117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2991 

AN ACT 

To establish a Department of Homeland Security Center 

for Countering 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, 
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†S 2991 ES

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Countering Human 

3 Trafficking Act of 2021’’. 

4 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

5 It is the sense of Congress that— 

6 (1) the victim-centered approach must become 

7 universally understood, adopted, and practiced; 

8 (2) criminal justice efforts must increase the 

9 focus on, and adeptness at, investigating and pros10 ecuting forced labor cases; 

11 (3) corporations must eradicate forced labor 

12 from their supply chains; 

13 (4) the Department of Homeland Security must 

14 lead by example— 

15 (A) by ensuring that its government supply 

16 chain of contracts and procurement are not 

17 tainted by forced labor; and 

18 (B) by leveraging all of its authorities 

19 against the importation of goods produced with 

20 forced labor; and 

21 (5) human trafficking training, awareness, iden22 tification, and screening efforts— 

23 (A) are a necessary first step for preven24 tion, protection, and enforcement; and 

25 (B) should be evidence-based to be most 

26 effective. 
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1 SEC. 3. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY CENTER 

2 FOR COUNTERING HUMAN TRAFFICKING. 

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland 

5 Security shall operate, within U.S. Immigration and 

6 Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Inves7 tigations, the Center for Countering Human Traf8 ficking (referred to in this Act as ‘‘CCHT’’). 

9 (2) PURPOSE.—The purpose of CCHT shall be 

10 to serve at the forefront of the Department of 

11 Homeland Security’s unified global efforts to 

12 counter human trafficking through law enforcement 

13 operations and victim protection, prevention, and 

14 awareness programs. 

15 (3) ADMINISTRATION.—Homeland Security In16 vestigations shall— 

17 (A) maintain a concept of operations that 

18 identifies CCHT participants, funding, core 

19 functions, and personnel; and 

20 (B) update such concept of operations, as 

21 needed, to accommodate its mission and the 

22 threats to such mission. 

23 (4) PERSONNEL.— 

24 (A) DIRECTOR.—The Secretary of Home25 land Security shall appoint a CCHT Director, 

26 who shall— 
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1 (i) be a member of the Senior Execu2 tive Service; and 

3 (ii) serve as the Department of Home4 land Security’s representative on human 

5 trafficking. 

6 (B) MINIMUM CORE PERSONNEL REQUIRE7 MENTS.—Subject to appropriations, the Sec8 retary of Homeland Security shall ensure that 

9 CCHT is staffed with at least 45 employees in 

10 order to maintain continuity of effort, subject 

11 matter expertise, and necessary support to the 

12 Department of Homeland Security, including— 

13 (i) employees who are responsible for 

14 the Continued Presence Program and 

15 other victim protection duties; 

16 (ii) employees who are responsible for 

17 training, including curriculum develop18 ment, and public awareness and education; 

19 (iii) employees who are responsible for 

20 stakeholder engagement, Federal inter21 agency coordination, multilateral partner22 ships, and policy; 

23 (iv) employees who are responsible for 

24 public relations, human resources, evalua-
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1 tion, data analysis and reporting, and in2 formation technology; 

3 (v) special agents and criminal ana4 lysts necessary to accomplish its mission of 

5 combating human trafficking and the im6 portation of goods produced with forced 

7 labor; and 

8 (vi) managers. 

9 (b) OPERATIONS UNIT.—The CCHT Director shall 

10 operate, within CCHT, an Operations Unit, which shall, 

11 at a minimum— 

12 (1) support criminal investigations of human 

13 trafficking (including sex trafficking and forced 

14 labor)— 

15 (A) by developing, tracking, and coordi16 nating leads; and 

17 (B) by providing subject matter expertise; 

18 (2) augment the enforcement of the prohibition 

19 on the importation of goods produced with forced 

20 labor through civil and criminal authorities; 

21 (3) coordinate a Department-wide effort to con22 duct procurement audits and enforcement actions, 

23 including suspension and debarment, in order to 

24 mitigate the risk of human trafficking throughout 

25 Department acquisitions and contracts; and 
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1 (4) support all CCHT enforcement efforts with 

2 intelligence by conducting lead development, lead 

3 validation, case support, strategic analysis, and data 

4 analytics. 

5 (c) PROTECTION AND AWARENESS PROGRAMS

6 UNIT.—The CCHT Director shall operate, within CCHT, 

7 a Protection and Awareness Programs Unit, which shall— 

8 (1) incorporate a victim-centered approach 

9 throughout Department of Homeland Security poli10 cies, training, and practices; 

11 (2) operate a comprehensive Continued Pres12 ence program; 

13 (3) conduct, review, and assist with Department 

14 of Homeland Security human trafficking training, 

15 screening, and identification tools and efforts; 

16 (4) operate the Blue Campaign’s nationwide 

17 public awareness effort and any other awareness ef18 forts needed to encourage victim identification and 

19 reporting to law enforcement and to prevent human 

20 trafficking; and 

21 (5) coordinate external engagement, including 

22 training and events, regarding human trafficking 

23 with critical partners, including survivors, non24 governmental organizations, corporations, multilat-
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1 eral entities, law enforcement agencies, and other in2 terested parties. 

3 SEC. 4. SPECIALIZED INITIATIVES. 

4 (a) HUMAN TRAFFICKING INFORMATION MOD5 ERNIZATION INITIATIVE.—The CCHT Director, in con6 junction with the Science and Technology Directorate Of7 fice of Science and Engineering, shall develop a strategy 

8 and proposal to modify systems and processes throughout 

9 the Department of Homeland Security that are related to 

10 CCHT’s mission in order to— 

11 (1) decrease the response time to access victim 

12 protections; 

13 (2) accelerate lead development; 

14 (3) advance the identification of human traf15 ficking characteristics and trends; 

16 (4) fortify the security and protection of sen17 sitive information; 

18 (5) apply analytics to automate manual proc19 esses; and 

20 (6) provide artificial intelligence and machine 

21 learning to increase system capabilities and enhance 

22 data availability, reliability, comparability, and 

23 verifiability. 

24 (b) SUBMISSION OF PLAN.—Upon the completion of 

25 the strategy and proposal under subsection (a), the Sec-
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1 retary of Homeland Security shall submit a summary of 

2 the strategy and plan for executing the strategy to— 

3 (1) the Committee on Homeland Security and 

4 Governmental Affairs of the Senate; and 

5 (2) the Committee on Homeland Security of the 

6 House of Representatives. 

7 SEC. 5. REPORTS. 

8 (a) INFORMATION SHARING TO FACILITATE RE9 PORTS AND ANALYSIS.—Each subagency of the Depart10 ment of Homeland Security shall share with CCHT— 

11 (1) any information needed by CCHT to de12 velop the strategy and proposal required under sec13 tion 4(a); and 

14 (2) any additional data analysis to help CCHT 

15 better understand the issues surrounding human 

16 trafficking. 

17 (b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 1 year 

18 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the CCHT 

19 Director shall submit a report to Congress that identifies 

20 any legislation that is needed to facilitate the Department 

21 of Homeland Security’s mission to end human trafficking. 

22 (c) ANNUAL REPORT ON POTENTIAL HUMAN TRAF23 FICKING VICTIMS.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

24 of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the 
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1 Secretary of Homeland Security shall submit a report to 

2 Congress that includes— 

3 (1) the numbers of screened and identified po4 tential victims of trafficking (as defined in section 

5 103(17) of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 

6 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7102(17))) at or near the inter7 national border between the United States and Mex8 ico, including a summary of the age ranges of such 

9 victims and their countries of origin; and 

10 (2) an update on the Department of Homeland 

11 Security’s efforts to establish protocols and methods 

12 for personnel to report human trafficking, pursuant 

13 to the Department of Homeland Security Strategy 

14 to Combat Human Trafficking, the Importation of 

15 Goods Produced with Forced Labor, and Child Sex16 ual Exploitation, published in January 2020. 

17 SEC. 6. TRANSFER OF OTHER FUNCTIONS RELATED TO 

18 HUMAN TRAFFICKING. 

19 (a) BLUE CAMPAIGN.—The functions and resources 

20 of the Blue Campaign located within the Office of Part21 nership and Engagement on the day before the date of 

22 the enactment of this Act are hereby transferred to 

23 CCHT. 

24 (b) OTHER TRANSFER.— 
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1 (1) AUTHORIZATION.—Not later than 180 days 

2 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec3 retary of Homeland Security may transfer the func4 tions and resources of any component, directorate, 

5 or other office of the Department of Homeland Se6 curity related to combating human trafficking to the 

7 CCHT. 

8 (2) NOTIFICATION.—Not later than 30 days be9 fore executing any transfer authorized under para10 graph (1), the Secretary of Homeland Security shall 

11 notify the Committee on Homeland Security and 

12 Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Com13 mittee on Homeland Security of the House of Rep14 resentatives of such planned transfer. 

15 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

16 In addition to amounts otherwise authorized to be ap17 propriated, there is authorized to be appropriated to the 

18 Secretary of Homeland Security to carry out this Act 

19 $14,000,000, which shall remain available until expended. 

Passed the Senate April 6, 2022. 

Attest: 

Secretary. 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2991 

AN ACT 

To establish a Department of Homeland Security 

for other purposes. Center for Countering Human Trafficking, and