[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1862 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]
S.1862
One Hundred Fifteenth Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday,
the third day of January, two thousand and eighteen
An Act
To amend the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 to modify the
criteria for determining whether countries are meeting the minimum
standards for the elimination of human trafficking, and for other
purposes.
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 ``Trafficking Victims Protection
Reauthorization Act of 2017''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
Section 103 of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22
U.S.C. 7102) is amended--
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (5) through (15) as paragraphs
(7) through (17), respectively; and
(2) by inserting after paragraph (4) the following:
``(5) Concrete actions.--The term `concrete actions' means
actions that demonstrate increased efforts by the government of a
country to meet the minimum standards for the elimination of
trafficking, including any of the following:
``(A) Enforcement actions taken.
``(B) Investigations actively underway.
``(C) Prosecutions conducted.
``(D) Convictions attained.
``(E) Training provided.
``(F) Programs and partnerships actively underway.
``(G) Efforts to prevent severe forms of trafficking,
including programs to reduce the vulnerability of particularly
vulnerable populations, involving survivors of trafficking in
community engagement and policy making, engagement with foreign
migrants, ending recruitment fees, and other such measures.
``(H) Victim services offered, including immigration
services and restitution.
``(I) The amount of money the government has committed to
the actions described in subparagraphs (A) through (H).
``(6) Credible information.--The term `credible information'
includes all of the following:
``(A) Reports by the Department of State.
``(B) Reports of other Federal agencies, including the
Department of Labor's List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or
Forced Labor and List of Products Produced by Forced Labor or
Indentured Child Labor.
``(C) Documentation provided by a foreign country,
including--
``(i) copies of relevant laws, regulations, and
policies adopted or modified; and
``(ii) an official record of enforcement actions taken,
judicial proceedings, training conducted, consultations
conducted, programs and partnerships launched, and services
provided.
``(D) Materials developed by civil society organizations.
``(E) Information from survivors of human trafficking,
vulnerable persons, and whistleblowers.
``(F) All relevant media and academic reports that, in
light of reason and common sense, are worthy of belief.
``(G) Information developed by multilateral institutions.
``(H) An assessment of the impact of the actions described
in subparagraphs (A) through (I) of paragraph (5) on the
prevalence of human trafficking in the country.''.
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
(a) Private Sector Support to Strengthen Law Enforcement Agencies
and the Role of Private Businesses in Preventing and Combating Child
Sex Trafficking.--It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) the President should work with the private sector to
explore, develop, and use technology that strengthens Federal law
enforcement capabilities to combat traffickers and criminal
networks; and
(2) private businesses, both domestic and international, should
take every reasonable step to prevent and combat child sex
trafficking.
(b) Efforts to End Modern Slavery.--It is the sense of Congress
that any future authorization of appropriations to carry out the grant
program authorized under section 1298 of the Defense Authorization Act
for Fiscal Year 2017 (22 U.S.C. 7114) should simultaneously extend the
accountability provisions under subsections (c), (d), and (e) of such
section.
SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON PLACEMENT OR RECRUITMENT FEES.
Section 106(g) of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000
(22 U.S.C. 7104(g)) is amended--
(1) by redesignating clauses (i) through (iv) as paragraphs (1)
through (4), respectively, and moving such paragraphs 4 ems to the
left; and
(2) in paragraph (4), as redesignated--
(A) by redesignating subclauses (I) through (V) as
subparagraphs (A) through (E), respectively, and moving such
subparagraphs 4 ems to the left;
(B) in subparagraph (B), as redesignated, by redesignating
items (aa) and (bb) as clauses (i) and (ii), respectively, and
moving such clauses 4 ems to the left; and
(C) in subparagraph (D), as redesignated, by striking
``unreasonable placement or recruitment fees'' and all that
follows through the period at the end and inserting ``placement
or recruitment fees.''.
SEC. 5. MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR THE ELIMINATION OF TRAFFICKING.
Section 108(b)(7) of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000
(22 U.S.C. 7106(b)(7)) is amended by inserting ``or enable'' after
``condone''.
SEC. 6. ACTIONS AGAINST GOVERNMENTS FAILING TO MEET MINIMUM STANDARDS.
Section 110(b) of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000
(22 U.S.C. 7107) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (1)--
(A) by striking ``The report should'' and inserting ``The
report shall, to the extent concurrent reporting data is
available, cover efforts and activities taking place during the
period between April 1 of the year preceding the report and
March 31 of the year in which the report is made, and should'';
(B) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ``based only on
concrete actions taken by the country that are recorded during
the reporting period'' after ``such standards'';
(C) in subparagraph (B) by inserting ``based only on
concrete actions taken by the country (excluding any
commitments by the country to take additional future steps
during the next year) that are recorded during the reporting
period'' after ``compliance'';
(D) in subparagraph (F), by striking ``and'' at the end;
(E) in subparagraph (G), by striking the period at the end
and inserting ``; and''; and
(F) by adding at the end the following:
``(H) for each country included in a different list than
the country had been placed in the previous annual report, a
detailed explanation of how the concrete actions (or lack of
such actions) undertaken (or not undertaken) by the country
during the previous reporting period contributed to such
change, including a clear linkage between such actions and the
minimum standards enumerated in section 108.'';
(2) in paragraph (2)--
(A) in subparagraph (A)(iii)--
(i) in subclause (I), by adding ``or'' at the end;
(ii) in subclause (II), by striking ``; or'' and
inserting a period; and
(iii) by striking subclause (III);
(B) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``the last annual
report'' and inserting ``April 1 of the previous year'';
(C) in subparagraph (D)(ii), by striking ``2 years'' and
inserting ``1 year''; and
(D) in subparagraph (E)--
(i) in the subparagraph heading, by striking ``Public''
and inserting ``Congressional''; and
(ii) by striking ``shall provide'' and all that follows
and inserting the following: ``shall--
``(i) provide a detailed description of the credible
information supporting such determination on a publicly
available website maintained by the Department of State;
and
``(ii) offer to brief the Committee on Foreign
Relations of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign
Affairs of the House of Representatives on any written plan
submitted by the country under subparagraph (D)(ii)(I),
with an opportunity to review the written plan.'';
(3) in paragraph (3)--
(A) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``and'' at the end;
(B) in subparagraph (C), by striking the semicolon at the
end and inserting a period; and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
``(D) the extent to which the government of the country is
devoting sufficient budgetary resources--
``(i) to investigate and prosecute acts of severe
trafficking in persons;
``(ii) to convict and sentence persons responsible for
such acts; and
``(iii) to obtain restitution for victims of human
trafficking;
``(E) the extent to which the government of the country is
devoting sufficient budgetary resources--
``(i) to protect and support victims of trafficking in
persons; and
``(ii) to prevent severe forms of trafficking in
persons; and
``(F) the extent to which the government of the country has
consulted with domestic and international civil society
organizations that resulted in concrete actions to improve the
provision of services to victims of trafficking in persons.'';
and
(4) by adding at the end the following:
``(4) Action plans for countries upgraded to tier 2
watchlist.--
``(A) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the
release of the annual Trafficking in Persons Report, the
Secretary of State, acting through the Ambassador-at-Large of
the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking and the Assistant
Secretary of the appropriate regional bureau, in consultation
with appropriate officials from the government of each country
described in paragraph (2)(A)(ii), and with the assistance of
the United States Ambassador or Charge d'Affaires in each
country, shall--
``(i) prepare an action plan for each country upgraded
from Tier 3 to Tier 2 Watchlist to further improve such
country's tier ranking under this subsection; and
``(ii) present the relevant action plan to the
government of each such country.
``(B) Contents.--Each action plan prepared under this
paragraph--
``(i) shall include specific concrete actions to be
taken by the country to substantively address deficiencies
preventing the country from meeting Tier 2 standards, based
on credible information; and
``(ii) should be focused on short-term and multi-year
goals.
``(C) Briefings.--The Ambassador-at-Large of the Office to
Monitor and Combat Trafficking and all appropriate regional
Assistant Secretaries shall make themselves available to brief
the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate, the Committee
on Appropriations of the Senate, the Committee on Foreign
Affairs of the House of Representatives, and the Committee on
Appropriations of the House of Representatives on the
implementation of each action plan prepared under this
paragraph.
``(D) Savings provision.--Nothing in this paragraph may be
construed as modifying--
``(i) minimum standards for the elimination of
trafficking under section 108; or
``(ii) the actions against governments failing to meet
minimum standards under this section or the criteria for
placement on the Special Watch List under paragraph (2).''.
SEC. 7. COMMUNICATION WITH GOVERNMENTS OF COUNTRIES DESIGNATED AS TIER
2 WATCH LIST COUNTRIES ON THE TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT.
(a) In General.--Not less than annually, the Secretary of State
shall provide, to the foreign minister of each country that has been
downgraded to a ``Tier 2 Watch List'' country pursuant to the
Trafficking in Persons report submitted under section 110(b) of the
Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7107(b))--
(1) a copy of the annual Trafficking in Persons report; and
(2) information pertinent to that country's downgrade,
including--
(A) confirmation of the country's designation to the Tier 2
Watch List;
(B) the implications associated with such designation and
the consequences for the country of a downgrade to Tier 3;
(C) the factors that contributed to the downgrade; and
(D) the steps that the country must take to be considered
for an upgrade in status of designation.
(b) Sense of Congress Regarding Communications.--It is the sense of
Congress that, given the gravity of a Tier 2 Watch List designation,
the Secretary of State should communicate the information described in
subsection (a) to the foreign minister of any country downgraded to the
Tier 2 Watch List.
SEC. 8. UNITED STATES SUPPORT FOR INTEGRATION OF ANTI-TRAFFICKING
INTERVENTIONS IN MULTILATERAL DEVELOPMENT BANKS.
(a) Requirements.--The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation
with the Secretary of State, acting through the Ambassador at Large for
Monitoring and Combating Trafficking in Persons, shall instruct the
United States Executive Director of each multilateral development bank
to initiate discussions with the other executive directors and
management of the respective multilateral development bank to--
(1) further develop anti-human trafficking provisions in
relevant project development, safeguards, procurement, and
evaluation policies;
(2) employing a risk-based approach, require human trafficking
risk assessments and integration plans as a routine part of
developing projects through existing, forthcoming or new mechanisms
and processes;
(3) support analyses of the impact of severe forms of
trafficking in persons on key indicators of economic and social
development and of the benefits of reducing human trafficking on
economic and social development;
(4) support the proactive integration of effective anti-
trafficking interventions into projects with the objectives of
enhancing development outcomes and reducing the incidence of severe
forms of trafficking in project areas;
(5) increase the capacity of multilateral development banks and
of recipient governments to conduct human trafficking risk
assessments and integrate anti-trafficking interventions into
projects;
(6) support the development of meaningful risk mitigation and
reduction policies, regulations, and strategies within the
multilateral development banks to reduce the incidence and
prevalence of severe forms of trafficking in persons and enhance
development outcomes that may be improved by reducing the incidence
and prevalence of human trafficking; and
(7) support the inclusion of human trafficking risk analysis in
the development of relevant country strategies by each multilateral
development bank.
(b) Briefings.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall make relevant
officials available to brief the Committee on Foreign Relations of the
Senate, the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate, the Committee on
Financial Services of the House of Representatives, and the Committee
on Appropriations of the House of Representatives on the implementation
of this section.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.