[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 19 (Thursday, February 1, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S348-S349]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     SENATE RESOLUTION 541--SUPPORTING THE OBSERVATION OF NATIONAL 
   TRAFFICKING AND MODERN SLAVERY PREVENTION MONTH DURING THE PERIOD 
BEGINNING ON JANUARY 1, 2024, AND ENDING ON FEBRUARY 1, 2024, TO RAISE 
 AWARENESS OF, AND OPPOSITION TO, HUMAN TRAFFICKING AND MODERN SLAVERY

  Mr. GRASSLEY (for himself, Ms. Cortez Masto, Mrs. Capito, Mr. Wyden, 
Ms. Murkowski, Mr. Durbin, Ms. Collins, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Blumenthal, 
Mr. Brown, and Ms. Butler) submitted the following resolution; which 
was considered and agreed to:

                              S. Res. 541

       Whereas the United States abolished the transatlantic slave 
     trade in 1808 and abolished chattel slavery and prohibited 
     involuntary servitude in 1865;
       Whereas, because the people of the United States remain 
     committed to protecting individual freedom, there is a 
     national imperative to eliminate human trafficking and modern 
     slavery, which is commonly considered to mean--
       (1) the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, 
     or obtaining of an individual through the use of force, 
     fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjecting that 
     individual to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, 
     or slavery; or
       (2) the inducement of a commercial sex act by force, fraud, 
     or coercion, or in which the individual induced to perform 
     that act is younger than 18 years of age;
       Whereas forced labor and human trafficking generates 
     revenues of at least $150,000,000,000 annually worldwide, and 
     there are an estimated 50,000,000 victims of human 
     trafficking and modern slavery across the globe;
       Whereas victims of human trafficking are difficult to 
     identify and are subject to manipulation, force, fraud, 
     coercion, and abuse;
       Whereas children and youths experiencing homelessness are 
     vulnerable and susceptible to manipulation, making them a 
     prime target for the lucrative criminal industry of human 
     trafficking;
       Whereas the Department of Justice has reported that human 
     trafficking and modern slavery has been reported and 
     investigated in each of the 50 States and the District of 
     Columbia;
       Whereas the Department of State has reported that the top 3 
     countries of origin of federally identified human trafficking 
     victims in the United States in fiscal year 2021 were the 
     United States, Mexico, and Honduras;
       Whereas, to help businesses in the United States combat 
     child labor and forced labor in global supply chains, the 
     Department of Labor has identified 159 goods from 78 
     countries that are made by child labor and forced labor;
       Whereas, since 2007, the National Human Trafficking Hotline 
     has identified 82,301 situations of human trafficking 
     involving 164,839 victims;
       Whereas there are known risk factors that contribute to 
     youths running away, including domestic violence, child 
     sexual abuse, and neglect, and runaway youths who experience 
     homelessness are potential targets for human trafficking;
       Whereas, in 2023, the National Center for Missing and 
     Exploited Children received over 18,400 reports of possible 
     child sex trafficking;

[[Page S349]]

       Whereas, of the more than 28,800 missing children reported 
     to National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in 
     2023, 1 in 6 were likely victims of child sex trafficking;
       Whereas today, the average age of child sex trafficking 
     victims reported missing to the National Center for Missing 
     and Exploited Children is only 15 years old;
       Whereas youth experiencing homelessness experience high 
     rates of human trafficking, and 1 in 5 homeless youths is a 
     victim of sex trafficking, labor trafficking, or both;
       Whereas 22 percent of youths who experience homelessness 
     were approached for paid sex on their first night of 
     homelessness;
       Whereas LGBTQ youths are disproportionally affected, 
     accounting for 33.8 percent of sex trafficking victims;
       Whereas youths facing homelessness have a lower probability 
     of being trafficked if they have a supportive adult in their 
     life;
       Whereas the Administration for Native Americans of the 
     Department of Health and Human Services reports that American 
     Indian, Alaska Native, and Pacific Islander women and girls 
     have a heightened risk for sex trafficking;
       Whereas the Department of Justice found that studies on the 
     topic of human trafficking of American Indians and Alaska 
     Natives suggest there are--
       (1) high rates of sexual exploitation of Native women and 
     girls;
       (2) gaps in data and research on trafficking of American 
     Indian and Alaska Native victims; and
       (3) barriers that prevent law enforcement agencies and 
     victim service providers from identifying and responding 
     appropriately to Native victims;
       Whereas, according to the Government Accountability Office, 
     from fiscal year 2013 through fiscal year 2016, there were 
     only 14 Federal investigations and 2 Federal prosecutions of 
     human trafficking offenses in Indian country;
       Whereas, to combat human trafficking and modern slavery in 
     the United States and globally, the people of the United 
     States, the Federal Government, and State, Tribal, and local 
     governments must be--
       (1) aware of the realities of human trafficking and modern 
     slavery; and
       (2) dedicated to stopping the horrific enterprise of human 
     trafficking and modern slavery;
       Whereas the United States should hold accountable all 
     individuals, groups, organizations, governments, and 
     countries that support, advance, or commit acts of human 
     trafficking and modern slavery;
       Whereas, through education, the United States must also 
     work to end human trafficking and modern slavery in all forms 
     in the United States and around the world;
       Whereas victims of human trafficking deserve a trauma-
     informed approach that integrates the pursuit of justice and 
     provision of social services designed to help them escape, 
     and recover from, the physical, mental, emotional, and 
     spiritual trauma they endured;
       Whereas combating human trafficking requires a whole-of-
     government effort that rests on a unified and coordinated 
     response among Federal, State, Tribal, and local agencies and 
     that places equal value on the prevention of trafficking, the 
     identification and stabilization of victims, and the 
     investigation and prosecution of traffickers;
       Whereas laws to prosecute perpetrators of human trafficking 
     and to assist and protect victims of human trafficking and 
     modern slavery have been enacted in the United States, 
     including--
       (1) the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 
     U.S.C. 7101 et seq.);
       (2) title XII of the Violence Against Women Reauthorization 
     Act of 2013 (Public Law 113-4; 127 Stat. 136);
       (3) the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015 
     (Public Law 114-22; 129 Stat. 227);
       (4) sections 910 and 914(e) of the Trade Facilitation and 
     Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 (Public Law 114-125; 130 Stat. 
     239 and 274);
       (5) section 1298 of the National Defense Authorization Act 
     for Fiscal Year 2017 (22 U.S.C. 7114);
       (6) the Abolish Human Trafficking Act of 2017 (Public Law 
     115-392; 132 Stat. 5250);
       (7) the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2017 (Public 
     Law 115-393; 132 Stat. 5265);
       (8) the Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention 
     and Protection Reauthorization Act of 2018 (Public Law 115-
     425; 132 Stat. 5472);
       (9) the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act 
     of 2017 (Public Law 115-427; 132 Stat. 5503);
       (10) the Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization Act of 
     2022 (Public Law 117-103; 136 Stat. 840);
       (11) the Abolish Trafficking Reauthorization Act of 2022 
     (Public Law 117-347; 136 Stat. 6199);
       (12) the Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection 
     Reauthorization Act of 2022 (Public Law 117-348; 136 Stat. 
     6211); and
       (13) the End Human Trafficking in Government Contracts Act 
     of 2022 (Public Law 117-211; 136 Stat. 2248);
       Whereas the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015 
     (Public Law 114-22; 129 Stat. 227) established the United 
     States Advisory Council on Human Trafficking to provide a 
     formal platform for survivors of human trafficking to advise 
     and make recommendations on Federal anti-trafficking policies 
     to the Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat 
     Trafficking established by the President;
       Whereas the Department of Defense, the General Services 
     Administration, and the National Aeronautics and Space 
     Administration issued a final rule (80 Fed. Reg. 4967) to 
     implement Executive Order 13627, entitled ``Strengthening 
     Protections Against Trafficking in Persons in Federal 
     Contracts'', that clarifies the policy of the United States 
     on combating trafficking in persons as outlined in the 
     Federal Acquisition Regulation by strengthening the 
     prohibition on contractors from charging employee recruitment 
     fees;
       Whereas, although such laws and regulations are currently 
     in force, it is essential to increase public awareness, 
     particularly among individuals who are most likely to come 
     into contact with victims of human trafficking and modern 
     slavery, regarding conditions and dynamics of human 
     trafficking and modern slavery, precisely because traffickers 
     use techniques that are designed to severely limit self-
     reporting and evade law enforcement;
       Whereas January 1 is the anniversary of the effective date 
     of the Emancipation Proclamation;
       Whereas February 1 is--
       (1) the anniversary of the date on which President Abraham 
     Lincoln signed the joint resolution sending the 13th 
     Amendment to the Constitution of the United States to the 
     States for ratification to forever declare, ``Neither slavery 
     nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime 
     whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist 
     within the United States, or any place subject to their 
     jurisdiction''; and
       (2) a date that has long been celebrated as National 
     Freedom Day, as described in section 124 of title 36, United 
     States Code; and
       Whereas, under the authority of Congress to enforce the 
     13th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States ``by 
     appropriate legislation'', Congress, through the Trafficking 
     Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.), 
     updated the post-Civil War involuntary servitude and slavery 
     statutes and adopted an approach of victim protection, 
     vigorous prosecution, and prevention of human trafficking, 
     commonly known as the ``3P'' approach: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate supports--
       (1) observing National Trafficking and Modern Slavery 
     Prevention Month during the period beginning on January 1, 
     2024, and ending on February 1, 2024, to recognize the vital 
     role that the people of the United States have in ending 
     human trafficking and modern slavery;
       (2) marking the observation of National Trafficking and 
     Modern Slavery Prevention Month with appropriate programs and 
     activities, culminating in the observance on February 1, 
     2024, of National Freedom Day, as described in section 124 of 
     title 36, United States Code;
       (3) urging continued partnerships with Federal, State, 
     Tribal, and local agencies, as well as survivors of human 
     trafficking, social service providers, and nonprofit 
     organizations to address human trafficking with a 
     collaborative, victim-centered approach; and
       (4) all other efforts to prevent, eradicate, and raise 
     awareness of, and opposition to, human trafficking and modern 
     slavery.

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