[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 23]
[Senate]
[Pages 32032-32057]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




WILLIAM WILBERFORCE TRAFFICKING VICTIMS PROTECTION REAUTHORIZATION ACT 
                                OF 2007

  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules 
and pass the bill (H.R. 3887) to authorize appropriations for fiscal 
years 2008 through 2011 for the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 
2000, to enhance measures to combat forced labor, and for other 
purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 3887

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE AND TABLE OF CONTENTS.

       (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``William 
     Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization 
     Act of 2007''.
       (b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act 
     is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title and table of contents.

        TITLE I--COMBATTING INTERNATIONAL TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS

Sec. 101. Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking.
Sec. 102. Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking.
Sec. 103. Prevention and prosecution of trafficking in foreign 
              countries.
Sec. 104. Assistance for victims of trafficking in other countries.
Sec. 105. Increasing effectiveness of anti-trafficking programs.
Sec. 106. Minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking.
Sec. 107. Actions against governments failing to meet minimum 
              standards.
Sec. 108. Research on domestic and international trafficking in 
              persons.
Sec. 109. Presidential Award for Extraordinary Efforts to Combat 
              Trafficking in Persons.
Sec. 110. Responsibilities of consular officers of the Department of 
              State.
Sec. 111. Report on activities of the Department of Labor to monitor 
              and combat forced labor and child labor.
Sec. 112. Sense of Congress regarding multilateral framework between 
              labor exporting and labor importing countries.

    TITLE II--COMBATTING TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS IN THE UNITED STATES

 Subtitle A--Ensuring Availability of Possible Witnesses and Informants

Sec. 201. Protecting trafficking victims against retaliation.
Sec. 202. Information for work-based nonimmigrants on legal rights and 
              resources.
Sec. 203. Relief for certain victims pending actions on petitions and 
              applications for relief.
Sec. 204. Expansion of authority to permit continued presence in the 
              United States.
Sec. 205. Implementation of Trafficking Victims Protection 
              Reauthorization Act of 2005.

             Subtitle B--Assistance for Trafficking Victims

Sec. 211. Victim of trafficking certification process.
Sec. 212. Assistance for certain nonimmigrant status applicants.
Sec. 213. Interim assistance for child victims of trafficking.
Sec. 214. Ensuring assistance for all victims of trafficking in 
              persons.

       Subtitle C--Penalties Against Traffickers and Other Crimes

Sec. 221. Enhancing trafficking and other related offenses.
Sec. 222. Jurisdiction in certain trafficking offenses.
Sec. 223. Amendment of other crimes related to trafficking.
Sec. 224. New model statute provided to States.

         Subtitle D--Activities of the United States Government

Sec. 231. Annual report by the Attorney General.
Sec. 232. Anti-trafficking survey and conferences.
Sec. 233. Senior Policy Operating Group.
Sec. 234. Efforts by Departments of Justice and Labor to combat human 
              trafficking.
Sec. 235. Preventing United States travel by traffickers.
Sec. 236. Enhancing efforts to combat the trafficking of children.
Sec. 237. Temporary increase in fee for certain consular services.

              TITLE III--AUTHORIZATIONS OF APPROPRIATIONS

Sec. 301. Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000.
Sec. 302. Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2005.
Sec. 303. Rule of construction.
Sec. 304. Technical amendments.

           TITLE IV--PREVENTION OF THE USE OF CHILD SOLDIERS

Sec. 401. Short title.
Sec. 402. Definitions.
Sec. 403. Findings.
Sec. 404. Sense of Congress.
Sec. 405. Prohibition on provision of military assistance to foreign 
              governments that recruit or use child soldiers.
Sec. 406. Reports.
Sec. 407. Training for Foreign Service officers.

        TITLE I--COMBATTING INTERNATIONAL TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS

     SEC. 101. INTERAGENCY TASK FORCE TO MONITOR AND COMBAT 
                   TRAFFICKING.

       Section 105(b) of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 
     2000 (22 U.S.C. 7103(b)) is amended by inserting ``the 
     Secretary of Education,'' after ``the Secretary of Homeland 
     Security,''.

     SEC. 102. OFFICE TO MONITOR AND COMBAT TRAFFICKING.

       (a) In General.--Section 105(e) of the Trafficking Victims 
     Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7103(e)) is amended to read 
     as follows:
       ``(e) Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking.--
       ``(1) Establishment.--The Secretary of State shall 
     establish within the Department of State an Office to Monitor 
     and Combat Trafficking, which shall be headed by a Director, 
     who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the 
     advice and consent of the Senate, with the rank of 
     Ambassador-at-Large.
       ``(2) Responsibilities.--The Director shall have the 
     following responsibilities:
       ``(A) The Director shall have primary responsibility for 
     assisting the Secretary of State in carrying out the purposes 
     of this division, shall provide assistance to the Task Force, 
     and may have additional responsibilities as determined by the 
     Secretary of State.
       ``(B) The Director shall consult with nongovernmental 
     organizations and multilateral organizations, and with 
     trafficking victims or other affected persons. The Director 
     shall have the authority to take evidence in public hearings 
     or by other means.
       ``(C) The Director shall, in coordination and cooperation 
     with the Assistant Secretary for International Labor Affairs 
     and other officials at the Department of State involved in 
     corporate responsibility and other relevant officials of the 
     United States Government, be responsible for promoting, 
     building, and sustaining partnerships between the United 
     States Government and private entities (including 
     foundations, universities, corporations, community-based 
     organizations, and other nongovernmental organizations) to 
     ensure that United States citizens do not use any item, 
     product, or material produced or extracted with the use of 
     labor from victims of severe forms of trafficking and to 
     ensure that such entities do not contribute to trafficking in 
     persons involving sexual exploitation, such as through work 
     with the airlines and tourism industries.
       ``(D) The Director shall be solely responsible for all 
     policy, funding, and programming decisions regarding funds 
     made available for trafficking in persons programs that

[[Page 32033]]

     are centrally controlled by the Department of State.
       ``(3) Coordination.--Any trafficking in persons programs of 
     the Department of State or the United States Agency for 
     International Development that are not centrally controlled 
     by the Department of State shall be carried out with 
     concurrence of the Director.''.
       (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
       (1) the Secretary of State should make every effort to 
     locate the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking, 
     established pursuant to section 105(e) of the Trafficking 
     Victims Protection Act of 2000 (as amended by subsection (a) 
     of this section), at the headquarters for the Department of 
     State, known as the Harry S. Truman Federal Building, located 
     in the District of Columbia; and
       (2) the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking should be 
     assigned office space in such building that reflects the 
     importance of the implementation of such Act and the broad 
     and historic mission of the Office to end modern-day slavery.

     SEC. 103. PREVENTION AND PROSECUTION OF TRAFFICKING IN 
                   FOREIGN COUNTRIES.

       (a) Prevention.--Section 106 of the Trafficking Victims 
     Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S. C. 7104) is amended by adding 
     at the end the following new subsection:
       ``(i) Additional Measures To Prevent and Deter 
     Trafficking.--The President shall establish and carry out 
     programs to prevent and deter trafficking in persons. Such 
     programs may include--
       ``(1) technical assistance and other support for the 
     capacity of foreign governments to investigate, identify, and 
     carry out inspections of private entities, including labor 
     recruitment centers, at which trafficking victims may be 
     exploited, particularly exploitation involving forced and 
     child labor;
       ``(2) technical assistance and other support for foreign 
     governments and nongovernmental organizations to provide 
     immigrant populations with information regarding the rights 
     of such populations in the foreign country and any 
     information regarding in-country nongovernmental 
     organization-operated hotlines of the type described in 
     section 107(a)(1)(A) of this Act, with such information to be 
     provided in the native languages of the major immigrant 
     groups of such populations;
       ``(3) technical assistance to provide legal frameworks and 
     other programs to foreign governments and nongovernmental 
     organizations to ensure that foreign migrant workers are 
     provided protection equal to nationals of the foreign 
     country, that labor recruitment firms are regulated, and that 
     workers providing domestic services in households are 
     provided protection under labor rights laws; and
       ``(4) assistance to foreign governments to register 
     vulnerable populations as citizens or nationals of the 
     country to reduce the ability of traffickers to exploit such 
     populations.''.
       (b) Prosecution.--Section 134(a)(2) of the Foreign 
     Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2152d(a)(2)) is amended by 
     adding at the end before the semi-colon the following: ``, 
     including investigation of individuals and entities that may 
     be involved in trafficking in persons involving sexual 
     exploitation''.

     SEC. 104. ASSISTANCE FOR VICTIMS OF TRAFFICKING IN OTHER 
                   COUNTRIES.

       Section 107(a) of Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 
     2000 (22 U.S.C. 7105(a)) is amended--
       (1) in paragraph (1)--
       (A) in the second sentence, by inserting at the end before 
     the period the following: ``, and shall be carried out in a 
     manner which takes into account the cross-border, regional, 
     and transnational aspects of trafficking in persons''; and
       (B) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
       ``(F) In cooperation and coordination with the United 
     Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the International 
     Organization of Migration, and other relevant organizations 
     (including private nongovernmental organizations that 
     contract with the United States Government to assist refugees 
     and internally displaced persons), support for increased 
     protections for refugees and internally displaced persons, 
     including outreach and education efforts to prevent such 
     refugees and internally displaced persons from being 
     exploited by traffickers and ensuring performance of best 
     interest determinations for unaccompanied and separated 
     children to identify child trafficking victims and assist 
     their safe integration, reintegration, and resettlement.''; 
     and
       (2) in paragraph (2), by adding at the end the following 
     new sentence: ``In carrying out this paragraph, the Secretary 
     and the Administrator shall take all appropriate steps to 
     ensure that cooperative efforts among foreign countries are 
     undertaken on a regional basis.''.

     SEC. 105. INCREASING EFFECTIVENESS OF ANTI-TRAFFICKING 
                   PROGRAMS.

       (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
       (1) United States assistance programs require enhanced 
     monitoring and evaluation to ensure that United States funds 
     are appropriately spent.
       (2) Such monitoring and evaluation should measure results--
     the actual effects of assistance--as well as outcomes--the 
     numerical product of assistance, such as the number of 
     individuals assisted, systems established, and funds provided 
     through programs.
       (3) While the results of programs related to trafficking in 
     persons may be difficult to measure because of the criminal 
     and underground nature of trafficking in persons, making 
     efforts to measure such results are critical to learning the 
     extent to which United States assistance programs affect the 
     nature and severity of trafficking and change the fundamental 
     conditions that facilitate trafficking.
       (b) Amendment.--The Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 
     2000 (22 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.) is amended by inserting after 
     section 107 the following new section:

     ``SEC. 107A. INCREASING EFFECTIVENESS OF ANTI-TRAFFICKING 
                   PROGRAMS.

       ``(a) Awarding of Grants, Cooperative Agreements, and 
     Contracts.--The head of each department and agency of the 
     United States Government that administers funds made 
     available for programs described in this division and the 
     amendments made by this division in the United States and 
     foreign countries shall--
       ``(1) make solicitations of grants, cooperative agreements, 
     and contracts for such programs publicly available;
       ``(2) award grants, cooperative agreements, and contracts 
     on a full and open competitive basis, consistent with 
     existing law; and
       ``(3) ensure that internal department or agency review 
     process for such grants, cooperative agreements, and 
     contracts is not subject to ad hoc or intermittent review by 
     individuals or organizations outside the United States 
     Government not otherwise provided for in the process 
     described in paragraphs (1) and (2).
       ``(b) Evaluation of Trafficking Programs.--
       ``(1) In general.--The President shall establish and 
     implement a system to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness 
     and efficiency of assistance provided under anti-trafficking 
     programs established and carried out under this division and 
     the amendments made by this division on a program-by-program 
     basis in order to maximize the long-term sustainable 
     development impact of such assistance.
       ``(2) Requirements.--In carrying out paragraph (1), the 
     President shall--
       ``(A) establish performance goals for assistance described 
     in paragraph (1) and express such goals in an objective and 
     quantifiable form, to the extent practicable;
       ``(B) ensure that performance indicators are used for each 
     United States program authorized by this division and the 
     amendments made by this division to measure and assess the 
     achievement of the performance goals described in 
     subparagraph (A); and
       ``(C) provide a basis for recommendations for adjustments 
     to assistance described in paragraph (1) to enhance the 
     impact of such assistance.
       ``(c) Targeted Use of Trafficking Programs.--The Director 
     of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking shall 
     undertake efforts to provide assistance to foreign countries 
     and nongovernmental organizations under this division and the 
     amendments made by this division based on the priorities and 
     country assessments contained in the most recent report 
     submitted by the Secretary of State to Congress pursuant to 
     section 110(b) of this Act.
       ``(d) Consistency With Other Programs.--The President shall 
     take steps to ensure that the design, monitoring, and 
     evaluation of United States assistance programs for emergency 
     relief, development, and poverty alleviation under part I and 
     chapter 4 of part II of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 
     and other similar United States assistance programs are 
     carried out in a manner that takes into account and are 
     consistent with United States policies and other United 
     States programs relating to combatting trafficking in 
     persons.
       ``(e) Authorization of Appropriations.--For each of the 
     fiscal years 2008 through 2011, up to 2 percent of the 
     amounts made available to carry out this division and the 
     amendments made by this division may be used to carry out 
     this section.''.

     SEC. 106. MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR THE ELIMINATION OF 
                   TRAFFICKING.

       (a) Minimum Standards.--Subsection (a) of section 108 of 
     the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 
     7106) is amended in the matter preceding paragraph (1) by 
     striking ``a significant number of''.
       (b) Criteria.--Subsection (b) of such section is amended--
       (1) in paragraph (1)--
       (A) in the first sentence, by inserting at the end before 
     the period the following: ``, including in all appropriate 
     cases requiring incarceration of individuals convicted of 
     such acts''; and
       (B) by inserting after the first sentence the following new 
     sentence: ``For purposes of the preceding sentence, suspended 
     or significantly-reduced sentences for convictions of 
     principal actors in cases of severe forms of trafficking in 
     persons shall not be considered to be an indicator of serious 
     and sustained efforts to eliminate severe forms of 
     trafficking in persons.'';
       (2) in paragraph (2), by inserting at the end before the 
     period the following: ``, including

[[Page 32034]]

     by providing training to law enforcement and immigration 
     officials in the identification and treatment of trafficking 
     victims using approaches that focus on the needs of the 
     victims'';
       (3) in paragraph (3), by striking ``, measures to reduce 
     the demand for commercial sex acts and for participation in 
     international sex tourism by nationals of the country'' and 
     inserting ``, measures to establish the identity of local 
     populations, including birth registration, citizenship, and 
     nationality''; and
       (4) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
       ``(11) Whether the government of the country has made 
     serious and sustained efforts to reduce the demand for--
       ``(A) commercial sex acts; and
       ``(B) participation in international sex tourism by 
     nationals of the country.''.

     SEC. 107. ACTIONS AGAINST GOVERNMENTS FAILING TO MEET MINIMUM 
                   STANDARDS.

       (a) Countries on Special Watch List Relating to Trafficking 
     in Persons for Two Consecutive Years.--Subsection (b)(3) of 
     section 110 of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 
     (22 U.S.C. 7107) is amended by adding the following at the 
     end the following new subparagraph:
       ``(D) Countries on special watch list for two consecutive 
     years.--If a country is included on the special watch list 
     described in subparagraph (A) for two consecutive years, such 
     country shall be included on the list of countries described 
     in paragraph (1)(C), unless the Secretary of State determines 
     that (i) the country has a written plan to begin making 
     significant efforts to bring itself into compliance with the 
     minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, (ii) 
     the plan, if implemented, would constitute making such 
     significant efforts, and (iii) the country is devoting 
     sufficient resources to implement the plan, and, as part of 
     the report required by paragraph (1) and the interim 
     assessment required by subparagraph (B), the Secretary 
     provides to the appropriate congressional committees credible 
     evidence that the country meets the requirements of clauses 
     (i) through (iii). The Secretary may make a determination 
     under the preceding sentence with respect to a country for 
     not more than two consecutive years.''.
       (b) Clarification of Measures Against Certain Foreign 
     Countries.--Subsection (d)(1)(A)(ii) of such section is 
     amended by striking ``the United States will not provide'' 
     and inserting ``the United States will not provide such 
     assistance to the government of the country for the 
     subsequent fiscal year and will not provide''.
       (c) Translation of Trafficking in Persons Report.--
       (1) Translation required.--The Secretary of State shall 
     expand the timely translation of the annual report required 
     under section 110(b) of the Trafficking Victims Protection 
     Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7107(b)) into the principal languages 
     of as many countries as possible, with particular emphasis on 
     those countries on the lists described in subparagraphs (B) 
     and (C) of paragraph (1) of such section and shall ensure 
     that such translations are made available to the public, 
     including through postings on appropriate Internet websites.
       (2) Matters to be included.--The translation required by 
     paragraph (1) shall include the introduction, other sections 
     of general interest, and the relevant country narratives of 
     the annual report. The Secretary of State shall ensure that 
     such translations are available on the Internet website of 
     the Department of State.

     SEC. 108. RESEARCH ON DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL TRAFFICKING 
                   IN PERSONS.

       (a) In General.--Subsection (a)(5) of section 112A of the 
     Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7109a) 
     is amended by adding at the end the following new sentence: 
     ``Such mechanism shall include, not later than two years 
     after the date of the enactment of the William Wilberforce 
     Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2007, 
     the establishment of an integrated data base by combining all 
     applicable data collected by each Federal department and 
     agency represented on the Interagency Task Force to Monitor 
     and Combat Trafficking (established under section 105 of this 
     Act) and, to the maximum extent practicable, applicable data 
     from relevant international organizations, for the purposes 
     of improving coordination of the collection of data related 
     to trafficking in persons by each agency of the United States 
     Government that collects such data, promoting uniformity of 
     such data collection and standards and systems related to 
     such collection, and undertaking a meta-analysis of patterns 
     of trafficking in persons, slavery, and slave-like 
     conditions.''.
       (b) Role of Government.--Subsection (b) of such section is 
     amended by inserting after ``subsection (a)(4)'' the 
     following: ``and the second sentence of subsection (a)(5)''.

     SEC. 109. PRESIDENTIAL AWARD FOR EXTRAORDINARY EFFORTS TO 
                   COMBAT TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS.

       The Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 
     7101 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 112A the 
     following new section:

     ``SEC. 112B. PRESIDENTIAL AWARD FOR EXTRAORDINARY EFFORTS TO 
                   COMBAT TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS.

       ``(a) Establishment of Award.--The President is authorized 
     to establish an award for extraordinary efforts to combat 
     trafficking in persons, to be known as the `Presidential 
     Award for Extraordinary Efforts to Combat Trafficking in 
     Persons'. To the maximum extent practicable, the Secretary 
     should make the award annually to up to 5 individuals or 
     organizations, including individuals who are United States 
     citizens or foreign nationals and United States or foreign 
     nongovernmental organizations.
       ``(b) Selection.--The President shall establish procedures 
     for selecting recipients of the award authorized under 
     subsection (a).
       ``(c) Ceremony.--The President shall host an annual 
     ceremony for recipients of the award authorized under 
     subsection (a) at the time the report required by section 
     110(b) of this Act is submitted by the Secretary of State to 
     Congress pursuant to such section. The Secretary of State is 
     authorized to pay the costs associated with travel by each 
     recipient and a guest of the recipient to the ceremony.
       ``(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--To carry out this 
     section, there are authorized to be appropriated such sums as 
     may be necessary for each of the fiscal years 2008 through 
     2011.''.

     SEC. 110. RESPONSIBILITIES OF CONSULAR OFFICERS OF THE 
                   DEPARTMENT OF STATE.

       (a) Interviews.--
       (1) In general.--In the case of a consular interview of an 
     alien for an employment- or education-based nonimmigrant 
     visa, the consular officer conducting the interview shall 
     ensure that the alien has received, both orally in a language 
     that the applicant understands and though the pamphlet 
     required under section 202, information relating to the 
     following:
       (A) The illegality of slavery, peonage, trafficking in 
     persons, sexual assault, extortion, blackmail and worker 
     exploitation in the United States, and the right of the alien 
     to retain the alien's passport in the alien's possession at 
     all times.
       (B) The availability of services for victims of human 
     trafficking and worker exploitation in the United States, 
     including the contact information for relevant community 
     organizations that provide services to trafficking victims 
     (to the extent practicable), Federal law enforcement and 
     victim services complaint lines, and a general description of 
     the types of victims services available if an individual is 
     subject to trafficking in persons.
       (C) The legal rights of immigrant victims of trafficking in 
     persons, worker exploitation, and other related crimes under 
     immigration, labor, and employment law, including the right 
     to report abuse without retaliation, the availability of 
     immigration and public benefits to such victims, and the 
     right to seek redress in United States courts.
       (D) If applicable, the requirements that section 202(g)(2) 
     places upon persons engaging in foreign labor contracting 
     activity.
       (2) Review.--Before conducting an interview described in 
     paragraph (1), the consular officer shall review the summary 
     of the pamphlet required under section 202.
       (3) Definition.--In this subsection, the term ``employment- 
     or education-based nonimmigrant visa'' has the meaning given 
     such term in section 202(h).
       (b) Special Provisions Relating to Aliens Issued A-3 and G-
     5 Visas.--
       (1) Elements of mandatory interview.--The interview 
     required under subsection (a) shall be required for the 
     issuance to an alien of a nonimmigrant visa under 
     subparagraph (A)(iii) or (G)(v) of section 101(a)(15) of the 
     Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)). The 
     consular officer conducting the interview shall ensure that 
     the employment contract of the alien is in a language that 
     the alien can understand.
       (2) Feasibility of oversight of employees of diplomats and 
     representatives of other institutions.--Not later than 180 
     days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
     Secretary of State shall submit to the Committee on Foreign 
     Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
     Foreign Relations of the Senate a report on the feasibility 
     of--
       (A) establishing a system to monitor the treatment of 
     aliens who have been admitted to the United States as 
     nonimmigrants described in subparagraph (A)(iii) or (G)(v) of 
     section 101(a)(15) of the Immigration and Nationality Act; 
     and
       (B) a range of compensation approaches, such as a bond 
     program, compensation fund, or insurance scheme, to ensure 
     that nonimmigrants described in subparagraph (A)(iii) or 
     (G)(v) of section 101(a)(15) of the Immigration and 
     Nationality Act receive appropriate compensation if their 
     employer violates the terms of their employment contract and, 
     with respect to each proposed compensation approach, an 
     evaluation and proposal of how claims of rights violations 
     will be adjudicated, compensation determinations will be 
     made, and the program, fund, or scheme will be administered.
       (3) Assistance to law enforcement investigations.--The 
     Secretary of State shall cooperate, to the fullest extent 
     possible consistent with the United States obligations under 
     the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, done at 
     Vienna, April 18, 1961, (23 U.S.T. 3229), with any 
     investigation by

[[Page 32035]]

     United States law enforcement authorities of crimes related 
     to trafficking in persons, worker exploitation, or other 
     related violations of United States law with respect to an 
     alien described in paragraph (1).
       (4) Zero tolerance for abuse.--
       (A) Limitation.--The Secretary of State shall direct 
     consular officers not to issue a visa to an alien who applies 
     for a visa under subparagraph (A)(iii) or (G)(v) of section 
     101(a)(15) of the Immigration and Nationality Act if the 
     person who would employ such an alien serves at a diplomatic 
     mission or an international institution described in 
     subparagraph (B) of this paragraph.
       (B) Mission or institution.--A diplomatic mission or 
     international institution is referred to in subparagraph (A) 
     if--
       (i) the Secretary of State determines that an alien 
     described in paragraph (1) has been subjected to trafficking 
     of persons, worker exploitation, or other related violations 
     of United States law, by an individual serving at such a 
     mission or institution during the two year period before the 
     date of the application for a visa referred to in 
     subparagraph (A); or
       (ii) an individual serving at such a mission or institution 
     has departed the United States and there is credible evidence 
     that such individual trafficked, exploited, or otherwise 
     abused an alien described in paragraph (1).
       (C) Exception.--The Secretary of State may suspend the 
     application of the limitation under subparagraph (A) if the 
     Secretary determines and reports to the committees specified 
     in paragraph (2) that a mechanism is in place to ensure that 
     such trafficking, exploitation, or abuse does not occur again 
     with respect to any alien employed by such mission or 
     institution.
       (5) Report.--Not later than June 1, 2008, and annually 
     thereafter, the Secretary of State shall submit to the 
     Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives 
     and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate a report 
     describing the diplomatic missions or international 
     institutions that are subject to the visa restriction 
     referred to in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (4), any 
     exceptions that have been made pursuant to subparagraph (C) 
     of such paragraph (4), and any requests for waivers of 
     diplomatic immunity that have been made that are related to 
     actions involving trafficking of persons, worker 
     exploitation, or other related violations of United States 
     law. Such report may be combined with the annual report 
     required by section 110(b) of the Trafficking Victims 
     Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7107(b)).

     SEC. 111. REPORT ON ACTIVITIES OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR TO 
                   MONITOR AND COMBAT FORCED LABOR AND CHILD 
                   LABOR.

       (a) Interim Report.--Not later than 120 days after the date 
     of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor shall 
     submit to the appropriate congressional committees an interim 
     report on the implementation of section 105(b) of the 
     Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2005 
     (22 U.S.C. 7112(b)), which shall include a description of the 
     progress made toward developing the list of goods described 
     in paragraph (2)(C) of such section.
       (b) Final Report; Public Availability of List.--Not later 
     than January 15, 2009, the Secretary of Labor shall--
       (1) submit to the appropriate congressional committees a 
     final report on the implementation of section 105(b) of the 
     Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2005, 
     which shall include an initial list of goods described in 
     paragraph (2)(C) of such section; and
       (2) make available to the public such list of goods in 
     accordance with paragraph (2)(C) of such section.
       (c) Appropriate Congressional Committees Defined.--In this 
     section, the term ``appropriate congressional committees'' 
     has the meaning given the term in section 103 of the 
     Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7102).

     SEC. 112. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING MULTILATERAL FRAMEWORK 
                   BETWEEN LABOR EXPORTING AND LABOR IMPORTING 
                   COUNTRIES.

       It is the sense of Congress that the Secretary of State, in 
     conjunction with the International Labor Organization, the 
     United Nations Office of Drug and Crime Prevention, and other 
     relevant international and nongovernmental organizations, 
     should seek to establish a multilateral framework between 
     labor exporting and labor importing countries to ensure that 
     workers migrating between such countries are protected from 
     trafficking in persons and worker exploitation of any kind.

    TITLE II--COMBATTING TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS IN THE UNITED STATES

 Subtitle A--Ensuring Availability of Possible Witnesses and Informants

     SEC. 201. PROTECTING TRAFFICKING VICTIMS AGAINST RETALIATION.

       (a) T Visas.--Section 101(a)(15)(T) of the Immigration and 
     Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(T)) is amended--
       (1) in clause (i)--
       (A) in the matter preceding subclause (I), by striking 
     ``Security and the Attorney General jointly;'' and inserting 
     ``Security, in consultation with the Attorney General,'';
       (B) in subclause (I), by striking the comma at the end and 
     inserting a semicolon;
       (C) in subclause (II), by adding at the end the following: 
     ``including physical presence on account of the alien having 
     been allowed entry into the United States for participation 
     in investigative or judicial processes;'';
       (D) in subclause (III)--
       (i) in item (aa), by striking ``or'' at the end;
       (ii) in item (bb), by striking ``, and'' at the end and 
     inserting ``; and'';
       (iii) by redesignating item (bb) as item (cc); and
       (iv) by inserting after item (aa) the following:
       ``(bb) in the Secretary's sole and unreviewable discretion, 
     in consultation with the Attorney General, that the alien is 
     unlikely or unable to cooperate with such a request due to 
     physical or psychological trauma; or''; and
       (E) in subclause (IV), by adding ``and'' at the end;
       (2) in clause (ii)--
       (A) in subclause (I), by striking ``or'' at the end;
       (B) in subclause (II), by striking ``and'' at the end and 
     inserting ``or''; and
       (C) by adding the following at the end:
       ``(III) any parents or siblings of an alien described in 
     subclause (I) or (II) who face a present danger of 
     retaliation, as attested to by a representative of a law 
     enforcement agency, as a result of the alien's escape from 
     the severe form of trafficking or cooperation with law 
     enforcement.''; and
       (3) by striking clause (iii).
       (b) Requirements for T Visa Issuance.--Section 214(o) of 
     the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1184(o)) is 
     amended--
       (1) in paragraph (7)(B)--
       (A) by striking ``subparagraph (A) if a Federal'' and 
     inserting the following:
     ``subparagraph (A) if--
       ``(i) a Federal'';
       (B) by striking the period at the end and inserting ``; 
     or''; and
       (C) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(ii) the Secretary of Homeland Security determines, as a 
     matter of the Secretary's sole discretion, that an extension 
     of the period of such nonimmigrant status is warranted due to 
     exceptional circumstances.''; and
       (2) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(8) In determining whether extreme hardship described in 
     section 101(a)(15)(T)(i)(IV) exists, the Secretary of 
     Homeland Security, in consultation with the Attorney General 
     and relevant investigators, prosecutors, and individuals 
     responsible for working with victims and witnesses, may 
     consider whether the country to which the alien is likely to 
     be removed can adequately address security concerns and the 
     mental and physical health needs of the alien and of persons 
     described in section 101(a)(15)(T)(ii).''.
       (c) Conditions on Nonimmigrant Status for Certain Crime 
     Victims.--Section 214(p)(6) of the Immigration and 
     Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1184(p)(6)) is amended by adding at 
     the end the following: ``The Secretary of Homeland Security 
     may extend the authorized period of status of an alien as a 
     nonimmigrant under section 101(a)(15)(U) of this title for a 
     period exceeding 4 years if the Secretary determines, as a 
     matter of the Secretary's sole discretion, that an extension 
     of such period is warranted due to exceptional 
     circumstances.''.
       (d) Adjustment of Status for Trafficking Victims.--Section 
     245(l) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
     1255(l)) is amended--
       (1) in paragraph (1), in the matter preceding subparagraph 
     (A), by striking ``the Attorney General,,'' and inserting 
     ``the Secretary of Homeland Security in consultation with the 
     Attorney General,'';
       (2) in paragraph (1)(B), by inserting ``subject to 
     paragraph (6),'' after ``(B)'';
       (3) in paragraph (1)(C)(ii), by striking ``, or in the case 
     of subparagraph (C)(i), the Attorney General,'';
       (4) in paragraph (3), by striking the period at the end and 
     inserting the following: ``, unless the absence is in order 
     to assist in the investigation or prosecution or unless an 
     official involved in the investigation or prosecution 
     certifies that the absence was otherwise justified.''; and
       (5) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(6) For purposes of paragraph (1)(B), the Secretary of 
     Homeland Security, in the Secretary's sole and unreviewable 
     discretion, may waive consideration of a disqualification 
     from good moral character (described in section 101(f)) with 
     respect to an alien if the disqualification was caused by, or 
     was incident to, the trafficking described in section 
     101(a)(15)(T)(i)(I).''.
       (e) Adjustment of Status for Crime Victims.--Section 
     245(m)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
     1255(m)(1)) is amended, in the matter preceding subparagraph 
     (A), by striking ``unless the Attorney General'' and 
     inserting ``unless the Secretary, in consultation with the 
     Attorney General,''.

     SEC. 202. INFORMATION FOR WORK-BASED NONIMMIGRANTS ON LEGAL 
                   RIGHTS AND RESOURCES.

       (a) In General.--The Secretary of Homeland Security, in 
     consultation with the Secretary of State, the Attorney 
     General, and the Secretary of Labor, shall develop an 
     information pamphlet, as described in subsection (b), on 
     legal rights and resources for

[[Page 32036]]

     aliens applying for employment- or education-based 
     nonimmigrant visas, and shall distribute and make such 
     pamphlet available as described in subsection (e). In 
     preparing the information pamphlet, the Secretary of Homeland 
     Security shall consult with nongovernmental organizations 
     with expertise on the legal rights of workers and victims of 
     severe forms of trafficking in persons.
       (b) Information Pamphlet.--The information pamphlet 
     developed under subsection (a) shall include information on 
     employment- or education-based nonimmigrant visas or on 
     student or cultural exchanges, as follows:
       (1) The nonimmigrant visa application processes, including 
     information about whether the particular employment- or 
     education-based nonimmigrant visa program includes 
     portability of employment or educational institution.
       (2) The illegality of slavery, peonage, trafficking in 
     persons, sexual assault, extortion, blackmail, and worker 
     exploitation in the United States.
       (3) Services for victims of severe forms of trafficking in 
     persons and worker exploitation in the United States, 
     including Federal law enforcement and victim services 
     complaint lines.
       (4) The legal rights of immigrant victims of worker 
     exploitation and other crimes in immigration, criminal 
     justice, family law, and other matters, including the right 
     of access to immigrant and labor rights groups, the right to 
     seek redress in United States courts, and the right to report 
     abuse without retaliation.
       (5) The requirements that subsection (g) places upon a 
     person engaging in foreign labor contracting activity, 
     including the disclosure of any debts.
       (c) Summaries.--The Secretary of Homeland Security, in 
     consultation with the Attorney General and the Secretary of 
     State, shall develop summaries of the information pamphlet 
     developed under subsection (a) that shall be used by Federal 
     officials when reviewing the pamphlet in interviews required 
     by section 110.
       (d) Translation.--
       (1) In general.--In order to best serve the language groups 
     having the greatest concentration of employment- or 
     education-based nonimmigrant visas, the information pamphlet 
     developed under subsection (a) shall, subject to paragraph 
     (2), be translated by the Secretary of State into foreign 
     languages, including Russian, Spanish, Tagalog, Vietnamese, 
     Chinese, Ukrainian, Thai, Korean, Polish, Japanese, French, 
     Creole, Arabic, Portuguese, Hindi, and such other languages 
     as the Secretary of State, in the Secretary's discretion, may 
     specify.
       (2) Revision.--Every two years, the Secretary of Homeland 
     Security, in consultation with the Attorney General and the 
     Secretary of State, shall determine at least 14 specific 
     languages into which the information pamphlet shall be 
     translated based on the languages spoken by the greatest 
     concentrations of employment- or education-based nonimmigrant 
     visas.
       (e) Availability and Distribution.--
       (1) Posting on federal websites.--The information pamphlet 
     developed under subsection (a) shall be posted on the 
     websites of the Department of State and the Department of 
     Homeland Security, as well as on the websites of all United 
     States consular posts processing applications for 
     nonimmigrant visas.
       (2) Other distribution.--The information pamphlet developed 
     under subsection (a) shall also be made available to any 
     foreign labor broker, government agency, or nongovernmental 
     advocacy organization.
       (f) Deadline for Pamphlet Development and Distribution.--
     The information pamphlet developed under subsection (a) shall 
     be distributed and made available (including in the languages 
     specified under subsection (d)) not later than 180 days after 
     the date of the enactment of this Act.
       (g) Protections for Workers Recruited Abroad.--
       (1) Definitions.--In this section--
       (A) the term ``foreign labor contractor'' means any person 
     who for any money or other consideration paid or promised to 
     be paid, performs any foreign labor contracting activity;
       (B) the term ``foreign labor contracting activity'' means 
     recruiting, soliciting, hiring, employing, or furnishing, an 
     individual who resides outside of the United States to be 
     employed in the United States; and
       (C) the term ``worker'' means an individual who is the 
     subject of foreign labor contracting activity.
       (2) Disclosure.--Any person who engages in foreign labor 
     contracting activity shall ascertain and disclose in writing, 
     in English and in a language understood by the worker being 
     recruited, to each worker who is recruited for employment, at 
     the time of the worker's recruitment, the following 
     information:
       (A) The location and period of employment, and any travel 
     or transportation expenses to be assessed.
       (B) The compensation for the employment and any other 
     employee benefit to be provided and any costs to be charged 
     for each benefit.
       (C) A description of employment requirements and 
     activities.
       (D) The existence of any labor organizing effort, strike, 
     lockout, or other labor dispute at the place of employment.
       (E) The existence of any arrangement with any person 
     involving the receipt of a commission or any other benefit 
     for the provision of items or services to workers.
       (F) The extent to which workers will be compensated through 
     workers' compensation, private insurance, or other means for 
     injuries or death.
       (G) Any education or training to be provided or required, 
     including the nature and cost of such training and the person 
     who will pay such costs, and whether the training is a 
     condition of employment, continued employment, or future 
     employment.
       (3) Restriction.--No foreign labor contractor or employer 
     who engages in foreign labor contracting activity shall 
     knowingly provide materially false or misleading information 
     to any worker concerning any matter required to be disclosed 
     under paragraph (2). The disclosure required by this section 
     is a document concerning the proper administration of a 
     matter within the jurisdiction of a department or agency of 
     the United States for the purposes of section 1519 of title 
     18, United States Code.
       (4) Registration.--
       (A) In general.--Before engaging in any foreign labor 
     contracting activity, any person who is a foreign labor 
     contractor shall obtain a certificate of registration from 
     the Secretary of Labor pursuant to regulations promulgated by 
     the Secretary under subparagraph (B).
       (B) Issuance.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
     the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall promulgate 
     regulations to establish an efficient electronic process for 
     the timely investigation and approval of an application for a 
     certificate of registration of foreign labor contractors, 
     including--
       (i) requirements under paragraphs (1), (4), and (5) of 
     section 102 of the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker 
     Protection Act (29 U.S.C. 1812);
       (ii) an expeditious means to update registrations and renew 
     certificates; and
       (iii) any other requirements that the Secretary may 
     prescribe.
       (C) Term of registration.--Unless suspended or revoked, a 
     certificate under this subparagraph shall be valid for two 
     years.
       (D) Refusal to issue; revocation.--In accordance with 
     regulations promulgated by the Secretary of Labor, the 
     Secretary shall refuse to issue or renew, or shall revoke, 
     after notice and an opportunity for a hearing, a certificate 
     of registration under this subparagraph if--
       (i) the applicant for, or holder of, the certification has 
     knowingly made a material misrepresentation in the 
     application for such certificate;
       (ii) the applicant for, or holder of, the certification is 
     not the real party in interest in the application or 
     certificate of registration and the real party in interest--

       (I) is a person who has been refused issuance or renewal of 
     a certificate;
       (II) has had a certificate revoked; or
       (III) does not qualify for a certificate under this 
     paragraph;

       (iii) the applicant for, or holder of, the certification 
     has been convicted within the preceding five years of any 
     crime described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of section 
     103(a)(5) of the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker 
     Protection Act (29 U.S.C. 1813(a)(5)); or
       (iv) the applicant for, or holder of, the certification has 
     knowingly or recklessly failed to comply with this 
     subsection.
       (E) Complaints and investigations.--The Secretary of Labor 
     shall establish a process for the receipt, investigation, and 
     disposition of complaints filed by any person, including 
     complaints initiated by the Secretary, respecting a foreign 
     labor contractor's compliance with this subsection. No 
     investigation or hearing shall be conducted on a complaint 
     concerning a violation of this subsection unless the 
     complaint was filed not later than 12 months after the date 
     of the violation. The Secretary may conduct an investigation 
     under this paragraph if there is reasonable cause to believe 
     that such a violation occurred.
       (F) Maintenance of lists.--
       (i) In general.--The Secretary shall maintain a list of all 
     foreign labor contractors registered under this subsection; 
     and
       (ii) Public availability.--The Secretary shall make the 
     list described in clause (i) publicly available, including 
     through publication on the Internet.
       (G) Re-registration of violators.--The Secretary shall 
     provide a procedure by which a foreign labor contractor that 
     has had its registration revoked may seek to re-register 
     under this paragraph by demonstrating to the Secretary's 
     satisfaction that the foreign labor contractor has not 
     violated this subsection in the previous 5 years.
       (5) Amendment to immigration and nationality act.--Section 
     214 of the Immigration and Nationality Act is amended by 
     adding at the end the following:
       ``(s) A visa shall not be issued under the subparagraph 
     (A)(iii), (B)(i) (but only for domestic servants described in 
     clause (i) or (ii) of section 274a.12(c)(17) of title 8, Code 
     of Federal Regulations (as in effect on December 4, 2007)), 
     (G)(v), (H), (J), (L), (Q), or (R) of section 101(a)(15) 
     until the consular officer--

[[Page 32037]]

       ``(1) has provided to and reviewed with the applicant, in 
     the applicant's language (or a language the applicant 
     understands), a copy of the information and resources 
     pamphlet required by section 202 of the William Wilberforce 
     Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2007; 
     and
       ``(2) has reviewed and made a part of the visa file the 
     foreign labor recruiter disclosures required by such section 
     202.''.
       (6) Enforcement provisions.--
       (A) Administrative enforcement.--The Secretary of Labor may 
     impose against any foreign labor contractor, for knowingly or 
     recklessly failing to comply with the requirements of this 
     subsection--
       (i) a fine in an amount not more than $4,000 per violation; 
     and
       (ii) upon the occasion of a third violation or a failure to 
     comply with representations, a fine of not more than $10,000 
     per violation.
       (B) Civil action.--
       (i) In general.--The Secretary of Labor may bring a civil 
     action against any foreign labor contractor in any court of 
     competent jurisdiction--

       (I) to seek remedial action, including injunctive relief;
       (II) to recover damages on behalf of any worker harmed by a 
     violation of this subsection; and
       (III) to ensure compliance with requirements of this 
     subsection.

       (ii) Sums recovered.--Any sums recovered by the Secretary 
     on behalf of a worker under clause (i) shall be held in a 
     special deposit account and shall be paid, on order of the 
     Secretary, directly to each employee affected. Any such sums 
     not paid to an employee because of inability to do so within 
     a period of three years shall be credited as an offsetting 
     collection to the appropriations account of the Secretary of 
     Labor for expenses for the administration of this subsection 
     and shall remain available to the Secretary until expended.
       (iii) Representation.--Except as provided in section 518(a) 
     of title 28, United States Code, the Solicitor of Labor may 
     appear for and represent the Secretary of Labor in any civil 
     litigation brought under this paragraph. All such litigation 
     shall be subject to the direction and control of the Attorney 
     General.
       (C) Agency liability.--Beginning 180 days after the 
     Secretary of Labor has promulgated regulations pursuant to 
     paragraph (4)(B), an employer who retains the services of a 
     foreign labor contractor shall only use those foreign labor 
     contractors who are registered under paragraph (4). An 
     employer who uses a foreign labor contractor who is not 
     registered under paragraph (4) after such time period, or who 
     uses a foreign labor contractor knowing or in reckless 
     disregard that such contractor has violated any provision of 
     this subsection, shall be subject to the provisions of this 
     paragraph for violations committed by such foreign labor 
     contractor to the same extent as if the employer were the 
     foreign labor contractor who had committed the violation.
       (D) Retaliation.--An individual who is a victim of a 
     violation of section 1512(A)(2)(D), 1512(b)(4), or 1513(B)(3) 
     of title 18, United States Code, may, in a civil action, 
     recover appropriate relief (including reasonable attorneys' 
     fees) with respect to that violation. Any civil action under 
     this subparagraph shall be stayed during the pendency of any 
     criminal action arising out of the violation.
       (E) Rule of construction.--Nothing in this section shall be 
     construed to preempt or alter any other rights or remedies, 
     including any causes of action, available under any other 
     Federal or State law.
       (h) Definitions.--In this section:
       (1) Employment- or education-based nonimmigrant visa.--The 
     term ``employment- or education-based nonimmigrant visa'' 
     means a nonimmigrant visa issued for the purpose of 
     employment, education, or training in the United States, 
     including a visas issued under subparagraph (A)(iii), (B)(i) 
     (but only for domestic servants described in clause (i) or 
     (ii) of section 274a.12(c)(17) of title 8, Code of Federal 
     Regulations (as in effect on December 4, 2007)), (G)(v), (H), 
     (J), (L), (Q), or (R) of section 101(a)(15) of the 
     Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)).
       (2) Severe forms of trafficking in persons.--The term 
     ``severe forms of trafficking in persons'' has the meaning 
     given the term in section 103 of the Trafficking Victims 
     Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7102).

     SEC. 203. RELIEF FOR CERTAIN VICTIMS PENDING ACTIONS ON 
                   PETITIONS AND APPLICATIONS FOR RELIEF.

       Section 237 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 
     U.S.C. 1227) is amended by adding at the end the following:
       ``(d)(1) In the case of an alien in the United States for 
     whom an application for nonimmigrant status (whether as a 
     principal alien or a derivative relative) under section 
     101(a)(15)(T) has been filed, if the application sets forth a 
     prima facie case for approval, the Secretary of Homeland 
     Security may grant the alien a stay of removal or deportation 
     until the application is approved or the application is 
     denied after exhaustion of administrative appeals. Any appeal 
     of the denial of a stay of removal or deportation under this 
     paragraph must accompany any appeal of the underlying 
     substantive petition or application for benefits.
       ``(2) During a period in which an alien is provided a stay 
     of removal under this subsection, the alien shall not be 
     removed or deported.
       ``(3) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed as 
     limiting the authority of the Secretary of Homeland Security 
     to grant a stay of removal or deportation in any case not 
     described in this subsection.''.

     SEC. 204. EXPANSION OF AUTHORITY TO PERMIT CONTINUED PRESENCE 
                   IN THE UNITED STATES.

       (a) Expansion of Authority.--
       (1) In general.--Section 107(c)(3) of the Trafficking 
     Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7105(c)(3)) is 
     amended to read as follows:
       ``(3) Authority to permit continued presence in the united 
     states.--
       ``(A) Trafficking victims.--
       ``(i) In general.--Upon application from a Federal law 
     enforcement official that makes a prima facie showing that an 
     alien is a victim of a severe form of trafficking and a 
     potential witness to such trafficking, in order to effectuate 
     investigation and prosecution of those responsible, the 
     Secretary of Homeland Security may permit an alien's 
     continued presence in the United States.
       ``(ii) Safety.--Federal law enforcement officials described 
     in clause (i), in investigating and prosecuting traffickers, 
     shall endeavor to protect the safety of trafficking victims, 
     including taking measures to protect trafficked persons and 
     their family members from intimidation, threats of reprisals, 
     and reprisals from traffickers and their associates.
       ``(iii) Continuation of presence.--The Secretary shall 
     continue to permit the continued presence of an alien 
     described in clause (i) if such alien has filed a civil 
     action under section 1595 of title 18, United States Code, 
     until such action is concluded. Failure to exercise due 
     diligence in pursuing such a civil action, as determined by 
     the Secretary in consultation with the Attorney General, may 
     result in revocation of continued presence.
       ``(B) Parole for relatives.--Pursuant to section 240A(b)(6) 
     of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
     1229b(b)(b)), as added by section 204(b) of the William 
     Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization 
     Act of 2007, law enforcement officials may submit a written 
     request to the Secretary of Homeland Security to permit the 
     parole into the United States of certain relatives of an 
     alien described in subparagraph (A)(i).
       ``(C) State and local law enforcement.--The Secretary of 
     Homeland Security, in consultation with the Attorney General, 
     shall develop materials for State and local law enforcement 
     on working with Federal law enforcement to obtain continued 
     presence for victims of a severe form of trafficking in cases 
     investigated or prosecuted at the State or local level, for 
     distribution to State and local law enforcement by each 
     Immigration and Customs Enforcement Special Agent in 
     Charge.''.
       (2) Effective date.--The amendment made by paragraph (1) 
     shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act 
     and shall apply to requests for continued presence filed 
     pursuant to section 107(c)(3) of the Trafficking Victims 
     Protection Act (22 U.S.C. 7105(c)(3)) before, on, or after 
     such date, except that this paragraph does not permit the 
     application of section 107(c)(3)(A) of such Act, as added by 
     paragraph (1), to an alien who is not present in the United 
     States.
       (b) Parole for Derivatives of Trafficking Victims.--Section 
     240A(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
     1229b(b)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
       ``(6) Relatives of trafficking victims.--
       ``(A) In general.--Upon written request by a law 
     enforcement official, the Secretary of Homeland Security may 
     grant parole under section 212(d)(5) to any alien who is a 
     relative of an alien granted continued presence pursuant to 
     section 107(c)(3)(A) of the Trafficking Victims Protection 
     Act (22 U.S.C. 7105(c)(3)(A)), if the relative--
       ``(i) was, on the date on which law enforcement applied for 
     such continued presence--

       ``(I) in the case of an alien granted continued presence 
     who is under 21 years of age, the spouse, child, parent, or 
     unmarried sibling under 18 years of age, of the alien; or
       ``(II) in the case of an alien granted continued presence 
     who is 21 years of age or older, the spouse or child of the 
     alien, or

       ``(ii) is a parent or sibling of the alien who, in the 
     judgment of the requesting law enforcement official, is in 
     present danger of retaliation as a result of the alien's 
     escape from the severe form of trafficking or cooperation 
     with law enforcement, irrespective of age.
       ``(B) Duration of parole.--
       ``(i) In general.--The grant of parole under subparagraph 
     (A) shall extend until the date an application filed by the 
     principal alien under section 101(a)(15)(T)(ii) has been 
     finally adjudicated.
       ``(ii) Other limits on duration.--If no such application is 
     filed, the grant of parole shall extend until the later of--

       ``(I) the date on which the principal alien's continued 
     presence in the United States under section 107(c)(3)(A) of 
     the Trafficking

[[Page 32038]]

     Victims Protection Act (22 U.S.C. 7105(c)(3)(A)) is 
     terminated; or
       ``(II) the date on which a civil action filed by the 
     principal alien under section 1595 of title 18, United States 
     Code, is concluded.

       ``(iii) Due diligence.--Failure by the principal alien to 
     exercise due diligence in filing a visa petition on behalf of 
     an alien described in clause (i) or (ii) of subparagraph (A), 
     or in pursuing the civil action described in clause (ii)(II) 
     (as determined by the Secretary of Homeland Security in 
     consultation with the Attorney General), may result in 
     revocation of parole.''.

     SEC. 205. IMPLEMENTATION OF TRAFFICKING VICTIMS PROTECTION 
                   REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2005.

       Not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of 
     this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall issue 
     interim regulations regarding the adjustment of status to 
     permanent residence for nonimmigrants admitted into the 
     United States under section 101(a)(15)(T) of the Immigration 
     and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(T)). If the 
     regulations are not issued before such deadline, the 
     Secretary shall submit a report to the Committee on Foreign 
     Affairs and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of 
     Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations and 
     the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate explaining in 
     detail the reasons such regulations have not been issued .

             Subtitle B--Assistance for Trafficking Victims

     SEC. 211. VICTIM OF TRAFFICKING CERTIFICATION PROCESS.

       Section 107(b)(1)(E) of the Trafficking Victims Protection 
     Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7105(b)(1)(E)), is amended--
       (1) in clause (i)--
       (A) in the matter preceding subclause (I), by striking 
     ``consultation'' and all that follows through ``person'' and 
     inserting ``consultation with the Attorney General and the 
     Secretary of Homeland Security, that the person'';
       (B) in subclause (I), by adding at the end before the 
     semicolon the following: ``or is unlikely or unable to 
     cooperate with such a request due to physical or 
     psychological trauma;''; and
       (C) in subclause (II)(bb), by striking ``United States'' 
     and all that follows through ``ensuring'' and inserting 
     ``United States the Secretary of Homeland Security is 
     ensuring''; and
       (2) in clause (ii), by striking ``so long as'' and all that 
     follows through ``determines'' and inserting ``so long as the 
     Secretary of Homeland Security determines''.

     SEC. 212. ASSISTANCE FOR CERTAIN NONIMMIGRANT STATUS 
                   APPLICANTS.

       (a) In General.--Section 431(c) of the Personal 
     Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 
     1996 (8 U.S.C. 1641(c)) is amended--
       (1) by striking ``or'' at the end of paragraph (2)(B);
       (2) by striking the period at the end of paragraph (3)(B) 
     and inserting ``; or''; and
       (3) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(4) an alien who has had approved, or has pending, a 
     petition that sets forth a prima facie case for status as a 
     nonimmigrant under section 101(a)(15)(T) of the Immigration 
     and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(T)).''.
       (b) Construction.--The provisions of section 431(c)(4) of 
     the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity 
     Reconciliation Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1641(c)(4)), as added by 
     subsection (a), are in addition to the access to public 
     benefits provided in the Trafficking Victims Protection Act 
     of 2000 and the Trafficking Victims Reauthorization Act of 
     2003.
       (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection (a) 
     apply to applications for public benefits and public benefits 
     provided on or after the date of the enactment of this Act 
     without regard to whether regulations to carry out such 
     amendments are implemented.

     SEC. 213. INTERIM ASSISTANCE FOR CHILD VICTIMS OF 
                   TRAFFICKING.

       (a) In General.--Subsection (b)(1) of section 107 of the 
     Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7105) 
     is amended by adding at the end the following new 
     subparagraphs:
       ``(F) Eligibility of interim assistance for child 
     victims.--
       ``(i) Determination.--With respect to a person referred to 
     in subparagraph (C)(ii)(I) who is seeking assistance under 
     this paragraph, if credible information is presented on 
     behalf of the person that the person has been subjected to a 
     severe form of trafficking in persons, the Secretary of 
     Health and Human Services shall promptly make a determination 
     of the person's eligibility under this paragraph.
       ``(ii) Exclusive authority.--The Secretary of Health and 
     Human Services shall have exclusive authority in making 
     determinations of eligibility under clause (i).
       ``(iii) Duration.--Assistance provided under this paragraph 
     for an individual determined to be eligible under clause (i) 
     may be provided for up to 90 days and may be extended for an 
     additional 30 days.
       ``(iv) Sense of congress.--It is the sense of Congress 
     that--

       ``(I) to ensure the best interests of the child and to 
     create an increased chance of cooperation by child victims of 
     severe forms of trafficking in persons, the United States 
     Government should provide assistance to protect and care for 
     such child victims during the pendency of proceedings to 
     determine whether a child is a victim of severe forms of 
     trafficking; and
       ``(II) in order to further the objective of subclause (I), 
     the Secretary of Health and Human Services should make the 
     determination of eligibility for assistance under clause (i) 
     on the basis of the information provided and the Secretary's 
     own assessment of such information without regard to the 
     assessments by other departments and agencies of the United 
     States Government regarding whether such child victim's 
     application for relief or benefits under this Act or the 
     Immigration and Nationality Act will be approved.

       ``(G)  Notification of child victims for interim 
     assistance.--
       ``(i) Federal officials.--Any Federal official who has 
     reason to believe that a person may be a juvenile victim of 
     trafficking referred to in subparagraph (C)(ii)(I) shall 
     notify the Secretary of Health and Human Services not later 
     than 48 hours after the official first learns that the person 
     may be a juvenile victim of trafficking for the purpose of 
     facilitating the provision of interim assistance under 
     subparagraph (F).
       ``(ii) State and local officials.--Any State or local 
     official who has reason to believe that a person may be a 
     juvenile victim of trafficking referred to in subparagraph 
     (C)(ii)(I) shall notify the Secretary of Health and Human 
     Services not later than 72 hours after the official first 
     learns that the person may be a juvenile victim of 
     trafficking for the purpose of facilitating the provision of 
     interim assistance under subparagraph (F).''.
       (b) Training of Government Personnel.--Subsection (c)(4) of 
     such section is amended--
       (1) by striking ``and the Department of Justice'' and 
     inserting ``, the Department of Homeland Security, and the 
     Department of Health and Human Services'';
       (2) by inserting before the period at the end the 
     following: ``, including the identification of juvenile 
     victims of trafficking''; and
       (3) by adding at the end the following new sentence: ``The 
     Attorney General and the Secretary of Heath and Human 
     Services shall provide education and guidance to State and 
     local officials on the identification of aliens who are the 
     victims of severe forms of trafficking, and in particular 
     child victims of trafficking, including education and 
     guidance on the requirements of subsection (b)(1)(G)(ii).''.

     SEC. 214. ENSURING ASSISTANCE FOR ALL VICTIMS OF TRAFFICKING 
                   IN PERSONS.

       (a) Amendments to the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 
     2000.--
       (1) Assistance for united states citizens and lawful 
     permanent residents.--Section 107 of the Trafficking Victims 
     Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7105) is amended by adding 
     at the end the following:
       ``(h) Assistance for United States Citizens and Lawful 
     Permanent Residents.--
       ``(1) In general.--The Secretary of Health and Human 
     Services and the Attorney General, in consultation with the 
     Secretary of Labor, are authorized to establish a program to 
     provide assistance to citizens of the United States, and 
     aliens who are lawfully admitted for permanent residence (as 
     defined in section 101(a)(20) of the Immigration and 
     Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(20))), who are victims of 
     severe forms of trafficking. In determining the types of 
     assistance that would be most beneficial for such victims, 
     the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Attorney 
     General shall consult with nongovernmental organizations that 
     provide services to victims of severe forms of trafficking in 
     the United States.
       ``(2) Use of existing programs.--In addition to such other 
     specialized services as may be required for victims described 
     in paragraph (1), the program established pursuant to 
     paragraph (1) shall facilitate communication and coordination 
     between the providers of assistance to such victims, and 
     provide a means of identifying such providers and making 
     referrals to programs for which such victims are already 
     eligible (including programs administered by the Department 
     of Justice and the Department of Health and Human Services).
       ``(3) Grants.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services 
     and the Attorney General may make grants to States, Indian 
     tribes, units of local government, and non-profit, 
     nongovernmental victims' service organizations to develop, 
     expand, and strengthen victim service programs authorized 
     under this subsection. The Federal share of a grant made 
     under this subsection may not exceed 75 percent of the total 
     costs of the projects described in the application 
     submitted.''.
       (2) Authorization of appropriations.--Section 113 of such 
     Act (22 U.S.C. 7110) is amended--
       (A) in subsection (b), by adding at the end the following 
     new sentence: ``To carry out the purposes of section 107(h), 
     there are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of 
     Health and Human Services $2,500,000 for fiscal year 2008, 
     $5,000,0000 for fiscal year 2009, $10,000,000 for fiscal year 
     2010, and $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2011.''; and
       (B) in subsection (d), by adding at the end the following 
     new sentence: ``To carry out

[[Page 32039]]

     the purposes of section 107(h), there are authorized to be 
     appropriated to the Attorney General $2,500,000 for fiscal 
     year 2008, $5,000,0000 for fiscal year 2009, $10,000,000 for 
     fiscal year 2010, and $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2011.''.
       (3) Technical assistance.--Section 107(b)(2)(B)(ii) of the 
     Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 
     7105(b)(2)(B)(ii)) is amended to read as follows:
       ``(ii) five percent for training and technical assistance, 
     including increasing capacity and expertise on security for 
     and protection of service providers from intimidation or 
     retaliation for their activities.''.
       (b) Assistance for Potential Victims of Trafficking and 
     Related Crimes.--
       (1) Victims of crime act.--The Victims of Crime Act of 1984 
     (42 U.S.C. 10601 et seq.)) is amended by inserting after 
     section 1404E the following new section:

     ``SEC. 1404F. VICTIMS OF COMMERCIAL SEXUAL EXPLOITATION AND 
                   OTHER CRIMES.

       ``Notwithstanding any statutory or regulatory limitation on 
     providing assistance for offender rehabilitation or for any 
     individual who may have violated Federal or State law, and 
     except as provided in sections 1404B and 1404C, in this 
     chapter the terms `victim', `crime victim', and `victim of 
     crime' include an individual who is exploited or otherwise 
     victimized by any person who is in violation of an offense 
     described by chapter 117 of title 18, United States Code, or 
     section 1328 of title 8, United States Code, or any similar 
     offense under State law, regardless of whether such offense 
     involves participation by such individual in any commercial 
     sex act (as defined in section 2429 of title 18, United 
     States Code).''.
       (2) Use of existing programs.--The President is authorized 
     to facilitate communication and coordination between the 
     providers of assistance to persons victimized in cases 
     brought under chapter 117 of title 18, United States Code, 
     and to provide a means of identifying such providers and 
     making referrals to programs for which such victims are 
     already eligible (including programs administered by the 
     Department of Justice and the Department of Health and Human 
     Services).
       (3) Effect on other programs.--Nothing in this section or 
     the amendments made by this section shall derogate from the 
     programs for victims of sexual abuse or commercial sexual 
     exploitation or survivors of sexual abuse or commercial 
     sexual exploitation authorized by section 202 of the 
     Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization of 2005.
       (c) Partnerships Among Organizations.--Beginning not later 
     than 120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
     all applications for grants made by the Attorney General or 
     the Secretary of Health and Human Services to States, Indian 
     tribes, units of local government, and nonprofit, 
     nongovernmental victims' service organizations to establish 
     or maintain assistance programs for victims of severe forms 
     of trafficking in persons or sex trafficking that occurs, in 
     whole or in part, within the territorial jurisdiction of the 
     United States shall include a statement by the applicant of 
     whether the services will be available to both United States 
     citizens and foreign trafficking victims, or if the applicant 
     intends to specialize in serving a particular victim 
     population, what referral mechanisms or collaborative 
     relationships they will undertake to ensure that all victims 
     are assisted regardless of alienage. The statement required 
     by this section will not be used to make a determination 
     regarding the award of the grant.
       (d) Study.--
       (1) Requirement.--Not later than one year after the date of 
     the enactment of this Act, the Attorney General and the 
     Secretary of Health and Human Services shall submit to the 
     appropriate congressional committees a report identifying the 
     existence or extent of any service gap between foreign and 
     United States citizen victims of severe forms of trafficking 
     and victims of sex trafficking, as defined in section 103 of 
     the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000.
       (2) Elements.--In carrying out the study under subparagraph 
     (1), the Attorney General and Secretary of Health and Human 
     Services shall--
       (A) investigate factors relating to the legal ability of 
     foreign and United States citizen victims of trafficking to 
     access government-funded social services in general, 
     including the application of the Personal Responsibility and 
     Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 
     1641(c)(5)) and the Illegal Immigration and Immigrant 
     Responsibility Act of 1996 (division C of Public Law 104-208; 
     110 Stat. 3009 et seq.);
       (B) investigate any other impediments to the access of 
     foreign and United States citizen victims of trafficking to 
     government-funded social services in general;
       (C) investigate any impediments to the access of foreign 
     and United States citizen victims of trafficking to 
     government-funded services targeted to victims of severe 
     forms of trafficking and victims of sex trafficking;
       (D) investigate the effect of trafficking service-provider 
     infrastructure development, continuity of care, and 
     availability of caseworkers on the eventual restoration and 
     rehabilitation of foreign and United States citizen victims 
     of trafficking; and
       (E) include findings, best practices, and recommendations 
     based on the study of the elements in subparagraphs (A) 
     through (D) and any other related information.

       Subtitle C--Penalties Against Traffickers and Other Crimes

     SEC. 221. ENHANCING TRAFFICKING AND OTHER RELATED OFFENSES.

       (a) Transfer and Modification of Section 1591.--
       (1) New section.--Chapter 117 of title 18, United States 
     Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:

     ``Sec. 2429. Aggravated sex trafficking

       ``(a) Whoever knowingly--
       ``(1) in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, or 
     within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of 
     the United States, recruits, entices, harbors, transports, 
     provides, or obtains by any means a person; or
       ``(2) benefits, financially or by receiving anything of 
     value, from participation in a venture which has engaged in 
     an act described in violation of paragraph (1),

     knowing that force, fraud, or coercion will be used to cause 
     the person to engage in a commercial sex act, or, in the case 
     of a person who has not attained the age of 18 years, that 
     the person will be caused to engage in a commercial sex act, 
     or attempts to do so, shall be punished as provided in 
     subsection (b).
       ``(b) In a prosecution under this subsection, the 
     Government need not prove that the defendant knew that the 
     person had not attained the age of 18 years.
       ``(c) The punishment for an offense under this section is--
       ``(1) if the offense was effected by force, fraud, or 
     coercion or if the person recruited, enticed, harbored, 
     transported, provided, or obtained had not attained the age 
     of 14 years at the time of such offense, by a fine under this 
     title and imprisonment for any term of years not less than 15 
     or for life; or
       ``(2) if the offense was not so effected, and the person 
     recruited, enticed, harbored, transported, provided, or 
     obtained had attained the age of 14 years but had not 
     attained the age of 18 years at the time of such offense, by 
     a fine under this title and imprisonment for not less than 10 
     years or for life.
       ``(d)(1) Section 1593 (relating to mandatory restitution) 
     applies to an offense under this section to the same extent 
     and in the same manner as it applies to an offense under 
     chapter 77.
       ``(2) Section 1595 (relating to civil remedy) applies with 
     respect to a violation of this section to the same extent and 
     in the same manner it applies to a violation of a section to 
     which section 1595 is made applicable by section 1595.
       ``(e) In this section--
       ``(1) the term `commercial sex act' means any sex act, on 
     account of which anything of value is given to or received by 
     any person;
       ``(2) the term `coercion' means--
       ``(A) threats of serious harm to or physical restraint 
     against any person;
       ``(B) any scheme, plan, or pattern intended to cause a 
     person to believe that failure to perform an act would result 
     in serious harm to or physical restraint against any person; 
     or
       ``(C) the abuse or threatened abuse of law or the legal 
     process; and
       ``(3) the term `venture' means any group of two or more 
     individuals associated in fact, whether or not a legal 
     entity.''.
       (2) Repeal of transferred section.--Section 1591 of title 
     18, United States Code, is repealed.
       (3) Elimination of cross references to repealed section.--
       (A) Section 1594 of title 18, United States Code, is 
     amended by striking ``1590, or 1591'' and inserting ``or 
     1591''.
       (B) Section 1595 of title 18, United States Code, is 
     amended by striking ``, 1590, or 1591'' and inserting ``or 
     1591''.
       (4) Clerical amendments to tables of sections.--
       (A) The table of sections for chapter 77 of title 18, 
     United States Code, is amended by striking the item relating 
     to section 1591.
       (B) The table of sections for chapter 117 of title 18, 
     United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 
     following new item:

``2429. Aggravated sex trafficking.''.

       (5) Change in chapter headings.--
       (A) The heading for chapter 77 of title 18, United States 
     Code, is amended to read as follows:

   ``CHAPTER 77--PEONAGE, SLAVERY, AND TRAFFICKING INTO SERVITUDE''.

       (B) The heading for chapter 117 of title 18, United States 
     Code, is amended to read as follows:

 ``CHAPTER 117--SEX TRAFFICKING, SEX TOURISM, AND OTHER TRANSPORTATION 
                     FOR ILLEGAL SEXUAL ACTIVITY''.

       (C) The table of chapters at the beginning of part I of 
     title 18, United States Code, is amended--
       (i) so that the item relating to chapter 77 reads as 
     follows:

``77. Peonage, Slavery, and Trafficking into Servitude..... 1581''; and

       (ii) so that the item relating to chapter 117 reads as 
     follows:


[[Page 32040]]


``117. Sex Trafficking, Sex Tourism, and Other Transportation for 
    Illegal Sexual Activity.................................2421''.....

       (b) Compelled Service.--
       (1) In general.--Section 1592 of title 18, United States 
     Code, is amended to read as follows:

     ``Sec. 1592. Unlawful compelled service

       ``(a) Generally.--Whoever knowingly, with intent to obtain 
     or maintain the labor or services of a person or to obtain or 
     maintain a person for use in a commercial sex act (as defined 
     in section 2429)--
       ``(1) destroys, conceals, removes, confiscates, or 
     possesses any actual or purported passport or other 
     immigration document, or any other actual or purported 
     government identification document, of another person to 
     prevent or restrict or to attempt to prevent or restrict, 
     without lawful authority, the person's ability to move or 
     travel;
       ``(2) acts or fails to act, or threatens to do so, under 
     color of official right;
       ``(3) blackmails another person; or
       ``(4) causes or exploits financial harm or a fear of 
     financial harm on the part of that person;

     shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 5 
     years, or both.
       ``(b) Definition.--For purposes of this paragraph, 
     `financial harm' includes the factors set forth in section 
     892(b) of this title, and fees charged for foreign labor 
     contracting activity, as defined in section 202(g) of the 
     William Wilberforce Trafficking Reauthorization Act of 2007, 
     that are not reasonably related to services provided to the 
     foreign worker.''.
       (2) Clerical amendment.--The item relating to section 1592 
     in the table of sections at the beginning of chapter 77 of 
     title 18, United States Code, is amended to read as follows:

``1592. Unlawful compelled service.''.

       (c) Restitution of Forfeited Assets.--(1) Section 1593(b) 
     of title 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting at 
     the end the following:
       ``(4) The distribution of proceeds among multiple victims 
     in an order of restitution under this section shall govern 
     the distribution of forfeited funds through the processes of 
     remission or restoration under this section or any other 
     statute that explicitly authorizes restoration or remission 
     of forfeited property.''
       (2) Section 1594 of title 18, United States Code, is 
     amended--
       (A) in subsection (b), by striking ``The court,'' and 
     inserting ``Subject to remission or restoration, the 
     court,''; and
       (B) in subsection (c), by adding at the end the following:
       ``(3) The Attorney General shall grant restoration or 
     remission of property to victims of an offense under this 
     chapter that result in forfeiture under this section or under 
     any other statute that explicitly authorizes restoration or 
     remission of forfeited property.
       ``(4) In a prosecution brought under any other provision of 
     Federal law, the Attorney General may grant restoration or 
     remission of property to victims of severe forms of 
     trafficking as defined in section 103 of the Trafficking 
     Victims Protection Act of 2000, in accordance with section 
     1594(b)(4).''.
       (d) Enhancement of Civil Action.--Section 1595 of title 18, 
     United States Code, is amended--
       (1) in subsection (a) by--
       (A) by striking ``of section 1589, 1590, or 1591''; and
       (B) by inserting ``(or any person who knowingly benefits, 
     financially or by receiving anything of value from 
     participation in a venture which has engaged in an act in 
     violation of this chapter)'' after ``perpetrator''.
       (2) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(c) No action shall be maintained under this section 
     unless it is commenced within 10 years after the cause of 
     action arose.''.
       (e) Retaliation in Foreign Labor Contracting.--Title 18, 
     United States Code, is amended--
       (1) in section 1512(a)(2)--
       (A) by striking ``or'' at the end of subparagraph (B);
       (B) by striking ``proceedings;'' at the end of subparagraph 
     (C) and inserting ``proceedings; or''; and
       (C) by inserting immediately after subparagraph (C) the 
     following:
       ``(D) hinder, delay or prevent the disclosure of 
     information concerning a violation with respect to aliens of 
     the requirements of an employment-based visa or any Federal 
     labor or employment law;'';
       (2) in section 1512(b)--
       (A) by striking ``or'' at the end of paragraph (2);
       (B) by striking ``proceedings;'' at the end of paragraph 
     (3) and inserting ``proceedings; or''; and
       (C) by inserting immediately after paragraph (3) the 
     following:
       ``(4) hinder, delay, or prevent the cooperation of any 
     person in an investigation or other proceeding concerning 
     compliance with respect to aliens with the requirements of 
     employment-based visas or any Federal labor or employment 
     law;'';
       (3) in section 1513(b)--
       (A) by striking ``or'' at the end of paragraph (1);
       (B) by inserting ``or'' at the end of paragraph (2); and
       (C) by inserting immediately after paragraph (2) the 
     following:
       ``(3) hinder, delay, or prevent the cooperation of any 
     person in an investigation or other proceeding concerning 
     compliance with respect to aliens with the requirements of 
     employment-based visas or any other Federal labor or 
     employment law;''; and
       (4) in section 1515(a)--
       (A) by striking ``and'' at the end of paragraph (5);
       (B) by striking the period at the end of paragraph (6) and 
     inserting ``; and''; and
       (C) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(7) the term `employment-based visa' means a nonimmigrant 
     visa issued for the purpose of employment, student exchange 
     employment, or job training in the United States, including 
     those issued under subparagraph (A)(iii), (B)(i) (but only 
     for domestic servants described in clause (i) or (ii) of 
     section 274a.12(c)(17) of title 8, Code of Federal 
     Regulations (as in effect on December 4, 2007)), (G)(v), (H), 
     (J), (L), (Q), or (R) of section 101(a)(15) of the 
     Immigration and Nationality Act.''.
       (f)  Sex Trafficking.--
       (1) New offense.--Chapter 117 of title 18, United States 
     Code, is amended by inserting at the end the following:

     ``Sec. 2430. Sex trafficking

       ``Whoever knowingly, in or affecting interstate or foreign 
     commerce, within the special maritime and territorial 
     jurisdiction of the United States, or in any territory or 
     possession of the United States, persuades, induces, or 
     entices any individual to engage in prostitution for which 
     any person can be charged with an offense, or attempts to do 
     so, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more 
     than 10 years, or both''.
       (2) Amendment to the table of sections.--The table of 
     sections at the beginning of chapter 117 of title 18, United 
     States Code, is amended by inserting at the end the following 
     new item:

``2430. Sex trafficking.''.

       (g) Sex Tourism.--
       (1) Generally.--Chapter 117 of title 18, United States 
     Code, is amended by inserting at the end the following:

     ``Sec. 2431. Sex tourism

       ``(a) Arranging Travel and Related Conduct.--Whoever, for 
     the purpose of commercial advantage or private financial 
     gain, knowingly arranges, induces, or procures the travel of 
     a person in foreign commerce for the purpose of engaging in 
     any commercial sex act (as defined in section 2429), or 
     attempts to do so, shall be fined under this title, 
     imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both.
       ``(b) Increased Penalty for Offenses Involving Children.--
     If the commercial sex act is with a person under 18 years of 
     age, the maximum term of imprisonment for an offense under 
     this section is 30 years.'';
       (2) Amendment to table of sections.--The table of sections 
     at the beginning of chapter 117 of title 18, United States 
     Code, is amended by inserting at the end the following new 
     item:

``2431. Sex tourism.''.

       (h) Amendment to the Sentencing Guidelines.--Pursuant to 
     its authority under section 994 of title 28, United States 
     Code, and in accordance with this section, the United States 
     Sentencing Commission shall review and, if appropriate, amend 
     the sentencing guidelines and policy statements applicable--
       (1) to persons convicted of offenses created by this 
     section other than those created by subsections (f) and (g), 
     to ensure conformity with the United States Sentencing 
     Guidelines, sections 2H4.1 (peonage offenses) and 2H4.2 
     (labor offenses); and
       (2) to persons convicted of offenses created by subsection 
     (f) or (g) of this section, to ensure conformity with the 
     United States Sentencing Guidelines, sections 2G1.1 
     (promoting commercial sex acts with persons other than 
     minors) and 2G1.3 (promoting commercial sex acts or 
     prohibited sexual conduct with a minor, and related offenses.

     SEC. 222. JURISDICTION IN CERTAIN TRAFFICKING OFFENSES.

       (a) In General.--Chapter 77 of title 18, United States 
     Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:

     ``Sec. 1596. Additional jurisdiction in certain trafficking 
       offenses

       ``(a) In General.--In addition to any domestic or extra-
     territorial jurisdiction otherwise provided by law, the 
     courts of the United States have extra-territorial 
     jurisdiction over any offense (or any attempt or conspiracy 
     to commit an offense) under section 1581, 1583, 1584, 1589, 
     1590, or 2429 if--
       ``(1) an alleged offender or victim of the offense is a 
     national of the United States or an alien lawfully admitted 
     for permanent residence (as those terms are defined in 
     section 101 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
     1101)); or
       ``(2) an alleged offender is present in the United States, 
     irrespective of the nationality of the alleged offender.
       ``(b) Limitation on Prosecutions of Offenses Prosecuted in 
     Other Countries.--No prosecution may be commenced against a 
     person under this section if a foreign government, in 
     accordance with jurisdiction recognized by the United States, 
     has prosecuted or is prosecuting such person for the conduct

[[Page 32041]]

     constituting such offense, except upon the approval of the 
     Attorney General or the Deputy Attorney General (or a person 
     acting in either such capacity), which function of approval 
     may not be delegated.''.
       (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the 
     beginning of chapter 77 of title 18, United States Code, is 
     amended by adding at the end the following new item:

``1596. Additional jurisdiction in certain trafficking offenses.''.

     SEC. 223. AMENDMENT OF OTHER CRIMES RELATED TO TRAFFICKING.

       (a) Aliens Entering the United States.--
       (1) In general.--Section 278 of the Immigration and 
     Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1328) is amended to read as 
     follows:


                        ``ALIENS IN PROSTITUTION

       ``Sec. 278.  (a) Generally.--Whoever, for the purposes of 
     prostitution or for any other sexual activity for which any 
     person can be charged with a criminal offense--
       ``(1) knowingly imports or attempts to import any alien; or
       ``(2) knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that an 
     individual is an alien who lacks lawful authority to come to, 
     enter, or reside in the United States, knowingly holds, 
     keeps, maintains, supports, employs, or harbors the 
     individual in any place in the United States, including any 
     building or any means of transportation, or attempts to do 
     so,

     shall be fined under title 18, United States Code, or 
     imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both.
       ``(b) Special Evidentiary Rule.--In all prosecutions under 
     this section, the testimony of a husband or wife shall be 
     admissible and competent evidence against each other.''.
       (2) Clerical amendment.--The table of contents of the 
     Immigration and Nationality Act is amended by amending the 
     item relating to section 278 to read as follows:

``Sec. 278. Aliens in prostitution.''.

       (b) Amendment to the Sentencing Guidelines.--Pursuant to 
     its authority under section 994 of title 28, United States 
     Code, and in accordance with this section, the United States 
     Sentencing Commission shall review and, if appropriate, amend 
     the sentencing guidelines and policy statements applicable to 
     persons convicted of offenses created by this section to 
     ensure conformity with the United States Sentencing 
     Guidelines, section 2H4.1 (peonage offenses) in violations 
     involving a holding under section 278(a)(2) of the 
     Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1328(a)(2)), and 
     section.2G1.1 otherwise.
       (c) IMBRA Violations.--Section 833(d)(5)(B) of the Violence 
     Against Women and Department of Justice Reauthorization Act 
     of 2005 (Public Law 109-162) is amended by striking 
     ``interstate or foreign commerce, an international marriage 
     broker that, within the special maritime and territorial 
     jurisdiction of the United States, violates'' and inserting 
     ``interstate or foreign commerce or within the special 
     maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States, 
     an international marriage broker that violates''.

     SEC. 224. NEW MODEL STATUTE PROVIDED TO STATES.

       (a) New Model Statute.--The Attorney General shall provide 
     a new model law for State anti-trafficking offenses that 
     shall reflect all concepts relating to trafficking in persons 
     included in Chapters 77 and 117 of title 18, United States 
     Code, as amended by this title, including crimes related to 
     forced labor, sex trafficking, and related offenses, with the 
     elements of force, fraud or coercion or age in sex 
     trafficking used as the bases for aggravated crimes or 
     sentencing enhancements.
       (b) Distribution.--The model law described in subsection 
     (a) shall be posted on the website of the Department of 
     Justice and shall be distributed to the States and at the 
     anti-trafficking conference described in section 201(a)(2) of 
     the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 
     2005 (42 U.S.C. 14044(a)).
       (c) Adoption of Model Statute.--
       (1) Assistance.--The Attorney General shall provide 
     assistance to States and local governments to adopt and apply 
     the model law described in subsection (a).
       (2) Report.--Not later than six months after the enactment 
     of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Attorney General 
     shall submit to the Committees on Foreign Affairs and the 
     Judiciary of the House and the Committees on Foreign 
     Relations and the Judiciary of the Senate a report describing 
     the assistance provided pursuant to paragraph (1) and the 
     results achieved by such assistance, including a list of 
     State and local governments that have adopted the model law.

         Subtitle D--Activities of the United States Government

     SEC. 231. ANNUAL REPORT BY THE ATTORNEY GENERAL.

       Section 105(d)(7) of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act 
     of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7103(d)(7)) is amended--
       (1) in subparagraph (A)--
       (A) by striking ``section 107(b)'' and inserting 
     ``subsections (b) and (h) of section 107''; and
       (B) by inserting ``the Attorney General,'' after ``the 
     Secretary of Labor,'';
       (2) in subparagraph (G), by striking ``and'' at the end;
       (3) by redesignating subparagraph (H) as subparagraph (J); 
     and
       (4) by inserting after subparagraph (G) the following new 
     subparagraphs:
       ``(H) activities by the Department of Defense to combat 
     trafficking in persons, including educational efforts for and 
     disciplinary actions taken against members of the United 
     States Armed Forces, materials included in training of the 
     armed forces of foreign countries, and efforts to ensure that 
     United States Government contractors and their employees or 
     United States Government subcontractors and their employees 
     do not engage in trafficking in persons;
       ``(I) activities or actions by Federal departments and 
     agencies to enforce--
       ``(i) section 106(g) of this Act and any similar provision 
     of law, regulation, or policy relating to United States 
     Government contractors and their employees or United States 
     Government subcontractors and their employees that engage in 
     severe forms of trafficking in persons, procurement of 
     commercial sex acts, or use of forced labor, including debt 
     bondage;
       ``(ii) section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 
     1307; relating to prohibition on importation of convict made 
     goods), including any determinations by the Secretary of 
     Homeland Security to waive the restrictions of such section; 
     and
       ``(iii) prohibitions on the procurement by the United 
     States Government of items or services produced by slave 
     labor, consistent with Executive Order 13107 (December 10, 
     1998); and''.

     SEC. 232. ANTI-TRAFFICKING SURVEY AND CONFERENCES.

       (a) Survey.--Paragraph (1) of section 201(a) of the 
     Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2005 
     (42 U.S.C. 14044(a)) is amended by adding at the end the 
     following:
       ``(C) Additional requirements.--With respect to the study 
     described in subparagraph (B)(ii), the Attorney General shall 
     solicit on a biennial basis, beginning as soon as practicable 
     after the date of the enactment of the William Wilberforce 
     Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2007, 
     requests for proposals for such a study from nongovernmental 
     entities with expertise in the field of illegal economic 
     activities and shall complete such study not later than one 
     year after the date of the enactment of such Act.''
       (b) Annual Conference.--Paragraph (2)(A) of such section is 
     amended--
       (1) in the first sentence, by striking ``in consultation'' 
     and inserting ``in coordination with the Secretary of State 
     and in consultation''; and
       (2) in clause (ii), by inserting before the semicolon at 
     the end the following: ``and the use of existing Federal and 
     State criminal laws that do not require force, fraud, or 
     coercion as an element of a felony crime to prosecute such 
     person.''.

     SEC. 233. SENIOR POLICY OPERATING GROUP.

       Section 206 of the Trafficking Victims Protection 
     Reauthorization Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 14044d) is amended by 
     striking ``, as the department or agency determines 
     appropriate,''.

     SEC. 234. EFFORTS BY DEPARTMENTS OF JUSTICE AND LABOR TO 
                   COMBAT HUMAN TRAFFICKING.

       (a) Activities at the Department of Justice.--
       (1) Role of criminal division in trafficking cases.--
       (A) Redesignation.--The Child Exploitation and Obscenity 
     Section of the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice 
     shall be redesignated as the Sexual Exploitation and 
     Obscenity Section.
       (B) Expansion.--The Attorney General shall expand the 
     responsibilities of the Innocence Lost Task Forces to 
     incorporate situations involving adults who are sexually 
     exploited by persons in violation of offenses such as section 
     2430.
       (C) Responsibilities.--The chief of the section described 
     in subsection (a) should work with other parts of the 
     Department of Justice and State and local law enforcement to 
     ensure effective prosecutions through the task force 
     described in subparagraph (B).
       (D) References.--Any reference to the Child Exploitation 
     and Obscenity Section of the Criminal Division in any law, 
     regulation, rule, directive, instruction or other official 
     United States Government document in effect on the date of 
     enactment of this Act shall be deemed to refer to the Sexual 
     Exploitation and Obscenity Section.
       (2) Construction.--Nothing in this subsection shall be 
     construed as affecting the activities of the Criminal Section 
     of the Civil Rights Division relating to the 13th Amendment's 
     prohibition of slavery and involuntary servitude.
       (b) Department of Labor.--
       (1) Establishment.--The Secretary of Labor shall establish 
     within the Department of Labor a Coordinator to Combat Human 
     Trafficking.
       (2) Duties.--In addition to any other responsibilities that 
     the Secretary of Labor may assign, the Coordinator shall have 
     the following responsibilities:
       (A) Ensure coordination of policies relating to victims of 
     trafficking, both in the United States and abroad, among the 
     various offices and components of the Department of Labor, 
     including the Office of the Solicitor, the Employment 
     Standards Administration,

[[Page 32042]]

     the Wage and Hour Division, the Bureau of International Labor 
     Affairs, and the Office of Child Labor, Forced Labor, and 
     Human Trafficking.
       (B) Ensure improved communication and coordination with 
     State labor agencies relating to trafficking in persons.
       (C) Represent the Department at inter-agency mechanisms 
     relating to trafficking in persons, including assisting 
     appropriate high-level officials of the Department of Labor 
     who are members of the Senior Policy Operating Group.
       (D) Serve, in conjunction with the Coordinator to Combat 
     Human Trafficking of the Department of Justice (established 
     pursuant to subsection (a)), as the executive secretariat of 
     the Trafficking in Persons and Worker Exploitation Task.
       (3) Staff.--The Secretary of Labor shall ensure that the 
     Coordinator has sufficient staff to carry out the duties 
     described in paragraph (2).
       (4) Authorization of appropriations.--There is authorized 
     to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out 
     this subsection.
       (c) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be 
     construed as affecting or derogating from the 
     responsibilities of the Senior Policy Operating Group 
     established by section 206 of the Trafficking Victims 
     Protection Reauthorization Act of 2005.
       (d) Definition.--In this section, the term ``victim of 
     trafficking'' has the meaning given the term in section 103 
     of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 
     7102).

     SEC. 235. PREVENTING UNITED STATES TRAVEL BY TRAFFICKERS.

       Section 212(a)(2)(H)(i) of the Immigration and Nationality 
     Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(2)(H)(i)) is amended by striking 
     ``consular officer'' and inserting ``consular officer, the 
     Secretary of Homeland Security, the Secretary of State,''.

     SEC. 236. ENHANCING EFFORTS TO COMBAT THE TRAFFICKING OF 
                   CHILDREN.

       (a) Findings and Sense of Congress.--
       (1) Findings.--The Congress finds as follows:
       (A) The United States Government currently estimates that 
     up to 17,500 individuals are trafficked into the United 
     States each year. Of these, some 50 percent are believed to 
     be under the age of 18. Many of these children are victims of 
     sex trafficking and are forced into prostitution and other 
     exploitative activities in the United States.
       (B) Despite the large number of children trafficked into 
     the United States every year, the Department of Health and 
     Human Services has identified an average of 20 children per 
     year as trafficking victims through fiscal year 2006. This 
     disparity between estimated and identified victims 
     demonstrates that much more needs to be done in educating 
     individuals who may be coming into contact with trafficked 
     children.
       (2) Sense of congress.--It is the sense of the Congress 
     that, to the extent consistent with the treaties and other 
     international agreements to which the United States is a 
     party, and to the extent practicable, the United States 
     Government should undertake efforts to protect children from 
     severe forms of trafficking and ensure that it does not 
     repatriate children in Federal custody into settings that 
     would threaten their life or safety.
       (b) Combatting Child Trafficking at the Border and Ports of 
     Entry of the United States.--
       (1) Policies and procedures.--In order to enhance the 
     efforts of the United States to prevent trafficking in 
     persons, the Secretary of State, in conjunction with the 
     Secretary of Homeland Security and the Secretary of Health 
     and Human Services, shall develop policies and procedures to 
     ensure that unaccompanied alien children in the United States 
     are safely repatriated to their country of nationality or of 
     last habitual residence.
       (2) Special rules for children from contiguous countries.--
       (A) Determinations.--Any unaccompanied alien child who is a 
     national or habitual resident of a country that is contiguous 
     with the United States shall be treated in accordance with 
     subparagraph (B), if the Secretary of Homeland Security 
     determines, on a case-by-case basis, that--
       (i) such child has not been a victim of a severe form of 
     trafficking in persons, and there is no credible evidence 
     that such child is at risk of being trafficked upon return to 
     the child's country of nationality or of last habitual 
     residence;
       (ii) such child does not have a fear of returning to the 
     child's country of nationality or of last habitual residence 
     owing to a credible fear of persecution; and
       (iii) the child is able to make an independent decision to 
     withdraw the child's application for admission to the United 
     States.
       (B) Return.--An immigration officer who finds an 
     unaccompanied alien child described in subparagraph (A) at a 
     land border or port of entry of the United States and 
     determines that such child is inadmissible under the 
     Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.) may--
       (i) permit such child to withdraw the child's application 
     for admission pursuant to section 235(a)(4) of the 
     Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1225(a)(4)); and
       (ii) return such child to the child's country of 
     nationality or country of last habitual residence.
       (C) Contiguous country agreements.--The Secretary of State 
     shall negotiate agreements between the United States and 
     countries contiguous to the United States with respect to the 
     repatriation of children. Such agreements shall be designed 
     to protect children from severe forms of trafficking in 
     persons, and shall, at a minimum, provide that--
       (i) no child shall be returned to the child's country of 
     nationality or of last habitual residence unless returned to 
     appropriate officials or employees of the accepting country's 
     government;
       (ii) no child shall be returned to the child's country of 
     nationality or of last habitual residence outside of 
     reasonable business hours; and
       (iii) border personnel of the countries that are parties to 
     such agreements are trained in the terms of such agreements.
       (3) Rule for other children.--The custody of unaccompanied 
     alien children not described in paragraph (2)(A) who are 
     apprehended at the border of the United States or at a United 
     States port of entry shall be treated in accordance with 
     subsection (c).
       (4) Screening.--Within 48 hours of the apprehension of a 
     child who is believed to be described in paragraph (2)(A), 
     but in any event prior to returning such child to the child's 
     country of nationality or of last habitual residence, the 
     child shall be screened to determine whether the child meets 
     the criteria listed in paragraph (2)(A). If the child does 
     not meet such criteria, or if no determination can be made 
     within 48 hours of apprehension, the child shall immediately 
     be transferred to the Secretary of Health and Human Services 
     and treated in accordance with subsection (c).
       (5) Ensuring the safe repatriation of children.--
       (A) Repatriation pilot program.--To protect children from 
     trafficking and exploitation, the Secretary of State shall 
     create a pilot program, in conjunction with non-governmental 
     organizations and other national and international agencies 
     and experts, to develop and implement best practices to 
     ensure the safe and secure repatriation and reintegration of 
     unaccompanied alien children into their country of 
     nationality or of last habitual residence, including 
     placement with their families or other sponsoring agencies.
       (B) Report on repatriation of unaccompanied alien 
     children.--Not later than 18 months after the date of the 
     enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary 
     of Homeland Security, in conjunction with the Secretary of 
     State and Secretary of Health and Human Services, shall 
     submit a report to the Committee on the Judiciary of the 
     Senate and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of 
     Representatives on efforts to repatriate unaccompanied alien 
     children. Such report shall include--
       (i) the number of unaccompanied alien children ordered 
     removed and the number of such children actually removed from 
     the United States;
       (ii) a statement of the nationalities, ages, and gender of 
     such children;
       (iii) a description of the policies and procedures used to 
     effect the removal of such children from the United States 
     and the steps taken to ensure that such children were safely 
     and humanely repatriated to their country of nationality or 
     of last habitual residence, including a description of the 
     repatriation pilot program created pursuant to subparagraph 
     (A);
       (iv) a description of the type of immigration relief sought 
     and denied to such children; and
       (v) statistical information and other data on unaccompanied 
     alien children as provided for in section 462(b)(1)(J) of the 
     Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 279(b)(1)(J)).
       (C) Placement in removal proceedings.--Any unaccompanied 
     alien child sought to be removed by the Department of 
     Homeland Security, except for an unaccompanied alien child 
     from a contiguous country subject to exceptions under 
     subsection (b)(2), shall be placed in removal proceedings 
     under section 240 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 
     U.S.C. 1229a).
       (c) Combatting Child Trafficking and Exploitation in the 
     United States.--
       (1) Care and custody of unaccompanied alien children.--
     Consistent with section 462 of the Homeland Security Act of 
     2002 (6 U.S.C. 279), and except as otherwise provided under 
     subsection (b), the care and custody of all unaccompanied 
     alien children, including responsibility for their detention, 
     where appropriate, shall be the responsibility of the 
     Secretary of Health and Human Services.
       (2) Notification.--Each department or agency of the Federal 
     Government shall notify the Department of Health and Human 
     services within 48 hours upon--
       (A) the apprehension or discovery of an unaccompanied alien 
     child; or
       (B) any claim or suspicion that an alien in the custody of 
     such department or agency is under 18 years of age and is 
     unaccompanied.
       (3) Transfers of unaccompanied alien children.--Any 
     department or agency of the Federal Government that has an 
     unaccompanied alien child in its custody shall transfer the 
     custody of such child to the Secretary of Health and Human 
     Services within

[[Page 32043]]

     72 hours, except in the case of exceptional circumstances, 
     upon a determination that such child is an unaccompanied 
     alien child.
       (4) Age determinations.--
       (A) In general.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services 
     shall make an age determination for an alien described in 
     paragraph (2)(B) and take whatever other steps are necessary 
     to determine whether such alien is eligible for treatment 
     under this section or section 462 of the Homeland Security 
     Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 279).
       (B) Procedures.--The Secretary of Health and Human 
     Services, in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland 
     Security, shall develop procedures to make a prompt 
     determination of the age of an alien, which shall be used by 
     the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Secretary of 
     Health and Human Services for children in their respective 
     custody. At a minimum, these procedures shall permit the 
     presentation of multiple forms of evidence, including the 
     non-exclusive use of radiographs, to determine the age of the 
     unaccompanied alien.
       (d) Providing Safe and Secure Placements for Children.--
       (1) Policies and programs.--The Secretary of Health and 
     Human Services, Secretary of Homeland Security, Attorney 
     General, and Secretary of State shall establish policies and 
     programs to ensure that unaccompanied alien children in the 
     United States are protected from traffickers and other 
     persons seeking to victimize or otherwise engage such 
     children in criminal, harmful, or exploitative activity, 
     including policies and programs reflecting best practices in 
     witness security programs.
       (2) Safe and secure placements.--Subject to section 
     462(b)(2) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 
     279(b)(2)), an unaccompanied alien child in the custody of 
     the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall be promptly 
     placed in the least restrictive setting that is in the best 
     interest of the child. In making such placements, the 
     Secretary of Health and Human Services may consider danger to 
     self, danger to the community, and risk of flight. Placement 
     of child trafficking victims may include placement with 
     competent adult victims of the same trafficking scheme in 
     order to ensure continuity of care and support. A child shall 
     not be placed in a juvenile delinquency or other secure 
     detention facility (as defined in section 103(12) of the 
     Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 (42 
     U.S.C. 5603(12)) absent a determination that the child poses 
     a danger to others or has been accused of having committed a 
     criminal offense.
       (3) Safety and suitability assessments.--
       (A) In general.--Subject to the requirements of 
     subparagraph (B), an unaccompanied alien child may not be 
     placed with a person or entity unless the Secretary of Health 
     and Human Services makes a determination that the proposed 
     custodian is capable of providing for the child's physical 
     and mental well-being. Such determination shall, at a 
     minimum, include verification of the custodian's identity and 
     relationship to the child, if any, as well as an independent 
     finding that the individual has not engaged in any activity 
     that would indicate a potential risk to the child.
       (B) Home studies.--Before placing the child with an 
     individual, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall 
     determine whether a home study is first necessary. A home 
     study shall be conducted for a child who is a victim of a 
     severe form of trafficking in persons, a special needs child 
     with a disability (as defined in section 3 of the Americans 
     with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12102(2))), or a 
     child who has been a victim of physical or sexual abuse under 
     circumstances that indicate that the child's health or 
     welfare has been significantly harmed or threatened. The 
     Secretary of Health and Human Services shall conduct follow-
     up services, during the pendency of removal proceedings, on 
     children and custodians for whom a home study was conducted.
       (C) Access to information.--Upon request from the Secretary 
     of Health and Human Services, the Secretary of Homeland 
     Security shall provide information necessary to conduct 
     suitability assessments from appropriate Federal, State, and 
     local law enforcement and immigration databases.
       (4) Legal orientation presentations.--The Secretary of 
     Health and Human Services shall cooperate with the Executive 
     Office for Immigration Review to ensure that custodians 
     receive legal orientation presentations provided through the 
     Legal Orientation Program administered by the Executive 
     Office for Immigration Review. At a minimum, such 
     presentations shall address the custodian's responsibility to 
     ensure the child's appearance at all immigration proceedings 
     and to protect the child from mistreatment, exploitation, and 
     trafficking.
       (5) Access to counsel.--The Secretary of Health and Human 
     Services shall ensure, to the greatest extent practicable and 
     consistent with section 292 of the Immigration and 
     Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1362), that all unaccompanied alien 
     children who are or have been in the custody of the Secretary 
     or the Secretary of Homeland Security, and who are not 
     described in subsection (b)(2)(A), have competent counsel to 
     represent them in legal proceedings or matters and protect 
     them from mistreatment, exploitation, and trafficking. To the 
     greatest extent practicable, the Secretary of Health and 
     Human Services shall make every effort to utilize the 
     services of competent pro bono counsel who agree to provide 
     representation to such children without charge.
       (6) Child advocates.--The Secretary of Health and Human 
     Services is authorized to appoint independent child advocates 
     for child trafficking victims and other vulnerable 
     unaccompanied children. A child advocate shall be provided 
     access to materials necessary to effectively advocate for the 
     best interest of the child. The child advocate shall not be 
     compelled to testify or provide evidence in any proceeding 
     concerning any information or opinion received from the child 
     in the course of serving as a child advocate. The child 
     advocate shall be presumed to be acting in good faith and be 
     immune from civil and criminal liability for lawful conduct 
     of duties as described in this paragraph.
       (e) Permanent Protection for Certain At-Risk Children.--
       (1) In general.--Section 101(a)(27)(J) of the Immigration 
     and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(27)(J)) is amended--
       (A) in clause (i), by striking ``State and who has been 
     deemed eligible by that court for long-term foster care due 
     to abuse, neglect, or abandonment;'' and inserting ``State, 
     or an individual or entity appointed by a State or juvenile 
     court located in the United States, and whose reunification 
     with one or both of the immigrant's parents is not viable due 
     to abuse, neglect, abandonment, or a similar basis found 
     under State law;'';
       (B) in clause (iii), in the matter preceding subclause (I), 
     by striking ``the Attorney General expressly consents to the 
     dependency order serving as a precondition to the grant of 
     special immigrant juvenile status;'' and inserting ``the 
     Secretary of Homeland Security consents to the grant of 
     special immigrant juvenile status,''; and
       (C) in clause (iii)(I), by striking ``in the actual or 
     constructive custody of the Attorney General unless the 
     Attorney General specifically consents to such 
     jurisdiction;'' and inserting ``in the custody of the 
     Secretary of Health and Human Services unless the Secretary 
     of Health and Human Services specifically consents to such 
     jurisdiction;''.
       (2) Adjustment of status.--Section 245(h)(2)(A) of the 
     Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1255(h)(2)(A)) is 
     amended to read as follows:
       ``(A) paragraphs (4), (5)(A), (6)(A), (6)(C), (6)(D), 
     (7)(A), and (9)(C)(i)(I) of section 212(a) shall not apply; 
     and''.
       (3) Eligibility for assistance.--A child who has been 
     granted special immigrant status under section 101(a)(27)(J) 
     of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
     1101(a)(27)(J)) and who was either in the custody of the 
     Secretary of Health and Human Services at the time a 
     dependency order was granted for such child or who was 
     receiving services pursuant to section 501(a) of the Refugee 
     Education Assistance Act of 1980 (8 U.S.C. 1522 note) at the 
     time such dependency order was granted, shall be eligible for 
     placement and services under section 412(d) of the 
     Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1522(d)) until the 
     earlier of--
       (A) the date on which the child reaches the age designated 
     in section 412(d)(2)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality 
     Act (8 U.S.C. 1522(d)(2)(B)); or
       (B) the date on which the child is placed in a permanent 
     adoptive home.
       (4) State courts acting in loco parentis.--A department or 
     agency of a State, or an individual or entity appointed by a 
     State court or juvenile court located in the United States, 
     acting in loco parentis, shall not be considered a legal 
     guardian for purposes of this section or section 462 of the 
     Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 279).
       (5) Transition rule.--Notwithstanding any other provision 
     of law, an alien described in section 101(a)(27)(J) of the 
     Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(27)(J)), as 
     amended by paragraph (1), may not be denied special immigrant 
     status under such section after the date of the enactment of 
     this Act based on age if the alien was a child on the date on 
     which the alien applied for such status.
       (6) Access to asylum protections.--Section 208 of the 
     Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1158) is amended--
       (A) in subsection (a)(2), by adding at the end the 
     following:
       ``(E) Applicability.--Subparagraphs (A) and (B) shall not 
     apply to an unaccompanied alien child (as defined in section 
     462(g) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 
     279(g))).''; and
       (B) in subsection (b)(3), by adding at the end the 
     following:
       ``(C) Initial jurisdiction.--An asylum officer (as defined 
     in section 235(b)(1)(E)) shall have initial jurisdiction over 
     any asylum application filed by an unaccompanied alien child 
     (as defined in section 462(g) of the Homeland Security Act of 
     2002 (6 U.S.C. 279(g))), regardless of whether filed in 
     accordance with this section or section 235(b).''.
       (7) Specialized needs of children.--Applications for asylum 
     and other forms of relief from removal in which a child is 
     the principal applicant shall be governed by regulations 
     which take into account the specialized

[[Page 32044]]

     needs of children and which address both procedural and 
     substantive aspects of handling children's cases.
       (f) Training.--The Secretary of State, the Secretary of 
     Homeland Security, the Secretary of Health and Human Services 
     and the Attorney General shall provide specialized training 
     to all Federal personnel who come into contact with 
     unaccompanied alien children. Such personnel shall be trained 
     to work with unaccompanied alien children, including 
     identifying children who are a victim of a severe form of 
     trafficking in persons, and children for whom asylum or 
     special immigrant relief may be appropriate, including 
     children described in subsection (b)(2).
       (g) Amendments to the Homeland Security Act of 2002.--
       (1) Additional responsibilities.--Section 462(b)(1)(L) of 
     the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 279(b)(1)(L)) is 
     amended by striking the period at the end and inserting ``, 
     including regular follow-up visits to such facilities, 
     placements, and other entities, to assess the continued 
     suitability of such placements.''.
       (2) Technical corrections.--Section 462(b) of the Homeland 
     Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 279(b)) is amended--
       (A) in paragraph (3), by striking ``paragraph (1)(G),'' and 
     inserting ``paragraph (1),''; and
       (B) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(4) Rule of construction.--Nothing in paragraph (2)(B) 
     may be construed to require that a bond be posted for an 
     unaccompanied alien child who is released to a qualified 
     sponsor.''.
       (h) Definition of Unaccompanied Alien Child.--For purposes 
     of this section, the term ``unaccompanied alien child'' has 
     the meaning given such term in section 462(g) of the Homeland 
     Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 279(g)).
       (i) Effective Date.--This section shall take effect on the 
     date that is 90 days after the date of the enactment of this 
     Act.
       (j) Grants and Contracts.--The Secretary of Health and 
     Human Services may award grants to, and enter into contracts 
     with, voluntary agencies to carry out this section and 
     section 462 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 
     279).

     SEC. 237. TEMPORARY INCREASE IN FEE FOR CERTAIN CONSULAR 
                   SERVICES.

       (a) Increase in Fee.--Notwithstanding any other provision 
     of law, not later than October 1, 2008, the Secretary of 
     State shall increase by $2.00 the fee or surcharge assessed 
     under section 140(a) of the Foreign Relations Authorization 
     Act, Fiscal Years 1994 and 1995 (Public Law 103-236; 8 U.S.C. 
     1351 note) for processing machine readable nonimmigrant visas 
     and machine readable combined border crossing identification 
     cards and nonimmigrant visas.
       (b) Deposit of Amounts.--Notwithstanding section 140(a)(2) 
     of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1994 
     and 1995 (Public Law 103-236; 8 U.S.C. 1351 note), fees 
     collected under the authority of subsection (a) shall be 
     deposited in the Treasury.
       (c) Duration of Increase.--The fee increase authorized 
     under subsection (a) shall terminate on the date that is 2 
     years after the date on which such fee is first collected.

              TITLE III--AUTHORIZATIONS OF APPROPRIATIONS

     SEC. 301. TRAFFICKING VICTIMS PROTECTION ACT OF 2000.

       Section 113 of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 
     2000 (22 U.S.C. 7110) is amended--
       (1) in subsection (a)--
       (A) in the first sentence--
       (i) by striking ``104,''; and
       (ii) by striking ``$1,500,000'' and all that follows 
     through ``2007'' and inserting ``$5,000,000 for each of the 
     fiscal years 2008 through 2011''; and
       (B) in the second sentence--
       (i) by inserting ``$1,500,000 for additional personnel for 
     each of the fiscal years 2008 through 2011'' after ``Office 
     to Monitor and Combat Trafficking''; and
       (ii) by striking ``2006 and 2007'' and inserting ``2008 
     through 2011'';
       (2) in the first sentence of subsection (b), by striking 
     ``$5,000,000'' and all that follows through ``2007'' and 
     inserting ``$15,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2008 
     through 2011'';
       (3) in subsection (c)--
       (A) in paragraph (1)--
       (i) by striking ``2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007'' each place 
     it appears and inserting ``2008 through 2011'';
       (ii) in subparagraph (B)--

       (I) by striking ``$15,000,000'' and inserting 
     ``$10,000,000''; and
       (II) by adding at the end the following new sentence: ``To 
     carry out the purposes of section 107(a)(1)(F), there are 
     authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of State 
     $500,000 for fiscal year 2008, $750,000 for fiscal year 2009, 
     and $1,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2010 and 2011.''; 
     and

       (iii) in subparagraph (C), by inserting ``(as added by 
     section 109)'' after ``section 134 of the Foreign Assistance 
     Act of 1961'';
       (B) by striking paragraph (2);
       (C) by redesignating paragraph (3) as paragraph (2); and
       (D) in paragraph (2) (as redesignated by subparagraph 
     (C))--
       (i) by striking ``section 104'' and inserting ``sections 
     116(f) and 502B(h) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (as 
     added by section 104)''; and
       (ii) by striking ``, including the preparation'' and all 
     that follows through ``section'';
       (4) in subsection (d)--
       (A) in the first sentence, by striking ``$10,000,000'' and 
     all that follows through ``2007'' and inserting ``$15,000,000 
     for each of the fiscal years 2008 through 2011''; and
       (B) in the second sentence, by striking ``$250,000'' and 
     all that follows through ``2007'' and inserting ``$500,000 
     for each of the fiscal years 2008 through 2011'';
       (5) in subsection (e)--
       (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``$5,000,000'' and all 
     that follows through ``2007'' and inserting ``$15,000,000 for 
     each of the fiscal years 2008 through 2011'';
       (B) in paragraph (2)--
       (i) by striking ``section 109'' and inserting ``section 134 
     of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (as added by section 
     109)''; and
       (ii) by striking ``$5,000,000'' and all that follows 
     through ``2007'' and inserting ``$15,000,000 for each of the 
     fiscal years 2008 through 2011''; and
       (C) in paragraph (3), by striking ``$300,000'' and all that 
     follows through ``2007'' and inserting ``$1,000,000 for each 
     of the fiscal years 2008 through 2011'';
       (6) in subsection (f)--
       (A) by striking ``section 107(b)'' and inserting ``section 
     107(b) of this Act and section 202(g) of the William 
     Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization 
     Act of 2007''; and
       (B) by striking ``$5,000,000'' and all that follows through 
     ``2007'' and inserting ``$15,000,000 for each of the fiscal 
     years 2008 through 2011'';
       (7) in subsection (h), by striking ``fiscal year 2006'' and 
     inserting ``each of the fiscal years 2008 through 2011''; and
       (8) in subsection (i), by striking ``$18,000,000'' and all 
     that follows through ``2007'' and inserting ``$18,000,000 for 
     each of the fiscal years 2008 through 2011''.

     SEC. 302. TRAFFICKING VICTIMS PROTECTION REAUTHORIZATION ACT 
                   OF 2005.

       The Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 
     2005 (Public Law 109-164) is amended--
       (1) in paragraph (7) of section 102(b), by striking ``2006 
     and 2007'' and inserting ``2008 through 2011'';
       (2) in subsection (b) of section 105, by adding at the end 
     the following new paragraph:
       ``(3) Authorization of appropriations.--To carry out this 
     subsection, there are authorized to be appropriated to the 
     Secretary of Labor $1,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 
     2008 through 2011.'';
       (3) in subsection (c) of section 201--
       (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``$2,500,000 for each of 
     the fiscal years 2006 and 2007'' each place it appears and 
     inserting ``$3,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2008 
     through 2011''; and
       (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ``$1,000,000'' and all 
     that follows through ``2007'' and inserting ``$1,000,000 for 
     each of the fiscal years 2008 through 2011'';
       (4) in subsection (d) of section 202, by striking 
     ``$10,000,000'' and all that follows through ``2007'' and 
     inserting ``$15,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2008 
     through 2011'';
       (5) in subsection (g) of section 203, by striking 
     ``$5,000,000'' and all that follows through ``2007'' and 
     inserting ``$5,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2008 
     through 2011''; and
       (6) in subsection (d) of section 204, by striking 
     ``$25,000,000'' and all that follows through ``2007'' and 
     inserting ``$25,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2008 
     through 2011''.

     SEC. 303. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.

       The amendments made by sections 301 and 302 shall not be 
     construed to affect the availability of funds appropriated 
     pursuant to the authorizations of appropriations under the 
     Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (division A of 
     Public Law 106-386; 22 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.) and the 
     Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2005 
     (Public Law 109-164) before the date of the enactment of this 
     Act.

     SEC. 304. TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS.

       (a) Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000.--Sections 
     103(1) and 105(d)(7) of the Trafficking Victims Protection 
     Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7102(1) and 7103(d)(7)) are amended by 
     striking ``Committee on International Relations'' each place 
     it appears and inserting ``Committee on Foreign Affairs''.
       (b) Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 
     2005.--Section 102(b)(6) and subsections (c)(2)(B)(i) and 
     (e)(2) of section 104 of the Trafficking Victims Protection 
     Reauthorization Act of 2005 (Public Law 109-164) are amended 
     by striking ``Committee on International Relations'' each 
     place it appears and inserting ``Committee on Foreign 
     Affairs''.

           TITLE IV--PREVENTION OF THE USE OF CHILD SOLDIERS

     SEC. 401. SHORT TITLE.

       This title may be cited as the ``Child Soldier Prevention 
     Act of 2007''.

     SEC. 402. DEFINITIONS.

       In this title:
       (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
     ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
       (A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of 
     Representatives; and

[[Page 32045]]

       (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate.
       (2) Child soldier.--Consistent with the provisions of the 
     Optional Protocol, the term ``child soldier''--
       (A) means--
       (i) any person under age 18 who takes a direct part in 
     hostilities as a member of governmental armed forces, where 
     the government has failed to take all feasible measures to 
     ensure that members of its armed forced under age 18 do not 
     take a direct part in hostilities;
       (ii) any person under age 18 who has been compulsorily 
     recruited into governmental armed forces;
       (iii) any person under age 16 voluntarily recruited into 
     governmental armed forces; and
       (iv) any person under age 18 recruited or used in 
     hostilities by armed forces distinct from the armed forces of 
     a state, where the government has failed to take all feasible 
     measures to prevent such recruitment and use, including the 
     adoption of legal measures necessary to prohibit and 
     criminalize such practices; and
       (B) includes any person described in clauses (ii), (iii), 
     and (iv) of subparagraph (A) who is serving in any capacity, 
     including in a support role such as a cook, porter, 
     messenger, medic, guard, or sex slave.
       (3) Optional protocol.--The term ``Optional Protocol'' 
     means the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights 
     of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed 
     Conflict, which establishes 18 as the minimum age for 
     conscription or forced recruitment and requires states party 
     to take all feasible measures to ensure that members of their 
     armed forces under the age of 18 do not take a direct part in 
     hostilities
       (4) United states munitions list.--The term ``United States 
     Munitions List'' means the list referred to in section 
     38(a)(1) of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 
     2778(a)(1)).

     SEC. 403. FINDINGS.

       Congress makes the following findings:
       (1) According to the September 7, 2005, report to the 
     General Assembly of the United Nations by the Special 
     Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and 
     Armed Conflict, ``In the last decade, two million children 
     have been killed in situations of armed conflict, while six 
     million children have been permanently disabled or injured. 
     Over 250,000 children continue to be exploited as child 
     soldiers and tens of thousands of girls are being subjected 
     to rape and other forms of sexual violence.''.
       (2) According to the Center for Emerging Threats and 
     Opportunities (CETO), Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory, 
     ``The Child Soldier Phenomenon has become a post-Cold War 
     epidemic that has proliferated to every continent with the 
     exception of Antarctica and Australia.''.
       (3) Many of the children currently serving in armed forces 
     or paramilitaries were forcibly conscripted through 
     kidnapping or coercion, a form of human trafficking, while 
     others joined military units due to economic necessity, to 
     avenge the loss of a family member, or for their own personal 
     safety.
       (4) Some military and militia commanders force child 
     soldiers to commit gruesome acts of ritual killings or 
     torture, including acts of violence against other children.
       (5) Many female child soldiers face the additional 
     psychological and physical horrors of rape and sexual abuse, 
     enslavement for sexual purposes by militia commanders, and 
     severe social stigma should they return home.
       (6) Some military and militia commanders target children 
     for recruitment because of their psychological immaturity and 
     vulnerability to manipulation and indoctrination. Children 
     are often separated from their families in order to foster 
     dependence on military units and leaders. Consequently, many 
     of these children suffer from deep trauma and are in need of 
     psychological counseling and rehabilitation.
       (7) Child soldiers are exposed to hazardous conditions and 
     are at risk of physical injury and disability, psychological 
     trauma, sexually transmitted diseases, respiratory and skin 
     infections, and often death.
       (8) On May 25, 2000, the United Nations adopted and opened 
     for signature, ratification, and accession the Optional 
     Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the 
     Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict.
       (9) On June 18, 2002, the Senate unanimously approved the 
     resolution advising and consenting to the ratification of the 
     Optional Protocol.
       (10) On December 23, 2002, the United States presented the 
     ratified Optional Protocol to the United Nations.
       (11) More than 110 governments worldwide have ratified the 
     Optional Protocol, establishing a clear international norm 
     concerning the use of children in combat.
       (12) On December 2, 1999, the United States ratified 
     International Labour Convention 182, the Convention 
     concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the 
     Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour, which 
     includes the use of child soldiers among the worst forms of 
     child labor.
       (13) On October 7, 2005, the Senate gave its advice and 
     consent to the ratification of the Protocol to Prevent, 
     Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women 
     and Children, Supplementing the United Nations Convention 
     Against Transnational Organized Crime.
       (14) It is in the national security interest of the United 
     States to reduce the chances that members of the United 
     States Armed Forces will be forced to encounter children in 
     combat situations.
       (15) Section 502B(a)(3) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 
     1961 (22 U.S.C. 2304(a)(3)) provides that ``the President is 
     directed to formulate and conduct international security 
     assistance programs of the United States in a manner which 
     will promote and advance human rights and avoid 
     identification of the United States, through such programs, 
     with governments which deny to their people internationally 
     recognized human rights and fundamental freedoms, in 
     violation of international law or in contravention of the 
     policy of the United States as expressed in this section or 
     otherwise''.

     SEC. 404. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

       It is the sense of Congress that--
       (1) the United States Government should condemn the 
     conscription, forced recruitment or use of children by 
     governments, paramilitaries, or other organizations in 
     hostilities;
       (2) the United States Government should support and, where 
     practicable, lead efforts to establish and uphold 
     international standards designed to end this abuse of human 
     rights;
       (3) the United States Government should expand ongoing 
     services to rehabilitate recovered child soldiers and to 
     reintegrate them back into their communities by--
       (A) offering ongoing psychological services to help victims 
     recover from their trauma and relearn how to deal with others 
     in nonviolent ways such that they are no longer a danger to 
     their community, taking into consideration the needs of girl 
     soldiers, who may be at risk of exclusion from disarmament, 
     demobilization, and reintegration programs;
       (B) facilitating reconciliation with their communities 
     through negotiations with traditional leaders and elders to 
     enable recovered abductees to resume normal lives in their 
     communities; and
       (C) providing educational and vocational assistance;
       (4) the United States should work with the international 
     community, including, where appropriate, third country 
     governments, nongovernmental organizations, faith-based 
     organizations, United Nations agencies, local governments, 
     labor unions, and private enterprise--
       (A) on efforts to bring to justice rebel organizations that 
     kidnap children for use as child soldiers, including the 
     Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in Uganda, Fuerzas Armadas 
     Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC), and Liberation Tigers of 
     Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Sri Lanka, including, where feasible, 
     by arresting the leaders of such groups; and
       (B) on efforts to recover those children who have been 
     abducted and to assist them in their rehabilitation and 
     reintegration into communities;
       (5) the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Labor, and the 
     Secretary of Defense should coordinate programs to achieve 
     the goals specified in paragraph (3), and in countries where 
     the use of child soldiers is an issue, whether or not it is 
     supported or sanctioned by the governments of such countries, 
     United States diplomatic missions should include in their 
     mission program plans a strategy to achieve the goals 
     specified in such paragraph;
       (6) United States diplomatic missions in countries in which 
     governments use or tolerate child soldiers should develop, as 
     part of annual program planning, strategies to promote 
     efforts to end this abuse of human rights, identifying and 
     integrating global best practices, as available, into such 
     strategies to avoid duplication of effort; and
       (7) in allocating or recommending the allocation of funds 
     or recommending candidates for programs and grants funded by 
     the United States Government, United States diplomatic 
     missions should give serious consideration to those programs 
     and candidates deemed to promote the end to this abuse of 
     human rights.

     SEC. 405. PROHIBITION ON PROVISION OF MILITARY ASSISTANCE TO 
                   FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS THAT RECRUIT OR USE CHILD 
                   SOLDIERS.

       (a) In General.--Subject to subsections (b), (c), and (d), 
     none of the funds made available to carry out sections 516 or 
     541 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2321j or 
     2347) or section 23 of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 
     2763) may be used to provide assistance to the government of 
     a country that the Secretary of State determines has 
     governmental armed forces or government supported armed 
     groups, including paramilitaries, militias, or civil defense 
     forces, that recruit or use child soldiers.
       (b) Publication of List of Foreign Governments and 
     Notification to Foreign Governments.--
       (1) Publication of list of foreign governments.--The 
     Secretary of State shall include a list of the foreign 
     governments subject to the prohibition in subsection (a) in 
     the report required by section 110(b) of the

[[Page 32046]]

     Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 
     7107(b)).
       (2) Notification to foreign governments.--The Secretary of 
     State shall formally notify each foreign government subject 
     to the prohibition in subsection (a).
       (c) National Interest Waiver.--
       (1) Waiver.--The President may waive the application to a 
     foreign government of the prohibition in subsection (a) if 
     the President determines that such waiver is in the interest 
     of the United States.
       (2) Publication and notification.--The President shall 
     publish each waiver granted under paragraph (1) in the 
     Federal Register and shall notify the appropriate 
     congressional committees of each such waiver, including the 
     justification for the waiver, in accordance with the regular 
     notification procedures of such committees.
       (d) Reinstatement of Assistance.--The President may provide 
     to a foreign government assistance otherwise prohibited under 
     subsection (a) upon certifying to the appropriate 
     congressional committees that the foreign government--
       (1) has implemented effective measures to come into 
     compliance with the standards of this title; and
       (2) has implemented effective policies and mechanisms to 
     prohibit and prevent future use of child soldiers and to 
     ensure that no children are recruited, conscripted, or 
     otherwise compelled to serve as child soldiers.
       (e) Exceptions.--
       (1) Assistance to address the problem of child soldiers and 
     professionalization of the military.--
       (A) In general.--The President may provide to a foreign 
     government assistance under section 541 of the Foreign 
     Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2347; relating to 
     international military education and training) otherwise 
     prohibited under subsection (a) upon certifying to the 
     appropriate congressional committees that--
       (i) the government is implementing effective measures to 
     demobilize child soldiers in its forces or in government 
     supported paramilitaries and to provide demobilization, 
     rehabilitation, and reintegration assistance to those former 
     child soldiers; and
       (ii) the assistance provided by the United States 
     Government to the government will go to programs that will 
     directly support professionalization of the military.
       (B) Limitation.--The exception under subparagraph (A) may 
     not remain in effect for more than 2 years following the date 
     of notification specified in subsection (b)(2).
       (2) Assistance for demining activities, the clearance of 
     unexploded ordinance, the destruction of small arms, and 
     related activities.--The President may use funds made 
     available under section 23 of the Arms Export Control Act (22 
     U.S.C. 2763; relating to credit sales) to provide to a 
     foreign government assistance otherwise prohibited under 
     subsection (a) if the purpose of the assistance is to carry 
     out demining activities, the clearance of unexploded 
     ordinance, the destruction of small arms, or related 
     activities.
       (3) Assistance to further cooperation with the united 
     states to combat international terrorism.--The President may 
     provide to a foreign government assistance under any 
     provision of law specified in subsection (a) if the purpose 
     of the assistance is specifically designed to further 
     cooperation between the United States and the foreign 
     government to combat international terrorism.
       (f) Effective Date; Applicability.--This section takes 
     effect 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act 
     and shall apply to funds made available for the first fiscal 
     year beginning after such effective date and each subsequent 
     fiscal year.

     SEC. 406. REPORTS.

       (a) Preparation of Reports Regarding Child Soldiers.--The 
     Secretary of State shall ensure that United States missions 
     abroad thoroughly investigate reports of the use of child 
     soldiers in the countries in which such missions are located.
       (b) Information for Annual Human Rights Reports.--In 
     preparing those portions of the Department of State's annual 
     Country Reports on Human Rights Practices that relate to 
     child soldiers, the Secretary of State shall ensure that such 
     portions include a description of the use of child soldiers 
     in each foreign country, including--
       (1) trends toward improvement in such country of the status 
     of child soldiers or the continued or increased tolerance of 
     such practices; and
       (2) the role of the government of such country in engaging 
     in or tolerating the use of child soldiers.
       (c) Notification to Congress.--Not later than June 15 of 
     each year for 10 years following the date of the enactment of 
     this Act, the President shall submit to the appropriate 
     congressional committees--
       (1) a list of any waivers or exceptions exercised under 
     section 405;
       (2) a justification for those waivers and exceptions; and
       (3) a description of any assistance provided pursuant to 
     section 405.
       (d) Report on Implementation of Title.--Not later than 180 
     days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
     President shall submit to appropriate congressional 
     committees a report setting forth a strategy for achieving 
     the policy objectives of this title, including a description 
     of an effective mechanism for coordination of United States 
     Government efforts to implement this strategy.
       (e) Report on Child Soldiers in Burma.--Not later than 120 
     days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 
     of State shall submit to the appropriate congressional 
     committees a report of the recruitment and use of child 
     soldiers by the governmental armed forces or government-
     supported armed groups of the Government of Burma, including 
     paramilitaries, militias, or civil defense forces.

     SEC. 407. TRAINING FOR FOREIGN SERVICE OFFICERS.

       Section 708 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 
     4028) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
     subsection:
       ``(c) The Secretary of State, with the assistance of other 
     relevant officials, shall establish as part of the standard 
     training provided after January 1, 2008, for members of the 
     Service, including chiefs of mission, instruction on matters 
     related to child soldiers and the terms of the Child Soldier 
     Prevention Act of 2007.''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee) and the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-
Lehtinen) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Texas.


                             General Leave

  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that 
all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their 
remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under 
consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from Texas?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that 
the gentlemen from Michigan (Mr. Conyers) control 10 minutes of the 
time allocated for H.R. 3887, the William Wilberforce Trafficking 
Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2007.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from Texas?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of 
this resolution, and I yield myself such time as I my consume.
  It is all too common these days to see headlines in media around and 
about the rise of modern-day slavery. The stories are enough to turn 
anyone's stomach. Cambodian mothers driven by intense poverty selling 
their daughters into prostitution; children as young as 5 shipped to 
Nigeria to slave away in underground granite mines; hundreds of African 
boys and girls smuggled to Britain, forced to work as domestic 
servants; brutish uniformed soldiers dragging Burmese men and women 
from their homes to labor on government construction projects; and even 
though it is not directly related, women in Saudi Arabia victimized by 
getting the lash and being convicted even though they have been a 
victim of rape and being utilized as sex tools or toys and sometimes 
being utilized as slaves.
  These nightmares unfolding thousands of miles from our shores are 
deeply tragic. But to many, they seem profoundly disconnected from our 
comfortable lives here in America. They are not. Human trafficking 
happens here at home right under our noses.
  Let me, of course, thank Chairman Lantos and Ranking Member Ileana 
Ros-Lehtinen for working with Congressman Conyers and many of us on 
this important legislation. Let me thank Congressman Conyers for his 
constant and consistent leadership on this important legislation, and 
as well his continued work as the chairman of the House Judiciary 
Committee, on which I serve with him.
  Just a few weeks ago, a frightened young Tanzanian woman bravely came 
before the Foreign Affairs Committee to testify. For more than 4 years, 
she had been forced to do domestic work without pay for a diplomat at 
the Tanzanian Embassy in Washington. She was denied medical care. And 
when this frail young woman complained that her feet were infected, she 
was forced outside without shoes to shovel snow. While we would all 
like to view this heart-rending case as an isolated incident, it is 
sadly part of a growing international trend in which millions of men, 
women and children are forced

[[Page 32047]]

into sexual slavery, labor or indentured servitude each year.
  Think for a moment if each of these individuals had a little camera 
on their back or their shoulder and we could truly see this woman with 
infected feet in icy snow shoveling snow, or someone who was never able 
to leave their house and never have any time off even here in the 
United States, or some of the other examples that we have already 
highlighted, we had a camera to see the harshness of it, the shame of 
it, the sadness of it, the cruelty of it.
  Trafficking is the world's fastest growing international organized 
crime, and one of the most profitable, yielding up to $17 billion each 
year. Every year traffickers move between 700,000 and 2 million women 
and children across international borders for the purpose of serving in 
the sex trade or in forced labor. Congress has worked for nearly a 
decade to ramp up our country's efforts to prevent trafficking, protect 
victims and prosecute perpetrators.
  With approval of the bill before the House today, we can redouble 
these efforts and dramatically increase the ability the United States 
has to work to end the scourge of modern-day slavery. H.R. 3887 
requires the administration to compile data from every U.S. agency, 
international organizations and private sources so that the executive 
branch can prepare a comprehensive analysis of trafficking patterns. 
This will help us better understand where victims are actually going 
and how to free them. It also provides help for countries to prevent 
trafficking by registering vulnerable populations that currently go 
unrecognized so that potential victims can be identified and educated. 
And it provides assistance to increase inspections abroad where forced 
labor occurs to help trafficking victims from slave-like conditions.
  The legislation also prevents new visas for domestic servants for 
diplomats in the United States who belong to any embassy where abuse of 
such workers occurs. This will encourage self-policing of such 
embassies by their ambassadors.
  The bipartisan bill before the House will not end trafficking 
overnight but it will dramatically increase America's ability to stop 
trafficking here at home and to work with other countries to battle 
this rapidly growing international crime.

                              {time}  1500

  The legislation shows that it is still possible for Republicans and 
Democrats to work together to get something big and important done and 
to save lives.
  Mr. Speaker, let me thank my good friend and colleague, the ranking 
member of the Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health, Chris Smith, 
for his extraordinary leadership on the trafficking issue for many 
years and for his many contributions to this important legislation. Let 
me also thank Chairman Payne for working with him on this issue and 
working together with the full committee.
  Two centuries ago, William Wilberforce moved mountains to convince 
the British Parliament to ban slavery in the United Kingdom. In fact, 
there is a Historically Black College named after him: Wilberforce 
University. More than 140 years ago our Nation adopted a 13th amendment 
banning slavery right here at home. But slavery in many forms still 
stubbornly persists in our country, in Britain, and in nations around 
the world.
  Mr. Speaker, enough is enough. Modern-day slavery must end. Our 
country already plays a leadership role in bringing about this 
supremely moral objective, but we simply must do more.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to support this legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, as an original cosponsor, I rise in favor of the bill 
before us, H.R. 3887, the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims 
Protection Reauthorization Act. This was introduced by the chairman of 
our committee, the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Mr. Lantos; and it 
remains one of the premier issues facing us today, Mr. Speaker.
  Human trafficking is modern-day slavery. It is a major source of 
revenue for international criminal syndicates, and it is a grave abuse 
against human dignity. Hundreds of thousands of people are trafficked 
across international borders every year. It is estimated that 80 
percent of those are women, and half are children. Millions more are 
trafficked into sexual servitude and forced labor within their own 
countries.
  In Iran, children are trafficked into sexual slavery and forced into 
involuntary servitude as beggars and day laborers. In Syria, women 
trafficked from South and Southeast Asia are forced to work as domestic 
servants, and women from Eastern Europe and Iraq are forced into 
prostitution. In China, up to 90 percent of North Korean refugee women 
fall prey to traffickers who sell them into sexual slavery. In our own 
hemisphere, Mr. Speaker, Cuba has been shamefully promoted as a 
destination for sex tourism that exploits large numbers of Cuban 
children.
  The dehumanization and the brutality suffered by trafficking victims 
are nearly incomprehensible. I am proud that the Congress has helped 
turn this former non-issue into a priority for our United States 
Government and an issue, indeed, of international concern.
  The enactment of the original Trafficking Victims Protection Act 7 
years ago was a watershed event. I want to commend the author of that 
act and the gentleman from New Jersey, Mr. Chris Smith, whose 
leadership on these issues has been central to the progress that we 
have made so far.
  While there have been some signs of improvement, such as a larger 
number of countries that have enacted anti-trafficking legislation, 
other problems remain widespread. The number of countries, for example, 
listed in tier three, that is the most problematic category in the 
State Department's annual Trafficking in Persons Report, has actually 
increased from 12 countries to 16 since last year. Some of the 
governments with the worst records, such as Burma, Cuba, Iran, North 
Korea, Sudan and Venezuela, continue to resist making even basic 
efforts to protect vulnerable children and women.
  A number of problem countries like Russia and China sit on the tier 
two ``Watch List'' year after year after year without further 
consequences, even though that category was originally created as a 
warning that countries are about to slip into the tier three category.
  The bill before us today, Mr. Speaker, will not only reauthorize key 
aspects of prior trafficking legislation but it will also enhance our 
international anti-trafficking efforts, our domestic law enforcement 
and victim assistance activities, and efforts to fight the use of child 
soldiers worldwide. It will improve our Nation's victim-centered 
approach to fight human trafficking by strengthening each of the so-
called ``Three P's,'' prevention, protection, prosecution.
  I want to commend the author of this bill again, Mr. Speaker, 
Chairman Lantos, and my fellow cosponsors for the perseverance and the 
compromise that they have invested in ensuring that this bill receive 
wide bipartisan support throughout consideration by the three 
committees of jurisdiction: Foreign Affairs, Judiciary, and Energy and 
Commerce. The revised text before us today also has been endorsed by an 
impressively broad array of organizations and experts from across the 
political spectrum.
  The William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection 
Reauthorization Act of 2007 is a vital weapon in our fight against the 
heartbreaking scourge of human trafficking, and it deserves our full 
support.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, as chairman of the committee, I rise to 
yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Ladies and gentlemen of the House of Representatives, although we 
passed the constitutional amendment against slavery in 1865, slavery 
still exists, not just in the world, but in the United States of 
America. And so we begin an

[[Page 32048]]

examination of H.R. 3887, commending the Committee on Foreign Affairs, 
Republicans and Democrats, and commending those members of the House 
Judiciary Committee, Republicans and Democrats, that have come together 
today to pass under suspension H.R. 3887.
  Slavery is a social, ugly circumstance that still controls and guides 
the destiny of so many people in this country. It is important that the 
13th amendment's guarantee of freedom operates, whether it involves 
forced prostitution, whether it operates in farms or sweat shops, or in 
domestic service.
  Mr. Speaker, if you could have heard the powerful testimony that was 
given by our witnesses on this bill. It shocked me. People were forced 
to live and work under conditions of fear and terror that was extended 
to their parents. A young woman, who couldn't even use her real name in 
the committee, told about the trafficking of human beings inside of 
America, in the City of Detroit, where this club was using her to 
commit all kinds of acts and raise huge amounts of money at the same 
time. As one of the television shows on NBC showed yesterday morning, 
guess what? There is more money being taken out of prostitution in 
America than in the drug industry. Drugs come number two to 
prostitution and involuntary servitude.
  This is what brings all of us to the floor today. I am very proud of 
these two committees in the House that are dealing with new enforcement 
tools to combat modern-day slavery, whether the exploitation is by 
unscrupulous labor recruiters, by diplomats who abuse their services, 
or by brutal street pimps who coerce and keep under their domain these 
women, young women, at that.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to just take a moment here to respond to concerns 
to that an aspect of this bill, that it will somehow federalize 
prostitution. That is not the case. That is not what we are trying to 
do. The sex slavery offense, renamed ``aggravated sex trafficking,'' 
still captures cases of coercion that implicate the 13th amendment. The 
new ``sex trafficking offenses'' improves the Mann Act to allow 
prosecution of pimps who affect commerce but don't actually cross State 
lines.
  This new tool should not diminish other anti-slavery efforts or the 
fight against child exploitation. We expect it to be used consistently 
with the principles of Federal prosecution that defer to local 
authority as appropriate. We want the States to control the prosecution 
of this offense.
  There is no place in today's America for slavery. And for that 
reason, H.R. 3887 is critically important, because it puts new potency 
in the Thirteenth Amendment's guarantee of freedom: whether on farms or 
sweatshops, in domestic service or forced prostitution.
  In a recent hearing before the House Judiciary Committee, we heard 
moving and powerful testimony from a young woman who has further 
inspired us to work together to bring this bill to the floor, to draw 
the line against modern slavery.
  The bravery of that young woman, her story, and her willingness to 
speak on behalf of all victims of human trafficking, are an example for 
all of us, and a call to action for us to meet again our Nation's 
ongoing mission to deliver on the promise of freedom that has been 
enshrined in our Constitution since the Civil War.
  The Thirteenth Amendment's prohibition against involuntary servitude 
and slavery is as important and basic a civil right today as it was at 
the time of Emancipation. Its promise of freedom is a sacred trust, 
written in the suffering of all of those who have been held in bondage. 
As a country, we owe it to them to never stop fighting for freedom.
  This bill is named in honor of William Wilberforce, the famous 
English antislavery legislator of the Nineteenth Century.
  It will equip our law enforcers with tough new enforcement tools to 
combat modern slavery, whether the exploitation is by unscrupulous 
labor recruiters, by diplomats who abuse their servants, or by brutal 
pimps.
  It will protect immigrants and U.S. citizens alike within our 
country, and provide law enforcement training and victim protections 
overseas as well.
  I would like to take a minute to respond to concerns that aspects of 
the bill could somehow ``federalize'' all prostitution and pimping. 
This is not the case.
  The servitude offense--which the bill renames ``aggravated sex 
trafficking''--still captures only those prostitution offenses that 
implicate a liberty interest under the 13th amendment because they 
involve coercion.
  The new ``compelled service'' crime allows more flexibility in 
proving enslavement.
  And the crime entitled ``sex trafficking'' improves the Mann Act to 
allow prosecution of pimps whose activities affect interstate commerce, 
not just those who actually cross a State line.
  It is not our intent to redirect resources away from child 
exploitation, terrorism, or other important law enforcement, or to 
depart from the principles of federal prosecution that defer to local 
prosecutions where possible and serve as a ``backstop'' to catch the 
worst of the worst.
  This approach maintains the structure and definitions of the 
Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, and builds upon the good 
work of the Civil Rights Division and its antitrafficking task forces 
around the country. As was noted in yesterday's New York Times, these 
Federal and State task forces are vigorously confronting modern slavery 
in forced prostitution and forced labor alike.
  We expect those efforts to continue, and now to intensify with these 
additional enforcement tools. This bill brings law enforcement 
officials and service providers together, to punish traffickers and to 
protect victims and their families. And it provides critical 
immigration mechanisms to protect children and other vulnerable people.
  In the 1800s, escaped slaves such as Frederick Douglass and Sojourner 
Truth spoke out against chattel slavery. Their voices, and the voices 
and efforts of many others, led to a constitutional commitment that 
everyone in this country would be forevermore free from slavery and 
involuntary servitude.
  The young woman who testified before our committee did not allow her 
enslavement and incarceration to silence her either. She became a voice 
not only for herself, but for other victims of slavery in its various 
forms, many of whom remain in bondage.
  We owe it to her, and to the millions who continue under the 
oppression of modern slavery and involuntary servitude, to support this 
bill.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume 
to the gentlewoman from Virginia (Mrs. Drake).
  Mrs. DRAKE. Mr. Speaker, the abolition of slavery was never fully 
achieved in our country, or anywhere else in the world. While the 
slavery that exists today looks different from the slavery of our 
country's past, it is still a widespread, horrific reality. Human 
trafficking is modern-day slavery. It manifests itself in many forms: 
forced and bonded labor, sex slavery, and even militant activity, as 
has been seen with child soldiers.
  I am outraged that such an offense against humanity and against the 
ideals of our country is allowed to flourish on our soil and abroad. As 
the co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on Human Trafficking, I am 
proud to be an original co-sponsor to H.R. 3887. This reauthorization 
brings renewed attention to the fight against human trafficking.
  Mr. Speaker, trafficking is a shared global problem which will 
require a global response. Congress has rightly taken the lead in 
putting this issue on the international agenda. Human trafficking is an 
issue that transcends political ideology and every faith. We have a 
moral imperative to put an end to this modern-day slavery. For this 
reason, I support H.R. 3887, because I believe it will put us on the 
right path to finally abolishing slavery in our country and around the 
world.
  Mr. Speaker, only through increasing public awareness to this global 
problem and demanding action will we bring an end to slavery. I commend 
the sponsor of this bill and the many Members of Congress who have 
joined together to bring an end to slavery once and for all.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to 
yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney), 
the co-chair of the Human Trafficking Caucus.

                              {time}  1515

  Mrs. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support 
of the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection 
Reauthorization Act, that I believe it is fair to describe

[[Page 32049]]

as historic. As cochair of the Human Trafficking Caucus and as an 
original cosponsor, I am pleased that this bill will provide strong, 
new, innovative, flexible tools to combat modern-day slavery, whether 
labor exploiters, diplomats who abuse their servants, or brutal pimps.
  I want to commend the extra offered leadership of Chairman Lantos and 
Chairman Conyers, as well as Lamar Smith and Randy Forbes, and their 
staffs, for bringing this important bill to the floor. I truly do 
believe that books will be written about this effort, a major one, to 
end this terrible abuse of human people.
  I ask my colleagues to look at this picture. I want them to see that 
the lives of trafficking victims are pure horror. If you look at the 
first line, each girl looks different, but after one or two years, they 
all look the same, shells of people. In the end, they have been abused, 
psychologically captured, broken and devastated at the hands of their 
pimps.
  The fight against human trafficking has brought together Democrats 
and Republicans, liberals and conservatives, religious leaders and 
secular leaders. I will place in the Record a list of the very large 
bipartisan coalition that was sent to the Department of Justice and our 
colleagues and signed by many advocates, including Gloria Steinem, 
Jessica Neuwirth, Kim Gandy, Tony Campolo, Jim Wallis, Ron Sider, 
Walter Fauntroy and Beverly LaHaye, among many others.
  The bipartisan bill before us is historic and will dramatically 
strengthen our capability to fight human trafficking.
  Mr. Speaker, I became interested in this when Big Apple Oriental 
Tours in my district was advertising sex tours, sex trafficking. Come 
to the Philippines, come here, come there, and we will give you a young 
girl, many young girls. We could not close them down.
  With this Congress in a bipartisan way, we have strengthened the laws 
to crack down on this terrible human abuse. This bill before us gives 
law enforcement even greater tools to go after the predators.

                                                 Coalition Against


                                         Trafficking in Women,

                                    New York, NY, October 5, 2007.
     Hon. Peter Keisler,
     Acting Attorney General of the United States, Department of 
         Justice, Washington, DC.
       Dear Mr. Acting Attorney General: Founded in 1988, the 
     Coalition Against Trafficking in Women is the first 
     international non-governmental organization to challenge the 
     trafficking of women and girls as an acute form of gender 
     discrimination and a severe violation of human rights. The 
     one hundred representative signers of this letter include 
     leaders of organizations and communities that range across 
     the country's religious, ideological and political spectrums. 
     What unites us is our collective outrage at human trafficking 
     and our commitment to end it.
       More than six months ago, Congresswoman Maloney and 
     Congressmen Wolf and Scott wrote to former Attorney General 
     Gonzales to express their concerns with the Department's 
     anti-trafficking policies and strategies. They did so in the 
     context of his public statements that the initiative against 
     domestic trafficking was a matter of high priority to the 
     Department. We share these views and applaud these 
     statements. The multibillion dollar ``industry'' operated 
     within the United States by criminal traffickers enslaves and 
     devastates hundreds of thousands of girls and women in a 
     manner eerily reminiscent of the 19th Century African slave 
     trade.
       We write because of the Department's apparent rejection of 
     the views expressed in the Maloney-Scott-Wolf letter and 
     because of our serious concerns about the Department's anti-
     trafficking activities. First, we fail to understand why the 
     Department has called on States to enact a model statute that 
     effectively requires proof of fraud, force or coercion for 
     the conviction of sex traffickers, instead of encouraging 
     State and local prosecutors to strengthen and enforce 
     existing statutes under which traffickers can be convicted on 
     proof that they have ``merely'' engaged in sex trafficking. 
     Our concern about the Department's model law is made 
     particularly grave by its seriously misguided definition of 
     prostitution as a form of ``labor or services.'' The effect 
     of conceptualizing prostitution as a form of ``work'' not 
     only conflicts with public statements that former Attorney 
     Generals Ashcroft and Gonzales and other administration 
     officials have made, it also effectively converts the pimps, 
     brothel owners and others who profit from the prostitution 
     ``industry'' into presumptively legal employers. The 
     Department's ``labor or services'' definition is thus in 
     clear conflict with repeated statements of the President, 
     with his National Security Policy Directive 22 and with 
     almost all State and local laws on the subject.
       What the Department's trafficking policy as embodied in the 
     model law dangerously ignores is the acute difficulty of 
     gaining testimonial evidence of fraud, force or coercion from 
     terrified and brutalized victims of trafficking, and the 
     potential danger that such a requirement poses to victims' 
     safety. It is well documented that many victims enslaved by 
     traffickers suffer from traumatic bonding and related 
     conditions that make it impossible for them to give the 
     testimony essential to the prosecution of fraud, force or 
     coercion cases. In fact, we believe that the Department's 
     policy will cause predatory traffickers to increase their 
     acts of violence and psychological abuse in order to ensure 
     that the persons they abuse will not serve as prosecution 
     witnesses.
       Requiring proof of force, fraud, and coercion has not only 
     had a detrimental effect on the prosecution of cases of 
     domestic trafficking. Such proof requirements have been cited 
     by anti-trafficking leaders in other countries as obstacles 
     to holding traffickers accountable for their systematic acts 
     of violence against girls and women. If trafficking victims 
     are afraid to testify against their traffickers in the U.S., 
     as they are, they are more afraid to do so in foreign 
     countries with even more violent traffickers and often less 
     protective legal systems.
       The approach of the Department's model law appears to be 
     replicated in the Department's prosecution policies and 
     strategies. We are gravely concerned by the Department's 
     failure to more fully utilize D.C. Criminal Code Sec. 22-
     2707, which makes sex trafficking per se a felony offense. In 
     enforcing the D.C. Criminal Code, the Department functions 
     much like State and local prosecutors, so that vigorous 
     utilization of Section 22-2707 would send a powerful 
     leadership message to those prosecutors, one that would help 
     ameliorate the negative effects of the Department's model 
     State law. In the same vein, we are troubled by the 
     Department's failure to more fully utilize 18 U.S. Code 
     Sec. 2422(a), a statute recently amended by Congress that 
     requires no proof of fraud, force or coercion and that would 
     be of particular value in jurisdictions where major cities in 
     different States border each other.
       There are a number of additional aspects of the 
     Department's anti-trafficking policies and strategies that 
     trouble us, and about which we ask your views:
       The Department has given domestic traffickers effective 
     immunity from criminal tax laws, when otherwise legal 
     business owners are prosecuted for such acts as failing to 
     provide W-2 forms. Congresswoman Maloney has recently 
     introduced legislation that would ensure that traffickers are 
     prosecuted for violating criminal tax laws, a leadership act 
     that builds on Senator Grassley's leadership in the 109th 
     Congress. The Grassley bill was unanimously endorsed by the 
     Senate Finance Committee. Will the Department support this 
     initiative?
       In the face of persuasive research conducted by Equality 
     Now, the Department has failed to utilize existing criminal 
     statutes to prosecute so-called ``sex tourism'' operators. Do 
     you agree?
       The Department prioritizes the prosecution of traffickers 
     of girls and women brought into the United States from 
     foreign countries. Are American citizens who have been 
     subjected to trafficking any less worthy of the Department's 
     protection?
       The Department, through its grants under the Violence 
     Against Women Act and like programs, often denies support to 
     applicants who operate programs for trafficking survivors. 
     Clearly, victims of domestic trafficking, routinely subjected 
     to rape and battery, are as much in need of and as much 
     entitled to assistance and services as victims of other forms 
     of gender-based violence. Do you share this view, and do you 
     believe that victims of domestic trafficking are underserved?
       The Department has failed to pursue funds for the grant 
     programs and the survey of the unlawful domestic commercial 
     sex industry that were authorized by the Trafficking Victims 
     Protection Reauthorization Act of 2005. Is it not important 
     for the Department, and the country, to know as much about 
     the predatory world of trafficking as is known about the 
     country's gambling and drug operations?
       There is an apparent lack of coordination within the 
     Department of its anti-trafficking activities. We believe it 
     essential, as called for in the Maloney-Scott-Wolf letter, 
     for there to be a single, accountable office headed by an 
     experienced criminal prosecutor to whom Congress and the 
     American public can look for results in the conduct of the 
     Department's anti-trafficking activities. Do you share this 
     view?
       The Departmental leadership on the trafficking issue has 
     been vested in the Civil Rights Division even though the 
     Division's sole jurisdiction is the prosecution of 
     traffickers who have committed provable acts of fraud, force, 
     or coercion against adult victims. While we celebrate the 
     highly professional and committed prosecutors who have 
     brought such cases, we are deeply concerned

[[Page 32050]]

     that the anti-trafficking strategy adopted by the Department 
     will shield traffickers from prosecution while encouraging 
     them to intensify their acts of violence and psychological 
     abuse. Do you believe this concern legitimate?
       Attached is a report prepared by Professor Donna Hughes of 
     the March 13 Human Trafficking Training session conducted by 
     the head of the Civil Rights Division's Anti- Trafficking 
     Unit--a session broadcast to United States Attorneys 
     throughout the country. The Hughes report demonstrates the 
     Department's seeming disinterest in enforcing per se statutes 
     against trafficking. The report also shows that the 
     Department's anti-trafficking initiative is directed against 
     provable physical violence rather than trafficking per se.
       We are dismayed by the comments of Department officials 
     described in the Hughes report that leaders of the country's 
     trafficking survivor community are ``not . . . ready'' to 
     engage in education, awareness and service initiatives on 
     behalf of trafficked women. Is this your perception, or the 
     Department's, of the groundbreaking and courageous work of 
     such survivor-led groups as GEMS, Dignity House, Veronica's 
     Voice, SAGE, and Breaking Free?
       Congress, the administration, and a broad and fully engaged 
     anti-trafficking coalition now in place can in our view make 
     history, and do so this year, in ending the reign of terror 
     and enslavement long practiced by traffickers operating 
     within this country.
       Additionally, effective prosecution of domestic 
     traffickers, and committed Federal government support for 
     their victims, will strengthen the capacity of the State 
     Department's Trafficking in Persons Office to deal with 
     countries that are complicit or indifferent to mass 
     trafficking within their borders. Such action would save 
     millions of trafficked and at risk girls and women throughout 
     the world.
       The Department has significantly increased the number of 
     its trafficking prosecutions and the resources it has 
     committed to anti-trafficking activities. Yet in spite of 
     this, there has been no decline in the incidence of domestic 
     trafficking or in the number of girls and women abused and 
     destroyed by domestic traffickers during the five year period 
     in which the Department has conducted its costly 
     antitrafficking initiative. Moreover and critically, the 
     model law promoted by the Department has produced few if any 
     State prosecutions or convictions--an outcome that we are 
     certain will continue for the reasons set forth in this 
     letter. Until the Department begins prosecuting and calling 
     for the prosecution of traffickers on a per se basis, and 
     ends its effective call for limiting such prosecutions to 
     cases where fraud, force or coercion can be proven, domestic 
     and international trafficking will continue to flourish and 
     grow. Human trafficking can and must be ended within our 
     borders. But it is only through strong and strategic measures 
     that we will do so. Accordingly, we respectfully request a 
     meeting to discuss the matters set forth in this letter.
           Respectfully,
       Dorchen Leidholdt, President, Coalition Against Trafficking 
     in Women.
       Norma Ramos, Co-Executive Director, Coalition Against 
     Trafficking in Women.
       Winnie Bartel, Board Member, National Association of 
     Evangelicals.
       Michelle Battle, Chief Operating Officer, The National 
     Congress of Black Women, Inc.
       Gary Bauer, President, American Values.
       Dr. David Black, President, Eastern University.
       Twiss Butler, Board Member, Coalition Against Trafficking 
     in Women.
       Tony Campolo, Professor Emeritus, Eastern University.
       Phyllis Chesler, Ph.D., Co-Founder, National Women's Health 
     Network.
       Hon. David N. Cicilline, Mayor, Providence, Rhode Island.
       Richard Cizik, VP, Government Affairs, National Association 
     of Evangelicals.
       Michael Cromartie, Ethics and Public Policy Center
       Catherine J. Douglass, Executive Director, inMotion, Inc..
       Janice Shaw Crouse, Director, Beverly LaHaye Institute, 
     Concerned Women for America.
       Barrett Duke, PhD, Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, 
     Southern Baptist Convention.
       Geri B. Elias, LCSW, National Outreach Manager, Jewish 
     Women International.
       Bonnie Erbe, Scripps Howard Columnist.
       Bonaventure N. Ezekwenna, Publisher, Africans in America.
       Melissa Farley, PhD Director, Prostitution Research & 
     Education.
       Rev. Walter Fauntroy, Former DC Delegate to Congress, 
     Pastor, New Bethel Church.
       Georgette Forney, President, Anglicans for Life.
       Commissioner Israel Gaither, National Commander, The 
     Salvation Army USA.
       Commissioner Eva Gaither, National President of Women's 
     Ministries, The Salvation Army USA.
       Kim A. Gandy, President, National Organization for Women.
       Todd Gitlin, Professor of Journalism and Sociology, 
     Columbia University.
       Victor Goode, Former Executive Director, National 
     Association for Black Lawyers.
       Rabbi David Greenstein, The Academy for Jewish Religion, 
     Riverdale, NY.
       Joseph K. Grieboski, President, Institute on Religion and 
     Public Policy.
       Agnes Gund, Art Historian, Activist.
       Dr. David P. Gushee, Distinguished University Professor of 
     Christian Studies, Mercer University.
       Mimi Haddad, PhD, President, Christians for Biblical 
     Equality.
       Rev. Dr. James V. Heidinger, II, President Good News 
     Movement.
       Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld Coalition of Jewish Concerns--Amcha.
       Michael Horowitz, Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute.
       Bishop Clyde M. Hughes, International Pentecostal Church of 
     Christ.
       Donna M. Hughes, Carlson Chair Professor, Women's Studies 
     Program, University of Rhode Island.
       Sandra Hunnicutt, Executive Director, Captive Daughters.
       Rt. Rev. Jack L. Iker, Bishop of Fort Worth, Episcopal 
     Church.
       Richard Israel, Former Attorney General, Rhode Island.
       Kristin Komamicki, Editor, PRISM Magazine, Evangelicals for 
     Social Justice.
       James M. Kushiner, Executive Director, The Fellowship of 
     St. James.
       Mrs. Beverly LaHaye, Founder, Chair, Concerned Women for 
     America.
       Nancy Lewis, UN Representative, International Immigrants 
     Foundation.
       Sister LeeAnn Mackeprang, Good Shepherd, Contemplative 
     Sisters.
       Catharine A. MacKinnon, Elizabeth A. Long, Professor, 
     University of Michigan Law School.
       Frederica Mathewes-Green, Speaker, Author.
       Faith McDonnell, Director, Religious Liberty Program, 
     Institute on Religion and Democracy.
       Alyssa Milano, Actress, Human Rights Activist.
       John R. Miller, Research Professor in International 
     Studies, George Washington University.
       Ronna J. Miller, Director, MHGS Conferences.
       Richard J. Mouw, President, Fuller Seminary.
       Patricia Murphy, North American Coordinating Center, School 
     Sisters of Notre Dame.
       Jessica Neuwirth, President, Equality Now.
       Susan O'Malley, Business and Professional Women 
     International.
       Katherine R. Parisi, CSJP, PhD, Justice & Peace 
     Coordinator, Congregation of the Sisters, St. Joseph of 
     Peace.
       Kathryn Cameron Porter, Founder, President, Leadership 
     Council for Human Rights.
       Margaret Purvis, Founder, President, Faces of Children, 
     Midland, TX.
       Dana Raphael, PhD, Director, Human Lactation Center.
       Judith A. Reisman, PhD, President, Institute for Media 
     Education.
       Shirley Rodriguez Remeneski, President, 100 Hispanic Women, 
     Inc.
       Eva H. Richter, International Federation of Business and 
     Professional Women.
       Elizabeth D. Rios, Founder, Board President, Center for 
     Emerging Female Leadership.
       Rev. David Runnion-Bareford, Executive Director, Biblical 
     Witness Fellowship, United Church of Christ.
       Austin Ruse, President, Catholic Family & Human Rights 
     Institute.
       Diana E.H. Russell, PhD, Emerita Professor of Sociology, 
     Mills College.
       Denise Scotto, International Federation of Women in Legal 
     Careers (FIFCJ).
       Nadia Shmigel, World Federation of Ukrainian Women's 
     Organizations.
       L. Faye Short, President, RENEW Women's Network.
       Ron Sider, President, Evangelicals for Social Action.
       Lucianne Siers, Director, Partnership for Global Justice.
       Deborah Sigmund, Founder, Innocence at Risk.
       Carol Smolenski, Executive Director, ECPAT-USA.
       Gloria Steinem, Co-Founder, Ms. Magazine.
       Cheryl Thomas, Director, Women's Human Rights Program, 
     Advocates for Human Rights.
       Jim Wallis, President, CEO, Sojourners/Call to Renewal.
       Rev. Gloria E. White-Hammond, M.D., Co-Founder, My Sister's 
     Keeper, Co-Pastor, Bethel AME Church.
       Wendy Wright, President, Concerned Women for America.


                           Service Providers

       Anne Bissell, Executive Director, Voices for Justice.
       Vednita Carter, Executive Director, Breaking Free.
       Rita Chaikin, Anti-Trafficking Project Coordinator, Isha 
     L'Isha--Haifa Feminist Center, Haifa, Israel.
       Kristy Childs, Executive Director, Founder VERONICA'S 
     Voice.
       Katherine Chon, Executive Director, Co-Founder, Polaris 
     Project.
       Rachel Durchslag, Executive Director, Chicago Alliance 
     Against Sexual Exploitation.
       Laurel W. Eisner, Executive Director, Sanctuary for 
     Families, New York, NY.

[[Page 32051]]

       Juliette Engel, Founding Director, MiraMed Institute, 
     Moscow, Russia.
       Sid Ford, Founder, Director, YANA (You are Never Alone), 
     Baltimore, MD.
       Leah Gruenptere Gold, Director, Machon Toda'a Awareness 
     Center, Israel.
       Patricia Green, Founder, RAHAB INTERNATIONAL, World 
     Outreach International, Berlin, Germany.
       Norma Hotaling, Founder, Director, SAGE, San Francisco, CA.
       Phyllis Kilbourn, Director, Crisis Care Training 
     International, Rainbows of Hope.
       Chong N. Kim, Founder, MASIE (Minorities & Survivor 
     Improving Empowerment), USA.
       Donna Robin Lippman, Director, Incest and Rape Recovery 
     Center, New York.
       Rachel Lloyd, Executive Director, Founder, GEMS, New York 
     City.
       Kathleen Mitchell, Founder, Catholic Charities DIGNITY 
     Services.
       Beatrice Okezie, Founding Board Member, Chairperson of 
     Board of Directors, Africans in America, Inc.
       Moira Olson, Adults Saving Kids, Minneapolis, MN.
       Artika Roller, PRIDE, Minneapolis, MN.
       Donna Sabella, M.Ed, MSN, RN, Director, Phoenix Project, 
     Philadelphia, PA.
       Ed Shurna, Executive Director, Coalition for the Homeless, 
     Chicago, IL.
       Shaleen Horrocks Silva, Executive Director, The Paul & Lisa 
     Program, Inc.

  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman 
from California (Mr. Daniel E. Lungren), an esteemed member of the 
Judiciary Committee.
  Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California. Mr. Speaker, women brought to 
Northern California from China with false promises of life in a far-off 
land, only to be trapped in prostitution; Mexican women forced to serve 
up to 50 men each day in dingy brothels in New York; African teenagers 
held in servitude as nannies in Washington, DC; American women and 
girls lured on to the streets with promises of love and glamour, only 
to be held in prostitution through coercive force; the issue of human 
trafficking is a moral tragedy, perpetrated against the most vulnerable 
of our fellow human beings. Whether it be the sexual exploitation of 
children or the forced labor of young men in the drug trade recently 
chronicled in the London Economist, it is a transnational stain which 
should evoke the singular emotion of revulsion.
  Human trafficking is tantamount to slavery, and therefore it is most 
fitting that H.R. 3887 be entitled be entitled the William Wilberforce 
Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, for, as we know, 
William Wilberforce, was a leader among English abolitionists and 
played a crucial role in the passage of both the Slave Trade Act of 
1807 and the Slave Abolition Act of 1833, shortly before his death.
  The promise of freedom and the prohibition against involuntary 
servitude enshrined in the 13th amendment to our Constitution is a 
clear statement of the opprobrium which we hold for the notion that 
some human beings should be used as chattel for exploitation by others.
  In fact, our commitment to this first principle predates the 
Constitution, for it was Thomas Jefferson who penned those immortal 
words in the preamble of our Nation's foundational statement of 
political philosophy that there are certain inalienable rights with 
which we are endowed as human beings by our Creator, and it is this 
source of ours rights which render them inviolable.
  This was affirmed by that other bookend of human freedom, the 
Gettysburg Address, where President Lincoln visualized the fulfillment 
of the Declaration with the admonition that ``All men are created 
equal,'' or, as we would put it today, all human beings are created 
equal.
  Thus, Mr. Speaker, the specter of a modern version of slavery cuts 
against our national aspirations as people. The Wilberforce Act is thus 
an appropriate expression of our collective outrage over this more 
recent transgression of basic human rights. And although I might have 
crafted the response to some of the issues addressed in this 
legislation differently, we must not allow the perfect to overcome or 
be the enemy of the good.
  H.R. 3887 provides resources so that nongovernmental organizations, 
Federal and local law enforcement, and faith-based entities can work 
together towards a common aim of justice. The bill holds forth the 
promise of a new birth of freedom for those coerced into sexual slavery 
and child exploitation.
  Finally, I would be remiss were I to fail to add that the Wilberforce 
Act exemplifies what is possible when Members of this body are willing 
to cross the aisle in order to address real-life problems which compel 
a response from all of us.
  Mr. Speaker, I would ask for a unanimous vote in support of the 
Wilberforce Act.
  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Virginia (Mr. Scott), the chairman of the Crime Subcommittee, who has 
worked with us in a highly cooperative way.
  Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the William Wilberforce Trafficking 
Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2007. Human trafficking for 
exploitive labor, sex or other exploitive reasons, is equivalent to 
modern-day slavery in many instances and requires a concerted effort 
among the nations of the world not only to control it, but eventually 
to end it. I am pleased that the United States is leading an effort to 
root out this dreadful form of misery and suffering, and I am proud to 
be part of that effort.
  Of course, we need to make sure that we do what we can to stop and 
prevent it here in the United States. In this regard, I am particularly 
pleased with the provisions in the bill which strengthen the ability of 
the Department of Justice to deal with abusive commercial sex 
traffickers who have been able to victimize women and children with 
relative impunity because of the difficulty of getting victims to 
testify as to force, fraud or coercive tactics or to show that they 
were trafficked across State lines.
  The bill also strengthens the ability of the Department of Justice to 
address domestic sex trafficking by transferring the responsibility of 
the prosecuting domestic sex trafficking cases from the Civil Rights 
Division at the Department of Justice to the Criminal Division, both 
when it is commercial sex trafficking, where force, fraud and coercion 
can be proved, and when it is trafficking where force, fraud and 
coercion cannot be proved. The Civil Rights Division continues to have 
jurisdiction in cases where slavery is involved, but the existence of 
force, fraud or coercion in commercial sex trafficking cases in and of 
itself does not constitute the conditions of slavery which the Civil 
Rights Division prosecutes as a civil rights violation.
  For these reasons, Mr. Speaker, I support the bill and urge my 
colleagues to support it.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman 
from Nebraska (Mr. Fortenberry), a hardworking and esteemed member of 
our Foreign Affairs Committee.
  Mr. FORTENBERRY. I would like to thank the distinguished ranking 
member of the Foreign Affairs Committee for the time.
  Mr. Speaker, as we approach the end of the year with much serious 
legislative business remaining before us, we have a noteworthy 
opportunity today to pass a measure in which each and every American 
can justifiably take great pride. The William Wilberforce Trafficking 
Victims Protection Reauthorization Act represents the culmination of 
extensive work and exemplary bipartisan cooperation. It illustrates 
what we in this House can achieve when we unite in recognition of 
shared and enduring truth in an effort to defeat one of the world's 
most glaring injustices.
  Human trafficking is a singularly merciless and degrading criminal 
activity. It has deeply tarnished every nation, including our own. Its 
ruthless perpetrators brutally exploit and devastate the lives of 
innocent persons, including children, often turning bastions of freedom 
and civil society into nightmarish realms seemingly beyond the reach of 
sanctuary.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to also commend my distinguished colleagues Mr. 
Smith of New Jersey and Mr. Lantos of California for raising awareness 
about this cruel enterprise and for leading the Foreign Affairs 
Committee in taking substantive, credible actions to bring hope and 
healing to victims of this pernicious global trade in human beings. I

[[Page 32052]]

also want to thank them for working to incorporate the Child Soldier 
Prevention Act of 2007 into this bill, bringing years of hard work to 
fruition and recognizing our Nation's commitment to ending the forced 
conscription, recruitment or use of children in combat, yet another 
grave affront to human dignity. I also wish to commend many individuals 
throughout our government and the many nongovernmental organizations 
whose tireless efforts have made this moment possible.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in passing the William Wilberforce 
Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act. Together, let us 
end the nightmare of human trafficking and lead the world to see, in 
the poignant words of Alexis de Tocqueville, that America is great 
because America is good.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to yield 
1\1/2\ minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Virginia (Mr. 
Moran), a member of the Appropriations Committee and a committed and 
dedicated fighter against human trafficking.
  Mr. MORAN of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I thank my very good friend from 
Texas.
  Mr. Speaker, human trafficking is one of the greatest human rights 
tragedies of our time. The passage of this legislation will bring 
thousands of victims of slavery out of the shadows and prosecute those 
that would take advantage of voiceless souls for a marginal profit.
  One of the key provisions in this legislation is the prevention and 
punishment of diplomats who abuse their servants. As many as 50,000 
women and children, according to the Department of State, are 
trafficked into the United States annually and are trapped in slavery-
like situations, including forced prostitution.
  Currently, no government agency tracks instances of forced domestic 
labor at the hands of diplomats. Last year, the State Department issued 
about 2,000 domestic worker visas. In the plush residences of 
diplomats, servants' passports can be withheld. Many are paid as little 
$1 a day and suffer emotional and physical abuse. While the Department 
of State has indicated that some diplomats are asked to leave because 
of domestic abuse, it is unclear how many are prosecuted.
  We are redefining our policies on human trafficking, and I would hope 
that with these new provisions we are able to crack down on this 
loophole that makes it too easy for diplomats to abuse their domestic 
servants.
  Diplomats currently hide behind diplomatic immunity. This should not 
be the case when it comes to serious crimes such as human trafficking. 
They abuse domestic servants, and it is increasingly hard to prosecute 
them. This has to change. This legislation will help prevent future 
instances of domestic servant abuse in diplomatic residences.
  So I look forward to these new provisions being implemented by the 
Department of State as they attempt to eliminate all forms of slavery, 
and I thank both committees for getting this legislation to the floor 
and urge everybody to vote for it.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 7\1/2\ minutes to the 
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith), the author of the original 
Trafficking Victims Protection Act and the ranking member of the 
Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the gentleman from Michigan 
(Mr. Conyers) control the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from Florida?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlelady for 
yielding and for her outstanding leadership and for that of the 
chairman of the committee, Tom Lantos. He has been extraordinarily 
effective in this fight against modern-day slavery, and I thank him for 
his leadership as well.
  Mr. Speaker, the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, Public 
Law 106-386, has made, I believe, an enormous positive difference in 
our efforts to end modern-day slavery, a nefarious enterprise that nets 
the exploiters billions of dollars each year.
  The 7-year-old landmark law and its numerous reinforcing provisions 
to prevent trafficking, to protect victims and to prosecute to the max 
those who traffic, has been a model statute worldwide. Indeed, many of 
its provisions have been adopted into law in whole or in part by 
governments around the world.
  Mr. Speaker, the TVPA of 2000 does not pull any punches. By naming 
the names of countries out of compliance with what we call minimum 
standards and by imposing smart sanctions that are prescribed in the 
act, the withholding of nonhumanitarian aid, for example, we have 
signaled to the world that ending this egregious practice is among the 
highest priorities of the United States.

                              {time}  1530

  By protecting the victims and not sending them back to their home 
country where they are often exploited in a vicious cycle of 
exploitation, we say to the victims we will make every effort to make 
you safe and secure. By prosecuting the traffickers and imposing 
serious jail time, we are telling these exploiters we are coming after 
you, we will hunt you down, and you are going to pay for your crimes.
  Since the enactment of the TVPA, the traffickers here and abroad are 
increasingly likely to face prosecution and conviction. In the 6-year 
period before its enactment, DOJ prosecuted 89 suspected traffickers. 
In the last 6 years, the Justice Department has prosecuted 360, 
representing more than a 300 percent increase. The Department has 
secured 238 convictions and guilty pleas, compared with 67 in the same 
period prior to the act. And it has opened 639 new investigations, an 
almost four-fold increase over the 128 opened prior to implementation 
of the law. Worldwide, nearly 6,000 traffickers were prosecuted last 
year alone, and more than 3,000 were convicted.
  Notwithstanding these successes, it is clear that more has to be done 
to destroy this mob-infested, criminal enterprise known as human 
trafficking. According to research sponsored by the U.S. Government and 
completed in 2006, approximately 800,000 people are trafficked 
internationally and millions more are trafficked within their country. 
According to the same research, the vast majority of transnational 
victims, almost 80 percent, are women and girls, and almost half of 
those 800,000 victims are minors. These figures are low compared to 
those posited by the International Labor Organization, which estimates 
12.3 million people are subjected to forced labor, bonded labor, forced 
child labor, and sexual servitude.
  The bill before us today, Mr. Speaker, is a very good piece of 
bipartisan legislation; and I thank the gentleman from California (Mr. 
Lantos) for his extraordinary leadership on this. We are working in a 
partnership, and it is really making a difference. The legislation that 
is before us aims to update, expand, and improve the TPVA.
  There have been lessons learned since the first law was enacted 7 
years ago and subsequently reauthorized in 2003 and 2005. They are 
incorporated into this legislation as we try to do an even better job 
in mitigating the suffering of the victims while simultaneously going 
after those who traffic and the countries that harbor traffickers who 
are also part of the problem themselves.
  The bill is appropriately named after William Wilberforce, who was 21 
years old when he was elected to the House of Commons in 1780. John 
Newton, the former slave captain turned convert to Christ, encouraged 
Wilberforce as well as others to fight the battle against slavery. 
Wilberforce agreed and then poured his heart into that battle.
  Wilberforce once said: ``Never, never will we desist until we 
extinguish every trace of this bloody traffic to which our posterity, 
looking back to the history of those enlightened times, will scarce 
believe that it has been suffered to exist so long to disgrace and 
dishonor this country.''
  He also said: ``So enormous, so dreadful, so remediable did the 
trade's wickedness quickly appear that my own

[[Page 32053]]

mind was completely made up for its abolition.'' We need to fight with 
Wilberforce-like tenacity against this modern-day slave trade.
  One of the most prominent provisions of the original TVPA was the 
establishment of the tier-ranking system that indicates how well or 
poorly a country is conforming to the minimum standards. We found when 
we created the watch list that some of the countries began to realize 
they could be ``parked'' there with no serious consequence for their 
failure. Tier 2 watch list countries found there was no penalty even 
though they made no improvements. That has to change: Two years and 
then you are off the watch list, up or down. If significant 
improvements fail to materialize, that country is put on tier three, 
subject to penalties.
  Finally let me just say, Mr. Speaker, that effective cooperation, and 
especially the bipartisan cooperation we see here today, and 
partnership with other countries, is essential if we are to win this 
winnable war. Without it, we are doomed to either meager results or 
outright failure. With so many lives hanging in the balance, failure 
simply is not an option. None of us alone can stop human trafficking. 
Too much evil is involved here, and the prospect of making billions has 
enticed some of the most unsavory and cruel individuals on Earth, 
including organized crime.
  Too much demand, enabled by crass indifference, unbridled hedonism 
and misogynistic attitudes has turned people, especially women, into 
objects, only valued for their utility in the brothel or in the 
sweatshop. And the relative lack of visibility makes the task of 
combating trafficking all the more difficult.
  Trafficking, like germs, infection and disease, thrives in shadowy 
and murky places. But the contagion slows and it even dies when exposed 
to the light. This legislation brings more light, bright light, to this 
problem; and it will act as a powerful disinfectant.
  So the challenge to us today is to bring this new light, the bright 
light of sustained scrutiny and enacting good laws, like this one, and 
then implementing them aggressively. We need to employ best practices 
and well-honed strategies in order to win the freedom of the slaves and 
to spare others unspeakable agony.
  Together, we can make the pimps and the exploiters pay by doing 
serious jail time as well as the forfeiture of their assets, their 
boats, their villas, and their fat bank accounts.
  We can end this barbaric, cruel modern-day slavery. Make no mistake 
about it, this is a winnable war but we need to fight in a way so as to 
win. This legislation further propels us in that fight, and we will win 
this and the slaves will be free.
  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) 
first dusted off the 13th amendment of the Constitution in 1999, but it 
is the present chairman of the Constitution Subcommittee in the 
Judiciary, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Nadler), who has brought 
this incredibly important constitutional amendment, enacted in 1865, 
into real live use, and I am proud to recognize the chairman of that 
committee for 2\1/4\ minutes.
  Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the William Wilberforce Trafficking 
Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2007.
  This bill delivers on the promise of the 13th amendment by creating 
tough new enforcement tools to punish exploitation, whether by 
unscrupulous labor recruiters, diplomats who abuse their servants, or 
brutal pimps.
  It provides resources so that nongovernmental organizations, Federal 
and local law enforcement, and the faith community can work together to 
liberate victims and bring their traffickers to justice.
  It will protect victims of modern slavery in the United States and 
provide foreign aid and diplomatic tools to combat modern slavery 
overseas as well.
  In many ways, the fight against modern slavery began in New York City 
in the mid-1990s. There was the infamous ``Bowery Brothel'' case in 
which Thai women were held in prostitution and literally chained to 
their beds. And there were the so-called ``Deaf Mexican'' trinket 
peddlers who were enslaved under our own eyes, unable to ask for help 
as they were forced to beg on the subways.
  Since then, criminal civil rights investigators have uncovered 
examples of enslavement across the country, including many in the New 
York City area.
  Recently, we have seen the liberation of Honduran women who were 
forced to drink and dance with clients in dance halls in New Jersey; 
Peruvian families freed from enslavement by a labor recruiter on Long 
Island; and the rescue of young American women from a street pimp in 
Connecticut. All of their traffickers have been convicted and 
imprisoned because they violated the Constitution prohibition against 
involuntary servitude and slavery.
  More than a century after the abolition of slavery, we would expect 
slavery to be a closed chapter in our Nation's history. But, 
unfortunately, it is not. The Constitution promises to end the 
suffering of all those who have been held in bondage. As a country, we 
owe it to the victims of modern-day slavery never to stop fighting for 
their freedom.
  This bill, the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection 
Reauthorization Act, renews our commitment to fulfilling the promise of 
the 13th amendment by providing new enforcement tools and more 
resources to remove the stain of modern-day slavery from our Nation.
  I urge its adoption and thank the chairman of the committee and Mr. 
Smith who was involved in developing the 2000 act and in developing 
this act, and I urge its adoption.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my 
time.
  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
  Mr. Speaker, this bill, the Wilberforce bill, tracks the definitions 
in the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of the year 2000, builds upon 
the good work of the civil rights division within the Department of 
Justice and its anti-trafficking task forces around the country which 
vigorously confront modern-day slavery which does exist in forced 
prostitution and forced labor alike. We expect these efforts to 
continue, and we will monitor them with great scrutiny.
  In the 1800s, escaped slaves such as Frederick Douglass and Sojourner 
Truth, who came out of this brutal experience in America, spoke out 
against chattel slavery. Their voices and the voices of many others led 
to a constitutional commitment that everyone in this country would be 
forevermore free from bondage.
  The young lady who testified with an assumed name before the 
Judiciary Committee did not allow her suffering to silence her. And 
neither will our voices be silenced. We urge that this bill pass, 
hopefully unanimously, from the House of Representatives.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of 
my time.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge the complete passage of this legislation, and I 
thank my colleagues for their convictions and their messages on the 
floor today.
  Might I add for my colleagues' information, there are about 17,500 
individuals trafficked in the United States, and we believe 50 percent 
of those may be children. In this legislation, we have language to 
combat the trafficking of our children.
  Along with the other tragic stories we have heard today, we must be 
able to support our children and prevent the trafficking of our 
children.
  I thank the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Zoe Lofgren) for her 
efforts in this area, and I include an article from the San Jose 
Mercury News for the Record.

                    [The Mercury News, Dec. 4, 2007]

         Reaching Across Party Lines To End Modern-Day Slavery

                    (By Zoe Lofgren and Dan Lungren)

       They are age-old stories. Women brought to the Bay Area 
     from China with false promises of life in a far-off land, 
     only to be

[[Page 32054]]

     trapped in prostitution. Latino men laboring in debt bondage 
     on ranches and farms in inland valleys. These stories may be 
     redolent of the Gold Rush and frontier days, but in fact are 
     situations that have been uncovered in present-day 
     California. Some call it human trafficking, perhaps to make 
     the crime less disturbing to confront. We call it modern 
     slavery. It must be stopped.
       Especially in the past decade, federal criminal civil 
     rights prosecutions have uncovered cases of enslavement 
     across the country. The litany of cases goes on and on, each 
     one equally tragic: Mexican women forced to serve up to 50 
     men each day in dingy brothels in New York; African teenagers 
     held in servitude as nannies in Washington, D.C.; American 
     women and girls lured onto the streets with promises of love 
     and glamour only to be held in prostitution through coercive 
     force; African-American men laboring in orange groves of 
     Florida trapped by drug addiction and ``company-store'' 
     debts; Asian workers trapped in sweatshop garment factories 
     in American Samoa and Saipan; Honduran women forced to drink 
     and dance with clients in dance halls in Texas; and mentally 
     ill white Americans forced to work on a Kansas farm.
       From the beginning, the promise of freedom enshrined in the 
     13th Amendment has protected everyone in the United States, 
     whether African-Americans, Latinos, Asians or Europeans.
       Slavery might seem like a closed chapter in our nation's 
     history, but it is worth remembering that the civil rights 
     movement was only possible after the NAACP and the FBI worked 
     together during the Roosevelt administration to dismantle the 
     system of sharecropping and peonage in the American south.
       Even today, farmworker advocates routinely have to fight 
     against enslavement in the fields before they can address 
     other concerns that the migrant community faces. Asian-
     American community activists and legal service providers have 
     built their efforts upon the successful liberation of workers 
     from the notorious El Monte sweatshop more than a decade ago.
       The Constitution's promise of freedom is written in the 
     suffering of all of those who have been held in bondage. As a 
     country we owe it to them to never stop fighting against 
     servitude and slavery.
       This week, the House of Representatives will consider a 
     bill that we are co-sponsoring to update our anti-slavery 
     statutes, the William Wilberforce Act. Named in honor of the 
     famous English legislator who fought the transatlantic slave 
     trade in the 19th century, the proposed law will provide new 
     tools to protect against modern slavery. The law will protect 
     people in the United States, both in the immigrant community 
     and among American citizens, and will provide foreign aid and 
     diplomatic tools to combat slavery and trafficking overseas 
     as well.
       The Wilberforce Act protects workers, ensures compassionate 
     immigration treatment for children, and allows for the 
     reunification of victims and their families. The bill 
     delivers on the promise of freedom by creating tough new 
     enforcement tools to punish exploitation, whether by 
     unscrupulous labor recruiters, diplomats who abuse their 
     servants or brutal pimps.
       The bill provides resources so that non-governmental 
     organizations, federal and local law enforcement and the 
     faith community can work together to liberate victims and 
     bring their traffickers to justice. In our congressional 
     districts--in the South Bay and Sacramento--such 
     interdisciplinary task forces have begun the important work 
     of implementing state and federal anti-trafficking statutes. 
     The Wilberforce Act will allow them to intensify their 
     efforts.
       There are some who feel that there is no room for 
     bipartisanship in Washington. Some say that the political 
     parties are so far apart as to preclude any cooperation at 
     all, especially on legislation that combines compassionate 
     and pragmatic immigration solutions with tough law 
     enforcement standards. The Wilberforce Act disproves that 
     notion. We will continue to work together to ensure that no 
     one is held in bondage in California or elsewhere.
       Coretta Scott King once said ``Freedom is never really 
     won--you earn it and win it in every generation.'' We are 
     proud that the California congressional delegation can come 
     together across party lines to lead the fight to guarantee 
     the constitutional promise of liberty for all.

  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support 
of H.R. 3887, the William Wilburforce Trafficking Victims Protection 
Reauthorization Act of 2007. I would like to thank the Chairman of the 
Foreign Affairs Committee, Mr. Lantos, for introducing this important, 
bipartisan legislation that will authorize appropriations for FY 2008-
2011 for the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, enhancing 
measures to combat forced labor, as well as for your ongoing leadership 
on this and other crucial human rights issues. I am proud to join over 
40 of my colleagues in co-sponsoring this bill.
  Mr. Speaker, the issue of the trafficking of persons is one of the 
utmost significance, one which no nation is exempt from. Within the 
United States, we pride ourselves on overcoming the historic stain of 
slavery, and we are comforted by the thought that while others may 
persist in this repulsive practice, we do not. This however, is simply 
not the case. According to the GAO, ``as many as 17,500 people are 
believed to be trafficked into the United States each year.'' The 
trafficking of persons is our problem; they are forced through our 
borders and used by our people. This extreme injustice can no longer go 
unnoticed.
  The flow of human trafficking is no surprise; traffic flows from the 
less industrialized countries to the more industrialized countries. 
This fact makes the issue of human trafficking a problem for all 
nations alike on a political, social, and moral level. The U.S. 
Department of State estimates that 800,000 people are trafficked across 
national borders every year, in addition to the reported millions of 
people trafficked within their own countries. The trafficking industry 
generates billions of dollars annually, and, together with drugs and 
weapons, is now a leading source of profits for organized crime. 
According to most analysts, the largest number of victims trafficked 
internationally come from Asia, though significant numbers of women and 
girls trafficked to work in the commercial sex industry come from the 
former Soviet Union and southeastern Europe.
  One subset of trafficking, and one of particular interest to the 
United States, is trafficking for forced labor, which the International 
Labor Organization defines as ``any situation in which work is carried 
out involuntarily under the menace of a penalty.'' The ILO estimates 
that some 12.3 million people have been the victims of forced labor, 
with agriculture, construction, domestic service, restaurants, and 
manufacturing sectors being the most prominent industries into which 
forced labor is trafficked.
  In March of this year, the Committee on Homeland Security, on which I 
am a senior Member and I serve as Chairwoman of a subcommittee, held a 
hearing on the crossing of borders and victims of trafficking which 
produced a meaningful discourse on horrific implications of the 
trafficking of persons and sought to address said issues. However, 7 
months later, the issue is not resolved. The current policy of the 
United States, under the Trafficking Victims Prevention Act of 2000, 
allows the government to support many types of anti-trafficking 
domestically and overseas. However, much more must be done. The GAO 
currently reports that, while the government allocated funds to combat 
trafficking, there was an overemphasis by the government on sex 
slavery, which came at a price for the majority of others who are a 
victim of human trafficking.
  Reliable information and independent evaluations of the success of 
the United States in combating this human atrocity have been hard to 
come by. While the State Department points to progress by citing the 
increase of countries with anti-trafficking initiatives and an increase 
in the number of arrests and convictions for human traffickers, the GAO 
report cites a less optimistic reality. The U.S. Government has yet to 
develop a coordinated, interagency response to combat trafficking 
overseas or a systematic way to evaluate the effectiveness of its anti-
trafficking policies. In addition, a July 2007 GAO report entitled 
``Monitoring and Evaluation of International Projects Are Limited, But 
Experts Suggest Improvements,'' found that monitoring mechanisms are 
lacking in U.S.-funded international projects, and that the U.S. and 
international organizations have encountered difficulties collaborating 
with host governments that often lack the resources, capacity, and/or 
political will to address trafficking.
  Given the very real and persistent nature of the crime of human 
trafficking, it is our responsibility as Members of the Congress of the 
most powerful nation in the world to address and resolve this atrocity 
once and for all. Nearly 150 years after our great country abolished 
slavery at home, it is our job to once again be a beacon of progress 
and hope and no longer allow one man to profit from the suffering of 
another.
  I believe that this legislation makes important strides towards 
addressing this serious problem. After hearing the profoundly 
disturbing testimony presented before the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
in a hearing on this issue earlier this year, I am particularly pleased 
that this legislation includes provisions aimed at ensuring that 
individuals are trafficked into the United States to work in diplomatic 
missions and embassies. I an extremely concerned about this issue, and 
I look forward to working further with my colleagues to establish a 
mechanism capable of preventing such abuses in the future.
  Mr. Speaker, this important reauthorization speaks directly to a 
serious but often hidden

[[Page 32055]]

problem that we face, on both a national and an international level. I 
strongly urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this legislation.
  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I would like to express my support for H.R. 
3887, the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 
2007. I have long worked to support action on what may be considered 
the most egregious human rights violation occurring in the world today. 
I was pleased to be an original cosponsor of the Trafficking Victims 
Protection Act of 2000, TVPA, which created an office at the U.S. State 
Department to monitor trafficking in persons around the world.
  The trafficking of people and the effects on victims--mostly women 
and children--can only be described as evil. In many cases, women and 
children are misled and forced to move across borders, to live in a 
foreign country, alone, away from family, friends and any kind of 
support network. They are then bought, sold, and forced into the sex 
trade. Billions of dollars are generated each year through trafficking.
  Unfortunately, the United States is also a destination for some of 
these victims. It is shocking to learn about women being held as sex 
slaves literally in houses and basements that I drive by every day on 
my way to the Nation's capital. This reauthorization addresses this 
aspect of international trafficking by protecting victims in the United 
States from retaliation by those who trafficked them; expanding and 
revising U.S. criminal violations to allow offenses against 
international trafficking criminals and sex tour operators; ensuring 
assistance to U.S. victims of trafficking, and preventing the 
trafficking of foreign children found in the United States by ensuring 
that they are not repatriated into the hands of traffickers or abusive 
families and are well cared for.
  The focus and commitment of the administration on this issue is 
making a difference in Countries around the globe. We still have a long 
way to go, but this reauthorization bill is a significant step in 
giving the State Department the necessary tools to combat this 
appalling practice. It is a privilege for me to support this important 
legislation.
  Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, as we vote on H.R. 3887, I would like to 
express my thanks to those Members, like Chris Smith and Frank Wolf, 
who continue to provide leadership on human trafficking issues. I 
strongly believe we must work to ensure that we fix any loopholes in 
our laws or regulations that the brutal human traffickers might use to 
exploit their victims.
  In light of Congress's desire to ensure that we do all in our power 
to support trafficking victims and prosecute traffickers, I would like 
to associate myself with the concerns expressed about the bill by the 
Departments of Justice, State, Homeland Security, and USAID. It is 
important that Congress works with the administration in order to amend 
the legislation to appropriately address their concerns. I look forward 
to working with my colleagues in the Senate on these concerns and on 
human trafficking issues in general.
  Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased that 
today the House of Representatives passed H.R. 3887, the Trafficking 
Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2007.
  This is an issue that impacts countries around the world, whether 
they are a source or destination for trafficked persons. Official 
estimates are that between 2 to 4 million persons are trafficked each 
year, including approximately 17,500 individuals who are trafficked 
into the United States.
  One country that is a major source of trafficking victims is Vietnam. 
The congressional district that I represent in Orange County, 
California, is home to one of the largest Vietnamese constituencies 
outside of Vietnam. Hence, I have met with many people who have been 
trafficked from Vietnam, as well as advocates who work to help these 
victims.
  I have personally visited Vietnam 3 times, and it has been apparent 
from my trips that human trafficking is a major problem facing women, 
children, and men in Vietnam. Vietnamese women are trafficked to other 
countries in Asia and elsewhere, where they are subsequently forced 
into marriage, labor, and prostitution.
  Often, Vietnamese women are promised employment, and given fake 
working papers, but then they are instead sold into marriage, the 
commercial sex industry, or labor. These women often find themselves in 
a foreign country, with no legal status, and no ability to speak the 
language.
  Given the large numbers of trafficked persons from Vietnam, and 
around the world, I am glad that the Trafficking Victims Protection 
Reauthorization Act adds technical assistance and support to assist 
foreign governments with the prevention and prosecution of human 
trafficking cases.
  It is critical that the United States share its resources to combat 
trafficking with the rest of the world. All of the members of our world 
community must work together to fight human trafficking.
  The United States must also work to improve its efforts to combat 
trafficking within our own borders. This bill will assist with 
enhancing the rights of victims, who are trafficked into the United 
States, and will provide special protections to child victims.
  H.R. 3887 is an important step in the worldwide fight against human 
trafficking. At the same time, we must continue to work on this issue 
in our local communities. In my district, a number of agencies, 
including law enforcement, service providers, and community 
organizations have joined together to form the Orange County Human 
Trafficking, Task Force (OCHTTF).
  This task force operated for several years without any funding. I am 
proud that I was able to help them secure funding to continue their 
collaborative efforts to fight human trafficking. I commend the OCHTTF 
for its efforts, and hope that more local communities will stand 
together to protect the rights of all persons to live free from forced 
marriage, prostitution, and labor.
  Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 3887, the 
William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2007. This 
bill makes great strides in both the areas of prevention and in victim 
assistance and will strengthen our national commitment to ending this 
horrific practice.
  Since its founding, our Nation has been committed to the promotion of 
human rights and personal dignity. Human trafficking contradicts every 
core principle upon which our Nation and our international partnerships 
are based.
  In recent years, we have seen appalling examples of trafficking--from 
women sold into sexual slavery . . . to men being pressed into 
indentured servitude . . . to children forced to become soldiers.
  Trafficking frequently is tied to other illicit crimes--prostitution, 
drug running, sweatshops, and armed rebellions. Sadly, the victims have 
few champions and even fewer resources. And, all too often, national 
leaders have turned a blind eye to this growing epidemic.
  Today our strategy is twofold. First, we are extending care and 
assistance to the victims while protecting them from their traffickers. 
Second, we are bolstering our efforts to work with international and 
domestic law enforcement to prevent trafficking at the source. It is 
essential that we remain dedicated and committed to each track.
  Additionally, while it is not included in this bill, it is my hope 
that the administrators of the programs will consider the special needs 
of the victims and will look into the ``reflection periods'' in place 
in several countries. This allows additional time for former victims to 
become comfortable in their new situations before taking further action 
against their traffickers.
  As a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, I am proud to support 
this legislation and to urge my colleagues to support its passage.
  Mr. PEARCE. Mr. Speaker, today, I rise in support of the Trafficking 
Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2007.
  Every year, over half a million people are sold into slavery and 
transported across international borders worldwide. Of those, more than 
15,000 are brought into the United States. These individuals are sold 
into horrible living conditions which most often include forced labor 
and sexual slavery for many young girls and women.
  The inhumane practice of involuntary servitude and sexual slavery 
must be stopped in the United States and victims should have proper 
protection from their captors. This deplorable treatment of human 
beings is intolerable. The idea of forced slavery is one which most 
Americans would find repugnant but unfortunately, it is all too often a 
reality.
  Congressional action on this matter is woefully deficient. We must 
recognize the importance of stopping, monitoring, and capturing 
individuals as they illegally enter the United States. Fighting human 
trafficking at the borders would limit the trade of sex slaves in 
America as well as combat terror, crime and drugs to preserve American 
safety and quality of life.
  Recent news reports have stated that Al Qaeda has been using our vast 
and poorly defended Southwestern borders to smuggle enemy combatants 
into the U.S.
  Congress must find a way to stop smuggling of human beings across our 
borders. We must find a way to stop involuntary servitude and sexual 
slavery worldwide and we must find a way to help all people understand 
that America is the beacon of light and freedom that we

[[Page 32056]]

all know it to be. The Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization 
Act of 2007 (H.R. 3887) will help us stop this terrible trade, give 
victims the ability to be free and face their accusers, and help 
America shine our light around the world.
  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, as Chairman of the Commission 
on Security and Cooperation in Europe, which has exercised 
unprecedented leadership in the global fight to combat trafficking in 
human beings, I rise in support of H.R. 3887, the Wilberforce 
Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2007.
  From our earliest awareness of this cruel phenomenon which enslaves 
an estimated 27 million victims, the Commission has led in the effort 
to mobilize nations to implement effective measures to combat human 
trafficking. My fellow Commissioner and former Chairman of the 
Commission, Representative Chris Smith is among those who has led the 
effort to bring an end to this modern day form of slavery, authoring 
the trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 and its subsequent 
reauthorizations.
  Today, the Commission continues its work to support efforts to combat 
this global crime within the framework of the Organization for Security 
and Cooperation in Europe. Most recently, the Commission conducted an 
oversight hearing last October 11, to explore the progress made in 
combating human trafficking and the adequacy of resources dedicated to 
identifying victims of trafficking for forced labor, an area that we 
believe would benefit from additional resources and attention.
  The reauthorization bill that we are taking action on today marks 
another important milestone in preventing the inhumane practice of 
human trafficking, protecting trafficking victims, and prosecuting the 
criminals that perpetrate these crimes.
  In addition to bolstering the resources needed to continue various 
anti-trafficking programs, H.R. 3887, which I cosponsored, would 
strengthen mechanisms for fighting human trafficking overseas, through 
the provision of capacity building support to foreign governments to 
bolster investigative mechanisms and legal protective frameworks for 
immigrant populations and migrant workers. Importantly, the measure 
would also address the transnational nature of human trafficking by 
providing increased support and protection for refugees and internally 
displaced populations. This legislation also seeks to improve 
transparency and evaluation of trafficking programs, and would 
designate governments that remain on the special watch list for 2 
consecutive years among those whose efforts to combat trafficking are 
inadequate.
  This reauthorization bill will improve mechanisms to better identify 
and protect trafficking victims, while increasing accountability on the 
part of governments in their anti-trafficking efforts. It takes a 
comprehensive approach to a gross criminal exploitation, and I urge my 
colleagues to support the legislation.
  Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, the deplorable crime of human 
trafficking exploits the innocent while it promotes illegal 
immigration.
  The legislation we are considering today builds upon the Trafficking 
Victims Protection Act of 2000. That historic legislation combated the 
trafficking of persons into the sex trade and slavery in the United 
States and countries around the world through the prosecution of 
traffickers and through protection and assistance to victims of 
trafficking.
  As Chairman of the Judiciary Committee's Immigration and Claims 
Subcommittee in 2000, I worked closely with the sponsors of the 
Trafficking Victims Protection Act to ensure that it protected victims 
of trafficking without encouraging the smuggling of illegal immigrants.
  The legislation created a new nonimmigrant T visa for victims of 
severe forms of trafficking who have cooperated with U.S. law 
enforcement in the investigation and prosecution of traffickers.
  The William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection 
Reauthorization Act judiciously expands on the immigration provisions 
of the 2000 Act and also adds reasonable protections for unaccompanied 
alien minors apprehended by our immigration officers.
  When I reviewed the original bill, my goal was to modify certain 
provisions that I was concerned would encourage illegal immigration and 
immigration fraud and leave us vulnerable to dangerous juveniles.
  I want to thank Chairman Conyers and Chairwoman Lofgren for 
addressing those concerns.
  I also want to thank Chairman Conyers for addressing my concerns with 
the criminal provisions of the original bill.
  The bill now lessens the burden on prosecutors to prove that 
criminals forced victims to work in sweatshops or as prostitutes.
  I do remain concerned about increasing the Federal role in 
prosecuting cases involving pimping and pandering. These crimes are 
traditionally prosecuted at the State and local level and I believe 
that Federal jurisdiction is unnecessary. However, I will not oppose 
this bill on that basis.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill.
  Ms. SOLIS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support for the 
William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act 
of 2007 (H.R. 3887). I am proud to be an original cosponsor of H.R. 
3887, which will provide new tools to protect against modern slavery, 
both in the immigrant community and among American citizens.
  The Trafficking Victims Protection Act was originally enacted in 2000 
to combat trafficking in persons, ensure the prosecution of human 
traffickers, and protect the victims of trafficking. The 2007 
Trafficking in Persons Report released by the U.S. State Department 
estimated that approximately 15,000 to 20,000 people were trafficked to 
the United States annually. Victims were trafficked for forced labor 
and debt bondage in areas such as agriculture, sweatshop manufacturing, 
and domestic service. This legislation would direct the U.S. State 
Department to establish an office to monitor and combat human 
trafficking. It would also authorize the President to support 
international efforts to combat trafficking and to rescue and care for 
victims.
  In California, Maria Suarez is one of the brave survivors of modern 
slavery who is working to protect others from cruel mistreatment. At 
the age of 16, Maria was sold as a sex slave to a 62-year-old man in 
California. He was killed by a neighbor and Maria was convicted of 
murder for her limited role in covering up the killing of her captor. 
Consequently, Maria served 22 years in jail before being pardoned.
  When Maria was released from prison she was detained by the 
immigration service as a convicted felon. I led efforts in Congress, 
along with community activists, to provide relief to Maria and release 
her from immigration detention. In 2004, Maria was granted a T visa, 
which is a visa for victims of trafficking and provides legal status 
for them to remain in the U.S. for 3 years. After 3 years, T visa 
holders can apply for permanent resident status. This legislation would 
allow for the reunification of victims and their families, and would 
help Maria Suarez and others like her by making the immigration service 
recognize that victims should not be held responsible for what they are 
forced to do while they are enslaved.
  I applaud Chairmen Lantos and Conyers for their hard work and 
continued dedication to this issue. Congress must continue fighting on 
behalf of those who have been forced into servitude and slavery and 
give these people a voice. I am hopeful that this legislation will give 
immigrant survivors of domestic violence and trafficking victims, such 
as Maria Suarez, a genuine opportunity to explain their circumstances 
before Federal authorities.
  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the exchange of 
letters between Chairman Conyers and myself be made part of the Record.

                                         House of Representatives,


                                   Committee on the Judiciary,

                                Washington, DC, November 15, 2007.
     Hon. Tom Lantos,
     Chairman, Committee on Foreign Affairs, House of 
         Representatives, Washington, DC.
       Dear Chairman Lantos: In recognition of the desire to 
     expedite consideration of H.R. 3887, the William Wilberforce 
     Trafficking Victims Reauthorization Act of 2007, the 
     Committee on the Judiciary agrees to waive formal 
     consideration of the bill as to provisions that fall within 
     the rule X jurisdiction of the Committee on the Judiciary.
       The Committee takes this action with the understanding that 
     by foregoing consideration of H.R. 3887 at this time, the 
     Committee on the Judiciary does not waive any jurisdiction 
     over subject matter contained in this or similar legislation. 
     The Committee also reserves the right to seek appointment of 
     an appropriate number of conferees to any House-Senate 
     conference involving this important anti-slavery legislation, 
     and requests your support if such a request is made.
       I would appreciate your including this letter in the 
     Congressional Record during consideration of the bill on the 
     House floor.
       Thank you for your attention to this matter.
           Sincerely,
                                                John Conyers, Jr.,
                                                         Chairman.
                                  ____
                                  
                                         House of Representatives,


                                 Committee on Foreign Affairs,

                                Washington, DC, November 15, 2007.
     Hon. John Conyers, Jr.,
     Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary,
     House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
       Dear Mr. Chairman: Thank you for your letter regarding H.R. 
     3887, the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims 
     Reauthorization Act of 2007.

[[Page 32057]]

       I appreciate your willingness to work cooperatively on this 
     legislation. I recognize that the bill contains provisions 
     that fall within the jurisdiction of the Committee on the 
     Judiciary. I acknowledge that the Committee will not formally 
     consider the bill and agree that the inaction of your 
     Committee with respect to the bill does not waive any 
     jurisdiction of the Judiciary Committee over subject matter 
     contained in this bill or similar legislation.
       Further, as to any House-Senate conference on the bill, I 
     understand that your committee reserves the right to seek the 
     appointment of conferees for consideration of portions of the 
     bill that are within the Committee's jurisdiction.
       I will ensure that our exchange of letters is included in 
     the Congressional Record during the consideration of House 
     debate on H.R. 3887, and I look forward to working with you 
     on this important legislation. If you wish to discuss this 
     matter further, please contact me or have your staff contact 
     my staff.
           Cordially,
                                                       Tom Lantos,
                                                         Chairman.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my 
time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 3887, 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. SMITH of New Jersey. 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 and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.

                          ____________________