```

[House Report 111-568]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

111th Congress                                            Rept. 111-568
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session                                                      Part I

======================================================================

 
                   INTERNATIONAL MEGAN'S LAW OF 2010

                                _______
                                

 July 27, 2010.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 
              State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

   Mr. Berman, from the Committee on Foreign Affairs, submitted the 
                               following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 5138]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

  The Committee on Foreign Affairs, to whom was referred the 
bill (H.R. 5138) to protect children from sexual exploitation 
by mandating reporting requirements for convicted sex 
traffickers and other registered sex offenders against minors 
intending to engage in international travel, providing advance 
notice of intended travel by high interest registered sex 
offenders outside the United States to the government of the 
country of destination, requesting foreign governments to 
notify the United States when a known child sex offender is 
seeking to enter the United States, and for other purposes, 
having considered the same, report favorably thereon without 
amendment and recommend that the bill do pass.

                           TABLE OF CONTENTS

                                                                   Page
Summary and Purpose..............................................     2
Background and Need for the Legislation..........................     2
Hearings.........................................................     4
Committee Consideration..........................................     4
Votes of the Committee...........................................     4
Committee Oversight Findings.....................................     5
New Budget Authority and Tax Expenditures........................     5
Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate........................     5
Performance Goals and Objectives.................................     9
Constitutional Authority Statement...............................     9
New Advisory Committees..........................................     9
Congressional Accountability Act.................................     9
Earmark Identification...........................................    10
Section-by-Section Analysis and Discussion.......................    10
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported............    21

                          Summary and Purpose

    The purpose of H.R. 5138, the International Megan's Law of 
2010 (the ``Act''), is to protect children from registered 
child sex offenders who pose a high risk of sexually exploiting 
children while traveling or residing overseas. The Act consists 
of two major components: (1) the establishment of a system for 
providing advance notice to foreign government officials when a 
child sex offender who poses a high risk to children is 
traveling to their country; and (2) the establishment of a 
registration requirement for child sex offenders from the 
United States who reside abroad. The Act also provides 
discretionary authority to the Secretary of State to revoke or 
limit the validity of passports of dangerous child sex 
offenders, a sense of Congress that foreign governments should 
notify the United States when a U.S. citizen has committed a 
sex offense against a minor overseas, and a mandate for a 
special report to Congress on international mechanisms to 
protect children everywhere from traveling sex offenders.

                Background and Need for the Legislation

    H.R. 5138, the International Megan's Law, is a bipartisan 
effort to combat the growing problem of the sexual exploitation 
of children by known sex offenders who travel internationally. 
This legislation also is the product of negotiations between 
the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on the 
Judiciary.
    The Act is titled in memory of Megan Nicole Kanka, who was 
sexually assaulted and brutally murdered in 1994 by a convicted 
child sex predator who lived across the street from her New 
Jersey home. Megan was only 7 years old at the time. The 
publicity that resulted from this horrific occurrence and the 
consequent public outcry led to the passage of both state 
Megan's laws and a Federal Megan's law and the establishment of 
sex offender registries throughout the United States.
    ECPAT International (End Child Prostitution, Child 
Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes), a 
network of organizations and individuals who combat the 
commercial sexual exploitation of children, identify child sex 
tourism as a growing trend around the world. ECPAT defines 
child sex tourism as ``the sexual exploitation of children by a 
person or persons who travel from their home district, home 
geographical region, or home country in order to have sexual 
contact with children.'' The Protection Project of The Johns 
Hopkins University Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced 
International Studies has conducted research that indicates 
that sex tourists from the United States who target children 
form a significant percentage of child sex tourists in some of 
the most significant destination countries for child sex 
tourism.
    Officials from the United Kingdom, Australia, Spain and 
other countries have expressed interest in working with the 
United States Government for increased international 
cooperation to protect children from sexual exploitation, and 
are calling for formal arrangements to ensure that the risk 
posed by certain child sex offenders is combated most 
effectively. With regard to sex offenders traveling 
internationally, the United States Immigration and Customs 
Enforcement Agency (ICE) and other Federal law enforcement 
agencies currently are sharing information with law enforcement 
entities in some other countries, on an ad hoc basis. The 
technology to detect travel by child sex offenders and to 
notify foreign governments is available, but a legal structure 
is needed to systematize and coordinate these detection and 
notification efforts.
    The International Megan's Law establishes the legal 
structure to detect and notice international travel by known 
child sex offenders in the United States who pose a high risk 
of committing a sex offense against a minor in the destination 
country. It also establishes a child sex offender registry at 
U.S. diplomatic missions for U.S. citizens and lawful permanent 
residents residing abroad, and gives the Secretary of State the 
discretionary authority to revoke the passport of an individual 
who has been convicted overseas of a sex offense against a 
minor or to limit the period of validity of a passport issued 
to a high interest registered sex offender.
    The Act strongly encourages notification by foreign 
governments of known child sex offenders traveling to the 
United States, and allows assistance to enable foreign 
governments to establish systems to provide such notice. It 
further amends the minimum standards for the elimination of 
human trafficking in the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (22 
U.S.C. 7106(b)(4)) by clarifying that countries are expected to 
cooperate with other governments in the investigation and 
prosecution of suspected human trafficking of minors by 
nationals of that country. Finally, the Act calls for a special 
report to congress on international mechanisms to identify and 
provide notice of travel by child sex offenders, including 
child sex offenders attempting to enter the United States.
    In order to identify and notice travel by high interest 
registered child sex offenders, the Act mandates that any 
registered sex offender who was convicted of a felony sex 
offense against a minor provide advance notice of his or her 
intent to travel outside the United States to the jurisdiction 
where he or she is registered. The travel notice will be 
forwarded to an International Sex Offender Travel Center (the 
``Center''), headed by the United States Immigration and 
Customs Enforcement Agency which, in coordination with other 
designated departments and agencies, will make a determination, 
based on established guidelines, as to whether the sex offender 
poses a high risk of committing a sex offense against a minor 
in the country of destination.
    If the determination is made that the individual is a high 
interest registered sex offender, this Act gives the Center the 
ability to notify the country of destination of such 
determination and of details about the intended travel. The sex 
offender will be informed as to whether the destination country 
is being notified of his or her travel and provided an 
opportunity to appeal the Center's determination no later than 
seven days prior to the date of travel. The Act is not intended 
to prevent anyone from traveling for legitimate purposes, but 
instead is a way to track the travel of certain sex offenders, 
namely those who pose a high risk of sexually exploiting 
children in the destination country.
    The Act also mandates the establishment of sex offender 
registries at U.S. diplomatic missions for U.S. child sex 
offenders who remain in a foreign country for more than 30 
consecutive days or for more than 30 days within a 6-month 
period. Such sex offenders will be required to register for 
such time period as they would have had to register in the 
United States pursuant to the law of the jurisdiction in which 
they were convicted. This foreign registration system is for 
the purpose of enabling U.S. law enforcement to track the 
location of child sex offenders and to better ascertain if and 
when they reenter the United States. The Act also allows the 
official in charge of the individual registry, in his or her 
sole discretion, to respond to inquiries from entities in that 
country as to whether a child sex offender seeking to work for 
such entity who will have direct access to children is listed 
on the registry. Sexual predators often seek employment or 
volunteer opportunities in foreign countries, particularly at 
schools and orphanages that will give them access to children. 
Possible access to information on a local sex offender registry 
will help to assure potential employers that an applicant from 
the United States does not have a prior child sex offense in 
this country.
    The Committee has been informed that the Department of 
Justice and INTERPOL, in cooperation with other agencies within 
the Administration, currently are undertaking, or considering 
how to undertake, certain measures related to activities 
included in this Act. However, for several reasons, the 
Committee considers the enactment of this Act to be necessary 
despite those measures. After extensive research and 
investigation, the Committee finds that the best approach to 
combat the growing problem of child sex tourism is by 
performing a careful, individualized evaluation of the sex 
offender and the circumstances surrounding his or her travel. 
Such an assessment, based on the totality of the circumstances 
as is required by this Act, is the most helpful to our own law 
enforcement, as well as to nations seeking to protect children 
from child sex predators.
    The measures being undertaken by the Administration only 
partially address the purpose and goals of this Act. To the 
extent the measures being considered or undertaken reflect 
activities called for in this Act, the Committee questions the 
measures' efficacy based on the Committee's knowledge of ICE's 
current activities in this area, the relevant situation in 
foreign countries, and related exchanges that have taken place 
between the Committee, foreign government officials, and non-
governmental organizations. It is also concerning that the 
Administration's consideration and implementation of these 
measures is occurring at a slow pace. Finally, Congress has 
little formal oversight of those measures, and even the 
information that the Committee has obtained was only acquired 
after considerable and repeated efforts by the Committee.

                                Hearings

    The Committee did not hold hearings directly related to the 
subject of the Act.

                        Committee Consideration

    The Committee marked up H.R. 5138 on April 28, 2010, and 
favorably reported the Act to the House by voice vote, a quorum 
being present.

                         Votes of the Commitee

    There were no recorded votes during consideration of H.R. 
5138.

                      Committee Oversight Findings

    In compliance with clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules 
of the House of Representatives, the Committee reports that the 
findings and recommendations of the Committee, based on 
oversight activities under clause 2(b)(1) of rule X of the 
Rules of the House of Representatives, are incorporated in the 
descriptive portions of this report.

               New Budget Authority and Tax Expenditures

    In compliance with Clause 3(c)(2) of House Rule XIII, the 
Committee adopts as its own the estimate of new budget 
authority, entitlement authority, or tax expenditures or 
revenues contained in the cost estimate prepared by the 
Director of the Congressional Budget Office, pursuant to 
section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974.

               Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate

    In compliance with clause 3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules 
of the House of Representatives, the Committee sets forth, with 
respect to the Act, H.R. 5138, the following estimate and 
comparison prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget 
Office under section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 
1974:

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                     Washington, DC, July 21, 2010.
Hon. Howard L. Berman, Chairman,
Committee on Foreign Affairs,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 5138, the 
International Megan's Law of 2010.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contacts are Sunita 
D'Monte and Grete Willis.
            Sincerely,
                                      Douglas W. Elmendorf.
Enclosure.

cc:
        Honorable Ileana Ros-Lehtinen
        Ranking Member
H.R. 5138--International Megan's Law of 2010.

                                SUMMARY

    H.R. 5138 would require a person convicted of a sex offense 
against a minor to notify the jurisdiction in which he or she 
is registered as a sex offender before traveling to or from the 
United States. The bill would require that a United States 
diplomatic or consular mission in each foreign country maintain 
a registry of sex offenders. The bill also would establish the 
International Sex Offender Travel Center to set guidelines for 
international travel by such sex offenders and coordinate 
federal and state efforts to record and monitor such travel. 
CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 5138 would cost $252 
million over the 2011-2015 period, assuming appropriation of 
the necessary amounts.
    Enacting the bill would affect direct spending and 
revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures would apply to 
the legislation. CBO estimates that any such effects would not 
be significant.
    H.R. 5138 contains intergovernmental mandates as defined in 
the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) by requiring state, 
local, and tribal governments to collect travel information and 
fees from registered sex offenders and provide information to 
federal officials. CBO estimates that the cost of those 
intergovernmental mandates would fall below the annual 
threshold established in UMRA ($70 million for fiscal year 
2010, adjusted annually for inflation).
    The bill also would impose private-sector mandates, as 
defined in UMRA, on individuals who have been convicted of 
certain sex offenses, but CBO estimates that the aggregate 
direct costs of those mandates would fall well below the annual 
threshold established in UMRA for private-sector mandates ($141 
million in 2010, adjusted annually for inflation).

                ESTIMATED COST TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

    The estimated budgetary impact of H.R. 5138 is shown in the 
following table. The costs of this legislation fall within 
budget functions 150 (international affairs) and 750 
(administration of justice).

                                      By Fiscal Year, in Millions of Dollars
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                  By Fiscal Year, in Millions of Dollars
                                                         -------------------------------------------------------
                                                            2011     2012     2013     2014     2015   2011-2015
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHANGES IN SPENDING SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATION\1\
International Monitoring of Sex Offenders                       0       39       57       75       87       258
  Estimated Authorization Level
  Estimated Outlays                                             0       25       45       65       79       214

International Sex Offender Travel Center                        6        8        8        8        9        39
  Estimated Authorization Level
  Estimated Outlays                                             5        8        8        8        9        38

  Total Changes                                                 6       47       65       83       96       297
  Estimated Authorization Level
  Estimated Outlays                                             5       33       53       73       88       252
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\H.R. 5138 also would affect direct spending and revenues, but CBO estimates that those changes would each be
  less than $500,000 a year for all years.

                           BASIS OF ESTIMATE

    For this estimate, CBO assumes that the bill will be 
enacted near the beginning of fiscal year 2011, but that most 
of the provisions will be implemented beginning in 2012. CBO 
further assumes that the necessary amounts will be appropriated 
each year, and that outlays will follow historical spending 
patterns for similar and existing programs.
Spending Subject to Appropriation
    The bill contains provisions that would affect spending on 
personnel by the Departments of State and Homeland Security. In 
total, CBO estimates that implementing the bill would cost $252 
million over the 2011-2015 period, assuming appropriation of 
the necessary amounts.
    International Monitoring of Sex Offenders. Section 5 would 
require a United States diplomatic or consular mission in each 
foreign country to maintain a registry of certain citizens or 
legal residents of the United States traveling or living in 
that country who have been convicted of sex offenses against 
minors. The diplomatic or consular mission would be required to 
collect information about sex offenders and transmit all 
notifications regarding their travel plans to the International 
Sex Offender Travel Center. It also would require the mission 
to keep the registry current and share the information with 
other United States missions in the country, as well as certain 
local employers.
    Based on information from Immigration and Customs 
Enforcement (ICE), CBO expects that in most years about 10,000 
sex offenders covered by the bill would travel internationally. 
According to the Department of State, the United States has a 
diplomatic presence in 173 countries. Based on the number of 
visitors from the United States and the magnitude of the child 
sex tourism industry in each country, CBO estimates that United 
States missions in the majority of countries would require less 
than one new full-time position to maintain the registry. 
According to research by the Protection Project of the Johns 
Hopkins University, countries in Southeast Asia and Central and 
South America have experienced the highest levels of child sex 
tourism originating in the United States. CBO estimates that 
missions in those countries and countries that have large 
numbers of visitors from the United States would require at 
least one new full-time position to maintain the registry.
    CBO estimates that about 75 new personnel would be hired in 
2012 at a cost of $24 million, gradually increasing to about 
150 personnel by 2015 at a cost of $78 million annually. Those 
costs would include salaries, benefits, travel, training, and 
overhead. Based on information from the Department of Justice 
on existing registries of sex offenders maintained 
domestically, CBO estimates that the cost to establish and 
maintain the overseas registries would be an additional $1 
million each year. In total, after adjusting for inflation, CBO 
estimates that implementing this section would cost $214 
million over the 2011-2015 period, assuming appropriation of 
the estimated amounts.
    International Sex Offender Travel Center. Section 6 would 
establish the International Sex Offender Travel Center within 
ICE. The center would receive and record notifications from 
states and other jurisdictions of international travel by sex 
offenders and would provide sex offenders with written 
confirmation of receipt of travel reports. The center would 
establish a system to monitor sex offenders who regularly 
travel to Mexico or Canada. In addition, this new office would 
provide any necessary training to jurisdictions, respond to 
inquiries from sex offenders, and share information as 
appropriate with the Departments of State and Justice.
    Considering the number of sex offenders who travel 
internationally, CBO expects that the agency would need to hire 
40 to 50 persons to carry out the responsibilities of the 
International Sex Offender Travel Center, which ICE anticipates 
would be staffed at all times. Once fully phased in, and 
subject to appropriation of the necessary amounts, CBO 
estimates that the costs of additional employees would reach $8 
million annually, including salaries, benefits, computer 
systems, and support costs. For this estimate, we assume that 
the new positions would be fully staffed by fiscal year 2012 
and that costs would increase annually with inflation.
Revenues and Direct Spending
    H.R. 5138 would affect revenues and direct spending through 
fees charged to registrants and the collection of criminal 
fines. CBO estimates, however, that any such effects would not 
be significant.
    Fees Charged to Sex Offenders. Section 4 would authorize 
jurisdictions to collect fees of up to $25 from sex offenders 
who provide notice of international travel. This fee would be 
shared with ICE. Assuming that about 10,000 sex offenders would 
travel each year, CBO estimates that fee collections would 
total less than $500,000 each year. Those amounts would be 
spent mostly in the same year, so there would be no significant 
net effect on direct spending.
    Criminal Penalties. Section 4 also would establish criminal 
penalties for sex offenders who violate the bill's provisions; 
therefore, the federal government might collect more fines if 
the bill was enacted. Criminal fines are recorded as revenues, 
deposited in the Crime Victims Fund, and later spent. CBO 
estimates that any net effects would not be significant in any 
year because of the small number of cases likely to be 
affected.

                      PAY-AS-YOU-GO CONSIDERATIONS

    The Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 establishes budget 
reporting and enforcement procedures for legislation affecting 
direct spending or revenues. The net changes in outlays and 
revenues that are subject to those pay-as-you-go procedures are 
shown in the following table.

           CBO Estimate of Pay-As-You-Go Effects for H.R. 5138 as ordered reported by the House Committee on Foreign Affairs on April 28, 2010
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                          By Fiscal Year, in Millions of Dollars
                                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                  2010  2011  2012  2013  2014  2015  2016  2017  2018  2019  2020  2010-2015  2010-2020
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NET INCREASE OR DECREASE (-) IN THE DEFICIT
Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Impact                                       0     0     0     0     0     0     0     0     0     0     0       0          0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: H.R. 5138 would authorize jurisdictions to collect fees from sex offenders who provide notice of international travel and would impose new
  criminal penalties on certain sex offenders. CBO expects those penalties and fees would total less than $500,000 each year and would be spent in the
  same year in which they are collected. CBO estimates the direct spending and revenue effects of H.R. 5138 would not be significant over the 2010-2015
  period or the 2010-2020 period.

        ESTIMATED IMPACT ON STATE, LOCAL, AND TRIBAL GOVERNMENTS

    H.R. 5138 contains intergovernmental mandates as defined in 
UMRA by requiring state, local, and tribal governments to 
collect travel information and fees from registered sex 
offenders and provide information to federal officials. Because 
jurisdictions are currently collecting most of the required 
information and the number of sex offenders that would have to 
provide additional travel information is relatively small, CBO 
estimates that the cost of the intergovernmental mandates would 
fall well below the annual threshold established in UMRA ($70 
million for fiscal year 2010, adjusted annually for inflation). 
In addition, those jurisdictions would benefit from some of the 
fees authorized in the bill to process the information.

                 ESTIMATED IMPACT ON THE PRIVATE SECTOR

    H.R. 5138 would impose private-sector mandates, as defined 
in UMRA, on individuals convicted of a sex offense, either in 
the United States or abroad. The bill would marginally expand 
existing reporting requirements for registered sex offenders by 
requiring them to file a notice of intent to travel into or out 
of the United States with the appropriate jurisdictions no 
later than 30 days before their departure or arrival. Upon 
notification of intent to travel, sex offenders also would have 
to pay a nominal processing fee to be collected by officials in 
the jurisdiction in which they file.
    Because the cost of filing would be low and the change in 
reporting requirements would be small, CBO estimates that the 
aggregate cost of the mandates would fall well below the annual 
threshold for private-sector mandates ($141 million in 2010, 
adjusted annually for inflation).

                         ESTIMATE PREPARED BY:

Federal Costs: Department of State--Sunita D'Monte and Grete 
        Willis; Department of Homeland Security and Criminal 
        Penalties--Mark Grabowicz
Impact on State, Local, and Tribal Governments: Burke Doherty 
        and Melissa Merrell
Impact on the Private Sector: Marin Randall

                         ESTIMATE APPROVED BY:

Theresa Gullo
Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis

                    Performance Goals and Objectives

    H.R. 5138, the International Megan's Law of 2010 is 
intended to protect children from registered child sex 
offenders who pose a high risk of sexually exploiting children 
while traveling or residing overseas. The Act provides notice 
of travel by high interest registered sex offenders to the 
government of the destination country, establishes registries 
at U.S. diplomatic missions for U.S. child sex offenders 
residing overseas, and requests foreign governments to notify 
the United States when a known child sex offender is seeking to 
enter the United States.

                   Constitutional Authority Statement

    Pursuant to clause 3(d)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives, the Committee finds the authority for 
this legislation in article I, section 8 of the Constitution.

                        New Advisory Committees

    H.R. 5138 does not establish or authorize any new advisory 
committees.

                    Congressional Accountability Act

    H.R. 5138 does not apply to the Legislative Branch.

                         Earmark Identification

    H.R. 5138 does not contain any congressional earmarks, 
limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined in 
clause 9(d), 9(e), or 9(f) of rule XXI.

               Section-by-Section Analysis and Discussion

Section 1. Short Title and Table of Contents.
    This section provides that the Act may be cited as the 
``International Megan's Law of 2010,'' and includes the table 
of contents.
Section 2. Findings and Declaration of Purposes.
    This section articulates the findings that frame the 
purpose of the Act, which is to protect children from sexual 
exploitation by preventing or monitoring the international 
travel of sex traffickers and other sex offenders who pose a 
high risk of committing a sex offense against a minor in a 
country to which the sex offender intends to travel.
    This section finds that in 1994, 7-year-old Megan Kanka was 
sexually assaulted and killed by a sex offender. As a result of 
the ensuing public outcry, Megan's Law was enacted by Congress 
in 1996 to encourage States to protect children by identifying 
the whereabouts of sex offenders and providing the means to 
monitor their activities. The sexual exploitation of minors, 
including child sex tourism is a global phenomenon. Most 
victims of sex offenders are minors. Commercial sexual 
exploitation can result in serious lifelong consequences on the 
child. Media reports indicate that known sex offenders are 
traveling internationally. A system to prevent such crimes 
against children would safeguard vulnerable populations and 
reduce the cost burden of addressing such crimes after they are 
committed. Foreign governments need to be encouraged to notify 
the U.S. when a known sex offender is entering our borders.
    This section also lists many of the reasons child sex 
tourists travel overseas to commit sexual offenses against 
minors and states that individuals arrested overseas for 
sexually exploiting children have used long-term passports to 
escape to a third country where they have continued to exploit 
children. The section further states the importance of U.S. law 
enforcement being able to identify high risk child sex 
offenders who are leaving or entering the United States, the 
need for the cooperation of other governments, and the 
willingness of some governments already to help to achieve this 
end, and the need for a legal structure and additional 
resources to systematize and coordinate current ad hoc efforts 
by law enforcement entities.
    This section emphasizes that the United States, with its 
international law enforcement relations, technological and 
communications capability, and established state sex offender 
registry systems, should now take the opportunity to lead the 
nations of the world in the effort to save thousands of 
potential child victims by notifying other countries of travel 
by sex offenders who pose a high risk of exploiting children, 
maintaining information about sex offenders from the United 
States who reside overseas, and strongly encouraging other 
countries to undertake the same measures to protect children 
around the world.
    This section states that the purpose of this Act is to 
protect children from sexual exploitation by preventing or 
monitoring the international travel of sex traffickers and 
other sex offenders who pose a risk of committing a sex offense 
against a minor while traveling by: establishing a system in 
the United States to notify the appropriate officials of other 
countries when a sex offender who is identified as a high 
interest registered sex offender intends to travel to their 
country; strongly encouraging and assisting foreign governments 
to establish a sex offender travel notification system and to 
inform United States authorities when a sex offender intends to 
travel or has departed on travel to the United States; 
establishing and maintaining non-public sex offender registries 
in United States diplomatic and consular missions in order to 
maintain critical data on United States citizen and lawful 
permanent resident sex offenders who are residing abroad; 
providing the Secretary of State with the discretion to revoke 
the passport or passport card of an individual who has been 
convicted overseas for a sex offense against a minor, or limit 
the period of validity of a passport or passport card issued to 
a high risk sex offender against a minor; including whether a 
country is investigating and prosecuting its nationals 
suspected of engaging in severe forms of trafficking in persons 
abroad in the minimum standards for the elimination of human 
trafficking under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 
2000; and mandating a report from the Secretary of State, in 
consultation with the Attorney General, about the status of 
international notifications between governments about child sex 
offender travel.
    An additional purpose is to allow assistance to foreign 
countries to establish systems to identify and provide notice 
of international travel by sex offenders against minors. The 
Committee anticipates that such assistance will be part of 
ongoing related activities conducted by the Department of 
Homeland Security, the Department of Justice and the Department 
of State with foreign governments and civil society.
Section 3. Definitions.
    This section defines terms for use in the Act.
    A jurisdiction is defined as a State, the District of 
Columbia, U.S. territories, federally recognized Indian tribes 
that maintain a sex offender registry, or a U.S. diplomatic or 
consular mission that maintains a sex offender registry.
    The use of the word ``convicted'' or a variant thereof, 
used with respect to a sex offense of a minor, does not 
include: adjudicated delinquent as a juvenile for that offense; 
or convicted as an adult for that offense, unless the offense 
took place after the offender had attained the age of 14 years 
and the conduct upon which the conviction took place was 
comparable to or more severe than aggravated sexual abuse, or 
was an attempt or conspiracy to commit such an offense.
    A high interest registered sex offender (``HIRSO'') is a 
sex offender who the International Sex Offender Travel Center 
(the ``Center''), pursuant to the Center Sex Offender Travel 
Guidelines, and based on the totality of the circumstances, has 
a reasonable belief presents a high risk of committing a sex 
offense against a minor in a country to which the sex offender 
intends to travel.
    A minor is defined as an individual who has not attained 
the age of 18 years.
    A sex offender is defined as a United States citizen or 
lawful permanent resident who is convicted of a sex offense 
against a minor, including a conviction by a foreign court, if 
it meets certain safeguards, and who is legally required to 
register with a jurisdiction.
    A sex offense is defined as a criminal offense against a 
minor, including any Federal offense, that is punishable by 
statute by more than one year of imprisonment and involves any 
of the following: solicitation to engage in sexual conduct; use 
in a sexual performance; solicitation to practice prostitution 
(whether for financial or other forms of remuneration); video 
voyeurism as described in section 1801 of title 18, United 
States Code; possession, production, or distribution of child 
pornography; criminal sexual conduct involving a minor, or the 
use of the Internet to facilitate or attempt such conduct; 
conduct that would violate section 1591 (relating to sex 
trafficking of children or by force, fraud or coercion) of 
title 18, United States Code, if the conduct involved 
interstate or foreign commerce and where the person recruited, 
enticed, harbored, transported, provided, or obtained had not 
attained the age of 18 years at the time of the conduct; or any 
other conduct that by its nature is a sex offense against a 
minor. The term ``sex offender'' does not include someone 
convicted of a foreign conviction if it was not obtained with 
sufficient safeguards for fundamental fairness and due process 
for the accused. There is a rebuttable presumption that a 
conviction was so obtained if it complies with the guidelines 
or regulations established under section 112 of the Sex 
Offender Registration and Notification Act. The term ``sex 
offender'' does not include an offense involving consensual 
sexual conduct if the victim was at least 13 years old and the 
offender was not more than 4 years older than the victim.
Section 4. Sex Offender Travel Reporting Requirement.
    Subsection 4(a) establishes the requirement that a sex 
offender must report to a jurisdiction where he or she is 
registered before leaving from or arriving into the United 
States. The sex offender must report no later than 30 days 
before the date of travel. In individual cases in which the 
Center determines that a personal or humanitarian emergency, 
business exigency, or other situation renders the 30-day 
deadline impracticable or impossible, then the notice must be 
given as early as possible. The jurisdiction notified is to in 
turn notify the Center within 24 hours or the next business 
day, whichever is later. This reporting requirement takes 
effect 425 days after the Act is enacted or after a sex 
offender has been notified of the duty to report travel, 
whichever is later, and terminates when the sex offender is no 
longer required to register in any jurisdiction for a sex 
offense. Not later than 395 days after the Act is enacted, the 
Center must notify all jurisdictions of the requirement to 
receive sex offender travel notifications and the means for 
conveying such notices to the Center.
    Given the important role of the jurisdictions in furthering 
the purposes of this Act, the Committee expects that the Center 
will consult with the jurisdictions or their representatives in 
the development of the form of notice of the travel reporting 
requirement that must be provided to the sex offender, the sex 
offender travel report and the means of conveying such reports 
from the jurisdiction to the Center.
    Subsection 4(b) requires that the Department of Homeland 
Security (DHS), in coordination with the Attorney General and 
the Secretary of State, establish rules, no later than one year 
after the date of enactment, setting forth the procedures and 
reporting information for the above reporting requirement. The 
rules must provide appropriate transitional provisions, written 
in consultation with the jurisdictions, in order to make the 
phase-in of the Act's requirements practicable.
    Subsection 4(b) includes a list of information that the sex 
offender must provide in the travel report, including ``all e-
mail addresses.'' The Committee acknowledges that, while the 
provision of e-mail addresses is important in the context of 
furthering the purposes of this legislation, individuals 
frequently add or change e-mail addresses, and someone may 
inadvertently forget to list an e-mail address (for example, 
one that has not been used for some time). It is not the intent 
of the Committee to criminalize an inadvertent omission to list 
an e-mail address that does not involve any other criminal 
conduct. The Committee expects that prosecutorial discretion 
will be used only to prosecute the omission of an e-mail 
address when such omission was intentional for the purposes of 
misleading or concealing information from law enforcement.
    Pursuant to subsection 4(c), a sex offender may be charged 
a fee of up to $25 when he or she reports the intent to travel 
internationally. The fee can be increased no sooner than 30 
days after consultation with Congress. It must be waived if the 
sex offender shows that the fee would impose an undue financial 
burden. The money collected from the fees can only be used for 
the purposes of travel reporting and risk assessment process, 
and must be shared ``equitably'' with the jurisdiction that 
processes the report.
    If a fee is charged, it is to be collected from the sex 
offender by the jurisdiction at the time the report is filed. 
The jurisdiction is to transmit the entire fee amount to the 
Center. The Center should periodically assess such fee 
collection, and return a reasonable percentage to the 
jurisdiction.
    The authorization for any fee collected pursuant to this 
subsection 4(c) is intended by the Committee to further the 
purposes of this Act by subsidizing the cost of processing sex 
offender travel reports that will be incurred by both the 
jurisdictions and the Center. The Committee recognizes that the 
fee is unlikely to cover such costs completely. In determining 
what portion of any such fee should be given to the 
jurisdiction processing the travel report, the Center should 
take into account the burden incurred by the jurisdiction in 
processing the report (which may vary depending on the 
jurisdiction's capacity in general and the number of reports it 
must process during any given period of time) and the costs 
incurred by the jurisdiction relative to those incurred by the 
Center. Whether the revenues from the fee are ultimately 
disbursed to the respective jurisdictions or the Center, the 
Committee emphasizes that such revenues are to be utilized 
exclusively to further the purposes of this Act.
    Subsection 4(d) establishes a criminal penalty which may 
consist of a fine or imprisonment up to 10 years, or both (the 
same penalty as for failure to register domestically under the 
National Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act 
(SORNA)), for knowingly failing to report as required above or 
to register with a U.S. diplomatic mission in the case of child 
sex offenders living abroad. The penalty specifies that it 
applies only after the sex offender has been notified of the 
requirement to report or register. A defendant being prosecuted 
for a violation of this provision would be entitled to the 
affirmative defense--also provided in SORNA--that 
uncontrollable circumstances prevented him or her from 
complying; the individual did not contribute to the creation of 
such circumstances in reckless disregard of the requirement to 
report or register; and the individual complied as soon as such 
circumstances ceased to exist.
    A sex offender residing abroad at the time of the passage 
of this Act is subject to the registration and travel reporting 
requirement established by this Act only if and for such time 
as the sex offender would be required to register in his or her 
jurisdiction of conviction if he or she were residing in the 
jurisdiction of conviction and after either: 1) he or she has 
provided the signed form acknowledging notification of the 
obligation to register and report travel in accordance with 
section 4(e)(2) of the Act; or 2) a consular or other U.S. 
Government official properly certifies that the sex offender 
was duly informed of the requirements and refused to sign a 
form acknowledging that such information had been provided.
    Subsection 4(e) mandates that when an official is required 
to notify a sex offender of a duty to register in a 
jurisdiction, the official must also notify the sex offender of 
the duty and procedure to report international travel, 
including travel from a foreign country to the U.S., and to 
register with a U.S. diplomatic mission in the case of foreign 
residents. In the case of a foreign conviction, the U.S. 
diplomatic or consular mission is responsible for notifying the 
United States citizen or lawful permanent resident sex offender 
of the travel reporting and registration requirements. In all 
cases, the sex offender is required to sign an acknowledgment 
of such notification, and the acknowledgment is to be 
maintained by the jurisdiction in which the sex offender was 
convicted.
    With respect to providing notice to sex offenders of the 
travel reporting and foreign registration requirements, it is 
not the intent of the Committee to impose an undue burden on 
the jurisdictions or to criminalize individuals who did not 
receive notice of these requirements. The Committee understands 
that there will be challenges in notifying sex offenders who 
already are on state sex offender registries at the time this 
Act is enacted. The Committee anticipates that such 
notification will take place as these sex offenders are 
required to appear in person within a one-year period before an 
official of the jurisdiction to update their registry 
information. Given that the jurisdictions have differing 
procedures for the individual registry update, the legislation 
itself does not mandate the means for providing notice to those 
who are subject to the reporting requirement at the time the 
legislation takes effect. It is expected that the Attorney 
General will consult extensively with each jurisdiction to 
determine the most effective and efficient means of providing 
notice to this population.
    Subsection 4(f) provides that within one year after the Act 
is enacted, DHS must establish a system to identify and monitor 
sex offenders who, for legitimate reasons, regularly transit 
across the borders between the U.S. and Mexico, or between the 
U.S. and Canada, and submit a report to Congress about such 
system.
Section 5. Foreign Registration Requirement for Sex Offenders.
    This section requires a U.S. diplomatic or consular mission 
in each country to maintain a non-public registry for sex 
offenders against minors from the U.S. residing in that 
country. According to subsection 5(a), the foreign registries 
must be established within 13 months after enactment of the 
Act.
    Pursuant to subsection 5(b), a U.S. child sex offender 
residing in a foreign country for more than 30 consecutive days 
or for more than 30 days within a 6-month period must register 
at the U.S. diplomatic or consular mission in that country. The 
registration requirement begins when the registry in that 
country is established and the sex offender has been notified 
of the registration requirement. The requirement applies as 
long as the sex offender remains in the country, or until such 
time has elapsed as the sex offender would have otherwise been 
required to register in the state of conviction. In the case of 
a foreign conviction, the sex offender must register for the 
time period specified in the Sex Offender Registration and 
Notification Act for the sex offense involved.
    Subsection 5(d) specifies the information that must be 
provided by the sex offender, the Attorney General, and the 
diplomatic mission for the child sex offender registry 
established under this section. The list of information that a 
sex offender must provide under Subsection 5(d) includes ``all 
e-mail addresses.'' The Committee acknowledges that, while the 
provision of e-mail addresses is important in the context of 
furthering the purposes of this legislation, individuals 
frequently add or change e-mail addresses, and someone may 
inadvertently forget to list an e-mail address (for example, 
one that has not been used for some time). It is not the intent 
of the Committee to criminalize an inadvertent omission to list 
an e-mail address that does not involve any other criminal 
conduct. The Committee expects that prosecutorial discretion 
will be used only to prosecute the omission of an e-mail 
address when such omission was intentional for the purposes of 
misleading or concealing information from law enforcement.
    With respect to information that must be obtained from a 
jurisdiction to register a child sex offender at a diplomatic 
or consular mission, the Committee expects that the Attorney 
General will consult with the jurisdictions or their 
representatives in developing the most appropriate and feasible 
means for obtaining and transmitting such information from the 
jurisdiction to the mission, given the important role of the 
jurisdictions in furthering the purposes of this Act.
    Pursuant to subsection 5(e), the child sex offender must 
update the information on the registry every six months by 
appearing at any diplomatic or consular mission in the country 
of residence. If the mission is not the mission where the 
registry is maintained, then the updated information must be 
forwarded to the appropriate mission.
    Subsection 5(f) requires that the U.S. diplomatic or 
consular mission forward new or changed information on its sex 
offender registry to the Attorney General for purposes of 
updating the National Sex Offender Registry and informing 
domestic law enforcement. The mission must forward new or 
changed information to the Attorney General within 24 hours or 
the next business day, whichever is later, and the Attorney 
General must in turn transmit such information to the State of 
legal residence or State of last known address. Subsection 5(g) 
states that all domestic law enforcement must be given access 
for official purposes to information on the sex offender 
registries maintained by U.S. diplomatic missions.
    Subsection 5(h) states that, in general, the information on 
the registry maintained by a diplomatic mission is not to be 
made available to the general public. However, an exception is 
made for entities in the country of the diplomatic mission that 
provide direct services to minors, that are official law 
enforcement, or that are investigative entities affiliated with 
official law enforcement for purposes of investigating a 
possible sex offense against a minor. These entities, referred 
to as ``eligible entities,'' may request information from the 
U.S. official designated in the diplomatic mission to receive 
such requests. The designated official, in consultation with 
the head of mission, has the sole discretion as to whether and 
to what extent to provide information about a particular sex 
offender. If the designated official decides to release 
information from the registry, they can do so only after 
obtaining a written certification from the eligible entity that 
the entity will provide access to the information only to 
persons designated in the certificate, that the information 
will be used only for employment or volunteer screening, or for 
law enforcement purposes, and specified steps will be taken to 
safeguard the confidentiality of the information. If the 
eligible entity fails to comply with the certificate 
provisions, it may be denied future access to information at 
the discretion of the designated official. The employing agency 
of the designated official may charge the eligible entity a 
reasonable fee for providing information on the sex offender 
registry. The diplomatic or consular mission that maintains a 
sex offender registry should make a reasonable effort to notify 
eligible entities within the country, particularly schools that 
hire foreign teachers, of the possibility of obtaining 
information on the registry, and the process for requesting 
such information.
    In making this exception for access to eligible entities 
that provide direct services to minors, the Committee is taking 
into account entities such as schools and other educational 
facilities for minors, orphanages and day care centers. 
According to information obtained by the Committee, child sex 
predators seek employment or volunteer opportunities at such 
entities in order to obtain access to children to sexually 
exploit them. The purpose of this section is to provide these 
entities with a means to verify that United States citizens and 
lawful permanent residents who apply to work or volunteer at 
such entities are not known child sex offenders.
    Subsection 5(i) states that when a U.S. diplomatic or 
consular mission determines that a U.S. sex offender has failed 
to comply with the registration requirement of this section, 
the mission must notify the Attorney General and revise the sex 
offender registry to reflect the nature of such failure.
    Subsection 5(j) amends the Sex Offender Registration and 
Notification Act (SORNA) so that the Attorney General may use 
the resources of Federal law enforcement, including the U.S. 
Marshals Service, to assist in locating and apprehending sex 
offenders who violate the registration requirements of this 
section.
Section 6. International Sex Offender Travel Center.
    This section establishes the International Sex Offender 
Travel Center that is responsible for making high interest 
registered sex offender determinations and for notifying 
destination countries of travel by such individuals, when 
appropriate.
    Subsection 6(a) requires that the President establish the 
Center within 90 days of the enactment of the Act.
    Subsections 6(b) and (c) state that the Center is to be 
headed by ICE, and is to include relevant officials from the 
Department of Homeland Security, Department of State, 
Department of Justice, and other officials as determined by the 
President.
    Subsection 6(d) lists the activities of the Center, which 
are: to cooperate with jurisdictions to implement the means for 
transmitting travel reports from that jurisdiction to the 
Center; to offer to provide training to officials within the 
jurisdictions who will be responsible for implementing any 
aspect of the travel reporting system prior to its 
implementation; to establish a means to process inquiries from 
sex offenders as to whether they are required to report 
international travel pursuant to this Act; to conduct 
assessments of sex offender travel pursuant to section 7; to 
establish a panel to review and respond within one week to 
appeals from sex offenders determined to be high interest 
registered sex offenders; to transmit notice of international 
travel of high interest registered sex offenders to the 
Secretary of State, with an advisory as to whether the period 
of validity of the sex offender's passport should be limited to 
one year or such period as the Secretary determines to be 
appropriate; to establish a system to maintain and archive all 
relevant information related to the sex offender travel 
assessments and high interest registered sex offender appeals; 
to establish an annual review process to ensure that the Center 
Sex Offender Travel Guidelines are being consistently and 
appropriately implemented; and, to establish a means to 
identify sex offenders who travel without notice as required by 
section 4. The panel that is established to review 
determinations that an individual is a high interest registered 
sex offender is to consist of individuals from the Department 
of Justice, Department of State, and the Department of Homeland 
Security Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties.
    Pursuant to subsection 6(e), the Center, in its sole 
discretion, may transmit notice of impending or current 
international travel of high interest registered sex offenders 
to the countries of destination. Such transmission can take 
place only after the completion of any appeal requested by the 
high interest registered sex offender determination. If the 
Center has reason to believe that transmission of the notice 
poses a risk to the life or well-being of the high interest 
registered sex offender, then the Center must make every 
reasonable effort to warn the sex offender of such risk in the 
travel report receipt confirmation provided to the sex offender 
pursuant to section 7(c)(2) (see discussion below) before 
transmitting the notice to the destination country.
    Subsection 6(f) requires that the Center consult with: the 
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, ECPAT-USA, 
World Vision, and other relevant non-governmental 
organizations; the governments of countries interested in 
cooperating in the creation of an international sex offender 
travel notification system, or that are primary destination or 
source countries for international sex tourism; and, Internet 
service providers regarding available and potential technology 
to facilitate the implementation of an international sex 
offender travel notification system.
    Subsection 6(g) authorizes DHS and the State Department to 
provide technical assistance to foreign authorities to assist 
in the establishment of the notification system established 
under this section.
Section 7. Center Sex Offender Travel Guidelines.
    Subsection 7(a) requires that the Center issue the Center 
Sex Offender Travel Guidelines for the assessment of child sex 
offenders who report their intention to travel internationally 
or who are reported by law enforcement for purposes of 
determining whether such sex offenders are ``high interest 
registered sex offenders.'' The Committee expects that the 
Center will consult an array of relevant experts from multiple 
disciplines in the development of these guidelines, including 
psychologists with significant experience working with or 
studying the behavior of sex offenders against minors.
    Subsection 7(b) provides that domestic law enforcement 
entities or officials who have reasonable grounds to believe 
that a sex offender is traveling outside the U.S. and may 
engage in a sex offense against a minor may notify the Center. 
No later than 425 days after the Act's enactment, the Center is 
to notify all known domestic law enforcement of the possibility 
of conveying such information to the Center.
    Subsection 7(c) states that no later than 7 days prior to 
the child sex offender's departure date, the Center must 
provide the sex offender with written confirmation of receipt 
of the travel report. The written communication must advise the 
sex offender: that he/she should have the communication in his/
her possession when he/she departs from and arrives in the 
United States; that the communication shows compliance with the 
travel reporting requirement if travel is commenced and 
completed within seven days before or after the date of travel 
indicated in the travel report; on the procedure that the sex 
offender may follow if he/she encounters an emergency or other 
unforeseen circumstance that prevents him/her from traveling 
within seven days of the dates specified in the travel report 
and he/she needs to change the travel period indicated in the 
travel report; and of the requirement to register with a U.S. 
embassy or consulate pursuant to section 5 if the sex offender 
remains in a foreign country for more than 30 days.
    The same subsection stipulates that if the child sex 
offender is traveling from the United States, the written 
communication must indicate either that the destination country 
is not being notified of the sex offender's travel, or that the 
destination country is being notified that the sex offender is 
a high interest registered sex offender and intends to travel 
to such country. If notice is being given to the destination 
country, the child sex offender must be informed that a review 
by an appeals panel of this determination is available together 
with an explanation of the process for requesting such review. 
In the latter case, if the Center has reason to believe that 
transmission of the notice poses a risk to the life or well-
being of the high interest registered sex offender, then a 
warning of such risk must also be included in the written 
communication.
    Pursuant to subsection 7(d), the Center must submit a 
report containing the Guidelines to Congress in a manner 
consistent with the protection of law enforcement-sensitive 
information when the Guidelines are issued.
Section 8. Authority to Restrict Passports.
    Section 8 authorizes the Secretary of State to revoke the 
passport or passport card of an individual convicted in a 
foreign country of a sex offense until the individual returns 
to the U.S. and is determined eligible for the reissuance of 
the passport or passport card. This section also authorizes the 
Secretary of State to limit to one year or such period of time 
as the Secretary determines appropriate, the passport or 
passport card of a high interest registered sex offender. 
However, in no case shall a United States citizen be precluded 
from entering the United States. The Secretary of State may, 
prior to revocation, limit a previously issued passport only 
for return to the United States, or may issue a limited 
passport that only permits return travel to the United States.
Section 9. Immunity for Good Faith Conduct.
    This section grants immunity to the Federal Government, 
jurisdictions, political subdivisions of jurisdictions and 
their employees for good faith conduct under this Act.
Section 10. Sense of Congress Provisions.
    Section 10 encourages the President to negotiate bilateral 
agreements with foreign governments to further the purposes of 
the Act, including by: establishing systems to receive and 
transmit sex offender travel notices; requiring Internet 
service providers and other private companies located in 
foreign countries to report evidence of child exploitation; 
and, establishing mechanisms for private companies and NGOs to 
report voluntarily suspected child pornography or exploitation 
to foreign governments or, in cases involving U.S. citizens, 
the nearest U.S. embassy.
    To better protect children from sexual exploitation, this 
section also urges the President to strongly encourage those 
countries with an age of consent to sexual activity below the 
age of 16 to raise the age of consent to sexual activity to at 
least the age of 16, and those countries that do not 
criminalize the appearance of persons below the age of 18 in 
pornography or the engagement of persons below the age of 18 in 
commercial sex transactions to prohibit such activity.
    This section further encourages the President to formally 
request foreign governments to notify the U.S. when a U.S. 
citizen has been arrested, convicted, sentenced or completed a 
prison sentence for a sex offense against a minor in that 
country.
Section 11. Enhancing the Minimum Standards for the Elimination of 
        Trafficking.
    Section 11 would amend the minimum standards (section 
108(b)) in the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) by 
adding the following language to subsection (4): ``(b) 
Criteria.--In determinations under subsection (a)(4) (whether a 
government is making serious and sustained efforts to eliminate 
severe forms of trafficking in persons), the following factors 
should be considered as indicia of serious and sustained 
efforts to eliminate severe forms of trafficking in persons: . 
. . (4) whether the government of the country cooperates with 
other governments in the investigation and prosecution of 
severe forms of trafficking in persons, including cases 
involving nationals of that country who are suspected of 
engaging in severe forms of trafficking of persons in another 
country.'' ``Severe forms of trafficking of persons'' is 
defined in the TVPA as including sex trafficking in which the 
person induced to perform a commercial sex act has not attained 
18 years of age.
    It has been reported that nationals from countries 
currently designated as Tier 1 in the State Department's 
Trafficking in Persons report are escaping investigation and 
prosecution for the trafficking of minors in other countries 
because their own governments either are not cooperating in 
their criminal investigation or may even be complicit in 
assisting them to escape from the country where the crime was 
allegedly committed. If the reports are true, such failure or 
cooperation is inconsistent with a Tier 1 ranking, and must be 
given considerable weight in the tier ranking determinations.
Section 12. Special Report on International Mechanisms Related to 
        Traveling Child Sex Offenders.
    Section 12 requires that not later than one year after the 
date of enactment of the Act, the Secretary of State, in 
consultation with the Attorney General, provide Congress with a 
report containing the following information, to the extent such 
information is available from the government concerned or from 
other reliable sources: a list of countries that have or could 
easily acquire the technological capacity to identify child sex 
offenders who reside within the country; a list of those 
countries that utilize electronic means to identify and track 
the current status of such child sex offenders, and a summary 
of any additional information maintained by the government with 
respect to sex offenders;
    This section also requires that the report list those 
countries that currently provide, or may be willing to provide, 
information about a child sex offender who is traveling 
internationally to the destination country. With respect to 
those countries that currently notify destination countries 
that a child sex offender is traveling to that country, the 
report must indicate: the manner in which such notice is 
transmitted; how many notices are transmitted on average each 
year, and to which countries; whether the child sex offenders 
whose travel was so noticed were denied entry to the 
destination country on the basis of such notice; details as to 
how frequently and on what basis notice is provided, such as 
routinely pursuant to a legal mandate, or by individual law 
enforcement personnel on a case-by-case basis; how child sex 
offenders are defined for purpose of providing notice of travel 
by such individuals; and, what international cooperation or 
mechanisms currently are unavailable and would make the 
transmission of such notifications more efficacious in terms of 
protecting children. With respect to those countries that are 
willing but currently do not provide such information, the 
report must state the reason why destination countries are not 
notified.
    Section 12 further requires a list of those countries that 
have an established mechanism to receive reports of sex 
offenders intending to travel from other countries to that 
country, together with a description of the mechanism; the 
number of reports of arriving sex offenders received in each of 
the past 5 years; and, what international cooperation or 
mechanisms currently are unavailable and would make the receipt 
of such notifications more efficacious in terms of protecting 
children.
    Finally, this section mandates that the report list those 
countries that do not provide information about a sex offender 
who is traveling internationally to the destination country, 
and the reasons for such failure. If the failure is due to a 
legal prohibition within the country, then the report must 
explain the nature of the legal prohibition and the reason for 
such prohibition.
Section 13. Assistance to Foreign Countries to Meet Minimum Standards 
        for the Elimination of Trafficking.
    Section 13 strongly encourages the President to provide 
assistance to foreign countries for the purpose of establishing 
a system to identify sex offenders and provide and receive 
notification of child sex offender international travel.
Section 14. Congressional Reports.
    Section 14 requires that the President report to Congress 
initially on certain aspects of this Act and then annually on 
numerous other aspects, so that Congress can monitor closely 
the implementation of the International Megan's Law.
Section 15. Authorization of Appropriations.
    Section 15 authorizes ``such sums as may be necessary'' for 
FY 2011-2015 for implementation of this Act.

         Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported

  In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by 
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (new matter is 
printed in italics and existing law in which no change is 
proposed is shown in roman):

TITLE 18, UNITED STATES CODE

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

PART I--CRIMES

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

    CHAPTER 109B--SEX OFFENDER AND CRIMES AGAINST CHILDREN REGISTRY

Sec
2250. Failure to register or report international travel.

Sec. 2250. Failure to register or report international travel

  (a) * * *
  (b) Affirmative Defense.--In a prosecution for a violation 
under subsection (a) or (d), it is an affirmative defense 
that--
          (1) * * *

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

  (c) Crime of Violence.--
          (1) In general.--An individual described in 
        subsection (a) or (d) who commits a crime of violence 
        under Federal law (including the Uniform Code of 
        Military Justice), the law of the District of Columbia, 
        Indian tribal law, or the law of any territory or 
        possession of the United States shall be imprisoned for 
        not less than 5 years and not more than 30 years.
          (2) Additional punishment.--The punishment provided 
        in paragraph (1) shall be in addition and consecutive 
        to the punishment provided for the violation described 
        in subsection (a) or (d).
  (d) Whoever knowingly fails to register with United States 
officials in a foreign country or to report his or her travel 
to or from a foreign country, as required by the International 
Megan's Law of 2010, after being duly notified of the 
requirements shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not 
more than 10 years, or both.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

                              ----------                              

   SECTION 142 OF THE SEX OFFENDER REGISTRATION AND NOTIFICATION ACT

SEC. 142. FEDERAL ASSISTANCE WITH RESPECT TO VIOLATIONS OF REGISTRATION 
                    REQUIREMENTS.

  (a) In General.--The Attorney General shall use the resources 
of Federal law enforcement, including the United States 
Marshals Service, to assist jurisdictions in locating and 
apprehending sex offenders who violate sex offender 
registration requirements, including under the International 
Megan's Law of 2010. For the purposes of section 566(e)(1)(B) 
of title 28, United States Code, a sex offender who violates a 
sex offender registration requirement shall be deemed a 
fugitive.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

                              ----------                              

     SECTION 108 OF THE TRAFFICKING VICTIMS PROTECTION ACT OF 2000

SEC. 108. MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR THE ELIMINATION OF TRAFFICKING.

  (a) * * *
  (b) Criteria.--In determinations under subsection (a)(4), the 
following factors should be considered as indicia of serious 
and sustained efforts to eliminate severe forms of trafficking 
in persons:
          (1) * * *

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

          (4) Whether the government of the country cooperates 
        with other governments in the investigation and 
        prosecution of severe forms of trafficking in persons, 
        including cases involving nationals of that country who 
        are suspected of engaging in severe forms of 
        trafficking of persons in another country.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

                                  
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