[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7710 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7710
To establish the National Counter Human Trafficking Research and
Development Initiative, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 10, 2022
Ms. Moore of Wisconsin (for herself, Ms. Johnson of Texas, and Mr.
Beyer) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, and in addition to the
Committee on Small Business, for a period to be subsequently determined
by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as
fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish the National Counter Human Trafficking Research and
Development Initiative, 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 ``Counter Human Trafficking Research
and Development Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Trafficking in persons is a multi-billion dollar
transnational illicit enterprise.
(2) Globally, millions of people, including children, are
trafficked each year through sexual exploitation or forced
labor.
(3) Human trafficking impacts every country around the
world, including the United States, whether as the country of
origin, transit, or destination, or combination of all three.
(4) Science and technology have important roles to play in
combatting human trafficking. The 2019 United Nations
Interagency Coordination Group Against Trafficking in Persons
report states that technology can help practitioners combat
trafficking, such as by aiding investigations, enhancing
prosecutions, raising awareness, providing service to victims,
and shedding light on the make-up and operation of trafficking
networks.
(5) Limited data sources and data fragmentation are major
barriers to anti-trafficking efforts, both domestically and
globally, and has limited the ability to carry out rigorous
study of human trafficking.
(6) Key areas of need for research and technology
development to counter human trafficking are measuring the
prevalence of trafficking, identifying effective mechanisms for
disrupting human trafficking networks, establishing metrics of
success for ongoing efforts to combat trafficking,
understanding long and short-term needs of victims and
survivors, vulnerability reduction, trafficking prevention and
demand reduction, understanding how legitimate businesses may
enable human trafficking, understanding all forms of
trafficking, including labor trafficking, the nature and
characteristics of victims of human trafficking in the United
States, understanding illicit activities and corruption
associated with human trafficking, and evaluating the efficacy
and impact of anti-trafficking interventions.
(7) To improve efforts to counter human trafficking, the
Federal Government must address major barriers to human
trafficking research and technology development by improving
and increasing coordination of research efforts and information
sharing among researchers, Federal agencies, law enforcement,
local, State, and Tribal governments, private sector, survivors
and survivor organizations, policymakers, international
partners, and other stakeholder communities.
SEC. 3. DEFINITION.
In this Act, the term ``trafficking'' has the meaning given the
term ``severe forms of trafficking in persons'' in section 103 of the
Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7102).
SEC. 4. COUNTER HUMAN TRAFFICKING RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE.
(a) In General.--The President, acting through the Director of the
Office of Science and Technology Policy, shall establish a National
Counter Human Trafficking Research and Development Initiative to
improve counter human trafficking efforts through--
(1) supporting interdisciplinary research in data,
computational, and information sciences, engineering and social
and behavioral sciences to accelerate scientific understanding
and technological innovation that contributes to the
prevention, identification, and disruption of human trafficking
within and across communities, including urban, rural, and
indigenous and tribal communities, including--
(A) research and development on tools for measuring
the prevalence of human trafficking;
(B) design, development, implementation,
adaptation, and evaluation of human trafficking
interventions;
(C) research to detect and disrupt human
trafficking demand;
(D) research to increase understanding of social,
financial, and physical networks used in human
trafficking; and
(E) research and standards development to detect
and disrupt cyber-enabled human trafficking;
(2) accelerating the development, demonstration, and
translation of technology that contributes to the prevention,
identification, and disruption of human trafficking, including
by informing anti-trafficking policymaking;
(3) leveraging existing research programs and activities,
as appropriate, on cybersecurity, privacy enhancing
technologies, biometrics, digital identity management, digital
forensics, data and metadata analytics tools, processes, and
techniques to prevent, identify and disrupt human trafficking,
including improving the taxonomy of digital trafficking
indicators and signatures;
(4) improving Federal agency coordination of research and
development activities to counter human trafficking;
(5) improving the sharing of human trafficking data and
information among Federal agencies and between public and
private entities, while protecting victim and survivor privacy
and safety, including by promoting trauma-informed approaches
to data collection and sharing;
(6) leveraging technology development across the Federal
Government to counter human trafficking;
(7) coordinating and collaborating, to the extent
practicable and as appropriate, with similar international
efforts and organizations to share data, research,
breakthroughs, and best practices;
(8) facilitating public-private partnerships between
Federal agencies, State, local and tribal governments,
academia, law enforcement, financial institutions, private
sector, telecommunications and internet platform providers,
nonprofit organizations, nongovernmental organizations, human
trafficking victims' and survivors' services organizations, and
international anti-trafficking organizations to improve human
trafficking research;
(9) supporting research and development informed by human
trafficking survivors; and
(10) identifying unintended negative consequences of
technology and policy implementation on human trafficking
networks, operations, and survivors.
(b) Initiative Activities.--The activities of the Initiative shall
include--
(1) sustained support for anti-trafficking related research
and development, which may include--
(A) grants to fund the work of individual
researchers and teams of researchers, including
interdisciplinary teams;
(B) projects funded under joint solicitations by a
collaboration of no fewer than two agencies
participating in the Initiative; and
(C) interdisciplinary research centers organized to
investigate basic and applied research questions, carry
out technology prototyping, development and
demonstration activities,scale up anti-trafficking
research and development, testing, and evaluation;
(2) sustained support for databases and related tools to
enhance scientific research and technology development,
including--
(A) support for the establishment, curation, and
maintenance of databases of vulnerability indicators,
trafficking indicators, and other related information,
with consideration of data security and privacy in
facilitating access to these databases;
(B) development of standards for data sharing and
curation, including interoperability, metadata, and
protection of privacy, confidentiality, and security;
(C) support for the development of privacy
preserving tools and techniques to enable computation
or analysis of trafficking indicators while maintaining
privacy and confidentiality of that data; and
(D) support for the development of computational
tools, including natural language processing, computer
vision, and social network analysis for the enrichment
of data;
(3) supporting activities to accelerate the translation and
implementation of new products, processes, and technologies
by--
(A) identifying precompetitive research
opportunities with potential for commercialization or
adoption by government agencies;
(B) facilitating public-private partnerships in
anti-trafficking related research and development;
(C) connecting researchers, graduate students, and
postdoctoral fellows with entrepreneurship education
and training opportunities;
(D) supporting proof of concept activities and
formation of startup companies including through
programs such as the Small Business Innovation Research
Program and the Small Business Technology Transfer
Program as described in section 9 of the Small Business
Act (15 U.S.C. 638); and
(E) pursuant section 24 of the Stevenson-Wydler
Technology Innovation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3719),
consider sponsorship of a prize competition; and
(4) supporting research and development activities to
support public outreach and dissemination of best practices,
tools, and information to prevent, identify, and combat
trafficking, including supply chain transparency, business
procurement, and other activities.
SEC. 5. INITIATIVE COORDINATION.
(a) In General.--The President, acting through the Director of the
Office of Science and Technology Policy, shall establish or designate
an interagency committee, which shall be co-chaired by the National
Science Foundation, and include representatives from any other Federal
agency the President considers appropriate (in this section referred to
as the ``Interagency Committee''). The Interagency Committee shall--
(1) oversee the planning, management, and coordination of
the Initiative;
(2) establish and periodically update the goals and
priorities of the Initiative;
(3) develop, not later than 12 months after the date of
enactment of this Act, and update every 5 years thereafter, a
strategic plan submitted to the Committee on Science, Space,
and Technology of the House of Representatives and the
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the
Senate that--
(A) guides the activities of the Initiative for
purposes of meeting the goals and priorities
established under and updated pursuant to paragraph
(3);
(B) establishes milestones and associated
activities that reach those milestones in pursuit of
achieving the goals of the Initiative;
(C) describe how the Initiative will measure
progress toward the established milestones; and
(D) describes--
(i) the Initiative's support for long-term
funding of research and development related to
countering human trafficking;
(ii) the Initiative's support for
interagency research and public-private
partnerships;
(iii) how the Initiative will contribute to
translating research and development results
from the lab to victim and survivor
organizations, law enforcement, investigators,
and prosecutors;
(iv) the Initiative's support for victim
and survivor-centric privacy, confidentiality,
and security considerations;
(v) the Initiative's support for inclusive
research of diverse populations, including
girls and women of color, homeless individuals,
LGBTQIA+ youth, Indigenous People, migrant
workers, and other groups; and
(vi) develops a plan to utilize Federal
programs, such as Small Business Innovation
Research Program and the Small Business
Technology Transfer Program as described in
section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C.
638), in support of activities described in
section 4(b)(3);
(4) in carrying out this section, take into consideration
the recommendations by the advisory committee established in
section 6 and input from other expert stakeholders; and
(5) coordinate with the Interagency Task Force to Monitor
and Combat Trafficking established pursuant to section 105 of
the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C.
7103).
(b) Biennial Report.--Beginning with fiscal year 2024 and ending in
fiscal year 2028, not later than 90 days after submission of the
President's annual budget request and every second fiscal year
thereafter, the Interagency Committee shall prepare and submit to the
Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of
Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation of the Senate a report that includes a summarized agency
budget in support of the Initiative for the fiscal year to which the
budget applies and the following fiscal year, including a breakout of
spending for each agency participating in the Program.
SEC. 6. ADVISORY COMMITTEE.
(a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the National Science Foundation shall, in
consultation with the Office of Science and Technology Policy,
establish an advisory committee on counter human trafficking research
and development (referred to in this section as the ``advisory
committee'').
(b) Composition.--The advisory committee established pursuant
subsection (a) shall be composed of not fewer than 12 members,
including representatives of research institutions, institutions of
higher education, law enforcement, financial institutions, payment
processors, private sector, nonprofit organizations, survivors of human
trafficking, including at least one survivor of labor trafficking and
one survivor of sex trafficking, and victims' and survivors' services
organizations who are qualified to provide advice to the Initiative.
(c) Duties.--The advisory committee established under subsection
(a) shall assess--
(1) the coordination, implementation, and activities of the
Initiative;
(2) the balance of activities and funding across the
Initiative; and
(3) the need to revise the Program.
SEC. 7. GAO REVIEW.
(a) Study.--Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of
this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall conduct a
study that includes an assessment of human trafficking data collection
needs and practices of Federal agencies, local nongovernmental
organizations, law enforcement, and prosecutors to improve Federal
research and development to prevent, identify, and disrupt human
trafficking.
(b) Report.--Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment
of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit
a report on the findings of the study conducted under subsection (a) to
the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of
Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation of the Senate.
SEC. 8. NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION ACTIVITIES.
(a) In General.--The Director of the National Science Foundation
shall continue to award grants on a competitive, merit-reviewed basis
to institutions of higher education or nonprofit organizations (or a
consortia thereof) to support anti-trafficking related research and
development that contributes to the prevention, identification, and
disruption of human trafficking.
(b) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be
appropriated to the National Science Foundation to carry out subsection
(a)--
(1) $2,600,000 for fiscal year 2023;
(2) $3,200,000 for fiscal year 2024;
(3) $3,800,000 for fiscal year 2025;
(4) $4,400,000 for fiscal year 2026; and
(5) $5,200,000 for fiscal year 2027.
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