[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 9]
[House]
[Pages 12785-12789]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  HUMAN TRAFFICKING PRIORITIZATION ACT

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and 
pass the bill (H.R. 2283) to prioritize the fight against human 
trafficking within the Department of State according to congressional 
intent in the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 without 
increasing the size of the Federal Government, and for other purposes, 
as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 2283

       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 
     Prioritization Act''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       Congress finds the following:
       (1) The International Labor Organization estimates that 
     nearly 21,000,000 people are subjected to modern slavery 
     around the world at any given time and that the majority of 
     the enslaved are women and girls.
       (2) Congress authorized the creation of a Department of 
     State Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons in 
     the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (division A of 
     Public Law 106-386) in order to directly assist the Secretary 
     of State in his or her effort to coordinate a United States 
     Government interagency response to domestic and international 
     trafficking in persons.
       (3) The Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons 
     monitors trafficking worldwide and produces the online and 
     printed versions of the annual Trafficking in Persons Report, 
     which is Congress' primary resource for human trafficking 
     reporting, analysis, and recommendations on the United States 
     and 186 countries around the world.
       (4) The annual Trafficking in Persons Report contains tier 
     rankings of each country on which it reports, and these tier 
     rankings have become an essential diplomatic tool for 
     promoting protection for victims, prevention of trafficking, 
     and prosecution of perpetrators.
       (5) Some countries have openly stated, and many others have 
     confided, that dramatic improvements in the country's human 
     trafficking record were directly related to avoidance of a 
     low tier ranking in the annual Trafficking in Persons Report.

[[Page 12786]]

       (6) Ambassador Mark Lagon, former Ambassador-at-Large to 
     Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (2007-2009), 
     testified before the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, 
     Global Human Rights, and International Organizations of the 
     Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives 
     on April 18, 2013, that ``[T]he State Department does a 
     tremendous job in producing a report which tells it like it 
     is, offering objective rankings. Yet at times it pulls 
     punches, typically due to the urging of regional specialists 
     rather than the TIP Office's dedicated experts on 
     trafficking.''.
       (7) Ambassador John Miller, former Ambassador-at-Large to 
     Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (2002-2006), 
     recently stated that, ``Upgrading the status of the Office to 
     a Bureau will not create additional bureaucracy--it will 
     simply give JTIP and the Ambassador-at-large who heads it 
     equal standing with regional and functional bureaus at the 
     State Department. That standing is absolutely essential for 
     the issue to remain a priority, especially when multiple U.S. 
     interests are engaged.''.
       (8) The tier ranking process authorized by Congress in the 
     Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 has been in some 
     instances compromised by the Office to Monitor and Combat 
     Trafficking subordinate stature within the Department of 
     State.
       (9) It is essential for Congress and the Secretary of State 
     to be accurately informed regarding United States and foreign 
     country successes and failures in the fight against human 
     trafficking.
       (10) The diplomatic power and credibility of the 
     Trafficking in Persons Report is based on rigorous 
     scholarship and scrupulous application of the minimum 
     standards for the elimination of human trafficking and is 
     undermined by political, rather than factual, tier rankings.
       (11) Strong and effective anti-slavery policy requires that 
     officials from the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking 
     have equal hierarchical standing with State Department 
     regional bureaus and direct access to the Secretary of State.

     SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

       It is the sense of Congress that--
       (1) the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking of the 
     Department of State will be more effective in carrying out 
     duties mandated by Congress in the Trafficking Victims 
     Protection Act of 2000 if the Office status is changed to 
     that of a Bureau within the Department hierarchy;
       (2) the change in status from Office to Monitor and Combat 
     Trafficking to a Bureau can be accomplished without 
     increasing the number of personnel or the budget of the 
     current Office;
       (3) a Bureau to Monitor and Combat Trafficking would be 
     more effective in carrying out duties mandated by Congress in 
     the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 if the Bureau 
     were headed by an Assistant Secretary with direct access to 
     the Secretary of State, rather than an Ambassador-at-Large; 
     and
       (4) the Secretary of State should review the current use of 
     the 24 Assistant Secretary positions authorized by section 
     1(c)(1) of the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 
     (22 U.S.C. 2651a(c)(1)) and make appropriate revisions, 
     consolidations, and eliminations, to ensure that those 
     positions reflect the highest Departmental needs and foreign 
     policy priorities of the United States, including efforts to 
     combat trafficking in persons.

     SEC. 4. BUREAU TO COMBAT TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS.

       (a) In General.--Section 105(e) of the Trafficking Victims 
     Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7103(e)) is amended--
       (1) in the heading, by striking ``Office to Monitor and 
     Combat Trafficking'' and inserting ``Bureau to Combat 
     Trafficking in Persons'';
       (2) in paragraph (1)--
       (A) in the first sentence, by striking ``Office to Monitor 
     and Combat Trafficking'' and inserting ``Bureau to Combat 
     Trafficking in Persons'';
       (B) in the second sentence, by striking ``Office'' and 
     inserting ``Bureau''; and
       (C) in the sixth sentence, by striking ``Office'' and 
     inserting ``Bureau''; and
       (3) in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (2), by striking 
     ``Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking'' and inserting 
     ``Bureau to Combat Trafficking in Persons''.
       (b) Reference.--Any reference in the Trafficking Victims 
     Protection Act of 2000 or in any other Act to the Office to 
     Monitor and Combat Trafficking shall be deemed to be a 
     reference to the Bureau to Combat Trafficking in Persons.

     SEC. 5. REPORT REGARDING DESIGNATION OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY 
                   OF STATE TO COMBAT TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS.

       Not later than 90 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 
     detailing--
       (1) for each current Assistant Secretary of State 
     position--
       (A) the title of that Assistant Secretary of State;
       (B) how long that particular Assistant Secretary 
     designation has been in existence; and
       (C) whether that particular Assistant Secretary designation 
     was legislatively mandated or authorized and, if so, the 
     relevant statutory citation for such mandate or 
     authorization; and
       (2) whether the Secretary intends to designate one of the 
     Assistant Secretary of State positions authorized by section 
     1(c)(1) of the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 
     (22 U.S.C. 2651a(c)(1)) as the Assistant Secretary of State 
     to Combat Trafficking in Persons, and the reasons for that 
     decision.

     SEC. 6. COUNTRIES ON SPECIAL WATCH LIST FOR 4 CONSECUTIVE 
                   YEARS THAT ARE DOWNGRADED AND REINSTATED ON 
                   SPECIAL WATCH LIST.

       Section 110(b)(2) of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act 
     of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7107(b)(2)) is amended by adding at the 
     end the following:
       ``(F) Countries on special watch list for 4 consecutive 
     years that are downgraded and reinstated on special watch 
     list.--Notwithstanding subparagraphs (D) and (E), a country 
     that--
       ``(i) was included on the special watch list described in 
     subparagraph (A) for 4 consecutive years after the date of 
     the enactment of the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims 
     Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008, and
       ``(ii) was subsequently included on the list of countries 
     described in paragraph (1)(C),

     may not thereafter be included on the special watch list 
     described in subparagraph (A) for more than 1 consecutive 
     year.''.

     SEC. 7. COST LIMITATION.

       No additional funds are authorized to be appropriated for 
     ``Diplomatic and Consular Programs'' to carry out the 
     provisions of this Act.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New 
Jersey (Mr. Smith) and the gentleman from New York (Mr. Sean Patrick 
Maloney) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New Jersey.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, today is an historic day for the House of 
Representatives, so I would like to begin by offering my profound 
appreciation for the extraordinary leadership of Majority Leader Eric 
Cantor for encouraging and moving through this House this very 
comprehensive package of antitrafficking legislation. I have been in 
Congress now 34 years, and I have never seen so many bills that are 
mutually reinforcing, that send a clear, unambiguous message to the 
world, as well as to our fellow Americans, that we care and we care 
deeply about the victims, and we want to put the perpetrators behind 
bars for a very, very long time. Again, I want to thank Eric Cantor for 
his leadership.
  I am very proud to say that the United States continues to lead the 
world in our trafficking responses at home and abroad. The bills we 
debate today not only bring relief to trafficking victims, but light 
the way for the rest of the world to do likewise.
  One of the greatest and most successful efforts to transmit our best 
practices to the rest of the world and to ensure accountability for 
minimum standards that we created in the Trafficking Victims Protection 
Act is the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons housed 
in the U.S. Department of State, created by the legislation I authored 
known as the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000.
  Over the last 15 years, this office has been led by several 
incredibly talented and dedicated ambassadors who, through their 
persistence and grit, have turned out the annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report, laying bare the record of each country for the world to see, 
and summarizing the country's progress in an annual tier ranking.
  Tier 1 countries, for the record, are countries that fully meet the 
minimum standards prescribed by the act. Tier 2 countries do not meet 
the minimum standards but are making significant efforts to do so. Tier 
3 countries do not meet the standards and are not making significant 
efforts to do so, and those countries can be held liable through a 
series of sanctions that are imposed by our government.
  Along with Tier 1, 2 and 3, we also have what we call a watch list. 
Since the TIP report's inception, Mr. Speaker, more than 100 countries 
have enacted antitrafficking laws, and many countries have taken other 
steps required to significantly raise their tier

[[Page 12787]]

rankings, many citing the TIP Report as a key factor in their increased 
antitrafficking response.
  The importance of accurate tier rankings cannot be overstated. Over 
the years, we have seen countries begin in earnest the hard work of 
reaching the minimum standards after the TIP Report accurately 
exposed--with a Tier 3 ranking--each country's failure to take 
significant action against human trafficking. Whether that country be a 
close ally or foe, the TIP Report is designed to speak truth to power. 
And even some of our greatest friends and allies, like South Korea and 
Israel, have found themselves on Tier 3, only to engage in Herculean 
efforts to get off Tier 3 and to protect victims and to prosecute the 
traffickers.
  The tier rankings were meant to be and in large part have become a 
very powerful tool in the fight against trafficking. We have found a 
system that works. But tragically, it is sometimes muffled, misguided, 
and marginalized by unrelated bilateral concerns and by the internal 
structure of the State Department itself.
  In the words of Ambassador Mark Lagon, who from 2007 to 2009 was our 
Ambassador-at-Large to combat human trafficking:

       The State Department does a tremendous job in producing a 
     report which tells it like it is, offering objective 
     rankings. Yet at times it pulls punches, typically due to the 
     urging of regional specialists rather than the TIP Office's 
     dedicated experts on trafficking.

  This problem is what my bill, the Human Trafficking Prioritization 
Act, H.R. 2283, seeks to remedy. The Human Trafficking Prioritization 
Act will keep the fight against human trafficking from being lost in 
the politics of other U.S. interests by raising the status of the J/TIP 
``office'' to that of a ``bureau'' within the U.S. Department of State.
  In the words of Ambassador John Miller, who served from 2002 to 2006 
as Ambassador-at-Large:

       Upgrading the status of the office to a bureau will not 
     create additional bureaucracy, it will simply give J/TIP and 
     the Ambassador-at-Large who heads it equal standing with 
     regional and functional bureaus at the Department of State. 
     That standing is absolutely essential for the issue to remain 
     a priority, especially when multiple U.S. interests are 
     engaged.

  H.R. 2283 encourages the Secretary of State to upgrade the 
``ambassador-at-large'' position to that of ``Assistant Secretary,'' to 
lead the bureau without adding to the number of Assistant Secretaries 
the State Department is permitted by law.
  In addition, H.R. 2283 will make it more difficult for countries and 
some State Department bureaus to game the tier-ranking system by 
limiting the time period countries can use promises of action to avoid 
tier downgrading. Currently, a country can sit on the Tier 2 watch list 
for up to 4 years with Presidential waivers, effectively stringing the 
U.S. along with promises to take action without ever actually taking 
action. After 4 years, by law, the country must be automatically 
downgraded to Tier 3 and, therefore, subject to sanctions.
  The law worked very well upon its first implementation in the 2013 
reporting cycle. But we discovered a problem this year when China was 
wrongly and foolishly upgraded from Tier 3 to Tier 2 Watch List. As the 
law is currently written, China and its enablers at the U.S. Department 
of State can again game the system for 4 more years. H.R. 2283 will 
hold countries like China accountable by limiting to 1 year the amount 
of time a country can stay on the Tier 2 Watch List after the country 
was previously ordered downgraded to Tier 3.
  H.R. 2283 builds on the success of the TIP Office for the sake of the 
21 million people still living in modern day slavery, and does so 
without increasing the cost of government. H.R. 2283 will give the TIP 
Office the integration and voice it deserves within the State 
Department and ensure accurate accountability for countries failing to 
meet the minimum standards for the elimination of human trafficking.
  I respectfully ask my colleagues to support the bill. I would also 
like to offer special thanks to Gary Haugen, Holly Burkhalter, Tim 
Gehring, and the grassroots efforts of the International Justice 
Mission, which has worked so tirelessly to educate Members of Congress 
on the importance of this bill. I would note parenthetically that at 
least two of those people, Holly and Gary, especially Gary when we were 
first writing the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, was a frequent 
contributor to hearings as we crafted the bill, and then when we did 
the oversight as to how well or poorly the U.S. Department of State was 
implementing the law. You could always count on Gary Haugen to be there 
to give a very incisive look at the work that was being done or not 
being done. So a very special thanks to them for their work on this 
legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time, and I yield the 
balance of my time to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Meadows) 
and ask unanimous consent that he may control that time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from New Jersey?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 
such time as I may consume, and rise in strong support of H.R. 2283, 
the Human Trafficking Prioritization Act.
  First, let me thank my friend and colleague, Representative Chris 
Smith, for introducing this important piece of legislation which 
elevates the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking to the status of 
a bureau within the State Department.
  Put simply, as we have heard this evening, human trafficking is 
modern day slavery. It represents a brutal violation of individual 
freedom and human dignity. Unfortunately, this practice is all too 
common around the world and in our own neighborhoods. But, fortunately, 
the United States is committed to responding to this crime here at home 
and around the world. Since this Congress passed the Trafficking 
Victims Protection Act in 2000, leaders on both sides of the aisle have 
rallied around this issue. Indeed, three administrations have made this 
effort a priority. Our coordination across government through the 
President's Interagency Task Force on Human Trafficking has never been 
stronger.
  Mr. Speaker, today we can take another step forward by making the 
Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons a full bureau 
within the State Department. This office is already doing critical 
work. Its annual Trafficking in Persons Report has become the global 
gold standard in assessing how well governments around the world are 
meeting this important challenge.
  Elevating the trafficking office to a State Department bureau would 
send a strong message to the world that combating modern day slavery 
remains a top priority to the United States. Mr. Speaker, I urge my 
colleagues to support this important legislation.
  I reserve the balance of my time.


                             General Leave

  Mr. MEADOWS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks 
and include extraneous materials on H.R. 2283, as amended.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from North Carolina?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. MEADOWS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I want to rise in support of this particular legislation and follow-
up on what the gentleman from New Jersey shared regarding the 
importance of not only the TIP Report but to remain vigilant with a 
number of the countries abroad where trafficking has become very 
commonplace.
  Just in the last week, we had an ambassador from one of those 
countries come to us and share the fact that they are a Tier 3 country. 
They were very concerned and wanted to outline the things that they 
were doing to try to combat human trafficking.
  It was very obvious to me that with the emphasis we have placed on 
that, not only here in Congress but with the State Department, that 
making human trafficking a priority for them to correct and combat was 
certainly something that has drawn great attention.

[[Page 12788]]

To strengthen the efforts there, to continue to strengthen the State 
Department, to raise and elevate this position to bureau status, 
certainly will send a message not only to our country, not only to 
countries abroad, but hopefully will give hope to the young girls and 
young men that are being trafficked in so many of these foreign 
countries that the United States is serious about this, and that it is 
not just a few words that perhaps are shared by myself and the 
gentleman from New York here on the House floor today but that it goes 
to the very core of who we are, that we must stand up and be a voice 
for those who have no voice.
  With that, Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

                              {time}  2000

  Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I would like to 
thank the gentleman from North Carolina. I listened with great interest 
to his words earlier. I would like to thank him and acknowledge him for 
his leadership on this issue. It is so great to see him reaching across 
the aisle to do so, and I want to acknowledge his leadership on this 
issue.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to my colleague from New Mexico (Mr. 
Ben Ray Lujan).
  Mr. BEN RAY LUJAN of New Mexico. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support 
of this legislation and many other bills we are considering that deal 
with human and sex trafficking--an important issue, a critical issue, 
that especially relates to protecting children who are too often 
victims of abuse and violence. I commend the Speaker for bringing these 
bills up for a vote.
  Mr. Speaker, as I was watching the debate this evening, I couldn't 
help but come back to the floor. I hope all of my colleagues that are 
speaking tonight on the importance of passing these human trafficking 
bills will join us next week to talk about the importance of protecting 
children.
  It was with alarm, Mr. Speaker, that I read a letter that Speaker 
Boehner penned to President Barack Obama that appears that my 
Republican colleagues, when they left a meeting earlier this afternoon, 
are asking to take away the very protections from children during a law 
that was passed in 2008 that we are asking to protect these children 
tonight.
  So I come today to ask my colleagues to read the transcripts, to hear 
the debate this evening, and to think about it, to go home this weekend 
and, whatever faith that we may be, that we pray about it and we talk 
to our pastors and our religious leaders about it because these kids 
that we are going to be talking about next week are the very children 
that need protections as well.
  The motivation to pass these bills today is the same motivation that 
moved this body to pass legislation that became law in 2008, to protect 
children. This law has since become the subject of much condemnation 
for many of my Republican colleagues as we discuss the humanitarian 
crisis on the border.
  We are here on this floor debating legislation to protect children, 
yet many of my colleagues want to take away due process from children 
who are trying to escape unimaginable violence in Central America. In 
Honduras, the murder capital of the world, the violence was captured in 
a story recently--and I apologize for the graphic nature of this story.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Cotton). The time of the gentleman has 
expired.
  Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York. I yield an additional 2 minutes 
to the gentleman from New Mexico.
  Mr. BEN RAY LUJAN of New Mexico. This is a story from The New York 
Times:

       During a recent late-night visit to the San Pedro Sula 
     morgue, more than 60 bodies, all victims of violence, were 
     seen piled in a heap, each wrapped in a brown plastic bag. 
     While picking bullets out of a 15-year-old boy shot 15 times, 
     technicians discussed how they regularly received corpses of 
     children under 10 and sometimes as young as 2. Last week, in 
     nearby Santa Barbara, an 11-year-old had his throat slit by 
     other children because he did not pay a 50-cent extortion 
     fee.

  The doctor at the morgue said: before, we saw children being killed 
because they were at the scene when gangs were coming to prey on 
families and they just happened to be there; now, we are seeing kids 
kill kids.
  There are hundreds of other stories like this.
  Mr. Speaker, I beg and I plead of my colleagues, each and every one 
of us that may or may not have been here when the law passed, but those 
of us that are here now, these are kids. I know that you and I, Mr. 
Speaker, that we love children, and we want to make sure that they are 
not victims of these horrific crimes.
  Please, please, take this weekend and ask the Speaker to remove the 
provisions that will take away the due process from these children. As 
we pass these bills together, let us not forget what brought this 
Congress together in 2008, to protect these children.
  Let us show the same compassion that is a driving force of these 
bills tonight.
  Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I would like to 
thank the gentleman from New Mexico for his eloquent and passionate 
remarks, a concern so many of us share.
  With that, Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. MEADOWS. Mr. Speaker, we have no more speakers, and I yield back 
the balance of my time.
  Mr. HULTGREN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the Human 
Trafficking Prioritization Act, H.R. 2283, and commend my friend and 
colleague Rep. Chris Smith for introducing it. Congressman Smith is a 
leader in the global fight against sex slavery and I thank him for all 
he has done and the leadership he continues to provide.
  The State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in 
Persons (J/TIP) does a fantastic job of maintaining U.S. leadership and 
accountability in the worldwide effort to combat human trafficking.
  Today, human trafficking represents a modern form of slavery. It is a 
crisis that victimizes 21 million people worldwide.
  In my home state of Illinois, the National Human Trafficking Resource 
Center estimates 25,000 women and girls are exploited each year by sex 
traffickers.
  More than 130 countries have created or strengthened their anti-
trafficking laws largely due to the work carried out by the J/TIP. It's 
important, therefore, to provide the J/TIP with the standing it needs 
to maintain the momentum that has resulted in increased prosecution of 
traffickers, protection of victims, and prevention of human 
trafficking.
  The Human Trafficking Prioritization Act does just that. By raising 
the status of the J/TIP ``office'' to that of a ``bureau'' and 
encouraging the Secretary of State to upgrade the ``ambassador-at-
large'' position to that of an ``assistant secretary,'' H.R 2283 builds 
upon the acknowledged accomplishments of the J/TIP.
  It will give the J/TIP and the Ambassador-at-Large who leads it level 
standing with regional and functional bureaus within the State 
Department and prevent countries and other bureaus at the agency from 
gaming the tier ranking system. It achieves this without creating 
additional bureaucracy or additional cost to the government.
  As a member of the Congressional Human Trafficking Task Force working 
with the congressional leadership, J/TIP, and international anti-
trafficking groups to end sex slavery, I know it is critical to keep 
the fight against human trafficking from being consumed in a 
bureaucratic shuffle. I am convinced that the Human Trafficking 
Prioritization Act will only serve to enhance the vital work undertaken 
by the J/TIP.
  Human trafficking targets the most vulnerable in a society. The Human 
Trafficking Prioritization Act will give the J/TIP the integration and 
voice it deserves within the Department of State to ensure nations are 
diligent in their efforts to protect the victims and punish the 
perpetrators of human trafficking.
  Again, I thank Mr. Smith for introducing this bill and I urge my 
colleagues to support its passage.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, as a senior member of the Judiciary and 
Homeland Security Committees, I rise in strong support of H.R. 2283, 
``Human Trafficking Prioritization Act of 2014.''
  I support this bipartisan legislation which modifies the Trafficking 
Victims Protection Act of 2000 to elevate the status of the Office to 
Monitor and Combat Trafficking to that of the Bureau to Combat 
Trafficking in Persons, which shall be headed by an Assistant Secretary 
of State.
  The office produces the annual Trafficking in Persons Report (TIP 
Report), which is Congress' primary resource for human trafficking

[[Page 12789]]

reporting, analysis and recommendations for the United States and 186 
countries around the world. The TIP Report also contains tier rankings 
of each country on which it reports, which are used to help protect 
victims, prevent trafficking and prosecute traffickers.
  Mr. Speaker, I agree with many thoughtful observers that the Office 
to Monitor and Combat Trafficking would be even more effective in 
carrying out the duties mandated by Congress in the Trafficking Victims 
Protection Act of 2000 if its status was elevated from that of 
``Office'' to a ``Bureau'' within the department hierarchy and the 
title of its chief administrator elevated from ``director'' to 
``Assistant Secretary of State.''
  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.
  It is estimated 2.8 million children living on the streets of this 
nation are at risk for trafficking into the sex industry. Children who 
are abused or victims of molestation are most vulnerable.
  If they are lured into human trafficking they are isolated from the 
rest of the world and start living lives controlled by pimps, escort 
and massage services, private dancing clubs, pornographic clubs and 
much worse.
  Mr. Speaker, this bill requires the Secretary of State to report to 
Congress within 90 days of enactment on how long each assistant 
secretary designation has been in existence, and whether the 
designation was legislatively mandated or authorized.
  According to a Northwestern Journal of International Human Rights 
Report Mexican authorities are working to address the problem of trans-
border human trafficking, but the country's ``legal framework remains 
largely untouched and hence limited in its crime-fighting scope and 
effectiveness.''
  According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Houston, Texas is one of 
the nation's largest hubs for human trafficking, with over 200 active 
brothels in Houston and two new ones opening each month.
  Houston has also surpassed Las Vegas for the dubious distinction of 
having the most strip clubs and illicit spas serving as fronts for sex 
trafficking.
  Human trafficking in Texas is not limited to Houston. During the 2011 
Dallas Super Bowl, 133 underage arrests for prostitution were made and 
during this year's massive effort ``Operation Cross Country'' led by 
the FBI, several pimps were arrested.
  In 2006, the Department of Justice National Conference on Human 
Trafficking identified the I-10 corridor as one of the main routes for 
traffickers. Interstate I-10 links the major Texas urban areas Houston, 
San Antonio and El Paso and dozens of mid- and small sized towns in 
between.
  Mr. Speaker, one of the most important things that can and must 
continue to be done is to raise public awareness of the continuing 
prevalence of modern day slavery and human trafficking.
  Raising the visibility and status of the governmental entity charged 
with the responsibility of documenting the problems, successes, and 
remaining challenges confronting the United States and the 
international community in eradicating the scourge of human trafficking 
is a positive step forward in achieving this goal.
  I urge all of my colleagues to join me in supporting passage of H.R. 
2283.
  Mr. MESSER. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Human Trafficking 
Prioritization Act, which will bolster America's efforts to prevent 
human trafficking.
  I want to commend Chairman Royce and Representative Chris Smith for 
bringing this measure forward.
  Despite international condemnation, trafficking in persons is still a 
prolific violation of human rights that affects people in every 
country, including the United States.
  This transnational crime exploits the most vulnerable and often 
subjects the victims to mental and physical abuse.
  The United States has responded to this widespread human rights 
violation by creating in the State Department the Office to Monitor and 
Combat Trafficking, which focuses on the prevention and prosecution of 
human trafficking, and the protection of its victims.
  This legislation would further strengthen U.S. anti-trafficking 
policies by designating this office as a bureau with direct access to 
the Secretary of State, all without expanding the role of the Federal 
government.
  A vote for this legislation is a vote in favor of prioritizing the 
protection of human dignity.
  I urge my colleagues to support this measure.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Meadows) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 2283, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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