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[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4259 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4259

        To prevent human trafficking in government contracting.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 26, 2012

  Mr. Lankford (for himself, Mr. Issa, Mr. Cummings, Mr. Connolly of 
 Virginia, and Mr. Smith of New Jersey) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition 
  to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently 
   determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
 provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
        To prevent human trafficking in government contracting.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``End Trafficking in Government 
Contracting Act of 2012''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Executive agency.--The term ``executive agency'' has 
        the meaning given the term in section 133 of title 41, United 
        States Code.
            (2) Subcontractor.--The term ``subcontractor'' means a 
        recipient of a contract at any tier under a grant, contract, or 
        cooperative agreement.
            (3) Subgrantee.--The term ``subgrantee'' means a recipient 
        of a grant at any tier under a grant or cooperative agreement.
            (4) United states.--The term ``United States'' has the 
        meaning provided in section 103(12) of the Trafficking Victims 
        Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7102(12)).

SEC. 3. CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS.

    Section 106(g) of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 
(22 U.S.C. 7104(g)) is amended by striking ``if the grantee or any 
subgrantee,'' and all that follows through the period at the end and 
inserting the following: ``or take any of the other remedial actions 
authorized under section 5(c) of the End Trafficking in Government 
Contracting Act of 2012, if the grantee or any subgrantee, or the 
contractor or any subcontractor, engages in, or uses labor recruiters, 
brokers, or other agents who engage in, (i) severe forms of trafficking 
in persons, (ii) the procurement of a commercial sex act during the 
period of time that the grant, contract, or cooperative agreement is in 
effect, (iii) the use of forced labor in the performance of the grant, 
contract, or cooperative agreement, or (iv) acts that directly support 
or advance trafficking in persons, including the following acts:
            ``(1) Destroying, concealing, removing, or confiscating an 
        employee's immigration documents without the employee's 
        consent.
            ``(2) Failing to repatriate an employee upon the end of 
        employment, unless--
                    ``(A) exempted from the duty to repatriate the 
                employee by the Federal department or agency providing 
                or entering into the grant, contract, or cooperative 
                agreement; or
                    ``(B) the employee is a victim of human trafficking 
                seeking victim services or legal redress in the country 
                of employment or a witness in a human trafficking 
                enforcement action.
            ``(3) Soliciting a person for the purpose of employment, or 
        offering employment, by means of materially false or fraudulent 
        pretenses, representations, or promises regarding that 
        employment.
            ``(4) Charging recruited employees exorbitant placement 
        fees, including fees equal to or greater than the employee's 
        monthly salary, or recruitment fees that violate the laws of 
        the country from which an employee is recruited.
            ``(5) Providing inhumane living conditions.''.

SEC. 4. COMPLIANCE PLAN AND CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENT.

    (a) Requirement.--The head of an executive agency may not provide 
or enter into a grant, contract, or cooperative agreement valued at 
$1,000,000 or more if performance will predominantly be conducted 
overseas, unless a duly designated representative of the recipient of 
such grant, contract, or cooperative agreement certifies to the 
contracting or grant officer prior to receiving an award and on an 
annual basis thereafter, after having conducted due diligence, that--
            (1) the recipient has implemented a plan to prevent the 
        activities described in section 106(g) of the Trafficking 
        Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7104(g)), as amended 
        by section 3, and is in compliance with that plan;
            (2) the recipient has implemented procedures to prevent any 
        activities described in such section 106(g) and to monitor, 
        detect, and terminate any subcontractor, subgrantee, or 
        employee of the recipient found to be engaged in any activities 
        described in such section; and
            (3) to the best of the representative's knowledge, neither 
        the recipient, nor any subcontractor or subgrantee of the 
        recipient or any agent of the recipient or of such a 
        subcontractor or subgrantee, is engaged in any of the 
        activities described in such section.
    (b) Limitation.--Any plan or procedures implemented pursuant to 
subsection (a) shall be appropriate to the size and complexity of the 
grant, contract, or cooperative agreement and to the nature and scope 
of its activities, including the number of non-United States citizens 
expected to be employed.
    (c) Disclosure.--The recipient shall provide a copy of the plan to 
the contracting or grant officer upon request, and, as appropriate, 
shall post the useful and relevant contents of the plan or related 
materials on its website and at the workplace.
    (d) Performance Predominately Overseas.--For purposes of subsection 
(a), a grant, contract, or cooperative agreement shall be considered to 
be performed predominantly overseas if the estimated value of the 
services required to be performed under the grant, contract, or 
cooperative agreement outside the United States exceeds $500,000.

SEC. 5. MONITORING AND INVESTIGATION OF TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS.

    (a) Investigation.--If the contracting or grant officer of an 
executive agency for a grant, contract, or cooperative agreement 
receives credible evidence that a recipient of the grant, contract, or 
cooperative agreement; any subgrantee or subcontractor of the 
recipient; or any agent of the recipient or of such a subgrantee or 
subcontractor, has engaged in an activity described in section 106(g) 
of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7104(g)), 
as amended by section 3, including a report from a contracting officer 
representative, an inspector general, an auditor, an alleged victim or 
victim's representative, or any other credible source, the contracting 
or grant officer shall, before exercising any option to renew such 
grant, contract, or cooperative agreement, request that the agency's 
Office of Inspector General immediately initiate an investigation of 
the allegation or allegations contained in the report. If the agency's 
Office of Inspector General is unable to conduct a timely 
investigation, the suspension and debarment office or another 
investigative unit of the agency shall conduct the investigation.
    (b) Report.--Upon completion of an investigation under subsection 
(a), the office or unit that conducted the investigation shall submit 
to the contracting or grant officer and, if such investigation was not 
conducted by the agency's Office of Inspector General, to the agency's 
Office of Inspector General, a report on the investigation, including 
conclusions about whether credible evidence exists that the recipient 
of a grant, contract, or cooperative agreement; any subcontractor or 
subgrantee of the recipient; or any agent of the recipient or of such a 
subcontractor or subgrantee, engaged in any of the activities described 
in section 106(g) of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 
U.S.C. 7104(g)), as amended by section 3.
    (c) Remedial Actions.--
            (1) In general.--If a contracting or grant official 
        determines that a recipient of a grant, contract, or 
        cooperative agreement, or any subcontractor or subgrantee of 
        the recipient, has engaged in any of the activities described 
        in such section 106(g), the contracting or grant officer shall 
        consider taking one or more of the following remedial actions:
                    (A) Requiring the recipient to remove an employee 
                from the performance of work under the grant, contract, 
                or cooperative agreement.
                    (B) Requiring the recipient to terminate a 
                subcontract or subgrant.
                    (C) Suspending payments under the grant, contract, 
                or cooperative agreement.
                    (D) Withholding award fees, consistent with the 
                award fee plan, for the performance period in which the 
                agency determined the contractor or subcontractor 
                engaged in any of the activities described in such 
                section 106(g).
                    (E) Declining to exercise available options under 
                the contract.
                    (F) Terminating the contract for default or cause, 
                in accordance with the termination clause for the 
                contract.
                    (G) Referring the matter to the agency suspension 
                and debarment official.
                    (H) Referring the matter to the Department of 
                Justice for prosecution under any applicable law.
            (2) Savings clause.--Nothing in this subsection shall be 
        construed as limiting the scope of applicable remedies 
        available to the Federal Government.
            (3) Mitigating factor.--Where applicable, the contracting 
        or grant official may consider whether the contractor or 
        grantee had a plan in place under section 4, and was in 
        compliance with that plan at the time of the violation, as a 
        mitigating factor in determining which remedies, if any, should 
        apply.
    (d) Inclusion of Report Conclusions in FAPIIS.--The contracting or 
grant officer shall ensure that relevant findings contained in the 
report under subsection (b) are included in the Federal Awardee 
Performance and Integrity Information System (FAPIIS). These findings 
shall be considered relevant past performance data for the purpose of 
awarding future contracts, grants, or cooperative agreements.

SEC. 6. NOTIFICATION TO INSPECTORS GENERAL AND COOPERATION WITH 
              GOVERNMENT.

    The head of an executive agency making or awarding a grant, 
contract, or cooperative agreement shall require that the recipient of 
the grant, contract, or cooperative agreement--
            (1) immediately inform the Inspector General of the 
        executive agency of any information it receives from any source 
        that alleges credible evidence that the recipient; any 
        subcontractor or subgrantee of the recipient; or any agent of 
        the recipient or of such a subcontractor or subgrantee, has 
        engaged in conduct described in section 106(g) of the 
        Trafficking in Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 
        7104(g)), as amended by section 3 of this Act; and
            (2) fully cooperate with any Federal agencies responsible 
        for audits, investigations, or corrective actions relating to 
        trafficking in persons.

SEC. 7. EXPANSION OF FRAUD IN FOREIGN LABOR CONTRACTING TO INCLUDE WORK 
              OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES.

    Section 1351 of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) by striking ``Whoever knowingly'' and inserting ``(a) 
        Work Inside the United States.--Whoever knowingly''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(b) Work Outside the United States.--Whoever knowingly and with 
intent to defraud recruits, solicits, or hires a person outside the 
United States or causes another person to recruit, solicit, or hire a 
person outside the United States, or attempts to do so, for purposes of 
work performed on a United States Government contract performed outside 
the United States, or on a United States military installation or 
mission or other property or premises owned or controlled by the United 
States Government, by means of materially false or fraudulent 
pretenses, representations, or promises regarding that employment, 
shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for not more than 5 
years, or both.''.

SEC. 8. IMPROVING DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE ACCOUNTABILITY FOR REPORTING 
              TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS CLAIMS AND VIOLATIONS.

    Section 105(d)(7)(H) of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 
2000 (22 U.S.C. 7103(d)(7)(H)) is amended--
            (1) in clause (ii), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) by redesignating clause (iii) as clause (iv);
            (3) by inserting after clause (ii) the following new 
        clause:
                            ``(iii) all known trafficking in persons 
                        cases reported to the Under Secretary of 
                        Defense for Personnel and Readiness;'';
            (4) in clause (iv), as redesignated by paragraph (2), by 
        inserting ``and'' at the end after the semicolon; and
            (5) by adding at the end the following new clause:
                            ``(v) all trafficking in persons activities 
                        of contractors reported to the Under Secretary 
                        of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and 
                        Logistics;''.

SEC. 9. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.

    Excluding section 7, nothing in this Act shall be construed to 
supersede, enlarge, or diminish the common law or statutory liabilities 
of any grantee, subgrantee, contractor, subcontractor, or other party 
covered by section 106(g) of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 
2000 (22 U.S.C. 7104(g)), as amended by section 3.
                                 <all>
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