September 22, 2020 - Issue: Vol. 166, No. 164 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 2nd Session
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LEVERAGING INFORMATION ON FOREIGN TRAFFICKERS ACT; Congressional Record Vol. 166, No. 164
(House of Representatives - September 22, 2020)
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[Pages H4674-H4677] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] LEVERAGING INFORMATION ON FOREIGN TRAFFICKERS ACT Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5664) to amend the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 to ensure adequate time for the preparation of the annual Trafficking in Persons Report, require the timely provision of information to the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons and the Bureau of Diplomatic Security of the Department of State regarding the number and location of visa denials based, in whole or in part, on grounds related to human trafficking, and for other purposes, as amended. The Clerk read the title of the bill. The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 5664 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 ``Leveraging Information on Foreign Traffickers Act'' or the ``LIFT Act''. SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. It is the sense of Congress that-- (1) the annual Trafficking In Persons Report prepared by the Department of State pursuant to the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (the ``TIP Report'') remains one of the most comprehensive, timely, and important sources of information on human trafficking in the world, and currently includes 187 individual country narratives; (2) in January 2019, the statute mandating the TIP Report was amended to require that each report must cover efforts and activities occurring within the period from April 1 of the prior year through March 31 of the current year, which necessarily requires the collection and transmission of information after March 31; (3) ensuring that the Department of State has adequate time to receive, analyze, and incorporate trafficking-related information into its annual Trafficking In Persons Report is important to the quality and comprehensiveness of that report; (4) information regarding prevalence and patterns of human trafficking is important for understanding the scourge of modern slavery and making effective decisions about where and how to combat it; and (5) United States officials responsible for monitoring and combating trafficking in persons around the world should receive available information regarding where and how often United States diplomatic and consular officials encounter persons who are responsible for, or who knowingly benefit from, severe forms of trafficking in persons. SEC. 3. ANNUAL DEADLINE FOR TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT. Section 110(b)(1) of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7107(b)(1)) is amended by striking ``June 1'' and inserting ``June 30''. SEC. 4. UNITED STATES ADVISORY COUNCIL ON HUMAN TRAFFICKING. (a) Extension.--Section 115(h) of the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015 (Public Law 114-22; 129 Stat. 243) is amended by striking ``September 30, 2021'' and inserting ``September 30, 2025''. (b) Compensation.--Section 115(f) of the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015 (Public Law 114-22; 129 Stat. 243) is amended-- (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ``and'' after the semicolon at the end; (2) in paragraph (2), by striking the period at end and inserting ``; and''; and (3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph: ``(3) may each receive compensation for each day such member is engaged in the actual performance of the duties of the Council.''. (c) Compensation Report.--Not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall provide to the relevant congressional committees a plan to implement compensation for members of the United States Advisory Council on Human Trafficking pursuant to paragraph (3) of section 115(f) of the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015 (Public Law 114-22; 129 Stat. 243), as added by subsection (b). SEC. 5. TIMELY PROVISION OF INFORMATION TO THE OFFICE TO MONITOR AND COMBAT TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE. (a) In General.--Section 106 of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 [[Page H4675]] U.S.C. 7104) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection: ``(l) Information Regarding Human Trafficking-Related Visa Denials.-- ``(1) In general.--The Secretary of State shall ensure that the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons and the Bureau of Diplomatic Security of the Department of State receive timely and regular information regarding United States visa denials based, in whole or in part, on grounds related to human trafficking. ``(2) Decisions regarding allocation.--The Secretary of State shall ensure that decisions regarding the allocation of resources of the Department of State related to combating human trafficking and to law enforcement presence at United States diplomatic and consular posts appropriately take into account-- ``(A) the information described in paragraph (1); and ``(B) the information included in the most recent report submitted in accordance with section 110(b).''. (b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 103 of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7102) is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraphs: ``(18) Grounds related to human trafficking.--The term `grounds related to human trafficking' means grounds related to the criteria for inadmissibility to the United States described in subsection (a)(2)(H) of section 212 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182).''. SEC. 6. REPORTS TO CONGRESS. (a) Initial Report.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall provide to the relevant congressional committees a report that-- (1) describes the actions that have been taken and that are planned to implement subsection (l) of section 106 of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7104), as added by section 5 of this Act; and (2) identifies by country and by United States diplomatic and consular post the number of visa applications denied during the previous calendar year with respect to which the basis for such denial, included grounds related to human trafficking (as such term is defined in section 103 of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7102) (as amended by section 5(b))). (b) Annual Report.--Beginning with the first annual anti- trafficking report required under subsection (b)(1) of section 110 of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7107; enacted as division A of the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000) that is submitted after the date of the enactment of this Act and concurrent with each such subsequent submission for the following seven years, the Secretary of State shall submit to the relevant congressional committees a report that contains information relating to the number and the locations of United States visa denials based, in whole or in part, on grounds related to human trafficking (as such term is defined in section 103 of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7102) (as amended by section 5(b))) during the period covered by each such annual anti-trafficking report. SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. In this Act: (1) Locations of united states visa denials.--The term ``location of United States visa denials'' means-- (A) the United States diplomatic or consular post at which a denied United States visa application was adjudicated; and (B) the city or locality of residence of the applicant whose visa application was so denied. (2) Relevant congressional committees.--The term ``relevant congressional committees'' means-- (A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives; and (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Castro) and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. McCaul) each will control 20 minutes. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Castro). General Leave Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 5664. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Texas? There was no objection. Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, human trafficking, better termed modern-day slavery, has grown into a sprawling and complex billion-dollar criminal enterprise. An estimated 25 million people are currently victims of trafficking, having been forced into abusive situations involving forced labor, sex exploitation, and involuntary domestic servitude. The House Foreign Affairs Committee has a long history of confronting modern-day slavery, and the LIFT Act continues that legacy for this committee. Madam Speaker, I thank my good friend and the ranking member of the committee, Mr. McCaul, for authoring this bill, and Mr. Smith for his leadership on this issue for over two decades. In 2000, President Clinton signed into law the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Prevention Act, now hailed as the most comprehensive legislation on human trafficking to date. That landmark piece of legislation came out of the Foreign Affairs Committee and was authored by our colleague, Chris Smith. That legislation gave the State Department the responsibility of drafting the annual Trafficking Report, which has been a critical resource in pushing countries to take action to combat human trafficking. The bill before us ensures that the State Department has adequate time to prepare the annual Trafficking Report. It streamlines data sharing among bureaus on visa denials for human traffickers and engages trafficking survivors in our policymaking process. We must continue to fight modern-day slavery and work to enact legislation that brings us to a brighter future free of this horrific injustice. Today's measure is a step in that direction, and I hope all of my colleagues, Republican and Democrat, will join me in supporting it. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time. House of Representatives, Committee on Judiciary, Washington, DC, July 30, 2020. Hon. Eliot L. Engel, Chairman, Committee on Foreign Affairs, House of Representatives, Washington, DC. Dear Chairman Engel: This is to advise you that the Committee on the Judiciary has now had an opportunity to review the provisions in H.R. 5664, the LIFT Act, that fall within our Rule X jurisdiction. I appreciate your consulting with us on those provisions. The Judiciary Committee has no objection to your including them in the bill for consideration on the House floor, and to expedite that consideration is willing to waive sequential referral, with the understanding that we do not thereby waive any future jurisdictional claim over those provisions or their subject matters. In the event a House-Senate conference on this or similar legislation is convened, the Judiciary Committee reserves the right to request an appropriate number of conferees to address any concerns with these or similar provisions that may arise in conference. Please place this letter into the Congressional Record during consideration of the measure on the House floor. Thank you for the cooperative spirit in which you have worked regarding this matter and others between our committees. Sincerely, Jerrold Nadler, Chairman. ____ House of Representatives, Committee on Foreign Affairs, Washington, DC, July 31, 2020. Hon. Jerrold Nadler, Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives, Washington, DC. Dear Chairman Nadler: I am writing to you concerning H.R. 5664, the LIFT Act. I appreciate your willingness to work cooperatively on this legislation. I acknowledge that provisions of the bill fall within the jurisdiction of the House Committee on the Judiciary under House Rule X, and that your Committee will forgo action on H.R. 5664 to expedite floor consideration. I further acknowledge that the inaction of your Committee with respect to the bill does not waive any future jurisdictional claim over the matters contained in the bill that fall within your jurisdiction. I will also support the appointment of Committee on the Judiciary conferees during any House-Senate conference convened on this legislation. Lastly, I will ensure that our exchange of letters is included in the Congressional Record during floor consideration of the bill. Thank you again for your cooperation regarding the legislation. I look forward to continuing to work with you as the measure moves through the legislative process. Sincerely, Eliot L. Engel, Chairman. Mr. McCAUL. Madam Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, the trafficking of people, whether for sexual exploitation or forced labor, is an affront to human dignity. It is, as the gentleman from Texas said, a modern-day form of slavery that oppresses nearly 25 million people around the world, including [[Page H4676]] right here in the United States and in my home State of Texas. A few years ago, a mother from Katy, Texas, in my district, reached out to me with one request: ``Please help me bring my daughter home, my daughter, Courtney.'' Courtney was a junior in high school. She was on the swim team and attended church regularly. She was groomed, unfortunately, by traffickers. She was groomed at her high school. Many parents think, ``This can't happen to my child,'' and not in suburbia in Houston, but just ask Courtney's family that question. The traffickers embedded themselves in the high school. They operated through Courtney's classmates. Like leeches, they latched onto Courtney's vulnerabilities, and they used them against her. It was then that she was swept up into this nightmare and used like property. We may expect things like this out of foreign countries, but not in our backyards. Thankfully, after several months of work with law enforcement, Courtney returned home to her family. I was there when she came home. She had battle scars. She had lost so much weight. She had just about died. It was quite a reunion with a mother and father and their daughter who had been gone for almost 2 years. She now dedicates her time to raising awareness and educating others on the signs of human trafficking. Her work earned her a spot on the U.S. Advisory Council on Human Trafficking. I cannot be more proud of her work and her inspiration to me and her contributions to the council. It is because of survivors like Courtney and the countless others that Chairman Engel and I introduced the LIFT Act to continue our committee's 20-year commitment to combating human trafficking. {time} 1330 The LIFT Act will help our law enforcement officers and diplomatic officials communicate better so we can then root out more human traffickers and bring them to justice. I was surprised to find out that when someone applies for a visa at an embassy or a consulate and they are denied on human trafficking grounds, that that information is not currently given to our law enforcement officers, to the FBI. The LIFT Act also gives a voice to survivors of human trafficking so that brave people like Courtney will remain a central part of the policy discussion. By reauthorizing the survivor-led U.S. Advisory Council on Human Trafficking through 2025, which is what this bill does, we are empowering survivors and sharpening our tools to counter traffickers. I am very grateful for the support this bill has received from the Alliance to End Slavery and Trafficking, and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Madam Speaker, the evil of slavery was abolished in this country many years ago. We are still living up to the principles of our Founding Fathers that all men are created equal. We are still bringing this country to racial and social justice. It is still something we strive for. We must end this form of human slavery today, and this bill is a start. We have a lot more work to do but the numbers are very perplexing. In fact, the numbers are very disturbing, the numbers of young children, both little girls and boys, who are swept up into this awful system. I have worked most of my life as a Federal prosecutor on these issues and now in Congress. I put the worst of the worst behind bars for these crimes where they deserve to spend a very long time in our prison system. They are the lowest of the low. So with this bill today, we renew and strengthen our commitment to stand with the exploited and the children against their oppressors. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time. Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time. Mr. McCAUL. Madam Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Yoho). Mr. YOHO. Madam Speaker, I would like to commend Chairmen McCaul, Engel, and my colleague Mr. Castro for bringing up this strong bipartisan bill. Human trafficking is an issue which is still alive and well today, unfortunately. It is modern-day slavery. The International Labour Organization estimates that there are 40.3 million victims of human trafficking worldwide today. The global human trafficking market is estimated to be a $150 billion per year industry, and I hate to call it an industry. The profits from these nefarious and heinous acts only go to fund corrupt governments and organizations to rain more terror, pain, organ harvesting, and suffering on the world's most vulnerable populations. As of 2020, the Counter Trafficking Data Collaborative shows globally 108,613 individual cases of human trafficking; 164 countries of exploitation; and 175 nationalities. The LIFT Act will ensure adequate time for preparation of the State Department's annual Trafficking in Persons Report. It will also require timely provisions on information to the State Department on the number and location of visa denials based wholly or partially on grounds related to human trafficking. One of the greatest challenges in developing targeted counter-traffic responses and measuring their impact is the lack of reliable, high- quality data related to the scale of human trafficking and the profile of the victims. The LIFT Act will help to provide this global data on human trafficking through its insurance of thorough preparation of the State Department's Trafficking in Persons Report. In these times of hyper- partisanship, combating human trafficking is a worldwide scourge on societies that we should, we can, and we do tackle in a bipartisan fashion here. In order to combat human trafficking, we must all continue to work together. I will, and I encourage all others to support the LIFT Act. Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time. Mr. McCAUL. Madam Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, in 2002, I formed the Internet Crimes Against Children unit in the attorney general's office in the State of Texas to stop internet trafficking and stop the exploitation of children online. Since that day, we have put thousands behind bars. This is a worldwide scourge. It happens on an international level. But what is, again, most disturbing, is it is happening now in our backyards. It is happening in suburbia America. A case like Courtney's is so compelling because you never thought it would be possible in a town like Katy, Texas, but it happens, and it is happening all over this Nation. The numbers from the FBI are revealing and it is an industry. It is a sick industry that is run by businessmen; that is run by lawyers, an industry that exploits our children. I have talked to many veterans with PTSD, but I can't imagine the post-traumatic stress of a victim of human trafficking who has been violated over and over and over again, offending the deepest ounce of human dignity where there is no dignity left, where they had to put their mind in such a place--almost like Stockholm syndrome--where they can survive the horrors that they are living in day in and day out. Madam Speaker, this has to stop. This bill will help, but this Congress and the next Congress, we really need to ramp up our efforts to take this issue square on, to put these monsters out of their business and say they are closed forever, and to put them behind bars for a very, very long time. Madam Speaker, I would like to thank many in my district who have worked hard on this issue: Houston 20's Jenn Hohman, and Austin 20's Lisa Knapp. These women are warriors for the cause against human trafficking. I also want to thank the Harris County human trafficking task force for their great work on this effort. They are truly one of the models for the Nation. When the officials from Homeland Security came down from the Blue Campaign, they told me this is one of the most effective operations we have seen in the United States, and it is a model for the Nation. [[Page H4677]] Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this meaningful, necessary legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time. Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume for the purpose of closing. Combating human trafficking is a global challenge, and we are proud of the State Department's critical role in that effort. This legislation will ensure that the Department has the tools and resources necessary to counter these heinous human rights abuses. I would like to thank the ranking member, Mr. McCaul, for his work on this important issue. This is a strong bill that I am pleased to support, and I urge my colleagues, Democrat and Republican, to do the same. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time. The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Castro) that the House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 5664, 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. McCAUL. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to section 3 of House Resolution 965, the yeas and nays are ordered. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further proceedings on this motion are postponed. ____________________
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