II 

Calendar No. 571 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2234 

To prevent human trafficking in government contracting. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 26, 2012 

Mr. BLUMENTHAL (for himself, Mr. PORTMAN, Mr. FRANKEN, Mr. RUBIO, 

Ms. COLLINS, Mr. LIEBERMAN, Mrs. MCCASKILL, Mr. TESTER, Mr. 

MENENDEZ, Ms. AYOTTE, Mr. LAUTENBERG, Ms. MIKULSKI, Mrs. 

HUTCHISON, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, and Mr. BOOZMAN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

DECEMBER 19, 2012 

Reported by Mr. LIEBERMAN, with amendments 

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

A BILL 

To prevent human trafficking in government contracting. 

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 ‘‘End Trafficking in 

5 Government Contracting Act of 2012’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) EXECUTIVE AGENCY.—The term ‘‘executive 

4 agency’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

5 133 of title 41, United States Code. 

6 (2) SUBCONTRACTOR.—The term ‘‘subcon7 tractor’’ means a recipient of a contract at any tier 

8 under a grant, contract, or cooperative agreement. 

9 (3) SUBGRANTEE.—The term ‘‘subgrantee’’ 

10 means a recipient of a grant at any tier under a 

11 grant or cooperative agreement. 

12 (4) UNITED STATES.—The term ‘‘United 

13 States’’ has the meaning provided in section 103(12) 

14 of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 

15 (22 U.S.C. 7102(12)). 

16 SEC. 3. CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS. 

17 Section 106(g) of the Trafficking Victims Protection 

18 Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7104(g)) is amended by striking 

19 ‘‘if the grantee or any subgrantee,’’ and all that follows 

20 through the period at the end and inserting the following: 

21 ‘‘or take any of the other remedial actions authorized 

22 under section 5(c) of the End Trafficking in Government 

23 Contracting Act of 2012, if the grantee or any subgrantee, 

24 or the contractor or any subcontractor, engages in, or uses 

25 labor recruiters, brokers, or other agents who engage in— 


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1 ‘‘(i) severe forms of trafficking in per2 sons; 

3 ‘‘(ii) the procurement of a commercial 

4 sex act during the period of time that the 

5 grant, contract, or cooperative agreement 

6 is in effect; 

7 ‘‘(iii) the use of forced labor in the 

8 performance of the grant, contract, or co9 operative agreement, or 

10 ‘‘(iv) acts that directly support or ad11 vance trafficking in persons, including the 

12 following acts: 

13 ‘‘(I) Destroying, concealing, re14 moving, or confiscating an employee’s 

15 immigration documents without the 

16 employee’s consent. 

17 ‘‘(II) Failing to repatriate an em18 ployee upon the end of employment, 

19 unless— 

20 ‘‘(aa) exempted from the 

21 duty to repatriate by the Federal 

22 department or agency providing 

23 or entering into the grant, con24 tract, or cooperative agreement; 

25 or 


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1 ‘‘(bb) the employee is a vic2 tim of human trafficking seeking 

3 victim services or legal redress in 

4 the country of employment or a 

5 witness in a human trafficking 

6 enforcement action. 

7 ‘‘(III) Soliciting a person for the 

8 purpose of employment, or offering 

9 employment, by means of materially 

10 false or fraudulent pretenses, rep11 resentations, or promises regarding 

12 that employment. 

13 ‘‘(IV) Charging recruited employ14 ees exorbitant placement fees, includ15 ing such as fees equal to or greater 

16 than the employee’s monthly salary, 

17 or recruitment fees that violate the 

18 laws of the country from which an 

19 employee is recruited. 

20 ‘‘(V) Providing inhumane living 

21 conditions.’’. 

22 SEC. 4. COMPLIANCE PLAN AND CERTIFICATION REQUIRE23 MENT. 

24 (a) REQUIREMENT.—The head of an executive agen25 cy may not provide or enter into a grant, contract, or coopVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:45 Dec 20, 2012 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2234.RS S2234

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1 erative agreement valued at $1,000,000 or more if per2 formance will predominantly be conducted overseas sub3 stantially be conducted overseas, unless a duly designated 

4 representative of the recipient of such grant, contract, or 

5 cooperative agreement certifies to the contracting or grant 

6 officer prior to receiving an award and on an annual basis 

7 thereafter, after having conducted due diligence, that— 

8 (1) the recipient has implemented a plan to pre9 vent the activities described in section 106(g) of the 

10 Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 

11 U.S.C. 7104(g)), as amended by section 3, and is in 

12 compliance with that plan; 

13 (2) the recipient has implemented procedures to 

14 prevent any activities described in such section 

15 106(g) and to monitor, detect, and terminate any 

16 subcontractor, subgrantee, or employee of the recipi17 ent found to be engaged engaging in any activities 

18 described in such section; and 

19 (3) to the best of the representative’s knowl20 edge, neither the recipient, nor any subcontractor or 

21 subgrantee of the recipient or any agent of the re22 cipient or of such a subcontractor or subgrantee, is 

23 engaged in any of the activities described in such 

24 section. 


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1 (b) LIMITATION.—Any plan or procedures imple2 mented pursuant to subsection (a) shall be appropriate to 

3 the size and complexity of the grant, contract, or coopera4 tive agreement and to the nature and scope of its activi5 ties, including the number of non-United States citizens 

6 expected to be employed. 

7 (c) DISCLOSURE.—The recipient shall provide a copy 

8 of the plan to the contracting or grant officer upon re9 quest, and as appropriate, shall post the useful and rel10 evant contents of the plan or related materials on its 

11 website and at the workplace. 

12 (d) PERFORMANCE PREDOMINATELY OVERSEAS

13 PERFORMANCE SUBSTANTIALLY OVERSEAS.—For purposes 

14 of subsection (a), a grant, contract, or cooperative agree15 ment shall be considered to be performed predominantly 

16 overseas performed substantially overseas if the estimated 

17 value of the services required to be performed under the 

18 grant, contract, or cooperative agreement outside the 

19 United States exceeds $500,000. 

20 SEC. 5. MONITORING AND INVESTIGATION OF TRAF21 FICKING IN PERSONS. 

22 (a) INVESTIGATION.—If the contracting or grant offi23 cer of an executive agency for a grant, contract, or cooper24 ative agreement receives credible evidence that a recipient 

25 of the grant, contract, or cooperative agreement; any subVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:45 Dec 20, 2012 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2234.RS S2234

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1 grantee or subcontractor of the recipient; or any agent of 

2 the recipient or of such a subgrantee or subcontractor, has 

3 engaged in an activity described in section 106(g) of the 

4 Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 

5 7104(g)), as amended by section 3, including a report 

6 from a contracting officer representative, an inspector 

7 general, an auditor, an alleged victim or victim’s rep8 resentative, or any other credible source, the contracting 

9 or grant officer shall, before exercising any option to 

10 renew such grant, contract, or cooperative agreement, re11 quest that the agency’s Office of Inspector General imme12 diately initiate an investigation of the allegation or allega13 tions contained in the report. If the agency’s Office of In14 spector General is unable to conduct a timely investiga15 tion, the suspension and debarment office or another in16 vestigative unit of the agency shall conduct the investiga17 tion. 

18 (b) REPORT.—Upon completion of an investigation 

19 under subsection (a), the office or unit that conducted the 

20 investigation shall submit to the contracting or grant offi21 cer and, if such investigation was not conducted by the 

22 agency’s Office of Inspector General, to the agency’s Of23 fice of Inspector General, a report on the investigation, 

24 including conclusions about whether credible evidence ex25 ists that the recipient of a grant, contract, or cooperative 


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1 agreement; any subcontractor or subgrantee of the recipi2 ent; or any agent of the recipient or of such a subcon3 tractor or subgrantee, engaged in any of the activities de4 scribed in section 106(g) of the Trafficking Victims Pro5 tection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7104(g)), as amended by 

6 section 3. 

7 (c) REMEDIAL ACTIONS.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—If a contracting or grant of9 ficial determines that a recipient of a grant, con10 tract, or cooperative agreement, or any subcon11 tractor or subgrantee of the recipient, has engaged 

12 in any of the activities described in such section 

13 106(g), the contracting or grant officer shall con14 sider taking one or more of the following remedial 

15 actions: 

16 (A) Requiring the recipient to remove an 

17 employee from the performance of work under 

18 the grant, contract, or cooperative agreement. 

19 (B) Requiring the recipient to terminate a 

20 subcontract or subgrant. 

21 (C) Suspending payments under the grant, 

22 contract, or cooperative agreement. 

23 (D) Withholding award fees, consistent 

24 with the award fee plan, for the performance 

25 period in which the agency determined the conVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:45 Dec 20, 2012 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2234.RS S2234

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1 tractor or subcontractor engaged in any of the 

2 activities described in such section 106(g). 

3 (E) Declining to exercise available options 

4 under the contract. 

5 (F) Terminating the contract for default 

6 or cause, in accordance with the termination 

7 clause for the contract. 

8 (G) Referring the matter to the agency 

9 suspension and debarment official. 

10 (H) Referring the matter to the Depart11 ment of Justice for prosecution under any ap12 plicable law. 

13 (2) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—Nothing in this sub14 section shall be construed as limiting the scope of 

15 applicable remedies available to the Federal Govern16 ment. 

17 (3) MITIGATING FACTOR.—Where applicable, 

18 the contracting or grant official may consider wheth19 er the contractor or grantee had a plan in place 

20 under section 4, and was in compliance with that 

21 plan at the time of the violation, as a mitigating fac22 tor in determining which remedies, if any, should 

23 apply. 

24 (d) INCLUSION OF REPORT CONCLUSIONS IN

25 FAPIIS.—The contracting or grant officer shall ensure 


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1 that relevant findings contained in the report under sub2 section (b) are included in the Federal Awardee Perform3 ance and Integrity Information System (FAPIIS). These 

4 findings shall be considered relevant past performance 

5 data for the purpose of awarding future contracts, grants, 

6 or cooperative agreements. 

7 SEC. 6. NOTIFICATION TO INSPECTORS GENERAL AND CO8 OPERATION WITH GOVERNMENT. 

9 The head of an executive agency making or awarding 

10 a grant, contract, or cooperative agreement shall require 

11 that the recipient of the grant, contract, or cooperative 

12 agreement— 

13 (1) immediately inform the Inspector General of 

14 the executive agency of any information it receives 

15 from any source that alleges credible evidence that 

16 the recipient; any subcontractor or subgrantee of the 

17 recipient; or any agent of the recipient or of such a 

18 subcontractor or subgrantee, has engaged in conduct 

19 described in section 106(g) of the Trafficking in Vic20 tims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7104(g)), as 

21 amended by section 3 of this Act; and 

22 (2) fully cooperate with any Federal agencies 

23 responsible for audits, investigations, or corrective 

24 actions relating to trafficking in persons. 


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1 SEC. 7. EXPANSION OF FRAUD IN FOREIGN LABOR CON2 TRACTING TO INCLUDE WORK OUTSIDE THE 

3 UNITED STATES. 

4 Section 1351 of title 18, United States Code, is 

5 amended— 

6 (1) by striking ‘‘Whoever knowingly’’ and in7 serting ‘‘(a) WORK INSIDE THE UNITED STATES.— 

8 Whoever knowingly’’; and 

9 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub10 section: 

11 ‘‘(b) WORK OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES.—Who12 ever knowingly and with intent to defraud recruits, solic13 its, or hires a person outside the United States or causes 

14 another person to recruit, solicit, or hire a person outside 

15 the United States, or attempts to do so, for purposes of 

16 work performed on a United States Government contract 

17 performed outside the United States, or on a United 

18 States military installation or mission or other property 

19 or premises owned or controlled by the United States Gov20 ernment, by means of materially false or fraudulent pre21 tenses, representations, or promises regarding that em22 ployment, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for 

23 not more than 5 years, or both.’’. 


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1 SEC. 8. IMPROVING DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE ACCOUNT2 ABILITY FOR REPORTING TRAFFICKING IN 

3 PERSONS CLAIMS AND VIOLATIONS. 

4 Section 105(d)(7)(H) of the Trafficking Victims Pro5 tection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7103(d)(7)(H)) is amend6 ed— 

7 (1) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

8 (2) by redesignating clause (iii) as clause (iv); 

9 (3) by inserting after clause (ii) the following 

10 new clause: 

11 ‘‘(iii) all known trafficking in persons 

12 cases reported to the Under Secretary of 

13 Defense for Personnel and Readiness;’’; 

14 (4) in clause (iv), as redesignated by paragraph 

15 (2), by inserting ‘‘and’’ at the end after the semi16 colon; and 

17 (5) by adding at the end the following new 

18 clause: 

19 ‘‘(v) all trafficking 

20 (2) in clause (iii), by inserting ‘‘and’’ at the end 

21 after the semicolon; and 

22 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

23 clause: 

24 ‘‘(iv) all trafficking in persons activi25 ties of contractors reported to the Under 


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1 Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Tech2 nology, and Logistics;’’. 

3 SEC. 9. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

4 Excluding section 7, nothing in this Act shall be con5 strued to supersede, enlarge, or diminish the common law 

6 or statutory liabilities of any grantee, subgrantee, con7 tractor, subcontractor, or other party covered by section 

8 106(g) of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 

9 (22 U.S.C. 7104(g)), as amended by section 3. 


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Calendar No. 571 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2234 

A BILL 

To prevent human trafficking in government 

contracting. 

DECEMBER 19, 2012 

Reported with amendments 


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