I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8974 

To direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish a Blue Campaign 

Certification Program to encourage employers in covered industries to 

encourage employees to complete training to recognize and respond to 

suspected human trafficking, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 9, 2024 

Mr. VALADAO (for himself and Mr. CARTER of Louisiana) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and 

in addition to the Committee on Homeland Security, for a period to be 

subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 

of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish 

a Blue Campaign Certification Program to encourage 

employers in covered industries to encourage employees 

to complete training to recognize and respond to suspected human trafficking, and for other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Human Trafficking 

5 Awareness Training Recognition Act of 2024’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. AWARD. 

2 The Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 231 

3 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 434 the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 434A. BLUE CAMPAIGN CERTIFICATION PROGRAM. 

6 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM ESTABLISHED.—Not later than one 

7 year after the date of the enactment of this section, the 

8 Secretary of Homeland Security shall establish a Blue 

9 Campaign Certification Program (in this section referred 

10 to as the ‘Program’) to encourage efforts by employers 

11 in covered industries to encourage employees to complete 

12 training to recognize and respond to suspected human 

13 trafficking. The Secretary shall provide a certificate of 

14 completion to eligible employers. 

15 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION PROCESS.— 

16 ‘‘(1) SOLICITATION OF APPLICATIONS.—During 

17 each year in which the Secretary provides a certifi18 cate of completion, the Secretary shall solicit appli19 cations, beginning not later than January 31 and 

20 ending not earlier than April 30, from employers to 

21 consider whether such employers should receive such 

22 certificate. 

23 ‘‘(2) REVIEW OF APPLICATIONS.—The Sec24 retary, in consultation with the Director of Home25 land Security Investigations, shall review each appli26 cation received in a year. 


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1 ‘‘(3) CONTENTS OF APPLICATIONS.—The Sec2 retary shall require each employer who submits an 

3 application to provide in such application— 

4 ‘‘(A) information about the training to rec5 ognize and respond to suspected human traf6 ficking that such employer provided to the em7 ployees of such employer; and 

8 ‘‘(B) any other information the Secretary 

9 determines appropriate. 

10 ‘‘(c) RECOGNITION OF RECIPIENTS.— 

11 ‘‘(1) ISSUANCE OF AWARDS.—The Secretary 

12 shall provide a certificate of completion to each em13 ployer whom the Secretary determines is eligible. 

14 The certificate of completion shall state that the re15 cipient may display such certificate for a 1-year pe16 riod beginning on the date on which such certificate 

17 is provided. 

18 ‘‘(2) NOTICE IN FEDERAL REGISTER.—The 

19 Secretary shall recognize each such recipient 

20 through publication in the Federal Register. 

21 ‘‘(d) PROHIBITED DISPLAY.—It is prohibited for any 

22 employer to publicly display a Blue Campaign Certifi23 cation of Completion— 

24 ‘‘(1) for the purpose of conveying, or in a man25 ner reasonably calculated to convey, a false impresVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:30 Aug 13, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8974.IH H8974

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1 sion that the employer completed the Blue Cam2 paign Certification Program, if such employer did 

3 not complete such Program; or 

4 ‘‘(2) for the purpose of conveying, or in a man5 ner reasonably calculated to convey, a false impres6 sion that the employer received a certificate of com7 pletion through the Blue Campaign Certification 

8 Program for a year for which such employer did not 

9 receive such certificate. 

10 ‘‘(e) REPORTS.—During each year beginning not 

11 later than two years after the date of the enactment of 

12 this section, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee 

13 on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives 

14 and the Committee on Homeland Security and Govern15 mental Affairs of the Senate, a report on the Program, 

16 including— 

17 ‘‘(1) the number of employers who submitted an 

18 application for Blue Campaign Certification in the 

19 prior year; 

20 ‘‘(2) the fees collected under subsection (f) from 

21 such employers, and any changes in fees to be pro22 posed in the present year; 

23 ‘‘(3) the number of Blue Campaign Certifi24 cations of Completion provided in the prior year, inVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:30 Aug 13, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8974.IH H8974

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1 cluding the name of each employer to whom a Blue 

2 Campaign Certification of Completion was awarded; 

3 ‘‘(4) the cost of administering the Program in 

4 the prior year; and 

5 ‘‘(5) any other matter the Secretary determines 

6 appropriate. 

7 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION FOR APPLICATION FEES.—The 

8 Secretary is authorized to establish a reasonable fee to be 

9 imposed on employers submitting applications for a Blue 

10 Campaign Certification of Completion to cover the cost of 

11 carrying out the Program. 

12 ‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

13 ‘‘(1) COVERED INDUSTRY.—The term ‘covered 

14 industry’ means any industry that the Secretary has 

15 determined— 

16 ‘‘(A) has a relatively high prevalence of 

17 human trafficking; and 

18 ‘‘(B) that human trafficking awareness 

19 training could have a significant impact. 

20 ‘‘(2) EMPLOYER.—The term ‘employer’ has the 

21 meaning given such term in section 3 of the Fair 

22 Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203), ex23 cept that such term does not include a public agency 

24 (as defined in such section 3). 


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1 ‘‘(3) HUMAN TRAFFICKING.—The term ‘human 

2 trafficking’ has the meaning given the term ‘severe 

3 forms of trafficking in person’ in section 103 of the 

4 Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 

5 U.S.C. 7102). 

6 ‘‘(4) SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY.— 

7 The term ‘Secretary of Homeland Security’ means 

8 the Secretary of Homeland Security, acting through 

9 the Director of the Blue Campaign. 

10 ‘‘(5) TRAINING.—The term ‘training’ means the 

11 training to recognize and respond to suspected 

12 human trafficking.’’. 

13 SEC. 3. BLUE CAMPAIGN. 

14 Section 434(e) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 

15 (6 U.S.C. 242(e)) is amended— 

16 (1) in paragraph (7), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

17 end; 

18 (2) by redesignating paragraph (8) as para19 graph (9); and 

20 (3) by inserting after paragraph (7) the fol21 lowing: 

22 ‘‘(8) increased coordination with experts from 

23 the private sector, academic institutions, and other 


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1 covered industries (as such term is defined in section 

2 434A).’’. 

Æ 


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