[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 20 (Monday, February 5, 2024)]
[House]
[Pages H407-H409]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1715
              ENHANCING DETECTION OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING ACT

  Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 443) to direct the Secretary of Labor to train certain 
employees of Department of Labor how to effectively detect and assist 
law enforcement in preventing human trafficking during the course of 
their official duties, and for other purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                                H.R. 443

       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 ``Enhancing Detection of Human 
     Trafficking Act''.

     SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING.

       In this Act, the term ``human trafficking'' means any act 
     or practice described in paragraph (11) of section 103 of the 
     Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7102).

     SEC. 3. TRAINING FOR DEPARTMENT PERSONNEL TO IDENTIFY HUMAN 
                   TRAFFICKING.

       (a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
     enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor shall implement 
     a program to provide the training and periodic continuing 
     education described in subsection (b) to employees of the 
     Department of Labor whom the Secretary determines should 
     receive such training or education based on their official 
     duties. In making such determination with respect to 
     employees of the Wage and Hour Division, the Secretary shall 
     consider the training and education needs of such employees 
     operating in a State with a significant increase in 
     oppressive child labor (as defined in section 3(l) of the 
     Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203(l)).
       (b) Training and Continuing Education Described.--The 
     training and continuing education provided under the program 
     referred to in subsection (a)--
       (1) may be conducted through in-class or virtual learning 
     capabilities; and
       (2) shall include--
       (A) training or continuing education that--
       (i) is most appropriate for the particular location or 
     professional environment in which the employees receiving 
     such training or continuing education perform their official 
     duties;
       (ii) covers topics determined by the Secretary of Labor to 
     appropriately reflect current trends and best practices for 
     such location or environment; and
       (iii) includes--

       (I) the provision of current information on matters related 
     to the detection of human trafficking to the extent relevant 
     to the official duties of such employees, and consistent with 
     privacy laws;
       (II) methods for identifying suspected victims of human 
     trafficking and parties who may be suspected of the 
     trafficking activity; and
       (III) a clear course of action for referring potential 
     cases of human trafficking to the Department of Justice and 
     other appropriate authorities, in accordance with best 
     practices for protecting the rights of victims of human 
     trafficking, including appropriate collaboration with victim 
     advocacy organizations, Federal agencies, and State and local 
     officials; and

       (B) an evaluation of the training or continuing education 
     by such employees after the completion of such training or 
     education.

     SEC. 4. REPORTS TO CONGRESS.

       Not later than 1 year after the Secretary of Labor first 
     implements the program under section 3(a), and each year 
     thereafter, the Secretary of Labor shall submit to the 
     Committee on Education and the Workforce of the House of 
     Representatives and the Committee on Health, Education, 
     Labor, and Pensions of the Senate, a report on--
       (1) the training and continuing education provided under 
     the program for the preceding year, including--
       (A) an evaluation (including the overall effectiveness) of 
     such training and continuing education; and
       (B) the number of individuals who have completed such 
     training or continuing education; and
       (2) the number of cases related to the detection of human 
     trafficking, which were referred to the Department of Justice 
     and other appropriate authorities during the preceding year 
     by the Department of Labor, and the processes used by the 
     Department of Labor to accurately measure and track the 
     response of the Department of Justice and other appropriate 
     authorities to such cases.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Michigan (Mr. Walberg) and the gentleman from the Northern Mariana 
Islands (Mr. Sablan) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Michigan.


                             General Leave

  Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and 
include extraneous material on H.R. 443.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Michigan?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Trafficking is modern-day slavery, period.
  Trafficking goes against our country's founding values of life, 
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, so it is all the more 
heartbreaking and frustrating to know this crime is happening in our 
own country.
  According to the Polaris Institute, experts believe that worldwide 
labor trafficking--the illegal exploitation of an individual for 
commercial gain--is more common than sex trafficking.
  This grotesque form of servitude knows no geographical limits. From 
the Mariana Islands to my home State of Michigan, cases of trafficking 
can happen anywhere to anyone. Victims of labor trafficking can be 
young children, teenagers, or adult men and women.
  While a lot of work has been done over the years to raise awareness 
about this terrible crime, sadly, events over the past year have 
demonstrated that more measures are necessary. Statistics from the 
Justice Department indicate human trafficking in the United States is 
on the rise. This is unfortunate but not surprising, given the 
lawlessness at our southern border.
  As one columnist put it, ``The absence of border security, in 
conjunction with nonexistent interior enforcement, has made the U.S. a 
fertile breeding ground for human trafficking.''
  The Biden administration's open-border policies have led to more than 
450,000 unaccompanied alien children crossing the southwest border on 
Secretary Mayorkas' watch. Given this surge, the Department of Health 
and Human Services, under guidance from the administration, lowered the 
standards for sponsors to take these unaccompanied children. Simply 
put, HHS knowingly transferred these children to the possession of 
others who were not their parents without ensuring that the child was 
healthy or that the transfer was necessary.

[[Page H408]]

  The result? Mr. Speaker, 85,000 children can't be found. There have 
been reports of sponsors having 20 of these children in one home, being 
used for forced labor.
  Mr. Speaker, this breakdown in Federal agencies' ability to keep 
children out of harm's way underscores the need to ensure that Federal 
officials are properly educated on the signs of human trafficking.
  While I am sure there is more work to be done at other Federal 
agencies, the Committee on Education and the Workforce has jurisdiction 
over the Department of Labor. Specifically, Wage and Hour Division and 
Occupational Safety and Health Administration employees, through the 
course of inspecting workplace safety and labor law compliance within 
the United States, often have a frontline opportunity to identify 
patterns of forced labor. Providing these employees with the proper 
education on how to detect and respond to the signs of human 
trafficking is an important part of the larger comprehensive effort to 
eradicate this unthinkable crime.
  Specifically, H.R. 443 would direct the Department of Labor to 
educate appropriate staff on how to effectively detect instances of 
human trafficking; ensure personnel regularly receive information on 
current trends and best practices; allow flexible education options, 
including in-class and virtual learning options; establish a clear 
course of action for referring suspected instances of human trafficking 
to law enforcement; and require a report to Congress on the 
implementation of the education and the processes used by the 
Department to measure and track its agencies' and law enforcement's 
responses to human trafficking.
  An earlier version of this bill passed the House unanimously in 2017, 
and this bill passed the Education and the Workforce Committee by a 
vote of 42-0.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 443 so we can give 
folks on the front lines of identifying labor trafficking tools and the 
tools to stop it.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. SABLAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 443, a bill to assist 
the United States Department of Labor in identifying and preventing 
cases of human trafficking.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative Walberg for his leadership and 
partnership on this issue and for introducing this legislation, of 
which I am an original cosponsor.
  Human trafficking is a scourge that preys on the most vulnerable, 
subjecting more than 27 million people around the world--and thousands 
here in the United States--to abhorrent working and living conditions.
  Eradicating all cases of human trafficking first requires an 
awareness of where it exists. As the Federal agency that oversees labor 
laws, the Department of Labor is uniquely positioned to identify 
patterns of labor exploitation.
  That is why Representative Walberg and I reintroduced H.R. 443, the 
Enhancing Detection of Human Trafficking Act. This bipartisan, no-cost 
legislation directs the Department of Labor to train appropriate 
Department staff on how to detect human trafficking and ensure that 
personnel of the Department of Labor are provided with screening tools 
to identify and detect trafficking activities.
  The bill requires the Department to report back to Congress within a 
year on the progress that is being made by such efforts.
  Unfortunately, this horrible crime occurs in every part of our 
country, including in my own district in the Northern Mariana Islands. 
In the past, several construction companies have lured non-U.S. workers 
to come to the Marianas with false promises and misrepresentations 
about pay and conditions. They didn't come through the southern border, 
I will assure you of that. They came by airplane. The companies then 
withheld the employees' wages and confiscated their passports.

  The workers were subjected to inhumane working conditions and 
crowded, unsanitary barracks with barely enough food and water. They 
were forced to work in unsafe conditions, forced to look up to the 
community for food and food assistance, some suffering serious injuries 
without access to adequate medical care. There was even a workplace 
fatality.
  To their credit, the Department of Labor's OSHA, the Occupational 
Safety and Health Administration, and Wage and Hour Division have 
worked to address these crimes, issuing fines and citations and 
recovering wages.
  These grave injustices that rob people of their freedom, and 
sometimes their lives, are preventable. Congress can and must do more 
to hold human traffickers accountable. H.R. 443, the Enhancing 
Detection of Human Trafficking Act, is an important step toward 
ensuring that the Department has the tools and resources it needs to 
combat human trafficking.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank the leadership of the House, especially 
Chairwoman Virginia Foxx and Ranking Member Bobby Scott of the 
Education and the Workforce Committee, for moving this bill to the 
floor. Again, I thank my friend, Representative Walberg, for his 
leadership in combating human trafficking.
  One reason we should vote for this bill is because it is a good bill. 
Another good reason we should vote for it is because Mr. Walberg's team 
got the national championship. He deserves this win here.
  Last month, this bill gained overwhelming support in committee with a 
vote of 42-0. It passed the House unanimously in the 117th Congress.
  Mr. Speaker, I strongly urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this 
bill today and support this legislation. I yield back the balance of my 
time.
  Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague, the Representative 
from the Northern Mariana Islands. We have worked on this a long time, 
and it is worthy of the time spent.
  Let me close with some heartbreaking statistics to remind my 
colleagues of why we have done this.
  The International Labor Organization estimated there were roughly 78 
million victims of forced labor across the globe on any given day in 
2022.
  In 2021, more than 10,000 trafficking cases in the U.S. were reported 
to the National Human Trafficking Hotline.
  According to the Department of Homeland Security, human trafficking 
is second only to drug trafficking as the most profitable form of 
international crime.
  Roughly one in six endangered runaways reported to the National 
Center for Missing and Exploited Children is likely a victim of child 
sex trafficking.
  Clearly, more needs to be done to combat this form of modern-day 
slavery.
  One of the biggest obstacles we face in this fight is awareness. H.R. 
443 will ensure Department of Labor employees are equipped with 
knowledge and processes to catch traffickers and keep them from 
inflicting more harm and abuse on individuals.
  Lastly, I thank my colleague, Representative Sablan, and his team for 
their strong partnership and advocacy over the years on this bill. I 
thank my colleague, and I certainly thank him for Go Blue.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 443, and I yield 
back the balance of my time.
  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 443, the bipartisan 
Enhancing Detection of Human Trafficking Act, sponsored by 
Representatives Walberg and Sablan.


 =========================== NOTE =========================== 

  
  On February 5, 2024, page H408, in the third column, the 
following appeared: Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 443, 
the bipartisan Enhancing Detection of Human Trafficking Act, 
sponsored by Representatives
  
  The online version has been corrected to read: Ms. FOXX. Mr. 
Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 443, the bipartisan Enhancing 
Detection of Human Trafficking Act, sponsored by Representatives


 ========================= END NOTE ========================= 


  Human trafficking is a blight upon civil society--everyone can agree, 
and it is an issue that remains one of the greatest challenges of our 
time.
  According to the International Labor Organization, in 2022, an 
estimated 27.6 million victims are trafficked on any given day.
  Roughly one in six endangered runaways reported to the National 
Center for Missing and Exploited Children is likely a victim of child 
sex trafficking.
  These horrid crimes are committed by those who prey on the innocent 
and vulnerable.
  We have seen stories right here at home of human trafficking 
operations taking place at our own southern border.
  When our nation's borders are left wide open, the cartels are 
emboldened--and act with impunity--as they enslave innocent boys and 
girls.
  H.R. 443 offers a viable avenue to equip Department of Labor 
personnel with the necessary information and tools to identify and 
report human trafficking cases--as well as cases of forced labor and 
sexual exploitation--because they investigate employment law 
violations.
  It also requires the Department of Labor to provide an annual report 
to Congress regarding its own efforts to combat the scourge of human 
trafficking.

[[Page H409]]

  Mr. Speaker, human trafficking must be stamped out, and this 
bipartisan legislation can help move us towards achieving that end.
  I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 443.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Walberg) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 443, as amended.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further 
proceedings on this motion will be postponed.

                          ____________________