I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 515 

To protect children from exploitation, especially sex trafficking in tourism, 

by providing advance notice of intended travel by registered child-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. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 22, 2015 

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. SIRES, Mrs. HARTZLER, Mrs. 

CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Mrs. WAGNER, Mr. PITTENGER, 

Mr. POE of Texas, Ms. MCCOLLUM, and Mr. YOHO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and 

in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, 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 protect children from exploitation, especially sex trafficking in tourism, by providing advance notice of intended travel by registered child-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. 


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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 AND TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘International Megan’s Law to Prevent Demand for Child 

6 Sex Trafficking’’. 

7 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

8 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title and table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Findings. 

Sec. 3. Definitions. 

Sec. 4. Angel Watch Center. 

Sec. 5. Sense of Congress provisions. 

Sec. 6. Enhancing the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. 

Sec. 7. Assistance to foreign countries to meet minimum standards for the 

elimination of trafficking. 

Sec. 8. Rules of construction. 

9 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

10 Congress finds the following: 

11 (1) Megan Nicole Kanka, who was 7 years old, 

12 was abducted, sexually assaulted, and murdered in 

13 1994, in the State of New Jersey by a violent pred14 ator living across the street from her home. Unbe15 knownst to Megan Kanka and her family, he had 

16 been convicted previously of a sex offense against a 

17 child. 

18 (2) In 1996, Congress adopted Megan’s Law 

19 (Public Law 104–145) as a means to encourage 

20 States to protect children by identifying the whereVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:59 Jan 24, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H515.IH H515

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1 abouts of sex offenders and providing the means to 

2 monitor their activities. 

3 (3) In 2006, Congress passed the Adam Walsh 

4 Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 (Public 

5 Law 109–248) to protect children and the public at 

6 large by establishing a comprehensive national sys7 tem for the registration and notification to the pub8 lic and law enforcement officers of convicted sex of9 fenders. 

10 (4) Law enforcement reports indicate that 

11 known child-sex offenders are traveling internation12 ally, and that the criminal background of such indi13 viduals may not be known to local law enforcement 

14 prior to their arrival. 

15 (5) The commercial sexual exploitation of mi16 nors in child sex trafficking and pornography is a 

17 global phenomenon. The International Labour Orga18 nization has estimated that 1.8 million children 

19 worldwide are victims of child sex trafficking and 

20 pornography each year. 

21 (6) Child sex tourism, where an individual trav22 els to a foreign country and engages in sexual activ23 ity with a child in that country, is a form of child 

24 exploitation and, where commercial, child sex traf25 ficking. 


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1 (7) According to research conducted by The 

2 Protection Project of The Johns Hopkins University 

3 Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International 

4 Studies, sex tourists from the United States who 

5 target children form a significant percentage of child 

6 sex tourists in some of the most significant destina7 tion countries for child sex tourism. 

8 (8) In order to protect children, it is essential 

9 that United States law enforcement be able to iden10 tify child-sex offenders in the United States who are 

11 traveling abroad and child-sex offenders from other 

12 countries entering the United States. Such identi13 fication requires cooperative efforts between the 

14 United States and foreign governments. In exchange 

15 for providing notice of child-sex offenders traveling 

16 to the United States, foreign authorities will expect 

17 United States authorities to provide reciprocal notice 

18 of child-sex offenders traveling to their countries. 

19 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

20 In this Act: 

21 (1) CENTER.—The term ‘‘Center’’ means the 

22 Angel Watch Center established pursuant to section 

23 4(a). 

24 (2) CHILD-SEX OFFENDER.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘child-sex of2 fender’’ means an individual who is a sex of3 fender described in paragraph (3) or (4) of sec4 tion 111 of the Adam Walsh Child Protection 

5 and Safety Act of 2006 (42 U.S.C. 16911) by 

6 reason of being convicted of a child-sex offense. 

7 (B) DEFINITION OF CONVICTED.—In this 

8 paragraph, the term ‘‘convicted’’ has the mean9 ing given the term in paragraph (8) of section 

10 111 of such Act. 

11 (3) CHILD-SEX OFFENSE.— 

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘child-sex of13 fense’’ means a specified offense against a 

14 minor, as defined in paragraph (7) of section 

15 111 of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and 

16 Safety Act of 2006 (42 U.S.C. 16911), includ17 ing— 

18 (i) an offense (unless committed by a 

19 parent or guardian) involving kidnapping; 

20 (ii) an offense (unless committed by a 

21 parent or guardian) involving false impris22 onment; 

23 (iii) solicitation to engage in sexual 

24 conduct; 

25 (iv) use in a sexual performance; 


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1 (v) solicitation to practice prostitu2 tion; 

3 (vi) video voyeurism as described in 

4 section 1801 of title 18, United States 

5 Code; 

6 (vii) possession, production, or dis7 tribution of child pornography; 

8 (viii) criminal sexual conduct involving 

9 a minor, or the use of the Internet to fa10 cilitate or attempt such conduct; and 

11 (ix) any conduct that by its nature is 

12 a sex offense against a minor. 

13 (B) OTHER OFFENSES.—The term ‘‘child14 sex offense’’ includes a sex offense described in 

15 paragraph (5)(A) of section 111 of the Adam 

16 Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 

17 that is a specified offense against a minor, as 

18 defined in paragraph (7) of such section. 

19 (C) FOREIGN CONVICTIONS; OFFENSES IN20 VOLVING CONSENSUAL SEXUAL CONDUCT.—The 

21 limitations contained in subparagraphs (B) and 

22 (C) of section 111(5) of the Adam Walsh Child 

23 Protection and Safety Act of 2006 shall apply 

24 with respect to a child-sex offense for purposes 

25 of this Act to the same extent and in the same 


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1 manner as such limitations apply with respect 

2 to a sex offense for purposes of the Adam 

3 Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006. 

4 (4) JURISDICTION.—The term ‘‘jurisdiction’’ 

5 means any of the following: 

6 (A) A State. 

7 (B) The District of Columbia. 

8 (C) The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. 

9 (D) Guam. 

10 (E) American Samoa. 

11 (F) The Northern Mariana Islands. 

12 (G) The United States Virgin Islands. 

13 (H) To the extent provided in, and subject 

14 to the requirements of, section 127 of the Adam 

15 Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 

16 (42 U.S.C. 16927), a federally recognized In17 dian tribe. 

18 (5) MINOR.—The term ‘‘minor’’ means an indi19 vidual who has not attained the age of 18 years. 

20 SEC. 4. ANGEL WATCH CENTER. 

21 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 90 days after 

22 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

23 Homeland Security shall establish within the Child Exploi24 tation Investigations Unit of United States Immigration 

25 and Customs Enforcement (ICE) of the Department of 


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1 Homeland Security a Center, to be known as the ‘‘Angel 

2 Watch Center’’, to carry out the activities specified in sub3 section (d). 

4 (b) LEADERSHIP.—The Center shall be headed by the 

5 Director of ICE, in collaboration with the Commissioner 

6 of United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) 

7 and in consultation with the Attorney General. 

8 (c) MEMBERS.—The Center shall consist of the fol9 lowing: 

10 (1) The Director of ICE. 

11 (2) The Commissioner of CBP. 

12 (3) Individuals who are designated as analysts 

13 in ICE or CBP. 

14 (4) Individuals who are designated as program 

15 managers in ICE or CBP. 

16 (d) ACTIVITIES.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Center shall carry out 

18 the following activities: 

19 (A) Receive information on travel by child20 sex offenders. 

21 (B) Establish a system to maintain and ar22 chive all relevant information, including the re23 sponse of destination countries to notifications 

24 under subsection (e) where available, and deci25 sions not to transmit notification abroad. 


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1 (C) Establish an annual review process to 

2 ensure that the Center is consistent in proce3 dures to provide notification to destination 

4 countries or not to provide notification to des5 tination countries, as appropriate. 

6 (2) INFORMATION REQUIRED.—The United 

7 States Marshals Service’s National Sex Offender 

8 Targeting Office shall make available to the Center 

9 information on travel by child-sex offenders in a 

10 timely manner for purposes of carrying out the ac11 tivities described in paragraph (1) and subsection 

12 (e). 

13 (e) NOTIFICATION.— 

14 (1) TO COUNTRIES OF DESTINATION.— 

15 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Center may trans16 mit notice of impending or current international 

17 travel of a child-sex offender to the country or 

18 countries of destination of the child-sex of19 fender, including to the visa-issuing agent or 

20 agents in the United States of the country or 

21 countries. 

22 (B) FORM.—The notice under this para23 graph may be transmitted through such means 

24 as determined appropriate by the Center, in25 cluding through an ICE attache ́. 


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1 (A) GENERAL NOTIFICATION.— 

2 (i) IN GENERAL.—If the Center trans3 mits notice under paragraph (1) of im4 pending international travel of a child-sex 

5 offender to the country or countries of des6 tination of the child-sex offender, the Sec7 retary of Homeland Security, in conjunc8 tion with any appropriate agency, shall 

9 make reasonable efforts to provide con10 structive notice through electronic or tele11 phonic communication to the child-sex of12 fender prior to the child-sex offender’s ar13 rival in the country or countries. 

14 (ii) EXCEPTION.—The requirement to 

15 provide constructive notice under clause (i) 

16 shall not apply in the case of impending 

17 international travel of a child-sex offender 

18 to the country or countries of destination 

19 of the child-sex offender if such construc20 tive notice would conflict with an existing 

21 investigation involving the child-sex of22 fender. 

23 (B) SPECIFIC NOTIFICATION REGARDING

24 RISK TO LIFE OR WELL-BEING OF OF25 FENDER.—If the Center has reason to believe 


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1 that to transmit notice under paragraph (1) 

2 poses a risk to the life or well-being of the 

3 child-sex offender, the Center shall make rea4 sonable efforts to provide constructive notice 

5 through electronic or telephonic communication 

6 to the child-sex offender of such risk. 

7 (C) SPECIFIC NOTIFICATION REGARDING

8 PROBABLE DENIAL OF ENTRY TO OFFENDER.— 

9 If the Center has reason to believe that a coun10 try of destination of the child-sex offender is 

11 highly likely to deny entry to the child-sex of12 fender due to transmission of notice under 

13 paragraph (1), the Center shall make reason14 able efforts to provide constructive notice 

15 through electronic or telephonic communication 

16 to the child-sex offender of such probable de17 nial. 

18 (3) SUNSET.—The authority of paragraph (1) 

19 shall terminate with respect to a child-sex offender 

20 beginning as of the close of the last day of the reg21 istration period of such child-sex offender under sec22 tion 115 of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and 

23 Safety Act of 2006 (42 U.S.C. 16915). 

24 (f) COMPLAINT REVIEW.—The Center shall establish 

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1 ers affected by notifications of destination countries of 

2 such child-sex offenders under subsection (e). 

3 (g) CONSULTATIONS.—The Center shall seek to en4 gage in ongoing consultations with— 

5 (1) nongovernmental organizations, including 

6 faith-based organizations, that have experience and 

7 expertise in identifying and preventing child sex 

8 tourism and rescuing and rehabilitating minor vic9 tims of international sexual exploitation and traf10 ficking; 

11 (2) the governments of countries interested in 

12 cooperating in the creation of an international sex 

13 offender travel notification system or that are pri14 mary destination or source countries for inter15 national sex tourism; and 

16 (3) Internet service and software providers re17 garding available and potential technology to facili18 tate the implementation of an international sex of19 fender travel notification system, both in the United 

20 States and in other countries. 

21 (h) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary of 

22 Homeland Security and the Secretary of State may pro23 vide technical assistance to foreign authorities in order to 

24 enable such authorities to participate more effectively in 


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1 the notification program system established under this 

2 section. 

3 SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS PROVISIONS. 

4 (a) BILATERAL AGREEMENTS.—It is the sense of 

5 Congress that the President should negotiate memoranda 

6 of understanding or other bilateral agreements with for7 eign governments to further the purposes of this Act and 

8 the amendments made by this Act, including by— 

9 (1) establishing systems to receive and transmit 

10 notices as required by title I of the Adam Walsh 

11 Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 (42 U.S.C. 

12 16901 et seq.); and 

13 (2) establishing mechanisms for private compa14 nies and nongovernmental organizations to report on 

15 a voluntary basis suspected child pornography or ex16 ploitation to foreign governments, the nearest 

17 United States embassy in cases in which a possible 

18 United States citizen may be involved, or other ap19 propriate entities. 

20 (b) NOTIFICATION TO THE UNITED STATES OF

21 CHILD-SEX OFFENSES COMMITTED ABROAD.—It is the 

22 sense of Congress that the President should formally re23 quest foreign governments to notify the United States 

24 when a United States citizen has been arrested, convicted, 


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1 sentenced, or completed a prison sentence for a child-sex 

2 offense in the foreign country. 

3 SEC. 6. ENHANCING THE MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR THE 

4 ELIMINATION OF TRAFFICKING. 

5 Section 108(b)(4) of the Trafficking Victims Protec6 tion Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7106(b)(4)) is amended by 

7 adding at the end before the period the following: ‘‘, in8 cluding severe forms of trafficking in persons related to 

9 sex tourism’’. 

10 SEC. 7. ASSISTANCE TO FOREIGN COUNTRIES TO MEET 

11 MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR THE ELIMI12 NATION OF TRAFFICKING. 

13 The President is strongly encouraged to exercise the 

14 authorities of section 134 of the Foreign Assistance Act 

15 of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2152d) to provide assistance to foreign 

16 countries directly, or through nongovernmental and multi17 lateral organizations, for programs, projects, and activi18 ties, including training of law enforcement entities and of19 ficials, designed to establish systems to identify sex offend20 ers and provide and receive notification of child sex of21 fender international travel. 

22 SEC. 8. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION. 

23 (a) DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE.—Nothing in this Act 

24 shall be construed to preclude or alter the jurisdiction or 

25 authority of the Department of Justice under the Adam 


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1 Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 (42 U.S.C. 

2 16901 et seq.), including section 113(d) of such Act, or 

3 any other provision of law, or to affect the work of the 

4 United States Marshals Service with INTERPOL. 

5 (b) ANGEL WATCH CENTER.—Nothing in this Act 

6 shall be construed to preclude the Angel Watch Center 

7 from transmitting notice with respect to any sex offender 

8 described in paragraph (3) or (4) of section 111 of the 

9 Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 (42 

10 U.S.C. 16911) or with respect to any sex offense described 

11 in paragraph (5) of such section. 

12 (c) DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INVES13 TIGATIONS.—Activities carried out under this Act shall 

14 not impede, hinder, or otherwise impact negatively any in15 vestigations of the Department of Homeland Security. 

Æ 


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