[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 9]
[House]
[Pages 12782-12785]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                HUMAN TRAFFICKING DETECTION ACT OF 2014

  Mrs. BROOKS of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and 
pass the bill (H.R. 5116) to direct the Secretary of Homeland Security 
to train Department of Homeland Security personnel how to effectively 
deter, detect, disrupt, and prevent human trafficking during the course 
of their primary roles and responsibilities, and for other purposes.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 5116

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

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Human Trafficking Detection 
     Act of 2014''.

     SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

       In this Act:
       (1) Department.--The term ``Department'' means the 
     Department of Homeland Security.
       (2) Human trafficking.--The term ``human trafficking'' 
     means an act or practice described in paragraph (9) or (10) 
     of section 103 of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 
     2000 (22 U.S.C. 7102).
       (3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
     of Homeland Security.

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

       (a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
     enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall implement a 
     program to--
       (1) train and periodically retrain relevant Transportation 
     Security Administration, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 
     and other Department personnel that the Secretary considers 
     appropriate, how to effectively deter, detect, and disrupt 
     human trafficking, and, where appropriate, interdict a 
     suspected perpetrator of human trafficking, during the course 
     of their primary roles and responsibilities; and
       (2) ensure that the personnel referred to in paragraph (1) 
     regularly receive current information on matters related to 
     the detection of human trafficking, including information 
     that becomes available outside of the Department's initial or 
     periodic retraining schedule, to the extent relevant to their 
     official duties and consistent with applicable information 
     and privacy laws.
       (b) Training Described.--The training referred to in 
     subsection (a) may be conducted through in-class or virtual 
     learning capabilities, and shall include--

[[Page 12783]]

       (1) methods for identifying suspected victims of human 
     trafficking and, where appropriate, perpetrators of human 
     trafficking;
       (2) for appropriate personnel, methods to approach a 
     suspected victim of human trafficking, where appropriate, in 
     a manner that is sensitive to the suspected victim and is not 
     likely to alert a suspected perpetrator of human trafficking;
       (3) training that is most appropriate for a particular 
     location or environment in which the personnel receiving such 
     training perform their official duties;
       (4) other topics determined by the Secretary to be 
     appropriate; and
       (5) a post-training evaluation for personnel receiving the 
     training.
       (c) Training Curriculum Review.--The Secretary shall 
     annually reassess the training program established under 
     subsection (a) to ensure it is consistent with current 
     techniques, patterns, and trends associated with human 
     trafficking.

     SEC. 4. CERTIFICATION AND REPORT TO CONGRESS.

       (a) Certification.--Not later than one year after the date 
     of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall certify to 
     the appropriate congressional committees that all personnel 
     referred to in section 3(a) have successfully completed the 
     training required under that section.
       (b) Report to Congress.--Not later than one year after the 
     date of the enactment of this Act and annually thereafter, 
     the Secretary shall report to the appropriate congressional 
     committees the overall effectiveness of the program required 
     by this Act, the number of cases reported by Department 
     personnel in which human trafficking was suspected and, of 
     those cases, the number of cases that were confirmed cases of 
     such trafficking.

     SEC. 5. ASSISTANCE TO NON-FEDERAL ENTITIES.

       The Secretary may provide training curricula to any State, 
     local, or tribal government or private organization to assist 
     such entity in establishing its program of training to 
     identify human trafficking, upon request from such entity.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
Indiana (Mrs. Brooks) and the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Loretta 
Sanchez) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Indiana.


                             General Leave

  Mrs. BROOKS of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their 
remarks and include any extraneous material on the bill under 
consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from Indiana?
  There was no objection.
  Mrs. BROOKS of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 5116, the Human 
Trafficking Detection Act of 2014, sponsored by the gentleman from 
North Carolina (Mr. Meadows).
  This bill requires the Department of Homeland Security to implement a 
human trafficking awareness training program for Customs and Border 
Protection, Transportation Security Administration, and other DHS 
personnel which is tailored to their professional roles and 
responsibilities.
  Additionally, it directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to 
annually assess and update training, as needed, based on current human 
trafficking trends and then report to Congress on the number of 
suspected and confirmed trafficking cases reported by DHS officials.
  Lastly, it authorizes DHS to provide training curricula to non-
Federal entities that request assistance in setting up their own 
programs. The Committee on Homeland Security expects that this bill 
will primarily codify already existing training programs within the 
Department, thereby having little or no implementation costs.
  Mr. Speaker, DHS plays a critical role in combating human trafficking 
which has, unfortunately, become one of the most profitable forms of 
transnational crime in the world, amounting to a $32 billion per year 
industry.
  Trafficked individuals are often forced into prostitution and labor, 
and an estimated 100,000 U.S. children are victims of trafficking each 
year. This modern-day form of slavery is a heinous stain on our 
society.
  Moreover, CBP personnel are often the first to come into contact with 
unaccompanied minors crossing the border, which we are seeing on a 
daily basis now. It has become a significant humanitarian crisis that 
must be addressed.
  While these children are crossing under a variety of circumstances, 
it is imperative that DHS personnel encountering them are adequately 
trained to detect potential victims of trafficking and respond most 
appropriately.
  As a member of the Committee on Homeland Security and chair of the 
Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Communications, I 
believe it is critical that we continue to equip Department of Homeland 
Security personnel with up-to-date training and the tools to detect and 
counter this growing challenge, including Federal Emergency Management 
Agency, FEMA, employees and others who often are working on the front 
lines with local communities, and we know they are working on the front 
lines of the southern border as we speak.

                              {time}  1930

  H.R. 5116 would not only strengthen and codify training requirements 
for DHS, but it would also provide Congress with a clearer picture of 
the effectiveness of the training, as well as the number of suspected 
and confirmed instances of human trafficking reported by DHS officials.
  Finally, this bill will encourage partnerships between DHS, State, 
local, and tribal governments, as well as private organizations, to set 
up additional training programs, raise broader awareness, and further 
enable these entities to become a force multiplier in human trafficking 
detection and prevention efforts.
  I commend Congressman Meadows for introducing this bill, as well as 
the chairman of the full committee, Mr. McCall, the chairman of the 
Subcommittee on Transportation Security, Mr. Hudson, and the ranking 
member of the subcommittee and the ranking member, who is here in the 
Chamber today, for the fact that we are working on this in a bipartisan 
way. I appreciate their continued attention to this critical issue.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 5116, and I reserve 
the balance of my time.
  Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong 
support of H.R. 5116, the Human Trafficking Detection Act of 2014, and 
I yield myself as much time as I may consume.
  This whole issue of human trafficking is one, in my 18 years in the 
Congress, that I have been working significantly on. I sit on the 
Homeland Security Committee, and one of the things that we were able to 
do many years ago was to direct funds actually into my area, into 
Orange County, California, to work on a collaboration of State 
agencies, police officers, and the Federal Government, and we funded 
this to make one of the first task forces on human trafficking in our 
Nation. Originally, there were six, and we were one of six. Now they 
are, I think, in the double digits.
  So we have learned a lot. We have learned a lot about human 
trafficking. We have learned that there are some countries that are 
initiation or supply countries. There are some that just transit these 
young people, these children, these women. We have also learned that 
there are destination countries or demand countries, and, of course, 
the United States is one of the largest demand countries. We are also a 
transit country because we take our own children from one State and put 
them in the other States. We are also a supply country because we use 
our own children in this human trafficking process, these terrible 
people who do this. They are really just, most of the time, about 
making money any way they can.
  So what we know is that there are many children being trafficked 
across our State lines, but also across our borders. They come in 
through our airports. They come in through boats in Miami and my State 
of California, and, yes, they pour across our borders just as we see 
the humanitarian crisis that my colleague mentioned earlier.
  So some of the people who first see these young children, for 
example, or

[[Page 12784]]

these women who are being trafficked are going to be our Customs 
people. They are going to be our Border Patrol. As you can imagine, 
depending on the circumstance, they have got a lot of other things 
going on in their mind. They are trying to stem people from coming 
across. They are trying to figure out whether these people have drugs 
in their stuff, and so they may not notice what you can notice, and 
that is the trafficking of people, because in order to traffic that 
person, you have got to have the trafficker coming along with them.
  So, if we train them, if we give them the tools, our Department of 
Homeland Security, our Customs, our Border Patrol people, our transport 
people will have a better idea and will be able to see almost 
immediately, which is what I have learned to do through this task force 
that we have. The signs are always there. It is do we know, do we have 
something in our mind that can show us what is happening?
  Now, the Department of Homeland Security has obviously tried, but 
they have got a lot of things that they have got to work with. So by 
actually doing and increasing the awareness and increasing the training 
of our frontline employees, we will do a better job. We will do a 
better job of stopping this trafficking.
  I thank the other side for working with us to ensure that this bill 
moves forward and becomes law to give that additional training that I 
believe our Department of Homeland Security employees need and want.
  With that, I will reserve the balance of my time.
  Mrs. BROOKS of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I yield as much time as he may 
consume to the distinguished gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. 
Meadows), the sponsor of the legislation.
  Mr. MEADOWS. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the gentlewoman from 
Indiana for her leadership on this particular issue and for her time 
and her eloquent remarks in introducing this particular piece of 
legislation.
  I would also like to thank the gentlewoman from California who is 
leading from the other side of the aisle. Much is made of headlines 
where the dysfunction of Washington, D.C., is in every newspaper on how 
things do not work, and yet a few hundred feet away from me is a 
gentlewoman from California representing a constituency many, many 
miles away from my home State of North Carolina. So today we are not 
only reaching across the aisle, but we are reaching across the country 
from California to North Carolina, because human trafficking affects us 
all.
  I was first made aware of this by my daughter who was 15 years old 
when she did a report on human trafficking. I thought it was one of 
those things that was not a big deal until she informed me that it was 
in our backyard. It was in our neighborhoods. It was in our 
communities. Right now, some estimated 23 million people are 
trafficked, are caught up in human trafficking. And to give you a 
perspective of that, that equals a number that is very close to another 
slavery that we know as a horrific blight on our Nation and our world--
the African slave trade. Today we have more people caught up in modern-
day slavery than at the height of that particular time, yet somehow we 
continue to not address it. So hopefully on our watch, Mr. Speaker, we 
will address that.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to provide a little bit of the context of this 
particular bill. The genesis of it came from a hearing. Many times we 
have hearings over and over, Mr. Speaker. Some people say, well, why do 
you continue to have those hearings?
  We had some Delta Airline flight attendants who came in to a hearing. 
They were talking about the effort that they went through, on a 
voluntary basis, to set up a program to train their flight attendants 
and, ultimately, now all of their customer service representatives who 
see people on a day-by-day basis, they trained them to recognize those 
that are being trafficked. Yet they did this on their own. So from 
that, we felt like it would be a good idea to not only partner with 
them, but to provide that same type of training for the Federal workers 
that get to see these people at our borders, in our airports, and 
places across our Nation.
  I want to thank Chairman McCaul, Chairman Hudson, Mr. O'Rourke, and 
the entire Homeland Security Committee staff for their hard work on 
working on this bill to make it not only one that hopefully will be a 
useful tool, but also one that will make a difference. It is estimated 
that there is no additional cost for providing this training, and yet 
the benefits will be great.
  Tens of thousands of people are trafficked through the United States 
every year, 80 percent of whom are exploited sexually, two-thirds of 
them women, but more accurately, most of them little girls.
  We must stand together in a bipartisan way, and I thank my colleague 
across the aisle for working with us and her leadership on this. But if 
we are successful--well, the word should not be ``if.'' When we are 
successful, Mr. Speaker, we will have saved thousands of lives, and we 
will have changed thousands of lives. So it is with great humility that 
I ask my colleagues to come together and support this piece of 
legislation.
  Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California. Mr. Speaker, I have no more 
speakers. If the gentlewoman from Indiana has no more speakers, then I 
am prepared to close.
  Mr. Speaker, first of all, I would like to applaud Representative 
Meadows for introducing what I think is a very important piece of 
legislation in a bipartisan manner, and I am thankful that he cares 
enough and that he has a daughter who wrote a report.
  These people who are trafficked live amongst us. In particular, they 
live in areas where there is lots of diversity, where there are lots of 
people going about doing their business, in crowded areas a lot. 
Trafficked, you are right, they are exploited for sexual purposes, 
about 70 percent of them; but the other 30 percent are used in homes in 
domestic servitude not even getting, sometimes, to sleep in a bed of 
the very house where they are worked as a slave, sleeping on the floor 
and getting the crumbs off the table. We have seen that. We have seen 
that in Orange County, California, in one of the richest areas of the 
Nation. In one of the nicest homes this was happening with a little 
Egyptian girl who was there who had been trafficked in by a family.
  If it is not domestic and it is not sexual, then it is sweatshops 
where people literally have their passports and their papers taken away 
and they are working 18 or 19 hours a day, not being paid and barely 
being fed. So they are all around us.
  Americans have to open up their eyes. We have to see it in our 
neighborhoods, and, of course, we have to stop them as they bring them 
from other countries. That is why I believe that our Nation's screeners 
and our Customs officers serve as the eyes and the ears on the front 
line of our ports of entry and exit from the United States. If they are 
properly trained, then they will see it, and they can help stop it.
  Lastly, I am very grateful that tonight we have had a series of bills 
with respect to human trafficking. I just want to remind my colleagues 
that this humanitarian crisis we see on our southern border, that many 
of those children also have faced what we are talking about tonight; 
and, in order to stop it, we have to be as generous as possible with 
those young people to restart their lives.
  With that, Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to say ``yes'' to this 
bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mrs. BROOKS of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, as I close, this bill, which 
will ensure that valuable human trafficking awareness training is 
provided to DHS employees, and that is so very important, the 
gentlewoman from California reminded me that when I was United States 
attorney between 2001 and 2007, we started one of the human trafficking 
task forces in Indianapolis.
  At that time, human trafficking was not really a concept that law 
enforcement really understood, and so trafficking task forces did start 
up in this country. They have grown, and we have put a lot of resources 
at the local and State level educating law enforcement, nonprofit 
groups, and neighborhood groups to understand what human trafficking 
is.

[[Page 12785]]



                              {time}  1845

  I think what this bill does is it strengthens for the Federal 
employees, the Department of Homeland Security employees, their 
training so that they, as the gentlewoman from California mentioned, 
they who have so many responsibilities, whether they are coming through 
our ports, whether they are coming through our airports, whether they 
are coming through our borders, they need the same type of training, if 
not enhanced training, than what they already have. And providing DHS 
employees with the tools to identify and appropriately respond to the 
potential victims of human trafficking will only serve as a force 
multiplier as we work to combat this terrible crime. I urge all Members 
to join me in supporting this legislation.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, as a senior member of the Judiciary and 
Homeland Security Committees, I rise in strong support of H.R. 5116, 
``Human Trafficking Detection Act of 2014.''
  I support this bipartisan legislation which ensures that 
Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Customs and Border 
Protection (CBP), and other Department of Homeland Security (DHS) 
personnel the Secretary deems appropriate are trained to effectively 
detect, intercept, and disrupt human trafficking in a manner relevant 
to their professional roles and responsibilities.
  As the ranking member on the House Committee on Homeland Security's 
Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security, I would like to take this 
opportunity to thank the men and women of the U.S. Customs and Border 
Protection agency who do yeoman work on the front lines in combating 
human trafficking and rescuing its victims.
  Mr. Speaker, worldwide there are at least 20.9 million adults and 
children human trafficking victims living as forced low-wage workers 
and exploited as objects of sexual pleasure; and 1.4 million persons 
are victims of national and transnational sex trafficking.
  I have long advocated declaring unconditional war on human 
trafficking and I am pleased that the Homeland Security Committee is 
taking a leading role in this effort.
  The legislation before us will result in a significant enhancement of 
DHS's capability to combat human trafficking and does so in a way that 
allows the department necessary flexibility in providing training.
  Departmental personnel may be trained in-class or through virtual, 
computer-based learning programs. In either case, the training provided 
will include methods for:
  1. identifying specific indicators of human trafficking victims and 
perpetrators; and
  2. where appropriate, approaching victims of trafficking in a manner 
that is sensitive to the potential victim and includes steps to avoid 
alerting potential perpetrators of human trafficking.
  The legislation requires the Secretary to certify to the relevant 
committees that all described personnel have received the training, as 
well as submit a report to the committees on the overall effectiveness 
of the program, as well as the number of reported cases by DHS 
personnel and which of those cases were confirmed cases of human 
trafficking no later than one year after enactment.
  Mr. Speaker, trafficking in humans, and especially domestic child 
trafficking, has no place in a civilized society. Those who engage in 
this illicit trade should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the 
law.
  Approximately 600,000 and 800,000 victims are moved across 
international borders every year and subjected to compelled service and 
millions more are enslaved domestically within their own countries.
  Mr. Speaker, Texas has one of the longest international borders in 
the world, a 1254 mile border it shares with Mexico, our good neighbor 
to the South.
  Texas also has a major federal highway Interstate I-10 which 
traverses the Southern United States from the state of Florida to the 
state of California.
  Human trafficking is a problem for the United States because the U.S. 
State Department estimates that approximately 17,500 foreign nationals 
are trafficked into the United States, the largest number of people 
trafficked into the United States come from East Asia and the Pacific 
and the next highest numbers coming from Latin America and Europe.
  I support H.R. 5116 because it is another important tool in the 
national arsenal to combat and eradicate the scourge of human 
trafficking.
  I urge all of my colleagues to join me in supporting passage of H.R. 
5116.
  Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I strongly support H.R. 5116, The Human 
Trafficking Detection Act of 2014.
  I am proud to be an original cosponsor of this important, bipartisan 
legislation, which will ensure that DHS personnel continue to receive 
the training they need to detect and disrupt human trafficking.
  As Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security, I recently 
convened a field hearing in Houston to examine the issue of human 
trafficking. At the hearing, the Committee heard compelling and 
disturbing testimony on how human trafficking is destroying the lives 
of vulnerable populations across the globe, including here in the 
United States.
  Simply put, human trafficking is a despicable crime, and it must be 
stopped. I believe this bill is an excellent step towards that goal.
  The Human Trafficking Detecting Act of 2014 would ensure that U.S. 
Customs and Border Protection, Transportation Security Administration, 
and other Department of Homeland Security personnel are trained to 
effectively detect, and to the extent appropriate, intercept and 
disrupt trafficking in persons during the course of their normal roles 
and responsibilities. Not only would this legislation require effective 
training, it would also ensure that these employees are regularly 
provided with the most current trends and information on human 
trafficking and are adequately equipped to counter this growing 
problem.
  While the men and women at DHS carry out their everyday work, many of 
them are well-positioned to spot traffickers who may try to exploit our 
nation's transportation systems to move their victims, both from 
overseas and within our borders.
  H.R. 5116 also ensures that Congress has insight into the level of 
success of the training being provided, and that the Department's State 
and local partners have full access to training curricula to establish 
their own trafficking awareness programs.
  I applaud Mr. Meadows for introducing this legislation, and I urge 
all of my colleagues to vote yes on this common-sense measure.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentlewoman from Indiana (Mrs. Brooks) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 5116.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________