Human Trafficking Prevention Act

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of my bill, H.R. 357, the Human Trafficking Prevention Act.

I would like to thank my colleagues Mr. Royce and Mr. Cicilline and my cosponsors, and I would like to acknowledge Majority Leader McCarthy for his leadership on taking up this legislation at the beginning of this new Congress.

No matter what part of the country you are from, human trafficking is an issue that we have to address now because lives are at stake. The State Department estimates that millions of children, women, and men are trafficked each year and forced into modern-day slavery as part of an evil and fast-growing industry.

We know that the crime of human trafficking is dramatically underreported, and most of it happens invisibly; therefore, a critical part of the work we are doing today is to bring human trafficking out in the open, so we can raise awareness and prevent it from happening to more of the world's most vulnerable populations.

We must also remember that this happens right here in our communities, all across our own country. Behind all of these numbers and statistics, there are real faces and real stories of women, men, and, too often, children--women like Mandy Palmer of western New York who 4 years ago met a man named Ryan online. Ryan was not who he pretended to be. Ryan turned out to be a human trafficker, a pimp who forced Mandy into prostitution and threatened her family.

New York continues to be one of the top hubs of human trafficking where sex trafficking, child labor, and indentured servitude happen all too frequently. Just one organization in New York, Safe Horizon, has worked with more than 600 victims in recent years.

In the Hudson Valley, we have seen it in Newburgh, in Poughkeepsie, places like Wappingers Falls, places like New Windsor, and even small villages like Pound Ridge. Story after story tells us that this disgusting, this horrifying practice of modern-day slavery happens right here, right in our own neighborhoods, in our own backyards.

Just 10 days ago, authorities took action against a major sex trafficking ring in Albany, New York. Nine women who had traveled here from a foreign country were forced into prostitution at four different massage parlors.

In another community in the Hudson Valley, about an hour away from New York City, a man tricked teenage girls to travel to the United States on tourist visas from countries like Brazil, Hungary, and France. He instructed these women to lie to both Immigration and State Department officials in order to gain access to our country.

It is precisely this type of situation that my legislation seeks to stop. We must ensure that our men and women on the front lines of our borders have the resources and training they need in order to identify and stop human trafficking at its source, before these women, children, and men enter the United States out of their own culture, away from their own language many times, and become isolated and become victims.

As part of our goal to end human trafficking, we can make sure that our Foreign Service officers and other government personnel have the tools and training they need to spot and to identify these victims and to stop this trafficking across international borders.

In the past, the State Department estimated that between 14,000 and 17,000 foreign nationals were trafficked into the United States every single year. Although the Federal Government has a zero tolerance policy on human trafficking, our Foreign Service officers, who often have face-to-face contact with these victims when they are obtaining U.S. visas, currently undergo minimal training to define, identify, and recognize the indicators of this human trafficking so they can stop it at the source.

My legislation would expand new minimum training procedures for Foreign Service officers and other government personnel in order to identify and stop this human trafficking before people cross these boundaries and end up in our own communities, before it becomes too late, when they are here and victimized.

We know criminals will do just about anything to adapt to our new methods and to avoid getting caught, so this bipartisan legislation also requires annual updates to keep on top of key problems, threats, the new methods, and to identify new warning signs of trafficking.

I want to thank my colleagues across the aisle because, by working together, we have a new opportunity to come together to combat this monstrous practice of trafficking in children, women, and men. Victims of human trafficking cannot wait another day. Today, we have an opportunity to do something together to combat this growing problem.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support my legislation, H.R. 357, the Human Trafficking Prevention Act.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 357, the Human Trafficking Prevention Act by the gentleman from New York, Sean Patrick Maloney.

Mr. Speaker, human trafficking is a global scourge. Time and time again, there are missed opportunities to identify and assist victims of human trafficking. This may be due to a lack of training to recognize signs of trafficking, or perhaps a hesitancy to intrude into the ``privacy'' of others.

There are numerous points of contact with the victims of trafficking, however, and at each point there are people who can intervene if they know how to identify victims of trafficking.

Traffickers often move their victims to avoid detection. Whether by plane, train or bus, they come into contact with flight attendants and the like, as well as border officials.

In July of 2010, I chaired a conference in Washington, D.C., to bring together the relevant U.S. agencies, such as the Customs

and Border Patrol, various U.S. airlines, and non-governmental organizations to focus on interdicting traffickers by training commercial transportation employees to recognize the indicators for trafficking. Speakers, including Deborah Sigmund, founder of a non- government organization called Innocents at Risk, explained how flight attendants were the ``first line of defense'' in the fight against human trafficking.

Flight attendants are in the unique position to observe a potential trafficking in progress and then call a trafficking hotline or inform the pilot to radio ahead so that the proper authorities can intervene.

Former flight attendant Nancy Rivard, President of Airline Ambassadors International, told us how she and other flight attendants compared notes one day and were shocked and dismayed at how often they had noticed what they suspected was a trafficked woman or child on their flight, but had no training or protocol to do something about it. Nancy has been doing a great deal about it ever since, training airline employees around the United States and world.

Just last year, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released a similar training initiative, the Blue Lightning program, to domestic U.S. airlines--including Delta, JetBlue, Allegiant, and North American Airlines. With minimal modifications, the training is also easily adaptable to bus drivers and station operators, train conductors, trucking associations, and other transportation industry professionals.

In December 2013, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, or OSCE, which comprises 57 countries from Europe and North America, endorsed my plan to make anti-trafficking training for airline employees, other public and commercial carriers, as well as hotel employees, a primary goal in the international strategy to combat human trafficking. In an earlier session, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (OSCEPA) adopted my resolution to implement such training in each member country.

But what about our State Department personnel working overseas? Are they properly trained to be able to recognize the signs of this heinous crime and violation of fundamental human rights?

Current law does require that State Department personnel be trained to identify trafficking victims, and there are many fine foreign service officers tasked with addressing trafficking issues.

But, it does not prescribe any minimum training requirements. H.R. 357, the Human Trafficking Prevention Act, would mandate several minimum training requirements on this issue within the Department of State.

These would include a training course for Department personnel who deal with trafficking issues, in addition to trafficking briefings for all Ambassadors and Deputy Chiefs of Mission before they depart for their posts. The legislation also requires that annual reminders be sent to appropriate personnel on key trafficking issues related to their countries of focus.

By specifying the minimum requirements for such training, this bill strengthens the existing law. And notably, it does so at no additional cost to taxpayers.

I want to thank Mr. Maloney for authoring this measure, and adding to the body of legislation developed by the House to address this critical issue.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 357) to amend the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 to expand the training for Federal Government personnel relating to trafficking in persons, and for other purposes.

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 material in the Record.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today as a committed participant in this body's decade-and-a-half-long fight against human trafficking since the passage of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000. Although we have made some progress and raised global awareness on this issue, there are still today somewhere around 20 million people around the world who remain subject to the horrors of this modern day slavery, either through trafficking for exploitation for work or child sex trafficking. Most of these victims are women, and many, as you know, Mr. Speaker, are children.

Given the high stakes, U.S. officials working overseas must be able to recognize the signs, the telltale signs, of this terrible crime. If they do not know which groups are most vulnerable, or what activities should raise their suspicions, then successful action is very unlikely.

Though current law requires that State Department personnel be trained to identify trafficking victims, it does not prescribe how they should be trained. This bill does. The Human Trafficking Prevention Act would specify minimum training requirements for the Department of State. These would include a training course for Department personnel who deal with trafficking issues, in addition to trafficking briefings for all of our Ambassadors and all of our deputy chiefs of mission before they depart for their posts. It also ensures that U.S. officials stationed overseas get annual updates on trafficking-related developments related to the countries where they are working.

We have done a lot to move legislation to force other countries to adopt legislation. But our Ambassadors overseas and their deputies overseas need this education.

While the State Department currently appears to be meeting many of the standards, we all know that practices can change, and by specifying reasonable minimal requirements for such training, this bill strengthens existing law at no additional cost to our taxpayers.

I want to recognize the gentleman from New York (Mr. Sean Patrick Maloney), who authored this measure, which passed as H.R. 4449 during the last Congress, and I want to thank him for reintroducing the bill that is before us today.

While we are discussing improvements to the anti-trafficking practices of our foreign affairs agencies, I also want to invite my colleagues to cosponsor H.R. 400, the bipartisan Trafficking Prevention in Foreign Affairs Contracting Act, that my ranking member of the committee, Eliot Engel, and I recently introduced and which we hope to move forward promptly.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time to close.

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, the fight to end human trafficking has been a priority in my tenure as chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee here in the House, but I am pleased that the House leadership and my colleagues on both sides of the aisle have chosen to make it our focus during this early week of the session.

Our actions today are not a conclusion on this issue. They are an opening salvo by the 114th Congress to continue our fight against modern slavery. This bill seeks to ensure that U.S. personnel overseas are properly equipped to combat the scourge of human trafficking and deserves our unanimous support.

There are other steps which we need to take, frankly, as an institution in order to continue to put leverage at the disposal of our diplomats and new measures into law to protect the victims of trafficking. As we go forward, we will do that.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, as a senior member of the Judiciary and Homeland Security Committees, I rise in strong support of H.R. 357, the ``Human Trafficking Prevention Act.''

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Chairman Royce and Ranking Member Engel for their stewardship in bringing this legislation to the floor and for their commitment to expanding the training and capability of federal government personnel in detecting and combating human trafficking and assisting its victims.

Throughout my tenure in Congress and a founder and Co-Chair of the Congressional Children's Caucus, I have advocated on behalf of victims of human trafficking, especially children, who are the most vulnerable and innocent victims.

I am also committed to ensuring that law enforcement agencies have the tools, resources, and training necessary to identify, apprehend, and prosecute criminals who ruthlessly traffic in people.

H.R. 357 strengthens the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 by amending it to require training related to trafficking in persons for all State Department personnel. Specifically, the bill requires the following:

1. A distance learning course on trafficking in persons issues and the Department of State's obligations under the Act to be completed by embassy reporting officers, regional bureaus' trafficking in persons coordinators, and their supervisors;

2. Specific trafficking-in-persons briefings for all ambassadors and deputy chiefs of mission before they depart for their posts; and

3. Annual reminders to all such personnel and other federal personnel at each diplomatic or consular post of the Department of State located outside the United States of key human trafficking problems, threats, methods, and warning signs.

This legislation does for the State Department what the Jackson Lee Amendment to H.R. 4660, ``Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations Act for 2015,'' approved by the House in the last Congress does for the Justice Department.

That amendment, adopted in May 2014 by the House, provides another tool in law enforcement's arsenal to tip the balance in favor of victims by ensuring funding for the Attorney

General to provide training for State and local law enforcement agencies on immigration law that may be useful for the investigation and prosecution of crimes related to trafficking in persons.

Mr. Speaker, trafficking in humans, and especially child trafficking, has no place in a civilized society and those who engage in this illicit trade should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

To effectively combat human trafficking, we need to provide resources and training to government personnel to assist victims and apprehend criminals.

By providing the necessary training and support, we will catch more human trafficking criminals and save lives, and prevent many other persons, including children, from becoming human trafficking victims.

I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 357, the Human Trafficking Prevention Act.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume, and I rise in strong support of H.R. 357, the Human Trafficking Prevention Act.

Mr. Speaker, I would first like to thank my friend and colleague, the distinguished gentleman from New York (Mr. Sean Patrick Maloney), for introducing this important piece of legislation.

Mr. Speaker, human trafficking is modern-day slavery. Its victims are robbed of both their freedom and dignity. Human trafficking violates the founding principles of the United States--life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness--and humanity's very fundamental principle of respect.

According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, almost every nation in the world is affected by trafficking. There are at least 152 countries of origin and 124 countries of destination affected by human trafficking, totaling over 510 trafficking flows around the world.

Human trafficking victims often pay to be illegally transported into various countries, only to find themselves at the mercy of their captors, deprived of their freedom. They are forced into various forms of servitude to repay their debts. Frighteningly, the U.N. also reports that 1 in 3 known victims

of human trafficking is a child. In some areas of the world, such as Africa and the Middle East, children constitute 62 percent of their human trafficking incidents. Women and girls account for 70 percent of trafficking victims worldwide, and men make up over 60 percent of trafficking incidents for forced labor. Human trafficking victimizes people of all ages, genders, and ethnicities.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to be a cosponsor of the Human Trafficking Prevention Act which is designed to ensure that representatives of our government recognize incidents of human trafficking when they see it.

H.R. 357 would expand Federal training requirements for State Department personnel on identifying and preventing human trafficking. This training includes specific training in persons, briefings for all Ambassadors and deputy chiefs of mission before such individuals depart for their post.

This bill would also require that annual reminders be sent to appropriate diplomatic personnel about the key problems, threats, methods, and warning signs of trafficking in persons at their respective Embassy and consular post.

Mr. Speaker, this legislation will better prepare our Nation's public servants to quickly identify incidents of human trafficking and take swift action as they serve abroad. We passed the same bill last year, and I urge my colleagues to do so again.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Sean Patrick Maloney), the author of this important bill.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I yield back the balance of my time.