III

Calendar No. 531

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. CON. RES. 82

Expressing the sense of Congress concerning the worldwide trafficking of

persons, that has a disproportionate impact on women and girls, and

is condemned by the international community as a violation of fundamental human rights.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 10, 1998

Mr. WELLSTONE (for himself, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. DODD, Ms.

LANDRIEU, Mr. TORRICELLI, Ms. MOSELEY-BRAUN, Mr. KENNEDY, Mrs.

BOXER, Mr. LEVIN, Ms. MIKULSKI, Mr. FAIRCLOTH, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr.

MOYNIHAN, and Mr. FEINGOLD) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

AUGUST 25, 1998

Reported under authority of the order of the Senate of July 31, 1998, by Mr.

HELMS, with an amendment and amendments to the preamble

[Omit the part struck through and insert the part printed in italic]

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of Congress concerning the worldwide

trafficking of persons, that has a disproportionate impact

on women and girls, and is condemned by the international community as a violation of fundamental human

rights.

Whereas one of the fastest growing international trafficking

businesses is the trade in women, whereby women and
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•SCON 82 RS

girls seeking a better life, a good marriage, or a lucrative

job abroad, unexpectedly find themselves in situations of

forced prostitution, sweatshop labor, exploitative domestic

servitude, or battering and extreme cruelty.

Whereas trafficked women are often subjected to rape and

other forms of sexual abuse by their traffickers and often

held as virtual prisoners by their exploiters, made to work

in slavery-like conditions, in debt bondage without pay

and against their will;

Whereas the President, the First Lady, the Secretary of

State, and the President’s Interagency Council on

Women, and the Agency for International Development

have all identified trafficking in women as a significant

problem and are working to mobilize a response;

Whereas the Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing

Conference) called on all governments to take measures,

including legislative measures, to provide better protection of the rights of women and girls in trafficking, to

address the root factors that put women at risk to traffickers, and to take measures to dismantle the national,

regional, and international networks in trafficking;

Whereas the United Nations General Assembly, noting its

concern about the increasing number of women and girls

who are being victimized by traffickers, passed a resolution in 1996 calling upon all governments to criminalize

trafficking in women and girls in all its forms and penalize all those offenders involved, while ensuring that the

victims of these practices are not penalized; and

Whereas numerous treaties to which the United States is a

party address government obligations to combat trafficking and the abuses inherent in trafficking, including such
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treaties as the 1956 Supplementary Convention on the

Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade and Institutions

and Practices Similar to Slavery, which calls for the complete abolition of debt bondage and servile forms of marriage, and the 1957 Abolition of Forced Labor Convention, which undertakes to suppress and not to make use

of any form of forced or compulsory labor: Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives

2 concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that—

3 (1) trafficking consists of all acts involved in

4 the recruitment or transportation of persons within

5 or across borders involving deception, coercion or

6 force, abuse of authority, debt bondage or fraud, for

7 the purpose of placing persons in situations of abuse

8 or exploitation such as forced prostitution, sexual

9 slavery, battering and extreme cruelty, sweatshop

10 labor or exploitative domestic servitude;

11 (2) trafficking also involves one or more forms

12 of kidnapping, false imprisonment, rape, battering,

13 forced labor or slavery-like practices which violate

14 fundamental human rights;

15 (3) to address this problem, the Department of

16 Justice Office of Violence Against Women, with the

17 cooperation of Immigration and Naturalization Serv18 ice, should submit a report to Congress on—
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1 (A) efforts to identify instances of traffick2 ing into the United States within the last 5

3 years;

4 (B) the successes or difficulties experi5 enced in promoting interagency cooperation, co6 operation between local, State, and Federal au7 thorities, and cooperation with nongovernmental

8 organizations;

9 (C) the treatment and services provided,

10 and the disposition of trafficking cases in the

11 criminal justice system; and

12 (D) legal and administrative barriers to

13 more effective governmental responses, includ14 ing current statutes on debt bondage and invol15 untary servitude;

16 (3) to address this problem, the Department of

17 Justice Office of Violence Against Women, with the

18 cooperation of Immigration and Naturalization Serv19 ice, should submit a report to Congress on the follow20 ing:

21 (A) Prosecutions in the past five years

22 under the following laws disaggregated by con23 victions, acquittals, sentencing, case name, num24 ber, courts, and other similar or relevant infor25 mation: sections 371, 873, 1328, 1201 (a)(1) and
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1 (c), 1546, 1581–88, 1583, 2340(1), 2340A(a),

2 2421, and 2422 of title 18, United States Code,

3 and sections 204, 244(a), 274, 277, and 278 of

4 the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.

5 1154, 1254(a), 1324, 1327, 1328) and section

6 652 (b) and (c) of Public Law 104–208 (8

7 U.S.C. 1375 (b) and (c)). Note that prosecutions

8 under these Acts do not necessarily indicate in9 stances of ‘‘trafficking’’ and should be linked to

10 a more detailed, community accountable research

11 agenda in order to fully interpret the nature and

12 extent of the issue.

13 (B) The successes or difficulties experienced

14 in promoting interagency cooperation, coopera15 tion between local, State, and Federal authori16 ties, and cooperation with nongovernmental or17 ganizations.

18 (C) The treatment and services provided,

19 and the disposition of trafficking cases in the

20 criminal justice system.

21 (D) Legal and administrative barriers to

22 more effective governmental responses, including

23 current statutes on debt bondage and involun24 tary servitude;
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1 (4) in order to ensure effective prosecution of

2 traffickers and the abuses related to trafficking, vic3 tims should be provided with support services and

4 incentives to testify, such as—

5 (A) stays of deportation with an oppor6 tunity to apply for permanent residency, wit7 ness protection, relocation assistance, and asset

8 forfeiture from trafficking networks with funds

9 set aside to provide compensation due to victims

10 of trafficking; and

11 (B) services such as legal assistance in

12 criminal, administrative, and civil proceedings

13 and confidential health care;

14 (5) the Secretary of State, in consultation with

15 the Department of Justice Office of Violence

16 Against Women, and nongovernmental organizations

17 should—

18 (A) develop curricula and conduct training

19 for consular officers on the prevalence and risks

20 of trafficking and the rights of victims; and

21 (B) develop and disperse to visa seekers

22 written materials describing the potential risks

23 of trafficking, including—

24 (i) information as to the rights of vic25 tims in the United States, including legal
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1 and civil rights in labor, marriage, and for

2 crime victims under the Violence Against

3 Women Act; and

4 (ii) the names of support and advo5 cacy organizations in the United States;

6 (6) the Department of State and the European

7 Union—

8 (A) are commended as to their joint initia9 tive to promote awareness of the problem of

10 trafficking throughout countries of origin in

11 Eastern Europe and the independent states of

12 the former Soviet Union; and

13 (B) should continue efforts to engage in

14 similar programs in other regions and to ensure

15 that the dignity and the human rights of traf16 ficking victims are protected in destination

17 countries;

18 (7) the State Department’s Bureau for Inter19 national Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, to20 gether with the Department of Justice and the De21 partment of the Treasury, should continue to pro22 vide and expand funding to support criminal justice

23 training programs, which include trafficking; and

24 (8) the President’s Interagency Council on

25 Women should submit a report to Congress, not
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1 later than 6 months after the date of the adoption

2 of this resolution, with regard to the implementation

3 by the Secretary of State and the Attorney General

4 of the duties described in this resolution.

5 SEC. 2. The Secretary of the Senate shall transmit

6 a copy of this resolution to the President, the Secretary

7 of State, and the Attorney General.

Calendar No. 531

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. CON. RES. 82

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of Congress concerning the

violation of fundamental human rights.condemned by the international community as aproportionate impact on women and girls, and isworldwide trafficking of persons, that has a disAUGUST 25, 1998

Reported with an amendment and amendments to the

preamble