[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 142 (Wednesday, November 19, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6153-S6154]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself and Mr. Portman):
  S. 2941. A bill to combat human trafficking; to the Committee on the 
Judiciary.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I am pleased to introduce, along with 
Senator Portman, the Combat Human Trafficking Act of 2014.
  Human trafficking is estimated to be a $32 billion criminal 
enterprise, making it the second largest criminal industry in the 
world, behind the drug trade. Many steps need to be taken to combat 
this problem. But we cannot escape this simple truth: without demand 
for the services performed by trafficking victims, the problem would 
not exist.
  The bill we are introducing today would reduce the demand for human 
trafficking, particularly the commercial sexual exploitation of 
children, by holding buyers accountable and making it easier for law 
enforcement to investigate and prosecute all persons who participate in 
sex trafficking.
  Sex trafficking is not a victimless crime. In the United States, the 
average age that a person is first trafficked is between 12 and 14. 
Many of these children continue to be exploited into adulthood. A study 
of women and girls involved in street prostitution in my hometown of 
San Francisco found that 82 percent had been physically assaulted, 83 
percent were threatened with a weapon, and 68 percent were raped. The 
overwhelming majority of sex trafficking victims are American 
citizens--83 percent by one estimate from the Department of Justice.
  I am encouraged that Federal, State, and local law enforcement 
agencies are taking steps to combat human trafficking. Between January 
and June of this year, the Federal Bureau of Investigation recovered 
168 trafficking victims and arrested 281 sex traffickers in ``Operation 
Cross Country.''
  I commend these efforts, but more needs to be done to target the 
perpetrators who are fueling demand for trafficking crimes--the buyers 
of sex acts from trafficking victims. Many buyers of sex are 
``hobbyists'' who purchase sex repeatedly. Because buyers are rarely 
arrested, much less prosecuted, the demand for commercial sex continues 
unabated.
  Without buyers, sex trafficking would cease to exist. As Luis 
CdeBaca, the U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for the Office to Monitor and 
Combat Trafficking in Persons, noted, ``[n]o girl or woman would be a 
victim of sex trafficking if there were no profits to be made from 
their exploitation.''
  The Combat Human Trafficking Act of 2014 would address this problem, 
by incentivizing federal and state law enforcement officers to target 
buyers and providing new authorities to prosecute all who engage in the 
crime of sex trafficking.
  First, the bill would clarify that buyers of sex acts from 
trafficking victims can be prosecuted under the federal commercial sex 
trafficking statute. This provision would codify the Eighth Circuit's 
decision in United States v. Jungers, which held that this statute 
encompasses buyers, in addition to sellers. Despite this favorable 
ruling, there is no guarantee that other courts will follow this 
precedent.
  Second, the bill would hold buyers and sellers of child sex acts 
accountable for their actions, even if they claim they were unaware of 
the age of a minor victim. At times, it can be difficult for a 
prosecutor to prove that a buyer was aware of the victim's age. 
Successful cases can require the child victim to testify to this fact, 
subjecting the victim to re-traumatization. The bill would draw a clear 
line: if you purchase sex from an underage child, you can be 
prosecuted. Period.
  Third, the bill would grant judges greater flexibility to impose an 
appropriate term of supervised release on sex traffickers. Current law 
contains an anomaly: a person convicted of violating the commercial sex 
trafficking statute or attempting to violate the statute may be subject 
to a longer term of supervised release than a person who is convicted 
of conspiring to violate the statute. Conspiring to traffic underage 
children is as serious as attempting to commit this crime and should be 
punished the same.
  Fourth, the bill would require the Bureau of Justice Statistics to 
prepare annual reports on the number of arrests, prosecutions, and 
convictions of sex traffickers and buyers of sex from trafficked 
victims in the state court system. Very little data is available on the 
prosecutions made under anti-trafficking laws. This provision would 
provide additional data and encourage state and local governments to 
increase enforcement against sellers and buyers of sex from trafficked 
victims.
  Fifth, the Combat Human Trafficking Act would ensure that training 
programs for federal and state law enforcement officers include 
components on effective methods to target and prosecute the buyers of 
sex acts from trafficked victims. This would equip prosecutors with the 
tools they need to target buyers, encouraging prosecution of these 
perpetrators.
  Sixth, the bill would authorize federal and state officials to seek a 
wiretap to investigate and prosecute any human trafficking-related 
offense. Under current law, a federal law enforcement officer may seek 
a wiretap in an investigation under the commercial sex trafficking 
statute, but not under a number of other statutes that address human 
trafficking-related offenses, such as forced labor and involuntary 
servitude. Similarly, a state law enforcement officer may seek a 
wiretap to investigate a kidnapping offense, but not an offense for 
human trafficking, child sexual exploitation,

[[Page S6154]]

or child pornography production. Our bill would fix those omissions.
  Finally, this legislation would strengthen the rights of crime 
victims. The bill would amend the Crime Victims' Rights Act to provide 
victims with the right to be informed in a timely manner of any plea 
agreement or deferred prosecution agreement. The exclusion of victims 
in these early stages of a criminal case profoundly impairs victims' 
rights because, by the nature of these events, there often is no later 
proceeding in which victims can exercise their rights.
  The bill would also ensure that crime victims have access to 
appellate review when their rights are denied in the lower court. 
Regrettably, five appellate courts have mis-applied the Crime Victims' 
Rights Act by imposing an especially high standard for reviewing 
appeals by victims, requiring them to show ``clear and indisputable 
error''. Four other circuits have applied the correct standard: the 
ordinary appellate standard of legal error or abuse of discretion. This 
bill resolves the issue, setting a uniform standard for victims in all 
circuits by codifying the more victim-protecting rule, that the 
appellate court ``shall apply ordinary standards of appellate review.''
  I am pleased that this bill has the support of numerous law 
enforcement and anti-trafficking organizations: the Federal Law 
Enforcement Officers Association, Shared Hope International, ECPAT-USA, 
Coalition Against Trafficking in Women, CATW, Human Rights Project for 
Girls, Survivors for Solutions, Sanctuary For Families, World Hope 
International, Prostitution Research & Education, MISSSEY, and Breaking 
Free. These groups are on the forefront in the fight against sex 
trafficking, and I am proud to have their support.
  I urge my colleagues to join me and Senator Portman in supporting 
this bill.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                S. 2941

       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 ``Combat Human Trafficking Act 
     of 2014''.

     SEC. 2. REDUCING DEMAND FOR SEX TRAFFICKING; LOWER MENS REA 
                   FOR SEX TRAFFICKING OF UNDERAGE VICTIMS.

       (a) Clarification of Range of Conduct Punished as Sex 
     Trafficking.--Section 1591 of title 18, United States Code, 
     is amended--
       (1) in subsection (a)(1), by striking ``or maintains'' and 
     inserting ``maintains, patronizes, or solicits'';
       (2) in subsection (b)--
       (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``or obtained'' and 
     inserting ``obtained, patronized, or solicited''; and
       (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ``or obtained'' and 
     inserting ``obtained, patronized, or solicited''; and
       (3) by striking subsection (c) and inserting the following:
       ``(c) In a prosecution under subsection (a)(1), the 
     Government need not prove that the defendant knew, or 
     recklessly disregarded the fact, that the person recruited, 
     enticed, harbored, transported, provided, obtained, 
     maintained, patronized, or solicited had not attained the age 
     of 18 years.''.
       (b) Definition Amended.--Section 103(10) of the Trafficking 
     Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7102(10)) is 
     amended by striking ``or obtaining'' and inserting 
     ``obtaining, patronizing, or soliciting''.
       (c) Minimum Period of Supervised Release for Conspiracy to 
     Commit Commercial Child Sex Trafficking.--Section 3583(k) of 
     title 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting 
     ``1594(c),'' after ``1591,''.

     SEC. 3. BUREAU OF JUSTICE STATISTICS REPORT ON STATE 
                   ENFORCEMENT OF SEX TRAFFICKING PROHIBITIONS.

       (a) Definitions.--In this section--
       (1) the terms ``commercial sex act'', ``severe forms of 
     trafficking in persons'', ``State'', and ``Task Force'' have 
     the meanings given those terms in section 103 of the 
     Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7102);
       (2) the term ``covered offense'' means the provision, 
     obtaining, patronizing, or soliciting of a commercial sex act 
     involving a person subject to severe forms of trafficking in 
     persons; and
       (3) the term ``State law enforcement officer'' means any 
     officer, agent, or employee of a State authorized by law or 
     by a State government agency to engage in or supervise the 
     prevention, detection, investigation, or prosecution of any 
     violation of criminal law.
       (b) Report.--The Director of the Bureau of Justice 
     Statistics shall--
       (1) prepare an annual report on--
       (A) the rates of--
       (i) arrest of individuals by State law enforcement officers 
     for a covered offense;
       (ii) prosecution (including specific charges) of 
     individuals in State court systems for a covered offense; and
       (iii) conviction of individuals in State court systems for 
     a covered offense; and
       (B) sentences imposed on individuals convicted in State 
     court systems for a covered offense; and
       (2) submit the annual report prepared under paragraph (1) 
     to--
       (A) the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of 
     Representatives;
       (B) the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate;
       (C) the Task Force;
       (D) the Senior Policy Operating Group established under 
     section 105(g) of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 
     2000 (22 U.S.C. 7103(g)); and
       (E) the Attorney General.

     SEC. 4. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE TRAINING AND POLICY.

       (a) Definitions.--In this section--
       (1) the terms ``commercial sex act'', ``severe forms of 
     trafficking in persons'', and ``State'' have the meanings 
     given those terms in section 103 of the Trafficking Victims 
     Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7102);
       (2) the term ``Federal law enforcement officer'' has the 
     meaning given the term in section 115 of title 18, United 
     States Code;
       (3) the term ``local law enforcement officer'' means any 
     officer, agent, or employee of a unit of local government 
     authorized by law or by a local government agency to engage 
     in or supervise the prevention, detection, investigation, or 
     prosecution of any violation of criminal law; and
       (4) the term ``State law enforcement officer'' means any 
     officer, agent, or employee of a State authorized by law or 
     by a State government agency to engage in or supervise the 
     prevention, detection, investigation, or prosecution of any 
     violation of criminal law.
       (b) Training.--The Attorney General shall ensure that each 
     anti-human trafficking program operated by the Department of 
     Justice, including each anti-human trafficking training 
     program for Federal, State, or local law enforcement 
     officers, includes technical training on effective methods 
     for investigating and prosecuting individuals who obtain, 
     patronize, or solicit a commercial sex act involving a person 
     subject to severe forms of trafficking in persons.
       (c) Policy for Federal Law Enforcement Officers.--The 
     Attorney General shall ensure that Federal law enforcement 
     officers are engaged in activities, programs, or operations 
     involving the detection, investigation, and prosecution of 
     individuals described in subsection (b).

     SEC. 5. WIRETAP AUTHORITY FOR HUMAN TRAFFICKING VIOLATIONS.

       Section 2516 of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
       (1) in paragraph (1)(c)--
       (A) by inserting before ``section 1591'' the following: 
     ``section 1581 (peonage), section 1584 (involuntary 
     servitude), section 1589 (forced labor), section 1590 
     (trafficking with respect to peonage, slavery, involuntary 
     servitude, or forced labor),''; and
       (B) by inserting before ``section 1751'' the following: 
     ``section 1592 (unlawful conduct with respect to documents in 
     furtherance of trafficking, peonage, slavery, involuntary 
     servitude, or forced labor),''; and
       (2) in paragraph (2), by inserting ``human trafficking, 
     child sexual exploitation, child pornography production,'' 
     after ``kidnapping,''.

     SEC. 6. STRENGTHENING CRIME VICTIMS' RIGHTS.

       (a) Notification of Plea Agreement or Other Agreement.--
     Section 3771(a) of title 18, United States Code, is amended 
     by adding at the end the following:
       ``(9) The right to be informed in a timely manner of any 
     plea agreement or deferred prosecution agreement.''.
       (b) Appellate Review of Petitions Relating to Crime 
     Victims' Rights.--
       (1) In general.--Section 3771(d)(3) of title 18, United 
     States Code, is amended by inserting after the fifth sentence 
     the following: ``In deciding such application, the court of 
     appeals shall apply ordinary standards of appellate 
     review.''.
       (2) Application.--The amendment made by paragraph (1) shall 
     apply with respect to any petition for a writ of mandamus 
     filed under section 3771(d)(3) of title 18, United States 
     Code, that is pending on the date of enactment of this Act.
                                 ______