugees from 
war zones and rather than being placed in appropriate facilities, they 
were thrown in juvenile jails.
  Most children reported that they had not received weekly visits from 
officials specializing in juvenile care.
  In addition, 83 percent of these facilities reported that they 
routinely restrained the children with handcuffs or leg irons when they 
are transported.
  One attorney told the story of a 7-year-old boy who had been forced 
to appear before a judge in handcuffs.
  The majority of these children have been forced to struggle through 
an immigration system designed for adults.

[[Page S10887]]

  Today, Congress will pass the Unaccompanied Alien Child Protection 
Act to remedy this by requiring that children who pose no danger to 
themselves or others be placed in the least restrictive setting 
possible; requiring the Office of Refugee Resettlement to do a 
suitability assessment before placing the child with any agency or 
person; and prohibiting placing children, who have committed no crimes, 
in a prison with hardened criminals.
  This legislation also requires, whenever possible, family 
reunification or other appropriate placement in the best interest of 
the unaccompanied alien children. For example, the Office of Refugee 
Resettlement must do a home study before placing a child into a home or 
foster care.
  The bill also provides for pro bono legal representation for 
unaccompanied alien children in their immigration matters, where 
possible, at no expense to the Government. And finally, the bill 
requires training for Department of Homeland Security personnel and 
others who come into contact with unaccompanied children.
  I would also like to be clear about what this bill would not do.
  This legislation does not expand the current immigration rights of 
any child. Instead, it presumes that children will be placed in removal 
proceedings--unless they qualify for immigration benefits under current 
law.
  It does not remove the jurisdiction and responsibility for 
adjudicating immigration status from the Department of Homeland 
Security or the Executive Office for Immigration Review, where such 
jurisdiction and responsibilities currently reside.
  It does not interfere with the custodial rights of a parent or 
guardian in situations where a parent or guardian seeks to establish 
custody.
  Like the Trafficking bill, these provisions have received broad 
bipartisan support. Among the endorsers of this legislation are 
organizations representing mental health and child welfare 
professionals, as well as legal, human rights, immigration and 
religious organizations. It is a moderate, reasonable bill that by and 
large addresses issues of a child's care and custody, and not issues of 
substantive immigration relief.
  I thank my House and Senate colleagues for passing this important 
bill. I also specifically thank Senators Biden, Brownback, Kennedy, and 
Leahy, as well as Representatives Berman, Lofgren, and Conyers for 
their hard work and leadership in securing the passage of this bill.
  I urge the President to sign this important legislation.
  Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be 
read the third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon 
the table, with no intervening action or debate, and that any 
statements relating to the bill be printed in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The bill (H.R. 7311) was ordered to a third reading, was read the 
third time, and passed.

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