[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Pages 15928-15930]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           HUMAN TRAFFICKING

  Mrs. CLINTON. Mr. President, I rise today to highlight the scourge of 
human trafficking. Every day, in countries around the world and right 
here in the United States, people desperate for economic opportunity 
and seeking to follow their dreams of a better life are lured from home 
by the promises of jobs and security. Sadly, though, all too often they 
find themselves trapped in a nightmare, imprisoned by violent 
criminals, abused, violated, deceived, bought, and sold as chattel. 
Some of these victims of trafficking disappear, never seen nor heard 
from again.
  Every year, traffickers strip thousands of people of their freedom 
and imprison them in the dark underworld of prostitution, domestic 
servitude, sweat shops, and agricultural labor.
  Trapped in debt bondage and faced with threats of physical harm to 
themselves or their families, trafficked persons have little choice but 
to try to work off their ballooning debts. Women forced into domestic 
servitude or sweatshop labor toil each day in abysmal, even dangerous 
conditions, earning no money and suffering physical and psychological 
abuse. And women and children trafficked into the sex industry 
constantly risk exposure to deadly diseases such as HIV and AIDS. Their 
only ``escape'' from the traffickers coming, if at all, is when the 
criminals discard them in the streets to die. This human trafficking is 
nothing short of modern day slavery.
  Each year the United States publishes a report ranking countries for 
their failure to combat trafficking. Improvements have been made, but 
still the 2004 Trafficking In Persons Report estimates that 600,000-
800,000 men, women, and children are trafficked worldwide across 
international borders; 14,500-17,500 are trafficked annually into the 
United States. This is even

[[Page 15929]]

more chilling when one understands that these are new victims added 
each year to those whom traffickers have already ensnared. We must do 
better.
  Last week, the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, 
Civil Rights, and Property Rights focused on the most fundamental of 
all civil rights in their July 7 hearing ``Examining U.S. Efforts to 
Combat Human Trafficking and Slavery.'' And this week, representatives 
from NGOs and the Bush administration, including the Departments of 
Justice, State, and Homeland Security, are convening in Florida for the 
``National Conference on Human Trafficking.'' It is heartening to see 
the work begun by the Clinton Administration continues to grow and 
strengthen.
  The scourge of trafficking in women and children was a priority for 
me as First Lady and continues to be a priority for me as a U.S. 
Senator. I will do everything in my power to shine a light on this dark 
world that is so contrary to human dignity. Since the United Nations 
Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995, I have been working to raise 
awareness of the heinous practice of buying and selling women and 
children like commodities. I have seen the devastation it causes, and 
the lives and families it ruins. I remember very well crouching down by 
the chair of a 12-year-old girl who had been sold into prostitution by 
her own parents desperate for the income from that sale, only to have 
the child return home within a year, dying of AIDS. I have met other 
families who spend their nights at home worrying about what has 
happened to the daughter they haven't heard from since she went to the 
discotheque, or answered the ad to be a nanny or a clerk.
  In the summer of 1997, I met with women leaders from Eastern and 
Central Europe, as well as victims' family members who, with tears in 
their eyes, pleaded with me for help in dealing with this growing 
problem. Later that year, in Lviv, Ukraine, I launched a new 
information campaign designed to warn young women about the dangers 
posed by traffickers. And in the fall of 1999, at the meeting of the 
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe held in Istanbul, 
Turkey, I announced a $1 million U.S. commitment to combat trafficking, 
and I called for greater economic opportunities to prevent young women 
from being driven into the hands of traffickers.
  In recent years, beginning with the leadership of the Clinton 
administration, the U.S. has made great strides in understanding the 
horrors of trafficking. We have worked with other nations to combat 
those who try to reap profits from this horrible practice. In 1997, the 
United States, along with the European Union, formally launched a 
campaign to combat trafficking of women and girls and to warn potential 
victims of the risks. In March of 1998, President Clinton condemned 
human trafficking as a fundamental human rights violation and a growing 
organized crime problem. I joined the President, Secretary of State 
Albright, Attorney General Reno, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, and 
a high-ranking member of the Thai government for a White House 
announcement of the first presidential directive to prevent and deter 
trafficking and to protect victims. At that time, the President 
directed his interagency Council on Women to coordinate the development 
and implementation of a three-part strategy that would: first, prevent 
trafficking; second, provide protection and assistance for trafficking 
victims; and third, prosecute traffickers. This comprehensive strategic 
framework later guided the development of the anti-trafficking 
legislation passed by Congress.
  The Clinton administration's State Department began raising the issue 
with foreign governments at the highest levels. Formal and informal 
working partnerships were forged with several foreign governments to 
address this international crisis, including the Ukraine and Finland. 
At the G-8 meeting in 1997, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright 
initiated discussions that resulted in 1998 with President Clinton and 
Italian Prime Minister Prodi formally signing the first bilateral 
agreement to cooperate on such anti-trafficking efforts as data 
collection and information sharing, prevention, assistance and law 
enforcement. We began the first U.S. funding of anti-trafficking 
programs in countries such as the Philippines and Bangladesh. Back 
then, no anti-trafficking legislation had passed so these were 
necessarily modest amounts by comparison to U.S. funding now, but it 
was a needed start.
  There was more. Embassies were tasked with reporting on human 
trafficking for the first time. And these assessments were included in 
the Department's annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. 
Prevention efforts included publishing awareness pamphlets that were 
translated into multiple languages and distributed in many consular 
offices around the world. At the same time, the U.S. undertook the 
first official estimates of the magnitude of human trafficking world-
wide and domestically, and funded the creation of a database on U.S. 
and international legislation on trafficking. Law enforcement training 
was initiated at the International Law Enforcement Academy in Bangkok 
and Budapest and in countries such as Thailand, Bulgaria, Romania and 
Bosnia.
  The Attorney General and the Secretary of Labor established an 
interagency Task Force to coordinate investigations and prosecutions of 
trafficking cases. Even prior to the passage of the 2000 anti-
trafficking law, the Department of Justice used the legal tools 
available to successfully prosecute human traffickers. In 1995, the 
Department brought the seminal case of United States v. Manasurangkun 
against traffickers who enticed seventy-one women from Thailand to 
travel to the United States by promising them good wages, good working 
hours, and a better life. Upon their arrival in El Monte, CA, they were 
held in slavery behind barbed wire and forced to work up to twenty hour 
days and under the watch of guards. Women were imprisoned for up to 7 
years before being rescued. This case was followed by other landmark 
cases such as United States v. Paoletti, United States v. Flores, 
United States v. Cadena and United States v. Mishulovich. These and 
other cases successfully prosecuted by the Justice Department ranging 
from sexual slavery to forced labor demonstrated the many 
manifestations of human trafficking, all of which must be addressed. 
Investigations resulting from the Justice Department's creation of the 
first national telephone line to receive calls to assist trafficking 
victims anywhere in the United States led to growing prosecutions. I am 
pleased that since the anti-trafficking legislation was passed and 
signed into law in 2000, prosecutions have continued to increase. 
Again, though, we need to do more to support increasing the capacity to 
undertake the investigations and prosecutions of these cases.
  Just as the Clinton administration and international organizations 
were beginning to highlight trafficking in persons as an international 
crisis, Senator Paul Wellstone--one of the greatest champions of civil 
rights to sit in this chamber--also recognized this growing abuse of 
human rights. He introduced, with Senator Dianne Feinstein, a 
resolution in 1998 that called trafficking a global human rights 
problem and directed the State Department to review it and report its 
findings to Congress. Congresswoman Louise Slaughter introduced a 
companion resolution and the led the charge in the House to bring 
attention to this issue.
  The Clinton administration worked with Senator Wellstone, his 
Republican co-sponsor, Senator Brownback, and Congressman Chris Smith 
and former Congressman Sam Gejdenson in the House, to introduce the 
first comprehensive anti-trafficking bill in Congress. This culminated 
in the passage of the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection 
Act of 2000.
  I supported adoption of the strongest possible legislation to 
eradicate trafficking in persons, and I was personally invested in the 
effort. The Clinton administration worked continuously with Congress on 
a bi-partisan basis to craft a bill to achieve this objective. We

[[Page 15930]]

sought to institutionalize the comprehensive strategic framework--the 
``3 Ps''--that the Administration had been implementing as the core of 
the legislation. The resulting legislation incorporated prevention 
mechanisms and better and stronger prosecution, protection, and victim 
assistance tools. Upon its passage, President Clinton congratulated 
Congress and noted that this new law would lay the groundwork for 
future administrations to carry this important work forward, and would 
ensure that trafficking of persons assumes the prominent place on the 
world's agenda that it deserves until we put an end to this horrible 
practice. I believed then, and I believe now, that this is one of the 
Clinton administrations greatest achievements and one of the most 
important parts of Senator Wellstone's legacy. That law means the 
difference between freedom and enslavement for unknown numbers of 
potential trafficking victims for years to come.
  I was also proud to support and work with Senator Brownback on the 
passage of the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 
2003. I know that Senator Wellstone would welcome our work in the 
Senate, and Chris Smith's continuing leadership in the House, as we 
fight one of the most egregious human rights violations, which Paul so 
passionately sought to bring to an end.
  Looking forward, we must pursue concrete and pragmatic approaches to 
combating this evil. Our rhetoric must be matched by our actions so 
that the United States government's seven year record of progress and 
success can continue and intensify. The fight against trafficking, like 
the fight against all forms of violence, must be supported with 
comprehensive strategies effectively implemented and appropriately 
funded here and abroad. There is still much to be done.
  The United States must do more to combat trafficking within our own 
shores. Trafficking victims exist in our midst, in towns large and 
small. We must target resources on training and equipping law 
enforcement authorities to identify trafficking victims, victims too 
often mischaracterized as ``illegal migrants'' and deported. And we 
must provide funds for NGOs working on the front lines in the United 
States to provide care and legal assistance to victims of all forms of 
trafficking.
  I applaud and support State initiatives to combat trafficking. 
However, we must ensure that State and Federal authorities work 
cooperatively to combat this scourge. These welcome state efforts must 
augment the ongoing Federal fight against human trafficking. The 
Federal Government cannot retreat, but must do more to focus on victims 
nationwide. We must ensure that our Federal law enforcement authorities 
continue to have the financial and human resources necessary to 
investigate these crimes. We must further support our Federal, State, 
and local law enforcement, investigators, and prosecutors in efforts to 
mobilize in an integrated and coherent way to respond appropriately to 
the organized criminal enterprises of human trafficking who still 
operate with relative impunity here and around the world. We must 
ensure that we adopt a consistent and coordinated national response to 
these human rights violations.
  Without witness protection and an appreciation of the risks that 
trafficking victims face in testifying against the perpetrators of 
these horrible crimes, the prosecution record will not improve. 
Conferences are a beginning, but not an end in themselves.
  We must do more to tailor specific responses to the special needs of 
the children who are trafficked, especially in terms of care and 
protection. Root causes such as economic deprivation demand and warrant 
growing attention. There are no short-term fixes. The incidence of 
retrafficking among children, many who have attempted to flee homes of 
violence and abuse or have been sold by their families, must be 
addressed.
  Finally, the Senate must ratify the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and 
Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, 
supplementing the U.N. Convention against Trans-
national Organized Crime. The United States played a major role in 
developing this new international law on trafficking. Through the 
annual TIP reports we have communicated our expectation to the world 
that all countries will join in our fight against human trafficking. 
Now, for the sake of our own credibility abroad, we must show our own 
commitment to abide by international norms on trafficking.
  The TIP report is a powerful tool for combating trafficking around 
the world. The threat of economic sanctions has inspired many countries 
to ramp up their efforts to combat trafficking within and across their 
borders. We must work closely in partnership with countries who are 
striving to do better and maintain the pressure on countries who are 
not. Meeting minimum standards is not enough. We must not shy away from 
ranking as Tier 3 those countries that fail to do their part in the 
global fight against trafficking.
  The simple fact is that we must do better in terms of demanding 
effectiveness of our programs and the significant funds that are spent 
by our government in the U.S. and around the world. There is no 
question that we are making progress, but we must do better for the 
sake of the victims of trafficking who try to endure, waiting and 
praying for our intervention in their nightmare. Every day, more women 
and girls are being sold into the sex industry, domestic servitude, 
sweatshop labor, debt bondage, and other forms of modern-day slavery. 
And more and more men, women, and children are being forced into 
various forms of manual labor, without any pay or any protection. These 
crimes are violations of human rights and human dignity, and the United 
States will not rest until they are stopped.
  I am pleased that President Bush has carried on our country's 
commitment to combat human trafficking. The progress we have made to 
date has been the result of strong bipartisan efforts that brought the 
horrors of trafficking to light. I hope we will continue to address 
this challenge in a bipartisan way.
  With the passage of important legislation and Congress's 
appropriation of much-needed funds to address this problem we have the 
opportunity to accomplish many things around the world and here at home 
to reduce human trafficking that we could only dream of before. The 
administration has declared its intention to spend $150 million over 
the next two years to reduce human trafficking. Support for these 
efforts is needed now more than ever because of the stark reality that 
in the four years since the legislation was signed into law there 
nevertheless remains no evidence that human trafficking is diminishing.
  It was Senator Wellstone who observed that despite some progress on 
human trafficking we must be impatient for better results. I believe 
that the need to be impatient is now more urgent than ever. In the 
fight against trafficking in persons, patience simply is not an option. 
We are making progress, but there is still so much more that needs to 
be done.
  No country has done more than the United States to bring worldwide 
trafficking out of the shadows and into the glare of public attention, 
and I am committed to doing whatever I can to help continue that 
leadership. I look forward to working with the administration and both 
sides of the aisle on additional improvements to the current 
legislation and effective strategies for implementing it 
internationally and domestically.

                          ____________________