I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 507 

To direct the Attorney General to study issues relating to human trafficking, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 11, 2019 

Ms. BASS (for herself and Mrs. WAGNER) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the 

Committee on Education and Labor, 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 direct the Attorney General to study issues relating to 

human trafficking, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Put Trafficking Vic5 tims First Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. TRAINING FOR PROSECUTIONS OF TRAFFICKERS 

2 AND SUPPORT FOR STATE SERVICES FOR 

3 VICTIMS OF TRAFFICKING. 

4 It is the sense of Congress that a portion of the funds 

5 available for training and technical assistance under sec6 tion 107(b)(2)(B)(ii) of the Victims of Trafficking and Vi7 olence Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 

8 7105(b)(2)(B)(ii)) should be devoted to advancing the fol9 lowing goals: 

10 (1) Increasing the personal safety of victim 

11 service providers, who may face intimidation or re12 taliation for their activities. 

13 (2) Promoting a trauma-informed, evidence14 based, and victim-centered approach to the provision 

15 of services for victims of trafficking. 

16 (3) Ensuring that law enforcement officers and 

17 prosecutors make every attempt to determine wheth18 er an individual is a victim of human trafficking be19 fore arresting the individual for, or charging the in20 dividual with, an offense that is a direct result of the 

21 victimization of the individual. 

22 (4) Effectively prosecuting traffickers and indi23 viduals who patronize or solicit children for sex, and 

24 facilitating access for child victims of commercial sex 

25 trafficking to the services and protections afforded 

26 to other victims of sexual violence. 


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1 (5) Encouraging States to improve efforts to 

2 identify and meet the needs of human trafficking 

3 victims, including through internet outreach and 

4 other methods that are responsive to the needs of 

5 victims in their communities. 

6 (6) Ensure victims of trafficking, including 

7 United States citizens, lawful permanent residents, 

8 and foreign nationals are eligible for services. 

9 SEC. 3. WORKING TO DEVELOP METHODOLOGIES TO AS10 SESS PREVALENCE OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING. 

11 (a) WORKING GROUP.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

13 the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney Gen14 eral, in consultation with other Federal entities en15 gaged in efforts to combat human trafficking, shall 

16 establish an expert working group, which shall in17 clude survivors of human trafficking, experts on sex 

18 and labor trafficking, representatives from organiza19 tions collecting data on human trafficking, and law 

20 enforcement officers. The working group shall, uti21 lizing, to the extent practicable, existing efforts of 

22 agencies, task forces, States, localities, tribes, re23 search institutions, and organizations— 


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1 (A) identify barriers to the collection of 

2 data on the incidence of sex and labor traf3 ficking; and 

4 (B) recommend practices to promote better 

5 data collection and analysis. 

6 (2) PILOT TESTING.—Not later than 3 years 

7 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney 

8 General shall implement a pilot project to test prom9 ising methodologies studied under paragraph (1). 

10 (b) REPORT.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years after 

12 the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney Gen13 eral, in consultation with the Secretary of Labor, the 

14 Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Sec15 retary of Homeland Security, and the Director of 

16 the Human Smuggling and Trafficking Center, shall 

17 submit to Congress a report on— 

18 (A) Federal efforts to estimate the preva19 lence of human trafficking at the national and 

20 regional levels; 

21 (B) the effectiveness of current policies 

22 and procedures to address the needs of victims 

23 of trafficking; and 

24 (C) an analysis of demographic character25 istics of victims of trafficking in different reVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:25 Jan 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H507.IH H507

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1 gions of the United States and recommenda2 tions for how to address the unique vulnerabili3 ties of different victims. 

4 (2) INPUT FROM RELEVANT PARTIES.—In de5 veloping the report under paragraph (1), the Attor6 ney General shall seek input from the United States 

7 Advisory Council on Human Trafficking, victims of 

8 trafficking, human trafficking survivor advocates, 

9 service providers for victims of sex and labor traf10 ficking, and the President’s Interagency Task Force 

11 on Human Trafficking. 

12 (c) SURVEY.—Not later than 2 years after the date 

13 of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General, in coordi14 nation with Federal, State, local, and Tribal governments, 

15 and private organizations, including victim service pro16 viders and expert researchers, shall develop and execute 

17 a survey of survivors seeking and receiving victim assist18 ance services for the purpose of improving the provision 

19 of services to human trafficking victims and victim identi20 fication in the United States. Survey results shall be made 

21 publicly available on the website of the Department of Jus22 tice. 

23 (d) NO ADDITIONAL FUNDS.—No additional funds 

24 are authorized to carry out this section. 


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1 SEC. 4. REPORT ON PROSECUTORS SEEKING RESTITUTION 

2 IN TRAFFICKING CASES. 

3 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 

4 of this Act, the Attorney General, in consultation with the 

5 Administrative Office of the United States Courts, shall 

6 submit to Congress a report on efforts to increase restitu7 tion to victims of human trafficking. 

8 SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS ENCOURAGING STATES TO 

9 ADOPT PROTECTIONS FOR VICTIMS OF TRAF10 FICKING. 

11 Congress recognizes and applauds the State legisla12 tive bodies that have taken tremendous steps to adopt pro13 tections and services for victims of trafficking. Congress 

14 encourages States to— 

15 (1) uphold the dignity of human trafficking sur16 vivors; 

17 (2) ensure the safety, confidentiality, and well18 being of victims of trafficking, while recognizing 

19 symptoms of trauma and coping mechanisms that 

20 may impact victims’ interactions with law enforce21 ment, the justice system, and service providers; 

22 (3) implement screening mechanisms to identify 

23 and extend appropriate services to children in the 

24 custody of child protective services agencies, the ju25 venile justice system, or the criminal justice system 

26 who are victims of trafficking; 


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1 (4) promote greater access to child welfare serv2 ices for, rather than criminalization of, child victims 

3 of sex trafficking; 

4 (5) develop a 24-hour emergency response plan 

5 by which victims of human trafficking may receive 

6 immediate protection, shelter, and support from a 

7 victim assistance coordinator when those victims are 

8 first identified; 

9 (6) adopt protections for adult victims of traf10 ficking, such as protection if the victim’s safety is at 

11 risk, comprehensive trauma-informed, long-term, cul12 turally competent care and healing services, mental 

13 health services to relieve traumatic stress, housing, 

14 education (including, where appropriate, vocational 

15 training and employment assistance), mentoring, 

16 language assistance, drug and substance abuse serv17 ices, and legal services; 

18 (7) ensure that child sex trafficking victims are 

19 treated as children in need of child protective serv20 ices and receive appropriate care in the child wel21 fare, rather than juvenile justice, system; 

22 (8) encourage the adoption of procedures for 

23 human trafficking victims that are consistent with 

24 those afforded to victims of sexual assault, rape, 

25 child sexual abuse, or incest to allow human trafVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:25 Jan 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H507.IH H507

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1 ficking victim to clear records, expunge convictions, 

2 and vacate adjudications related to prostitution and 

3 nonviolent offenses that arose as a direct result of 

4 being trafficked, including protections for foreign 

5 nationals who are being removed and those who are 

6 losing or determined to be inadmissible for immigra7 tion benefits as a result of the aforementioned 

8 human trafficking victim related conviction or ar9 rest; and 

10 (9) ensure victims of trafficking, including 

11 United States citizens, lawful permanent residents, 

12 and foreign nationals are eligible for services. 

Æ 


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