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97–774 PDF 2004

TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS: THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT’S APPROACH TO ERADICATE THIS

WORLDWIDE PROBLEM

HEARING

BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON HUMAN RIGHTS AND

WELLNESS

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON

GOVERNMENT REFORM

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

ONE HUNDRED EIGHTH CONGRESS

SECOND SESSION

JULY 8, 2004

Serial No. 108–247

Printed for the use of the Committee on Government Reform

(

Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.gpo.gov/congress/house

http://www.house.gov/reform
(II)

COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM

TOM DAVIS, Virginia, Chairman

DAN BURTON, Indiana

CHRISTOPHER SHAYS, Connecticut

ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida

JOHN M. MCHUGH, New York

JOHN L. MICA, Florida

MARK E. SOUDER, Indiana

STEVEN C. LATOURETTE, Ohio

DOUG OSE, California

RON LEWIS, Kentucky

JO ANN DAVIS, Virginia

TODD RUSSELL PLATTS, Pennsylvania

CHRIS CANNON, Utah

ADAM H. PUTNAM, Florida

EDWARD L. SCHROCK, Virginia

JOHN J. DUNCAN, JR., Tennessee

NATHAN DEAL, Georgia

CANDICE S. MILLER, Michigan

TIM MURPHY, Pennsylvania

MICHAEL R. TURNER, Ohio

JOHN R. CARTER, Texas

MARSHA BLACKBURN, Tennessee

PATRICK J. TIBERI, Ohio

KATHERINE HARRIS, Florida

HENRY A. WAXMAN, California

TOM LANTOS, California

MAJOR R. OWENS, New York

EDOLPHUS TOWNS, New York

PAUL E. KANJORSKI, Pennsylvania

CAROLYN B. MALONEY, New York

ELIJAH E. CUMMINGS, Maryland

DENNIS J. KUCINICH, Ohio

DANNY K. DAVIS, Illinois

JOHN F. TIERNEY, Massachusetts

WM. LACY CLAY, Missouri

DIANE E. WATSON, California

STEPHEN F. LYNCH, Massachusetts

CHRIS VAN HOLLEN, Maryland

LINDA T. SANCHEZ, California

C.A. ‘‘DUTCH’’ RUPPERSBERGER, Maryland

ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON, District of

Columbia

JIM COOPER, Tennessee

BETTY MCCOLLUM, Minnesota

———

BERNARD SANDERS, Vermont

(Independent)

MELISSA WOJCIAK, Staff Director

DAVID MARIN, Deputy Staff Director/Communications Director

ROB BORDEN, Parliamentarian

TERESA AUSTIN, Chief Clerk

PHIL BARNET, Minority Chief of Staff/Chief Counsel

SUBCOMMITTEE ON HUMAN RIGHTS AND WELLNESS

DAN BURTON, Indiana, Chairman

CHRIS CANNON, Utah

CHRISTOPHER SHAYS, Connecticut

ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida

DIANE E. WATSON, California

BERNARD SANDERS, Vermont

(Independent)

ELIJAH E. CUMMINGS, Maryland

EX OFFICIO

TOM DAVIS, Virginia HENRY A. WAXMAN, California

MARK WALKER, Chief of Staff

MINDI WALKER, Professional Staff Member

DANIELLE PERRAUT, Clerk

RICHARD BUTCHER, Minority Professional Staff Member
(III)

C O N T E N T S

Page

Hearing held on July 8, 2004 ................................................................................. 1

Statement of:

Clark, Michele, co-director, protection project, Johns Hopkins University

School of Advanced International Studies; Charles Song, director, legal

services program, Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking; and

Derek Ellerman, co-executive director, Polaris Project ............................. 84

Miller, John, Director, Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, Department of State; R. Alexander Acosta, Assistant Attorney

General, Civil Rights Division, Department of Justice; and Christopher

Gersten, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Administration for Children and Families, Department of Health and Human Services ............. 21

Letters, statements, etc., submitted for the record by:

Acosta, R. Alexander, Assistant Attorney General, Civil Rights Division,

Department of Justice, prepared statement of ........................................... 32

Burton, Hon. Dan, a Representative in Congress from the State of Indiana:

Information concerning National Geographic ......................................... 76

Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 5

Clark, Michele, co-director, protection project, Johns Hopkins University

School of Advanced International Studies, prepared statement of ........... 87

Ellerman, Derek, co-executive director, Polaris Project, prepared statement of ........................................................................................................... 106

Gersten, Christopher, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Administration for Children and Families, Department of Health and Human

Services, prepared statement of ................................................................... 61

Miller, John, Director, Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, Department of State, prepared statement of .................................... 24

Smith, Hon. Chris, a Representative in Congress from the State of New

Jersey, information concerning NATO ........................................................ 18

Song, Charles, director, legal services program, Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking, prepared statement of ................................................ 98

Watson, Hon. Diane E., a Representative in Congress from the State

of California, prepared statement of ........................................................... 13

(1)

TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS: THE FEDERAL

GOVERNMENT’S APPROACH TO ERADICATE

THIS WORLDWIDE PROBLEM

THURSDAY, JULY 8, 2004

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

SUBCOMMITTEE ON HUMAN RIGHTS AND WELLNESS,

COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM,

Washington, DC.

The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:10 p.m., in room

2154, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Dan Burton (chairman

of the subcommittee) presiding.

Present: Representatives Burton, Watson, Smith and Pence.

Staff present: Mark Walker, chief of staff; Mindi Walker, Brian

Fauls, and Dan Getz, professional staff members; Nick Mutton,

press secretary; Danielle Perraut, clerk; Richard Butcher, minority

professional staff member; and Jean Gosa, minority assistant clerk.

Mr. BURTON. We are going to go ahead and get started with the

hearing. We have other Members who will be coming and going.

We have a lot going on around here since we are getting close to

the Democratic and Republican conventions and everybody is trying to wrap everything up, so there are a number of hearings going

on today but we will go ahead and get started. Ms. Watson will

probably be here in a few minutes and Chris Smith is planning to

come and Congressman Pence and some others.

A quorum being present, the Subcommittee on Human Rights

and Wellness will come to order.

I ask unanimous consent that all Members’ and witnesses’ opening statements be included in the record and without objection, so

ordered.

I ask unanimous consent that all articles, exhibits and extraneous or tabular materials referred to be included in the record

and without objection, so ordered.

In the event that other Members attending the hearing want to

participate, I ask unanimous consent that they be permitted to

serve as a member of the subcommittee for today’s hearing and

without objection, so ordered. Right on cue, here comes Congressman Chris Smith who has just been covered with that language.

The subcommittee is convening today to once again examine the

atrocious practices of human trafficking and slavery around the

world and to discuss how the United States is attempting to combat these illicit practices both domestically and on an international

basis.
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The notion that slavery is still practiced in these modern times

is nearly unbelievable in most peoples’ minds, but unfortunately, it

remains an all too real and living nightmare for the 27 million people, this is hard to believe, who have fallen victim to some form of

slavery and who represent the highest concentration of slaves in

the entirety of human history. We have more slaves now than we

did at any point in history and this is supposed to be a civilized

period.

Trafficking in persons is a highly profitable subset of organized crime accounting for an estimated $13 billion in revenues every

year to the global economy, $7 billion of which is a direct result of

the illicit sex trade alone. In addition, human slavery is the third

largest form of illegal trafficking closely trailing the drug trade and

illegal gun distribution.

Because of the enormous profitability of this industry, slave holders will stop at nothing to traffic as many slaves as possible by

tricking and victimizing innocent people into lives of servitude by

preying on the most economically disadvantaged members of society. As soon as victims are deprived of the opportunity to return

to their homes, they are forced into domestic servitude, sweatshop

labor, prostitution and other types of compulsory labor.

This crisis has affected every nation in the world in some form

including many industrialized and developed nations such as the

United Kingdom, Australia and the United States. No country is

immune from the detriments of these illegal practices.

Although slavery in all its forms was outlawed nearly 130 years

ago in the United States, approximately 14,500 to 17,500 men,

women and children are suspected to be trafficked across American

borders every single year. While any instances of these horrific

crimes are deplorable, this is a relatively low number compared to

many other industrialized nations.

Even so, the current administration led by President George W.

Bush is still not taking these offenses lightly. For the first time in

history, the President addressed this problem head on before the

United Nations on September 23 last year. In his groundbreaking

speech, the President stated, ‘‘There is a special evil in the abuse

and exploitation of the most innocent and vulnerable. Those who

created these victims and profit from their suffering must be severely punished. Those who patronize this industry debase themselves and deepen the misery of others and governments that tolerate this trade are tolerating a form of slavery.’’

Under the firm guidance of President Bush, the U.S. Federal

Government has taken many actions to further curve instances of

slavery within our own borders. On October 28, 2000, then President Clinton signed into law the Trafficking Victims Protection Act

of 2000 sponsored by my good friend who is here with us today,

Representative Chris Smith of New Jersey. This groundbreaking

legislation has been instrumental in combating human trafficking

by supplying the first step toward providing protection to victims

of these crimes as well as strengthening the law with regard to the

prosecution of those who perpetrate these illicit activities. The bill

also requires the Department of State to submit an annual report

to Congress regarding the status of trafficking in persons around

the world.
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To address the Department of State actions to combat trafficking

as well as to discuss the recently released Trafficking in Persons

Report, the subcommittee has the pleasure today of hearing from

my former colleague, the Honorable John Miller whom I just recognized, Director of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in

Persons and a former Member of Congress who represented the

First District of Washington back in 1985–1993 and he is going to

speak on these issues.

The Trafficking Victims Protection Act not only provided agencies with tools to further monitor and combat instances of trafficking, but it also gave the necessary resources to provide assistance

to the victims of trafficking. Through the Department of Health

and Human Services, victims and certain family members are eligible for benefits and services such as medical care, refugee cash and

other social services. The subcommittee is pleased today to hear

from the Honorable Christopher Gersten, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Administration for Children and Families at

HHS. Welcome, Mr. Gersten. He is going to inform us of the agency’s programs to assist victims of these horrible crimes and improve

the quality of their lives.

In December of last year, Congress passed H.R. 2620, the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2003 which authorized continued appropriations for fiscal years 2004 and 2005

for the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000. In addition the

reauthorization of certain programs, this new law added even more

initiatives to the Government’s anti-trafficking agenda. Some of the

new measures include further campaigns to combat sex tourism,

harsher punishments for those convicted of trafficking offenses and

expanded eligibility for victims and certain family members for access to further access. Chris, you worked on that one as well.

The act also dictated that the Attorney General must submit an

annual report of their activities to combat trafficking to Congress.

The first report was released in May of this year and it gave us

an idea to gain further perspective on this report and the agency’s

current activities and programs regarding human slavery.

We have the pleasure today to hear of that report from the Honorable R. Alexander Acosta, Assistant Attorney General, Civil

Rights Division, Department of Justice. Thank you for being here.

Not only has the Federal Government worked to strengthen its

own policies and programs on trafficking, but it also has worked

alongside non-governmental organizations and NGO’s to further

address this illicit industry and to enhance the quality of life for

victims of these crimes. To better understand these relationships,

the subcommittee will receive testimony from Mr. Charles Song of

the Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking and with the assistance of private donors and the Federal Government CAST has

established the first ever shelter for victims of trafficking in the

United States.

In addition to CAST, the subcommittee will also be hearing this

afternoon from Mr. Derek Ellerman with the Polaris Project to discuss their activities on the multi-faceted topic of human slavery.

The subcommittee is also going to receive testimony from Ms.

Michele Clark, co-director, Protection Project at the Johns Hopkins
4

University School of Advanced International Studies to speak on

the public policy implications of trafficking in the United States.

As I stated before, trafficking in persons is a human rights tragedy that must be eliminated. President Bush’s administration, the

U.S. Federal Government and NGO’s like those with us today have

comprehensively responded to these crimes and should be congratulated for their work on this important issue.

This is something we really need to illuminate. We are going to

try to have more hearings on this in the future. I hope we will try

to keep this on the front burner so that we can do something toward eliminating this tragedy.

With that, I will yield to my colleague, Ms. Watson.

[The prepared statement of Hon. Dan Burton follows:]
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Ms. WATSON. Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman.

I certainly appreciate your determined efforts to promote awareness on the subject of human trafficking. Many people equate trafficking with other countries’ problems. In addition to the international conflict, we have trafficking problems here at home as well

as abroad and we must address them also.

The United States is a major and growing source of trafficking

activities with some 14,500 to 17,500 victims of trafficking entering

the United States annually. According to the State Department’s

Fourth Annual Trafficking I Person’s Report, most women and children trafficked to the United States come from Southeast Asia and

the former Soviet Union. About half of those are forced into sweatshop labor and domestic servitude. The rest are forced into prostitution and the sex industry. Women trafficked to the United

States most often wind up in New York, Florida, North Carolina,

Hawaii and my own State of California. Los Angeles is a major

area of human trafficking activities.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has provided the committee with some disturbing statistics of missing children. In my own State, the Center lists 292 missing children and

26 are from my area in Los Angeles or my district. With a busy

Tom Bradley International Airport, and the close proximity of the

Mexican border, there are several available pathways to traffic and

exploit my constituents.

Although there is a large problem to be addressed, I am optimistic for progress in the battle to stem human trafficking. Mr. Chairman, I want to thank you for your constant attention to this particular concern and issue.

In 1998, the Clinton administration and Congress launched a

governmentwide anti-trafficking strategy of prevention, protection

and support for victims, plus prosecution of traffickers. The resulting legislation was the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000. As a result of one of the more important provisions, the State Department issued its fourth congressionally mandated annual report on worldwide trafficking in June. The current

delineation of Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 2 Watch List and Tier 3 nations is providing a stronger spotlight on the worldwide problem.

On December 19, 2003, Congress passed H.R. 2620, or the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2003. This authorization for appropriations allows for fiscal funding in 2004 and

2005 of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000.

Recently, the U.S. Government has taken a number of serious

and significant actions to combat trafficking occurring at home. For

example, the Department of Justice has focused on increasing the

number of trafficking victims rescued and the number of prosecutions and convictions of the traffickers.

The Department of Health and Human Services is running a

major public awareness campaign to alert victims in the United

States that help is available through a new hotline number. These

positive steps must be continued and expanded until the problems

are eliminated.

Mr. Chairman, I join with you to monitor and assist governmental attention to the issue of human trafficking. This worldwide

problem must be fought on two battle fronts, one internationally
12

but most of all our own domestic side. The nature of this crime

intertwines the two battles requiring equal attention to both fronts.

I look forward to the testimony that we will gather today and I

commend the efforts of all who challenge the perpetrators and assist the victims of this atrocious criminal activity.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman and I yield back my time.

[The prepared statement of Hon. Diane E. Watson follows:]
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Mr. BURTON. Thank you, Ms. Watson.

As I introduce Chris Smith, let me say that there is nobody I

have met in my tenure here in Congress that has worked harder

on human rights issues than Chris Smith. He has worked hard on

the slavery issues, worked hard on the people who have been put

into gulags in China and elsewhere and there is nobody who works

harder than Chris. We are happy you are here with us today,

Chris.

Mr. SMITH. Thank you very much for your kind remarks and

thank you for your leadership because as some of you may know,

we sit next to each other on the International Relations Committee

and there is never anything that separates us. We work together

on these issues including human trafficking. It is no surprise that

you are again taking the lead with this hearing and the good work

you have done.

There is a close correlation obviously between this and the good

work you do on the abduction cases, particularly the hearing we

had just the other day and you were very prominent in that. So I

want to thank you for your leadership, as well as the ranking

member with whom I have traveled and have a great deal of respect for.

I would say to my colleagues very briefly that you and the ranking member have very adequately described the Trafficking Victims

Protection Act of 2000 and the Reauthorization and Expansion Act

of 2003. It is indeed comprehensive, it is landmark. It tries to give

the tools to all agencies of government to vigorously prosecute

those who commit these heinous acts of trafficking in human persons while simultaneously ensuring the women, and it is usually

the women, are treated as the victims and provided safe haven and

protective services, all while we work on prevention.

Certainly the tools are there and I want to especially thank my

good friend and former colleague, John Miller, soon to be Ambassador John Miller, for his leadership, for the fire in the belly that

he has exhibited in carrying out his mandate as Director of the TIP

office. He has been extraordinary.

To our other distinguished witnesses, as well, thank you so much

for your leadership and for doing so much.

I would announce to the committee and I am sure you are aware,

over a year ago, and President Bush never gets credit for this and

it really bothers me, announced through a Presidential Directive,

a zero tolerance policy when it comes to trafficking and that has

had particular application in our military. There has been an ongoing effort both in South Korea, for our deployments in Bosnia and

everywhere else in the world to ensure there is absolutely no complicity in trafficking and as a direct result of the policy enunciated

by President Bush, Secretary Wolfowitz put out a memorandum

January 30 that went into greater detail and a great victory was

just realized in NATO on June 28 with a great assist from Ambassador Nicholas Burns in Brussels with a new zero tolerance policy

for NATO. So these peacekeeping deployments and very often the

traffickers as we know look for the men in uniform to sell, the Russians, the Moldavians, the others who have been trafficked, the

Filipinos, and now NATO too has a zero tolerance policy. Next in

line will be the United Nations peacekeeping so that they too will
17

join the world to ensure there is absolutely no complicity in this

egregious crime.

I would ask that the statement or the broad outline of the policy

that NATO has just approved be made a part of the record.

Mr. BURTON. Without objection.

[The information referred to follows:]
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Mr. SMITH. Again, thank you.

Mr. BURTON. Thank you, Mr. Smith. Once again, I appreciate all

the hard work you do and everybody should.

My colleague, the young Mr. Pence from Indiana, who dies his

hair gray so he will look more mature, is with us. He is very active

in human rights issues. Mr. Pence, do you have an opening remark?

Mr. PENCE. Thank you, Chairman, for the courtesy of this invitation. This is an issue that I have admired your leadership on for

many years and that of my other colleagues and the panel. I am

grateful to have the opportunity to participate.

Mr. BURTON. Thank you.

Without further ado, I would like to swear you in. We would like

to keep the opening remarks to around 5 minutes if we can so we

can get to the questions and answers as quickly as possible.

[Witnesses sworn.]

Mr. BURTON. We will start with my former colleague, Mr. Miller.

STATEMENTS OF JOHN MILLER, DIRECTOR, OFFICE TO MONITOR AND COMBAT TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS, DEPARTMENT OF STATE; R. ALEXANDER ACOSTA, ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL, CIVIL RIGHTS DIVISION, DEPARTMENT OF

JUSTICE; AND CHRISTOPHER GERSTEN, PRINCIPAL DEPUTY

ASSISTANT SECRETARY, ADMINISTRATION FOR CHILDREN

AND FAMILIES, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN

SERVICES

Mr. MILLER. Thank you for having this hearing.

I think there are thousands of victims throughout the world that

thank you. If they knew that you were holding this hearing, they

would get new hope. Every time you hold a hearing on this issue,

you bring a spotlight and indirectly, sometimes directly, you are

helping to rescue the victims and put the traffickers in jail.

We are going to talk in this hearing about reports and figures

and all that. I have had the privilege in the last 16–17 months in

this job of traveling to countries in different parts of the world and

coming to realize that this is more than reports and figures, it is

about individual human beings. When you meet with some of the

people described in this last report, girls and boys like Khan, taken

hundreds of miles from Laos to Thailand, dumped in a Bangkok

embroidery factory working 14 hours a day, beaten, industrial

chemicals dumped on them; when you meet with now a young lady

but formerly a teenager named Katia taken from the Czech Republic trafficked to the Netherlands, forced into brothels through the

threat against her own child, forced to service hundreds and thousands of men, you understand why this is emerging as one of the

premiere human rights issues of the century.

It does extend to every country in the world. There is all kinds

of slavery, domestic servitude slavery, child soldier slavery, forced

labor slavery, camel jockey slavery and what we now believe is the

largest form of slavery, sex slavery. It does reach more of the female gender. We estimate close to 80 percent of the victims are

women. Around half are children.

The President, as you mentioned, last fall became the first world

leader to speak out on this issue at the United Nations to urge na-
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tions to cooperate. It has been my privilege in the last year to wear

a couple of hats, first, because of your efforts Congressman Smith

and others, there is the Senior Policy Operating Group that was set

up that I am privileged to chair that involves all the agencies of

the U.S. Government involved in this.

At the President’s directive, every one of these agencies has come

up with a strategic implementation plan to fight trafficking in persons as it is euphemistically referred to or slavery. Pursuant to

those plans, you will hear more about this, you have the Department of Justice having tripled its prosecutions in the last 2 years,

you have the Department of Health and Human Services reaching

out in the four major cities trying with media campaigns to reach

potential victims. You have the Department of Defense as Congressman Smith mentioned issuing a zero tolerance policy. You

have this group coordinating when the President announced at the

United Nations General Assembly a major initiative to fight trafficking in persons abroad, help the NGO’s abroad in rescuing victims and caring for victims. These gentlemen to my left are going

to talk more about that.

Let me go in the remainder of my time to one of the State Department’s focuses. Along with running a modest amount of programs abroad on protection and prosecution and prevention, we

issue this annual report every year that you referenced. This report

was required by you and I want you to know that it has had some

results. Yes, the problem is huge, let us not underestimate it, but

after this report which we discussed a year ago, countries in Tier

3 including some major allies like Greece and Turkey took some

tremendously significant steps, law enforcement training programs,

public service announcements to victims, prosecutions, convictions,

new shelters, etc. This year in the months preceding this report, 24

new countries passed anti-trafficking in persons legislation. This

past year there were almost 8,000 prosecutions around the world

and almost 3,000 convictions.

In the report this year, along with our traditional features, we

have some new sections, heroes in the fight against trafficking in

persons and Congresswoman Watson referred to the Tier 2 Watch

List which Congress put in the reauthorization bill and I had some

skepticism about but I think it is working very well because this

Tier 2 Watch List is helping address the problem which you all recognized that there were Tier 1 countries that met minimum standards, Tier 3 they were make no significant efforts, Tier 2 making

significant efforts, Tier 2 was getting bigger and bigger. This Tier

2 Watch List allowed us to deliver a warning to countries that are

in danger of falling to Tier 3, at the bottom of Tier 2. I think that

is having an impact. You will see some very large countries are on

the Tier 2 Watch List, Japan, India, Russia, for example.

In the report this year there is also more law enforcement evidence. You mandated that. It is not easy to collect but there is far

more information on prosecutions and convictions and sentences

than we have had in the past.

Last, a word on where we are going, new efforts. We hope this

coming year, the Secretary of State, the President, we hope to focus

more on the demand side of the slavery issue. Yes, there are source

countries, many of them less developed, but slaves end up in ad-
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vanced countries, in wealthy countries. We want to focus more on

the destination countries and when it comes to demand, as the

President said at the United Nation’s General Assembly, we want

to focus more on child sex tourism which is one of the major drivers

of slavery. Again, we can work with countries where the sex tourist

facilities are, the Cambodias, the Thailands, the Costa Ricas, the

Gambias, but where are the tourists coming from? The tourists

come from the Netherlands, Germany, the United Kingdom, the

United States and Japan. So we want to focus on the demand side

of trafficking in persons.

It has been 4 years since this report was mandated. Let us be

realistic. There is so much more to do. There are so many more victims to save and rescue, so many more traffickers to be thrown in

jail, but in the last several years with the United States taking the

lead, you are starting to see governments around the world awaken

to this issue and pushed by NGO’s starting to do some things leading to the abolition of slavery.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

[The prepared statement of Mr. Miller follows:]
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Mr. BURTON. Mr. Acosta.

Mr. ACOSTA. Thank you.

Let me echo my colleagues’ words and thank you for calling this

hearing. It is so important to shed light on this issue as we search

out and seek victims. One of the challenges we face is that too

many Americans don’t realize the existence and the magnitude of

this issue, so hearings like this really are a great step toward calling attention to what is a critical issue.

Technically, human trafficking is the acquisition or holding of

human beings through the use of threat, of force, fraud or coercion.

I think it is important to put the law aside and to try to put a

human face on this. In my office, I have a picture I sometimes use

when I am talking about trafficking in persons. It is a picture of

a small room, not much larger than a twin bed. There are three

walls, the fourth isn’t even a wall, it is a ragged curtain that separates that room from the rest of the house. In this small room, one

of the victims in one of our cases was held captive. The victim was

a girl approximately 14 years old. She was smuggled into this

country by men who brought her from Mexico. In that room, the

same room where she slept every night, she was forced to have sex

with up to 30 men per day, day after day after day. Then she slept

there at night.

Next to the small twin bed there is a night stand, the only other

piece of furniture in this room. On the night stand there is a teddy

bear. This 14 year old girl kept that teddy bear because that was

what reminded her of her childhood. She no longer thought of herself as a child. Next to the teddy bear, the picture shows a roll of

paper towels. That is human trafficking. It is evil and I don’t use

the word evil lightly. It is evil, it is hideous, it is modern day slavery and it takes place right here in America. As I said, too many

Americans are aware neither of its existence or its magnitude. We

have estimates that almost 15,000 individuals, as Congresswoman

Watson mentioned, mostly women and children are trafficked into

our Nation each year. Human traffickers are peddlers in this

human misery and they seize their victims by threat, by trick and

smuggle them across our borders in loathsome conditions often selling them from trafficker to trafficker, sometimes repeatedly.

We at the Department of Justice over the past several years have

dedicated substantial resources to prosecuting these traffickers and

the results are beginning to follow. Since January 2001, we have

charge 149 human traffickers, more than a tripling of the rate.

This year alone we have charged 39 human traffickers and our conviction rate thus far is 100 percent, a testament to the men and

the women in my criminal section who prosecute these crimes. We

currently have 168 open trafficking investigations, a number which

shows that the number of charges will increase.

I think it is important to recognize that this is only a beginning.

Fifteen thousand individuals are trafficked into the United States.

We are proud that we have tripled our rate of prosecution but we

must and we are doing much more. This year we have implemented an approach that sets up task forces in various cities

throughout the country in cities where we think the trafficking is

most likely to occur. We have established so far, four task forces
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and by the end of this year, we hope to establish well over a dozen

task forces throughout the Nation.

These task forces are critical because they allow us to be much

more proactive, much more aggressive in seeking out those dark

places where the traffickers lurk. The task forces rely heavily on

State and local law enforcement. These are the police on the

streets, the police who know their communities, the police that

know those dark places where the traffickers lurk and who know

those places where traffickers are likely to be that we must investigate and raid.

These task forces also rely very heavily on NGO’s because NGO’s

are critical to this effort. NGO’s are not only service providers that

help rescue and restore the victim but NGO’s have a great and vast

wealth of knowledge about the local communities, about where the

traffickers may be found. NGO’s are often the first people to whom

a trafficker turns for help. Trafficking victims are fearful, they are

disoriented. They are far from home, they don’t speak the language, they are here without documentation, they are afraid. They

are often going to turn to an NGO or to a faith-based group for

help. So our task forces need to work with these faith-based

groups.

Let me say one thing though. Vigorous prosecutions are only a

start. These convictions aren’t going to heal the pain, the emotional

scarring or the suffering that these women, these girls, these victims have been through. A victim-centered approach is critical. The

work of my colleague at HHS, the work of service providers is critical but it is critical that our prosecutors at the Department of Justice also understand and implement and begin with a victim-centered approach.

Victims typically are going to be distrustful. Interviewers and

prosecutors who address this issue must be sensitive to victims’

needs and must understand that unlike some victims of crime, trafficking victims may not immediately be ready to assist police. So

our victim-centered approach requires prosecutors to talk to victims

again and again to find out what the true story is. It requires prosecutors to work with HHS and with service providers to ensure

that victims of these crimes are kept safe.

Under our victim centered approach, it is the policy of the Department of Justice that individuals who have been subject to a severe form of trafficking as outlined in the TVPA are victims and

they are to be treated as victims. That is what they are and they

are entitled to all the protections and benefits of that statute.

Our record on this front is very strong. To date, the Civil Rights

Division has helped in the granting of 430 continued presence requests on behalf of victims. The Civil Rights Division and other law

enforcement agencies have helped 518 trafficking victims from 34

countries secure the benefits assured them under the TVPA. To ensure there is no slippage on this front in our prosecution of victims,

I have formally directed that before any Civil Rights Division attorney makes any decision to decline continued presence or makes any

decision to decline a law enforcement certification required under

TVPA, that declination decision has to be forwarded to my office

and to my Deputy Assistant Attorney General that oversees this so
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that we know if we are going to decline this, that we really mean

to do that because victims need to feel safe and secure.

Allow me to conclude by recalling President Bush’s words. His

words were alluded to before the United Nations. He spoke of another humanitarian crisis, a crisis spreading yet hidden from view

and he warned the nations of the inherent evil in the abuse and

exploitation of the most innocent and vulnerable, the victims of sex

trade who see so little of life before they see the very worst of life

on the ground of brutality and fear. He charged us with eradicating

this evil.

Try to picture this and return with me one last time to the small

room, the small twin bed, the night stand with the teddy bear and

the roll of paper towels. That picture tells us our mission given to

us by President Bush to make sure that victims do not have to return to those conditions again.

Thank you.

[The prepared statement of Mr. Acosta follows:]
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Mr. BURTON. Thank you, Mr. Acosta.

Mr. Gersten.

Mr. GERSTEN. Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member Watson,

thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today to discuss

the Administration for Children and Families’ activities under the

Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000. Under the act, ACF is

responsible for certifying persons as trafficking victims and helping

them access the benefits and services they need to rebuild their

lives.

Traffickers in the United States imbue their victims with incorrect but believable stories of their legal vulnerabilities. Traffickers

tell victims that they are illegal immigrants and therefore, criminals who will be arrested and deported or imprisoned if they approach law enforcement agents. Traffickers threaten their victims

and their families both here and in their home countries with physical harm, embarrassment and legal action. As a result, when victims do come in contact with law enforcement and judicial personnel, health providers and other people who would be in a position

to assist them, the victims tend to adhere to the coaching of their

captors and do not alert such persons of their plight.

Outreach is clearly critical to our efforts to help trafficking victims and I would like to focus my short statement on two critical

ACF outreach efforts, our public awareness campaign and our hotline.

The first, the campaign to rescue and restore victims of human

trafficking is designed to overcome the barriers the Federal Government has experienced in identifying and rescuing victims. The

campaign is a call to action for people to contact the HHS Trafficking Information and Referral Hotline to report possible trafficking

situations. The campaign has developed posters, brochures, fact

sheets, educational materials and a trafficking Web site. With the

chairman’s permission, I would like to share a couple of posters

with you.

Here on the right we have four posters that have been distributed broadly across the country with the headline, ‘‘Look Beneath

the Surface.’’ These posters are designed to educate those who may

come in contact with victims of trafficking with health service providers, with law enforcement personnel so that when they meet

someone in a hospital or pick someone up on the street who seems

bruised and battered, they ask the question, might this be a victim

of trafficking. We believe this is the first line in the effort to communicate with the public, with the individuals who may come in

contact with victims of trafficking but often think this is a street

person, a homeless person or someone who belongs in the criminal

justice system or someone who should be deported. We want that

person to ask themselves is this a victim of trafficking and if so,

to know there are service providing agencies that are available to

contact.

If you are interested, we would be happy to share with you and

your colleagues the additional material that we developed for the

campaign. We have a packet that has these separate posters, brochures and other material that we have available for all members

of the committee if you like. We are also working on Spanish language posters and materials as well as materials in other lan-
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guages. The campaign also is employing a coalition effort that targets intermediaries including law enforcement, health care and social service providers, faith and civil groups and other organizations that conduct outreach to populations vulnerable to trafficking.

As a critical component of the campaign, the Department has established a nationwide toll free trafficking information and referral

hotline. The hotline provides victims immediate crisis counseling

enabling victims to get accurate information about their options.

Victims and those calling on their behalf are referred to an organization in their immediate area trained to serve trafficking victims.

I look forward to working with you and the Congress as we advance toward our goal of substantially increasing the rate at which

the Federal Government identifies and assists victims.

I would be happy to answer any questions.

[The prepared statement of Mr. Gersten follows:]
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Mr. BURTON. First of all, let me say I think what you are doing

with these posters and everything is extremely important. Unfortunately, we live in the television age and a lot of these people that

may be in involuntary servitude as sex slaves or whatever it might

be, wouldn’t have a chance to see these posters. Do you do any television advertising?

Mr. GERSTEN. We have developed a public service advertising

campaign and have actually worked with television spots that have

been developed by the United Nations and gotten permission from

the United Nations to use these spots. They have now played in 31

cities across the country. This campaign is just about 6 to 8 weeks

old but we think it is a very important component. We are able to

track calls to our hotline in relation to the number of public service

spots that are playing across the country. You are quite right, for

contacting victims themselves, it is quite important that we be on

television. The public service spots are beginning as we create task

forces and coalitions around the country, we are asking those coalitions to take our public service spots and walk them into local television and radio stations.

Mr. BURTON. I think that is great. One of the things Mr. Acosta

and you at HHS could do would be to contact the major networks

and maybe even send a letter to as many of the major affiliates as

you possibly can across the country, maybe even with a copy of

some of the public service announcements you are talking about. I

would be very happy, and I am sure Ms. Watson and Congressman

Smith would be as well, to join you in that effort to make sure

these public service announcements are shown on a regular basis

because when you see these posters, they are very effective but as

I said before, I doubt that the people who might be forced into this

kind of situation will ever see those.

Mr. GERSTEN. I thank you for that offer. We will work with you

and your staff on that.

Mr. BURTON. And if you need more money for that, I am sure

Chris and I and Ms. Watson would be very happy to go to the appropriators and beat them over the head to try to get some money

for that.

I saw you had some $30 million that you are spending on the

program, is that right?

Mr. GERSTEN. It is $10 million for HHS and how much is Justice

spending?

Mr. ACOSTA. $10 million at the Department as well.

Mr. BURTON. John, are you guys involved in this at all?

Mr. MILLER. We are not involved in that particular effort. The

United Nations spots that were referred to were funded with your

taxpayer dollars and those spots have been translated into other

languages and we are seeing they are played in other countries

around the world.

Mr. BURTON. Public service announcements won’t cost anything

and I think all of the affiliates and the major networks are required to show so many public service announcements. I think the

FCC requires that. Since we have 17,500 people a year coming into

the country that we know of or thereabouts, it seems to me this

would be a real deterrent. If I were a trafficker, I think the one

thing I would fear most would be for somebody I brought into the
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country illegally or had in involuntary servitude might see television and see that kind of an ad. Now that we have multilingual

television programs, we have the Spanish-speaking networks as

well as others, I would think it would be something that would

really get through to a lot of these people.

Do you have enough resources to deal with the problem right

now or do you need more and if so, how much?

Mr. GERSTEN. From the Administration for Children and Families’ point of view, we are in the early stages of this campaign. We

have built grassroots efforts with hundreds of NGO’s in four cities,

Atlanta, Philadelphia, Tampa and Phoenix. We will roll out these

grassroots efforts to a dozen more cities this year and hopefully another 10 or 20 cities next year. My answer would be it is too early

to know at this point if there is a need for more resources. We have

to be very aggressive about building grassroots coalitions and about

getting public service television and radio. When we come back

next year, if we think the public service is inadequate but are comfortable with the level of our organized activity, then we will definitely talk about asking for more money but at this point, it would

be premature.

Mr. BURTON. The one thing that kind of bothers me a bit about

what you said is not the effort that has been made thus far, but

you only have six or eight cities right now?

Mr. GERSTEN. Correct.

Mr. BURTON. I know Miami, Chicago, Indianapolis, LA and a

whole host of places that I am sure need exposure as well. That

is why if you haven’t had a chance, you won’t have a chance to expand the NGO relationship between now and the next 6 months or

so. It seems to me the television public service announcements

would be a great step in the right direction until you get all that

put in place.

Anyone else?

Mr. ACOSTA. Mr. Chairman, the Department of Justice receives $10 million that it distributes in grants in addition to the resources

we have at the Civil Rights Division in the form of our prosecutors.

Certainly in reference to your invitation to issue a joint letter between HHS and Justice and perhaps members of the committee, as

appropriate, to encourage public service announcements, Justice

would be more than happy to participate in that.

In addition to that, we received a one-time allocation this year of $1 million to be used in training. I think the training of State

and local law enforcement cannot be underestimated. So far this

year, we have engaged in 99 trainings of State and local law enforcement. Our 100th training will be next week and will be a

major conference that will pull together prosecutors from 27 Federal U.S. attorney districts, more than 27 with State and local law

enforcement and NGO’s. We are not spending the entire amount on

the conference, we have some we are holding in reserve because

after the conference our vision is after they have come and spent

3 days, learning about the issue, educating themselves on the

issue, then follow that up with local task forces and local conferences. So it is not a one-time event but these task forces really

become real efforts where individuals coordinate, share information

and proactively approach this.
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The resources at this point are adequate. We need to get the

word out through HHS’ public service campaign and through hearings like this so that more Americans realize what is truly going

on.

Mr. BURTON. I am going to yield to Ms. Watson now but we will

draft a letter and Ms. Watson will join us in that, I am sure, and

Mr. Smith, and we will ask you as officials at the various agencies

to sign on the letter and we will try to get that out to as many affiliates as well as the major networks as possible. It would be great

to see some of these commercials and you can bring some of those

rats to justice.

Ms. Watson.

Ms. WATSON. I was just wondering, are there any examples of

sanctions against any countries due to their listing in the TIP report?

Mr. MILLER. Congresswoman Watson, last year there were 15

countries in Tier 3, the first year that the sanctions became possible. The good news was that of the 15 countries, the 10 with

which we had civil relations, took significant steps so that by September as the law provides, the Secretary was able to recommend

to the President that they be raised from Tier 3. There were five

countries that remained in Tier 3 and those countries unfortunately are countries that either already had been sanctioned or I

can’t say that sanctions would have any noticeable effect. I think

the main impact last year was not the sanctions, it was the threat

of sanctions coupled with the engagement that produced the results.

Ms. WATSON. I was sitting here going through the report and noticing that they have been able to capture the traffickers and so on.

Is there any kind of educational programs going on in these several

countries that would focus on motivation to do this? Is it all about

greed? Is it all about lack of morals and ethics? Is it just a common

criminal disregard for humanity? Where are we going with that?

Mr. MILLER. The motivations are certainly complex. I think you

are right, greed is a big part of it, lust in some cases, poverty is

a driving force, the attraction that lures people from poor countries

to be fooled, to be deceived, they get the pictures on television from

some of the wealthier countries, that is a problem. Organized

crime, by itself, is a factor.

This is not a complete answer to your question but in looking at

education around the world, I think in general, Congresswoman

Watson, education has focused on reaching out to potential victims.

We have helped a lot of countries startup such programs, whether

it is hotlines or brochures or going through the schools or as I saw

in Cambodia, taking out videos to the villages.

Where we need to have more focus is education on the demand

side. So far there has been very little education directed at the customer predators. This coming year, one of the things my office

hopes to do is come up with some ideas for education on the demand side and see if we can spur such efforts.

Ms. WATSON. Here in the United States, our problem is the oldest profession in history and there is a lot of money to be made.

In the State of California, we start to punish the johns when we

catch them. I am wondering if across this country we can’t do more
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in focusing on our sex trafficking. Some brothels are legal in some

States but we have a lot of work to do right here. Should we succeed, it could be a role model for other countries too. Can you comment?

Mr. HAMILTON. Yes. Others may want to comment on that but

I do want to comment on that. What you describe as the oldest profession, I would say it is the oldest form of abuse is what it is. The

evidence is very clear that this is not a profession in the way other

occupations are. The evidence is very clear that a majority of the

people, mainly women engaged in this profession, are suffering assaults, rapes and harassment and want to escape.

You mentioned something very interesting to me. That is prosecuting the johns. I think in the past, speaking worldwide, the efforts as I look at other countries, have been mainly on prosecuting

the victims, prosecuting those who have suffered in prostitution but

there are starting to be some changes. You see a country like Sweden, for example, that has just passed a law that has decriminalized the conduct of the women engaged in prostitution and

criminalized the conduct not only of the trafficker, the pimp, the

brothel owner, but the customer. They had some well publicized

prosecutions of customers. They are trying to get to the demand

side and interestingly enough, in Sweden, the evidence shows the

last year the number of trafficking victims coming into Sweden

from abroad has gone down significantly. All of this tells us we

have to look at both sides of this equation.

Ms. WATSON. Just one more question, if I may. Have we considered and have we done an international conference on world sex

trafficking and kidnapping?

Mr. MILLER. We had a conference just a little over a year ago.

Ms. WATSON. Under the auspices of the UN?

Mr. MILLER. No, this was under the auspices of the State Department, Congressman Smith spoke and the auspices of several

NGO’s. We had people from over 100 countries, 400 people from

around the world and they were workers. These were not primarily

government officials, these were people out in the trenches. They

came and exchanged ideas. I think it was helpful. I have to tell you

at this point, conferences are good but I think we are at the stage

when we look at countries in this report, we are now expecting

more than conferences. We want them to get on with the prosecutions, get on with protecting victims, get them to get on with education prevention.

Ms. WATSON. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. BURTON. I have one more question after Mr. Smith. Mr.

Smith?

Mr. SMITH. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Let me thank you all for your fine work. The presentations and

the material is outstanding.

On conferences, I think Ms. Watson does make a good point.

There are, as you know, a number of conferences. The OSCE, with

which I work very close, has been able to get a number of the 55

countries in Europe, Western Central, including Russia, to focus on

this issue. We will be holding an OSCE parliamentary assembly

conference in Greece in the fall. It will be focused on best practices

and what we can do with lawmakers to ensure that our laws pro-
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tect victims and prosecute the perpetrators of these crimes. So the

point is well taken that it is time for action but we can keep learning and expanding our knowledge and best practices base.

Frankly, the second bill, Mr. Chairman, really was in part an expansion act because some of the things we missed the first time

around we threw into the second and we heard from all of the

NGO’s, we threw out the net as far as we could and the administration and thank you, because you all provided all of us working

on that an enormous amount of insight that went into that second

bill.

I do have a couple of questions with regard to prosecutorial discretion, Mr. Acosta. My U.S. Attorney, Christopher Christie in New

Jersey has been very aggressive in going after traffickers and protecting women. He has broken up recently a ring where some 30

Russian women were held in captivity. They have been protected

now and released while the criminals are in the process of being

held to account and here have been many others he has had success in and ongoing investigations.

It seems to me because I do talk to a lot of U.S. Attorneys that

not everyone gets it. I know that John Ashcroft has admonished

the U.S. Attorneys a number of times when they have the ability

to decide what cases to proceed with or not, sometimes there could

be a lax enforcement or focus on this. What can be done to ensure

that in each of the locals, every U.S. Attorney. I know the task

forces have to help to raise everybody’s consciousness about this

but what can be done to really make sure this is done today without further delay?

Mr. ACOSTA. As an initial matter, let me say that the Attorney

General since as early as March 2001 has been speaking out on

this issue. It is an issue of high priority, an issue on which he has

held several press conferences. His priorities have been conveyed to

the U.S. Attorneys. I have met with the U.S. Attorneys through

their hierarchy, through their Civil Rights Subcommittee and emphasized the importance of this to the Attorney General, to the administration and they get it.

At the conference that is coming up, we have invited representatives from over 27 U.S. Attorneys offices including several U.S. Attorneys who will be attending this conference. For us, it is really

a crucial conference because it is the first time we are bringing

U.S. Attorneys together with local police and NGO’s for a 3-day period to talk about trafficking and to talk about what trafficking is

and how important it is that we prosecute. So it will be a spring

board not only for task forces, but for more informal mechanisms

where U.S. Attorneys will then return to their jurisdictions and redouble their efforts. As I said, we have already seen a tripling of

the prosecution rate with better numbers for this year but this will

be a springboard for them to return and redouble their efforts.

Let me also go back to the point I made about training. With 99

trainings so far this year, we are putting a lot of effort into the

training because it is not just U.S. Attorneys. In New Jersey, there

are very good relationships between the U.S. Attorneys Office and

various faith-based groups. That relationship with NGO’s is also

critical.
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Finally, a bit technical but very important is something we call

a blue sheet which is basically a set of instructions for U.S. Attorneys on the degree to which they need to notify main Justice when

they come across various types of criminal offenses. A recent

change in the blue sheet about a year ago now requires U.S. Attorneys to notify main Justice, to notify my office if they become

aware of a potential trafficking case. So that allows us to centralize

and to emphasize this issue.

Mr. SMITH. Mr. Gersten, in terms of the benefits side, is there

sufficient housing capacity available for those women if they need

shelter? I know you are working in your task forces with the

NGO’s. I know Catholic Charities, for example, has really stepped

up to the plate but they are only one of many others who have done

so. The $10 million and the money we have talked about in the authorizing bill and the appropriations side, frankly with a good faith

guess, we believe very strongly that number would have to ratchet

up significantly.

I would hope, and following on what the chairman said earlier,

as the need arises, notwithstanding OMB’s red pen, let us know

what is truly needed. We had a situation on the foreign aid side

a couple of years ago when I offered an amendment on the floor

in the foreign ops bill to fully fund the $30 million authorized in

the Trafficking Victims Protection Act and it passed overwhelmingly, got into conference with the Senate and all of a sudden it

was whittled down to about $22 million because there wasn’t an

absorption capacity.

I know and I know soon to be Ambassador Miller knows there

is no doubt shelters abroad and other kinds of interventions are

crying out for dollars. We just have to be a little creative and make

sure we find them but do we have the resources, getting back to

the chairman’s original question, and how is that going in terms

of getting the services out to people?

Mr. GERSTEN. We have not had a problem yet with inadequate

housing but there is a possibility as this program grows that we

will face new challenges and will have problems we don’t face at

this time. This program is growing a step at a time. We just

launched the hotline on April 1, 2004. This campaign is only 3

months old, so we are seeing an increase each month in the number of calls to the hotline and ask the hotline grows, as we get

more public service television, and as the coalitions grow, we are

going to identify more and more victims. As more victims are certified, we may at some point down the road come back and say we

need more resources or we are going to need more resources but

at this point, we have not gone to the limit of the resources that

are available.

Mr. SMITH. Let me compliment you on the creativity and I think

what will be the effectiveness of this approach.

I do have one other question about the victims’ families. One of

the things that we know for certain, Mr. Miller, you might want

to comment on this, is the retaliation against family back home a

problem when a woman is freed in the United States or any other

country or destination. As you know, we put into law the ability

to bring their families to join the victim here in the United States.

Has that been utilized yet? Have we gotten many women or men
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who have sought to bring over their families? How is that proceeding?

Mr. ACOSTA. Congressman, the answer is yes it has been utilized.

I don’t recall the exact figure but I know in several instances, families have received TDs or are in the process of receiving them. I

believe it is a T–2, T–3 and T–4 as opposed to T–1.

Mr. SMITH. Let me again compliment you on the task force idea.

I think the absolute vital importance of bringing local law enforcement into the equation—Philadelphia was I heard a resounding

success. I am sure each of these rollouts will be very successful. It

is part of the learning curve and getting police fully engaged at the

local level is absolutely critical if we are going to succeed.

I would ask Mr. Miller to comment. One of the drawbacks we

found or one of the hindrances we found to passage originally was

the idea of having sanctions. I think this idea of having smart

sanctions naming countries has proven itself and perhaps we can

apply to other areas of human rights law where people have been

reluctant to name names because there was vigorous opposition to

that before the bill was passed in 2000 and linking it to the withholding of non-humanitarian foreign aid. Of course the humanitarian aid we want to have that flow unfettered.

In your view, Mr. Miller, if this proves when you have a smart

sanction focused and you have a vigorous implementation, and I

want to say again how grateful all of us who worked on this legislation are to the Bush administration for so faithfully implementing this and for taking it so serious. It is making a difference. Our

Ambassadors are our representatives in country x, y and z and so

many of them have made this a cause for which they are deeply

committed. I wondered if you would comment on the smart sanctions idea?

Mr. MILLER. I think you are absolutely correct that Congress was

very wise to include sanctions in the original legislation, to continue it in the reauthorization. I think the threat of sanctions provides a very useful tool. It is not the only tool. You have to have

diplomatic engagement, you have to have NGO’s that are aggressive, you have to have a lot of things but it really helps to focus

the mind when you have that. I think adding the Tier 2 Watchlist

further helps to focus minds on this issue.

Mr. BURTON. Let me just conclude the questioning of this panel.

I was reading this National Geographic article which was from the

Department of State which says this gentleman, if you want to call

him that, Milorad Malakovic is in Bosnia and he says, is it a crime

to sell women, they sell footballers, don’t they? He says in this article that the United Nations international police forces in Bosnia

and visa and immigration officials have been among his most valued customers. What is being done for instance in places like Bosnia where we are giving a great deal of aid and assistance to the

various governmental agencies there? What is being done in those

areas to clean up the public officials, policemen and immigration officials who are participating in this kind of activity. In addition to

trying to get these people arrested and put out of business, what

about the people that are in government? Are we doing anything

about that?

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Mr. MILLER. Government complicity, if you look around the

world, all the causes when I was listing the causes for Congresswoman Watson, I should have mentioned government complicity.

In your legislation you say that should be a criteria in judging

countries. We name governments, we say which governments in

which we think there is complicity.

Mr. BURTON. Are we doing anything about it with those countries? I heard what Chris said about sanctions and that sort of

thing.

Mr. MILLER. That is one of the key criteria in deciding whether

a country goes into Tier 2 Watchlist and Tier 3. Our embassies are

instructed when they carry the flag on slavery to focus on the complicity issue. In the conversations I have had with our Ambassadors, I think they are doing that, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. BURTON. Thank you very much.

We will now go to our next panel. I really appreciate your testimony and we will probably have you back. We will be sending you

that letter. We are all going to sign it and if you will sign it, we

will see if we can’t work with you to get that out.

Mr. MILLER. As you know, I like to stay for complete hearings

and you have a distinguished panel of NGO speakers that I can

learn from. Somebody from my staff will be here. This is one of

those rare occasions where I have to go to another meeting and I

hope you will excuse me.

Mr. BURTON. No problem.

Our next panel consists of: Mr. Charles Song, director, legal services program, Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking; Ms.

Michele Clark, co-director, Protection Project, Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies; and Mr. Derek

Ellerman, co-executive director, Polaris Project.

[Witnesses sworn.]

Mr. BURTON. We normally start from my left to right but since

Ms. Clark is the prettiest of the three of you, we will start with

her.

STATEMENTS OF MICHELE CLARK, CO-DIRECTOR, PROTECTION PROJECT, JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF

ADVANCED INTERNATIONAL STUDIES; CHARLES SONG, DIRECTOR, LEGAL SERVICES PROGRAM, COALITION TO ABOLISH SLAVERY AND TRAFFICKING; AND DEREK ELLERMAN,

CO-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, POLARIS PROJECT

Ms. CLARK. I accept your compliment with gratitude. Thank you.

It is an honor to be before you today. I am Michele Clark, the

co-director of the Protection Project of the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. Over the past 2

years, members of our staff have traveled to over 30 countries on

five continents on behalf of child victims of trafficking in the jungle

regions of Peru, of women in tiny villages in Moldavia, of women

enslaved in the cabaret cultures of Cypress and women, men and

children in the neighborhoods of Washington, DC, Atlanta, Chicago

and San Francisco. I would like to thank this committee for your

vocal support of the TVPA and your concern evidenced by this

hearing that this act be fully and efficiently and expeditiously implemented.
85

Trafficking in persons continues to be complex. I would like to

talk about some misperceptions about trafficking as well as some

policy concerns that remain necessary to be addressed. Despite the

excellent campaigns of the Department of Health and Human Services, there is still a lot of confusion surrounding this issue globally

and within the United States. We still tend to confuse human trafficking with smuggling which puts in danger of feeling less sympathy for the victims and thinking instead that they are criminals

complicit in what happens to them. We remain ignorant about domestic servitude in our own cities. We find it hard that this kind

of slavery could exist or be perpetrated by our own neighbors. We

tend to believe that if there is trafficking it is for sex and as Ms.

Watson stated, because it is the world’s oldest profession, why

should we worry about it?

We find almost impossible to understand that a clandestine

brothel can exist in an affluent suburb right where we might live.

If we do pause long enough to consider that trafficking could be

real, we associate it with large ports of entry and border States. We

don’t recognize that the trafficking trends in this country have

shifted to the Midwest, the Northwest, New England and the

Southwest. According to the excellent report put out by the Department of Justice assessing U.S. Government efforts to combat trafficking, there have been investigations in all but four States in this

country. Finally, we tend to believe that trafficking in this country

is limited to foreign men and women, boys and girls. We are very

reluctantly ready to admit that this could happen to our own.

What should we do? Public awareness notwithstanding, outreach

not withstanding, the work ahead is still long and tough. I would

like to make some comments and express concerns and let you

know some recommendations that we have of particular relevance

to public policy.

First of all, I would like to underscore the desperate need for

committed, deeper, more intense work in the area of victim identification. We have visited shelters, we have visited countries where

shelters have been funded but where they remain empty with people scratching their head in confusion wondering where are the victims. We look at the statistics of individuals served in this country

and compared to the numbers, they are low. The efforts are good,

the organizations work very hard. We need to ask the right questions. If we don’t, we run the risk of several severe consequences.

The first is that without accurate and comprehensive victim identification, the sense of urgency required to combat trafficking in

persons will diminish. I am concerned that reports of empty shelters and limited services will make donors and funders question

the expenditures and will look at limiting funds rather than wondering how can we best infiltrate the areas where we know these

problems exist.

The benefits of proper victim identification are multiple. It ensures rapid intervention, ensures quick recourse and rescue. It has

to include two main components obviously raising the level of

awareness of the full extent of the problem within different communities but it has to go deep into the indigenous ethnic areas where

we know victims of trafficking to be, in the language expressed by

the representatives of that very community so that in addition to
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information, there will be an element of trust strong enough to

bring the victims out.

This leads me to my next point which is the need to expand our

notion of partnerships and to look at what our own legislation says

about that. I have traveled this country and overseas and I am so

impressed with the work of community based organizations and the

expanded NGO community. However, in an analysis of funding

grants to NGO’s for trafficking projects in this country of 40 grants

awarded in 2002 and 2003, only four have been given to faith-based

organizations. In its public relations campaign, the Department of

Health and Human Services indicates that among its strategies includes the placement of notices in religious media. They recognize

the role of that, however, the funding has not followed the recognition that is perceived in some other areas.

We have noticed an interesting thing when we travel. Although

some shelters remain empty, faith-based shelters, whether it is run

by Peruvian nuns in Lima, a Russian orthodox priest who got his

diocese to fund a building in Cyprus, these are full. I would like

to suggest several reasons for their success. They conduct active

outreach to the communities where they know they will find victims. They are trusted by the victims because they speak the same

language and are often from the same cultural background. They

allow for longer stays and in many cases, several years, allowing

not only for immediate recovery but for deep emotional healing.

My time is running out. I am also concerned that to substantiate

some of the claims I have made, I would also encourage the monitoring and more full implementation of Section 12(a) of the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act in which the President requests there shall be carried research included by providing

grants to NGO’s as well as to relevant U.S. Government agencies

and international organizations. This research will include economic causes and consequences of trafficking, the effectiveness of

programs and I would say we should really examine the role of the

faith-based organizations in some of these initiatives and the interrelationship between trafficking persons and global health risks.

I could obviously go on but I will allow these excellent witnesses

to speak and thank you again so much for your consideration.

[The prepared statement of Ms. Clark follows:]
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Mr. BURTON. Thank you, Ms. Clark. We will be asking questions

in just a minute.

Mr. Song.

Mr. SONG. Thank you for the pleasure and honor of speaking

with you this afternoon on behalf of non-governmental organizations working to combat trafficking and the thousands of survivors

of trafficking and their families that are working hard to rebuild

their lives. I would also like to commend Chairman Burton and

Congresswoman Watson for their leadership in championing the

rights of survivors of trafficking.

As the staff attorney at the Coalition to Abolish Slavery and

Trafficking, I have been privileged to work collaboratively with

non-governmental organizations, pro bono attorneys and law enforcement officials to ensure that survivors of trafficking receive

comprehensive legal services and social services. Since its inception

in 1998, CAST has been dedicated exclusively to assisting all victims of human trafficking and modern day slavery and working toward ending all instances of such human rights violations.

CAST achieves its mission by providing comprehensive social and

legal services to victims, conducting training and advocacy to improve survivors’ access to services and resources. CAST has been

a trailblazer since its establishment by creating a social service

model tailored to the needs of trafficking survivors and drafting

comprehensive training curricula with its partners to provide practitioners with the tools to better serve trafficking victims. The latest milestone in CAST’s continued leadership in the anti-trafficking

movement is the opening of the first shelter for trafficking survivors in the country.

This afternoon, I would like to highlight key portions of the 2004

Trafficking in Persons Report and convey our recommendations on

the way the U.S. Government can further strengthen its pioneering

efforts to combat trafficking and assist victims of trafficking both

at home and abroad.

First, we urge the U.S. Government to amend and improve implementation of the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection

Act of 2000. Second, we urge the Government to expand efforts to

prevent trafficking from source countries. Third, we urge the Government to increase its collaborative efforts with non-governmental

organizations nationwide and worldwide that directly serve victims

of trafficking.

In 2000, thanks the wisdom and leadership of Congress and antitrafficking advocates nationwide, the VTVPA was passed to prosecute traffickers, protect victims of trafficking and prevent further

trafficking. This landmark legislation recognized that survivors of

trafficking urgently need protection for themselves and their families in order to cooperate in a Federal investigation and prosecution.

Today, we have discussed a number of continued presence request granted and certification requests granted. Curiously we

have failed to discuss the number of the most important VTVPA

benefit granted, visas. Of the approximately 800 or so visa applications that have been submitted thus far, only 371 have been granted. This number, especially in light of the fact that 14,500 or approximately 15,000 persons are trafficked into the United States
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each year is a very disturbing figure. These numbers indicate that

less than 3 percent of the estimated 15,000 victims trafficked into

the United States every year are provided this critical victim protection.

When we consider this figure to be an underestimate, the portion

of victims receiving assistance is even smaller. Current officials

have set trafficking as a top priority for its government. If the

United States is to continue leading the struggle to end trafficking,

it must and can do better. Our recommendation is to amend and

improve implementation of the benefits provisions of the VTVPA.

CAST commends the U.S. Government on its outreach campaign

to raise awareness of trafficking in the United States. As the

wealthiest nation in the world, the United States is a major destination country with its alluring promise of the American dream,

yet the TIP Report does not mention how the U.S. Government

works with its embassies and consulates worldwide to provide information in various languages about workers’ rights and immigrants’ rights to all foreign nationals applying for a visa to enter

the United States. Many trafficking victims receive inaccurate information from their traffickers before, during and after enslavement and many are threatened with inaccurate information to prevent them from escaping.

We at CAST have seen many instances where the very knowledge of one’s rights in the United States could have saved a slavery

victim from further abuse and possible death. Victims usually do

not self identify as victims of trafficking because they are isolated,

threatened and live in fear for their well being under the thumb

of the traffickers. In fact, this lack of self identification as victims

of trafficking is one of the biggest obstacles in discovering and identifying victims of trafficking. Once they become aware that what is

being done to them is a violation of their rights, it will be easier

for them to come forward to denounce their traffickers.

Conferences have been useful forums for practitioners of all backgrounds and ideologies where they congregate to exchange new

ideas, best practices and lessons learned so that innovative programs will be replicated and tailored to meet the needs of victims

enslaved in any U.S. State or country in the world. We would like

to encourage the U.S. Government to organize international conferences open to all practitioners at home and abroad to allow for

transparent and free flowing information and resources so that victims worldwide will be served in the most effective and efficient

manner possible.

As the number of trafficked people grows exponentially and traffickers become more savvy in skirting law enforcement, it is critical

that governments collaborate closely with non-governmental organizations to find and assist victims. Furthermore, government estimates of the number of people trafficked into the United States

every year have changed from 50,000 in 1999 to 18,000 to 20,000

in 2003. In 2004, the estimate was revised further to 14,500 to

17,500 a year citing methodology changes rather than a decline in

trafficked persons. CAST and many of the NGO’s working in the

field believe this number does not fully capture the scope of the

trafficking problem in the United States and are concerned that

trafficking may be construed as a waning problem.
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While we recognize the difficulties associated with measuring

this virtually invisible underground activity, we urge the Government to apply more consistent and accurate measurement tools to

quantify this increasingly ubiquitous problem that could be as close

to the average person as the neighboring home.

On behalf of CAST and other NGO’s working to eradicate trafficking and assist victims of trafficking, we praise the work of the

U.S. Congress in addressing one of the most egregious human

rights violations in the world today and look forward to continuing

to collaborate closely with Members of Congress to protect survivors and abolish human trafficking in all of its forms.

Thank you.

[The prepared statement of Mr. Song follows:]
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Mr. BURTON. Thank you,

I have been advised by my staff that we are going to have between seven and eight votes starting between 4 and 4:30 p.m., so

I want to make sure that we hear our panel and have time for

questioning, so we will try to move along as quickly as possible.

Mr. Ellerman.

Mr. ELLERMAN. Thank you for convening this hearing on modern

day slavery and for giving me the opportunity to share with you

our experience in combating trafficking in the United States.

I want to begin with a personal note of thanks. We work every

day with women in the sex trafficking networks, we work with

women who have been brutally abused, who have been raped, who

have been threatened with death and many of whom have very little hope or very little trust. It means a tremendous amount to me

to be able to say to them that my government does care about their

situation. I know that is not something that can be said in every

country, so I want to thank you for today demonstrating again your

commitment to me and to all the victims with whom we work.

Polaris Project is a multicultural, grassroots, nonprofit and committed to combating sex trafficking. We are based in Washington,

DC, and will be opening offices in New Jersey and in Tokyo, Japan

in the fall. In the D.C. area, we operate the Greater D.C. Task

Force Against Trafficking in Persons working closely with law enforcement to identify trafficking operations in the sex industry. Our

multicultural staff conducts outreach, providing information on our

24 hour hotlines in Korean, Thai, Spanish and English. In partnership with the Metropolitan Police of D.C., we operate a Sex Trafficking Assessment Team that accompanies the MPDC Prostitution

Unit on raids of brothels to conduct culturally sensitive victim assessment services.

Many people have very little understanding of the enormity and

the brutality of sex trafficking in the United States. When we think

of sex trafficking, we normally think of Thailand or Nepal. We

don’t think of a suburban house outside of D.C. with $400,000

homes and manicured lawns where women are being beaten, raped

and prostituted under the threat of death.

We were able to get those women out but there are many other

women and children who are still under the control of traffickers.

Polaris Project has a data base of around 175 commercial sex operations that are at high risk for trafficking in the greater D.C. area

in Korean, Latino, Chinese and internal trafficking networks. D.C.

pales in comparison to the massive networks that are present in

LA, New York and other areas. With more funding, we could all

expand our efforts to other cities and to other hot spots in the

United States.

Some of these operations are based out of residential houses,

many of them unknown to law enforcement. They are advertised

only to men of certain ethnic background. Others operate much

more openly as commercial front massage parlors advertised in

places like the Washington Post and Super Pages. Within a 1 mile

radius of the White House alone, we are aware of 12 brothels in

Korean and Latino networks that have high risk for trafficking. So

we should all understand that modern day slavery could not be

closer to home.
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Our Victim Outreach Team has begun to break into the isolation

of these networks using outreach techniques designed in collaboration with survivors the sex trafficking networks but we have still

barely scratched the surface. The Government and the NGO groups

have barely scratched the surface.

The standard I use to evaluate how well the U.S. Government is

doing or how well groups like us are doing on this issue is asking

have the majority of the traffickers noticed yet, particularly have

the victims noticed yet? I think unfortunately even almost half a

decade after passage of the TVPA, the answer is overwhelmingly

no.

There has been an increase in prosecutions as Mr. Acosta talked

about but less than 1 percent of the estimated 17,000 victims that

are trafficked into the United States each year have been officially

identified and assisted by the U.S. Government so far. That is a

shocking statistic. I think if there is one statistic that reminds us

how far we still have to go, that is certainly the one.

Based on our experience working in the field with law enforcement, working with survivors and working with service agencies,

I want to share three areas where I think we must improve. The

U.S. Government and some of the witnesses here have mentioned

that one of the largest obstacles to our progress so far has been the

identification of trafficking victims. Many victims cannot leave

their brothels, they don’t contact third parties and so the dominant

approach that the Federal Government has taken so far which is

encouragement of third party reporting is inherently limited. It is

a vital component to have if third parties are not aware of the victims, they cannot report on their cases.

Federal and local law enforcement have the responsibility to

proactively investigate commercial sex operations that are similar

to networks that have trafficked victims before. Given the gravity

of the crime and its importance to the U.S. Government, the Federal law enforcement should not assume that locations are primarily just places of prostitution. They should verify that trafficking is not present. Unfortunately, too often this is not possible because of resource constraints at the Federal level and prioritization

of other crimes besides modern day slavery.

The second is combating the root causes of trafficking in the

country. Trafficking persons is the fastest growing criminal industry for two primary reasons. The first reason is that traffickers are

rarely prosecuted. There is almost no risk to trafficking persons.

The second reason is that there are very large profits that can be

made very quickly. Both of these causes can be addressed through

aggressive enforcement at the Federal and local level. People who

are willing to exploit the most vulnerable of victims will not think

twice if they think it is more likely for them to receive a parking

ticket than to be prosecuted for modern day slavery. The men who

buy the sex will not stop adding to the industry’s coffers if they believe they will not be held accountable. So we must facilitate increased prosecutions if a deterrent effect is to be created and we

must create funding opportunities in particular for local enforcement to give them the encouragement to work more on this issue.

We have also found in the course of our work that traffickers are

using techniques that amount to coercion but that fall outside the
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statutory language defining the offense of trafficking in persons.

We must look at adjusting to the reality of trafficking on the

ground. We must broaden the statutory language to include these

new, more sophisticated but widespread control techniques including use of verbal intimidation, use of hierarchy within a cultural

context, exploitation of vulnerability of the victims, things that are

covered under the U.N. protocols but not covered under the Federal

law.

The last thing I want to mention is recently a girl shared her

story with me about how since she was an early teen, she was

forced to provide sex for men. She was beaten, she was raped by

her trafficker. Remarkably enough most untrained law enforcement

in the United States probably would not consider her a victim of

trafficking because she is a U.S. citizen. The Federal law protects

U.S. citizens and foreign nationals equally but in practice, most

U.S. citizen victims continue to be prosecuted as prostitutes and

have not received the type of protection that they need.

In the DOJ assessment of trafficking released last year, the report almost ignored the internal trafficking of citizens in the

United States except for a footnote that stated that there are an

estimated over 200,000 American youth that are trafficked into

sexual exploitation. That was the only mention, a footnote, and it

went on to say it would not be covering that in the report.

Mr. BURTON. We are going to have about six or seven votes and

we will be tied up for over a hour and I don’t want to hold the

panel, so if you could summarize so we could ask a couple questions, I would appreciate it.

Mr. ELLERMAN. If any country can cross the trafficking industry

within its borders, it is the United States. Thank you for your continued work. Your efforts have not and will not go unnoticed by the

people to whom it matters most which are the victims themselves.

Thank you.

[The prepared statement of Mr. Ellerman follows:]
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Mr. BURTON. Thank you.

Let me make a couple of quick comments and questions and I

will yield either to Ms. Watson or Mr. Smith and we will move on.

You said there are 175 sex operations in the D.C. area. If you

could give us some information on that, I would really appreciate

that.

Mr. ELLERMAN. Absolutely.

Mr. BURTON. I know you want to keep that kind of under wraps

so we can nail these bad guys but we would like to have that if

we can.

You indicated there were some grants that were necessary that

could be expanded that would be helpful. We would like to know

also about those grants that you think could be expanded that

would be helpful and in what way. If you could get that to us, we

would appreciate it.

Also, the three of you, in addition to the members that we had

on the first panel along with the Members of Congress, if we could

urge you to contact State or local affiliates of the networks as well

as the major networks themselves on getting public service announcements, it would be very helpful. It would help your cause as

well as making the public more aware of this issue who are not

really as aware as they should be.

You said only 1 percent of 17,000 people were being helped out

of the 17,000 victims coming in each year to the United States or

the people being prosecuted. If you could give us some data on that,

I would like to know that. I thought according to Justice we were

doing better than that. If you can give us that, we would appreciate

it.

Finally, you said we needed some change in statutory language

to go after some of the people that are falling through the cracks

right now. If we could have something so that Chris Smith and I

could work on that. I know Chris is probably writing all this down

as we speak but we would like to have any information on that we

can so we can pursue that and maybe clean up or expand the language so it would be more effective.

Chris, go ahead.

Mr. SMITH. Again, Mr. Chairman, thank you for your leadership

for many years and not just in today’s hearing.

I have a couple questions to Mr. Song. You mentioned the T visa

not being utilized as effectively as it could be. I raised that a number of times with Justice. Are they issuing continued present status

in lieu of the T visas in your opinion or what do you think is happening there?

Mr. SONG. They are issuing continued presence when appropriate

and when necessary. I think part of the problem with continued

presence is it is not being granted as quickly as it could be. Some

trafficking victims, once they come out and have the courage to report to law enforcement, they are asked to undergo interviews with

the U.S. Attorneys’ office, the FBI or ICE to determine whether

they are a victim of a severe form of trafficking so they can decide

whether to issue the continued presence or not. Some officials unfortunately still don’t understand what continued presence is or

that it is even available, so that is one problem.
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Some of them don’t understand it well enough to know that they

should be issuing the continued presence as soon as possible. Sometimes victims who have escaped rape, abuse for years at a time are

told before we give you anything, any benefits, any kind of protection, you have to sit through grueling, detailed interviews for hours

at a time or days at a time and then we have to think about it for

days or weeks or months to decide whether you are a continued

presence applicant. I think that kind of application is not what you

intended when you drafted the TVPA and I think a lot of it is information and training issues but that needs to be implemented much

faster. Imagine if you will that it was your son or daughter or

somebody close to you that was trafficked and put in these situations. Would you tell them before we provide you any benefits, you

have to sit through these interviews when they are in urgent need

of care? I don’t think so.

In regard to the T visa, I am in agreement with Mr. Ellerman

that there are a few barriers, unintended barriers albeit, but a few

barriers that exist that make it difficult for people to want to apply

and to get the T visas. I think the fact we have less than 400 T

visas granted in 4 years is just unacceptable.

Mr. SMITH. As you know, for the first year it wasn’t even up and

running, the regulations had not been promulgated.

In terms of the intra versus the inter country, it reminds me of

the whole argument about refugees versus IDPs, a distinction without a difference for the poor soul who is suffering and doesn’t have

food and has to live in the equivalent of a refugee camp but they

are still in-country. One of the things I think we need to do in addition to legislation is, as Mr. Ellerman mentioned before, to capture

not just for statistical purposes but for action oriented purposes of

helping those people, both in our country and in places like India

and elsewhere where there are large numbers of people moving in

the State or in the country to ensure they get protection. I think

that would skew our Tier 3 list rather dramatically if we were to

include those who have been so malaffected but are not counted because they don’t cross over a border.

Any ideas any of you have, again, I look to all three of you and

your organizations and some of the other NGO’s have provided

great, useful suggestions and we want to receive them again for a

third look and a third iteration if you will of this bill so that we

can expand it.

Ms. Clark, you mentioned the clandestine brothel. Just a case in

point, in Plainfield, NJ, a wonderful town, our U.S. Attorney found

a brothel with trafficked Mexican girls under age every one of them

and those who did it got 17 and 18 years, those who committed

these crimes and those girls have been protected and are now living in freedom.

It is right, literally under our noses and so we need to be much

more vigilant and hopefully we will be to capture them and to liberate the women.

Thank you.

Mr. BURTON. I am so sorry that we have eight votes and it is

going to take a hour before those votes are concluded. I don’t want

to hold you but if you would give us the information we requested,

I promise you that we will do what we can to maybe talk to the
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local police and let them know we are watching what is going on

to see if we can do something about that.

Mr. SMITH. Would the chairman yield?

Mr. BURTON. Yes.

Mr. SMITH. Mr. Ellerman made a very good point about the

Washington Post and I am sure many other reputable newspapers

have the same problem. If you go to their sports pages or in other

parts of the newspaper, the advertisements for these so called massage parlors are very often fronts for trafficked women. It is a scandal that the Washington Post should carry such advertisements for

such nefarious practices. Hopefully we can get them to pull it.

Mr. BURTON. In any event, thank you very, very much for being

here. We will probably be talking to you real soon.

We stand adjourned.

[Whereupon, at 4:05 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned, to

reconvene at the call of the Chair.]

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