[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 116 (Wednesday, July 23, 2014)]
[House]
[Pages H6733-H6735]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    HUMAN TRAFFICKING PREVENTION ACT

  Mr. MEADOWS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 4449) to amend the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 
2000 to expand the training for Federal Government personnel related to 
trafficking in persons, and for other purposes.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 4449

       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 Prevention 
     Act''.

     SEC. 2. EXPANDED TRAINING RELATING TO TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS.

       Section 105(c)(4) of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act 
     of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7105(c)(4)) is amended--
       (1) by inserting ``, including members of the Service (as 
     such term is defined in section 103 of the Foreign Service 
     Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 3903))'' after ``Department of 
     State''; and
       (2) by adding at the end the following: ``Training under 
     this paragraph shall include, at a minimum, the following:
       ``(A) A distance learning course on trafficking-in-persons 
     issues and the Department of State's obligations under this 
     Act, targeted for embassy reporting officers, regional 
     bureaus' trafficking-in-persons coordinators, and their 
     superiors.
       ``(B) Specific trafficking-in-persons briefings for all 
     ambassadors and deputy chiefs of mission before such 
     individuals depart for their posts.
       ``(C) At least annual reminders to all such personnel, 
     including appropriate personnel from other Federal 
     departments and agencies, at each diplomatic or consular post 
     of the Department of State located outside the United States 
     of key problems, threats, methods, and warning signs of 
     trafficking in persons specific to the country or 
     jurisdiction in which each such post is located, and 
     appropriate procedures to report information that any such 
     personnel may acquire about possible cases of trafficking in 
     persons.''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
North Carolina (Mr. Meadows) and the gentleman from New York (Mr. Sean 
Patrick Maloney) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from North Carolina.


                             General Leave

  Mr. MEADOWS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to 
include extraneous materials on this bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from North Carolina?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. MEADOWS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the bill, H.R. 4449, to amend 
the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 to expand the training 
for Federal Government personnel related to trafficking in persons, and 
for other purposes.
  I thank the gentleman from New York for his leadership in addressing 
this issue.
  As we look at this, this particular bill would require appropriate 
personnel of the Department of State, that they would be trained in 
identifying victims of severe forms of trafficking and provide for the 
protection of those victims.

[[Page H6734]]

  H.R. 4449 would specify three minimum training requirements in that 
underlying statute: one, a distance learning course for Embassy and 
bureau personnel dealing with trafficking issues; two, trafficking 
briefings for all ambassadors and DCMs before they head to their 
postings; and, three, annual reminders to appropriate personnel 
regarding key trafficking problems and issues related to their 
countries.
  The State Department believes that these specified forms of training 
largely track their current activities; thus, while adding these 
examples to the statute will ensure that these types of training will 
continue, it will not result in a substantial and additional cost.
  Again, I thank the leadership, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Sean 
Patrick Maloney) as the primary sponsor of this, and I reserve the 
balance of my time.
  Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 
such time as I may consume.
  I rise in strong support of my bill, H.R. 4449, the Human Trafficking 
Prevention Act.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to also thank my colleague, Mr. Meadows, 
for his leadership on this bill. I would like to thank the Democratic 
whip--my friend, the gentleman from Maryland, Steny Hoyer--and his 
staff for the work they dedicated to this piece of legislation and to 
my own staff.
  Worldwide, less than 1 percent of an estimated 27 million victims of 
human trafficking have been reported, and in the past year, only about 
44,000 survivors have been identified.
  Millions--literally millions of children, women, and men are 
trafficked each year and forced into modern-day slavery as part of the 
world's most evil and fastest growing industry. It may seem like it 
only happens on the other side of the world, but it is happening here 
in quiet neighborhoods across our country.
  Some of those survivors are from neighborhoods I represent in the 
Hudson Valley of New York. In New Windsor and Newburgh, for nearly 4 
years, one man would troll the streets, coercing at least 10 women to 
work for him as sex workers in local motels.
  Last year, law enforcement authorities uncovered an international sex 
trafficking ring operating brothels in Yonkers, Poughkeepsie, and 
Newburgh, where women were brutalized and forced to have sex 10, 20, 30 
times a day.
  It is a hard truth, but it is a truth nonetheless. This disgusting, 
this horrifying practice of modern-day slavery happens here, right here 
in our own neighborhoods, in our own backyards, in our own country.
  Even with the assistance of law enforcement and dedicated 
organizations like My Sister's Place in Westchester and Safe Homes of 
Orange County, groups which help survivors rebuild their lives, New 
York continues to be one of the top hubs of human trafficking where sex 
trafficking, child labor, child sex trafficking, and indentured 
servitude happen all too frequently.
  In another community in Hudson Valley about an hour away from New 
York City, a man tricked teenage girls to travel to the United States 
on tourist visas from countries like Brazil, Hungary, and France. He 
instructed these women to lie to both Immigration and State Department 
officials in order to gain access to our country.
  It is precisely this kind of situation that my legislation seeks to 
stop. We must ensure that our men and women on the front lines of our 
borders have the resources and training they need in order to identify 
and stop human trafficking at its source before these women and 
children and men become victims.
  As part of our goal to end human trafficking, we can make sure that 
our foreign service officers and other government personnel have the 
tools and training they need to spot, to identify these victims and 
stop this trafficking across international borders.
  In the past, the State Department estimated that between 14,500 and 
17,000 foreign nationals were trafficked into the United States every 
single year. Although the Federal Government has a zero tolerance 
policy on human trafficking, our foreign service officers, who often 
have face-to-face contact with these victims when they are obtaining 
U.S. visas, currently undergo minimal training to define, identify, and 
recognize the indicators of human trafficking or smuggling.
  My legislation would expand new minimum training procedures for 
foreign service officers and other government personnel in order to 
identify and stop human trafficking at its source and take action 
before people are trafficked across international borders before it 
becomes too late, when they are already in the United States and 
already victimized.
  Since we know criminals will do just about anything to adapt and to 
avoid being caught, this legislation also requires annual updates on 
key problems, threats, methods, and warning signs of trafficking.
  I want to thank my colleagues across the aisle because, by working 
across the aisle, we have a new opportunity to come together to combat 
this absolutely monstrous practice of trafficking in children, women, 
and men.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support my legislation, H.R. 
4449, the Human Trafficking Prevention Act, and I yield back the 
balance of my time.
  Mr. MEADOWS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I want to close by saying that anything we can do, certainly, to 
continue to highlight this particular issue, whether it is with the 
State Department or laws within our Nation, gives us a rare opportunity 
to affect lives not only here in the United States, but across the 
world.
  I would like to thank the committee work for those on the Foreign 
Affairs Committee, their diligence and hard work here at a late hour--
certainly our own personal staffs, congressional staffs, for their work 
too. So many times, they don't get mentioned.
  With that, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 4449, and I yield 
back the balance of my time.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, as a senior member of the Judiciary and 
Homeland Security Committees, I rise in strong support of H.R. 4449, 
the ``Human Trafficking Prevention Act.''
  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Chairman Royce and Ranking Member Engel 
for their stewardship in bringing this legislation to the floor and for 
their commitment to expanding the training and capability of Federal 
government personnel in detecting and combating human trafficking and 
assisting its victims.
  Throughout my tenure in Congress and a founder and Co-Chair of the 
Congressional Children's Caucus, I have advocated on behalf of victims 
of human trafficking, especially children, who are the most vulnerable 
and innocent victims.
  I am also committed to ensure that law enforcement agencies have the 
tools, resources, and training necessary to identify, apprehend, and 
prosecute criminals who ruthlessly traffic in people.
  H.R. 4449 strengthens the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 
by amending it to require training related to trafficking in persons 
for all State Department personnel. Specifically, the bill requires the 
following:
  1. A distance learning course on trafficking in persons issues and 
the Department of State's obligations under the Act to be completed by 
embassy reporting officers, regional bureaus' trafficking in persons 
coordinators, and their supervisors;
  2. Specific trafficking-in-persons briefings for all ambassadors and 
deputy chiefs of mission before they depart for their posts; and
  3. Annual reminders to all such personnel and other federal personnel 
at each diplomatic or consular post of the Department of State located 
outside the United States of key human trafficking problems, threats, 
methods, and warning signs.
  This legislation does for the State Department what the Jackson Lee 
to H.R. 4660, ``Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations Act for 
2015,'' does for the Justice Department.
  That amendment, adopted earlier this year by the House, provides 
another tool in law enforcement's arsenal to tip the balance in favor 
of victims by ensuring funding for the Attorney General to provide 
training for State and local law enforcement agencies on immigration 
law that may be useful for the investigation and prosecution of crimes 
related to trafficking in persons.
  Mr. Speaker, trafficking in humans, and especially child trafficking, 
has no place in a civilized society and those who engage in this 
illicit trade should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
  To effectively combat human trafficking, we need to provide resources 
and training to government personnel to assist victims and apprehend 
criminals.

[[Page H6735]]

  By providing the necessary training and support, we will catch more 
human trafficking criminals and save lives, and prevent many other 
persons, including children, from becoming human trafficking victims.
  I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 4449, the Human 
Trafficking Prevention Act of 2014.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Meadows) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 4449.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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