I 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5269

To combat unlawful commercial sex activities by targeting demand, to protect 

children from being exploited by such activities, to prohibit the operation 

of sex tours, to assist State and local governments to enforce laws 

dealing with commercial sex activities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 7, 2004

Ms. PRYCE of Ohio (for herself and Mrs. MALONEY) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL

To combat unlawful commercial sex activities by targeting 

demand, to protect children from being exploited by such 

activities, to prohibit the operation of sex tours, to assist 

State and local governments to enforce laws dealing with 

commercial sex activities, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

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

5 ‘‘Domestic Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2004’’. 

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

7 this Act is as follows:
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Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Findings and purposes. 

Sec. 3. Definitions. 

Sec. 4. Prosecution of purchasers, traffickers, and exploiters of commercial sex 

acts. 

Sec. 5. Strengthening prosecution and punishment of traffickers, purchasers, 

and exploiters of commercial sex acts. 

Sec. 6. Special operating group participation. 

Sec. 7. Reports.

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 

2 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find3 ings: 

4 (1) The unlawful trafficking of persons for com5 mercial sexual activities has a devastating impact on 

6 society. 

7 (2) An alarming number of individuals who are 

8 used for unlawful commercial sexual activities are 

9 socially and economically marginalized, and kept in 

10 effective bondage by threats or acts of physical and 

11 sexual abuse. These individuals are victimized by the 

12 prevalence of unlawful commercial sex. A dispropor13 tionate number of these victims are women and chil14 dren. 

15 (3) Although current laws punish traffickers, 

16 exploiters, and purchasers of unlawful commercial 

17 sex activities, these laws are typically enforced dis18 proportionately against the individuals, predomi19 nantly women and girls, who are used in the unlaw20 ful activities, instead of against the traffickers, ex-
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1 ploiters, and purchasers, who are predominantly 

2 men. 

3 (4) According to recent studies—

4 (A) 11 females used in unlawful commer5 cial sex acts were arrested in Boston for every 

6 arrest of a male purchaser; 

7 (B) 9 females used in unlawful commercial 

8 sex acts were arrested in Chicago for every ar9 rest of a male purchaser; and 

10 (C) 6 females used in unlawful commercial 

11 sex acts were arrested in New York City for 

12 every arrest of a male purchaser. 

13 (5) Some studies reveal that unlawful commer14 cial sex is a frequent gateway crime for women who 

15 later commit more serious criminal offenses. Over 70 

16 percent of female inmates in American prisons were 

17 first arrested for engaging in commercial sex acts. 

18 For every 3 women in jails in the United States 

19 today, 1 was arrested for prostitution, and 7 of 

20 every 10 women imprisoned on felony convictions 

21 were initially arrested for prostitution. 

22 (6) The emotional and physical ramifications of 

23 unlawful sex trafficking of children as well as women 

24 are staggering, leading to an increased risk of—

25 (A) sexual and physical assault; 
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1 (B) violence; 

2 (C) suicide; 

3 (D) pregnancy; 

4 (E) abortion; 

5 (F) sexually transmitted diseases, includ6 ing AIDS; 

7 (G) post-traumatic stress disorder; and 

8 (H) death.

9 (7) Unlawful sex trafficking has a particularly 

10 devastating and alarming impact upon children. Ac11 cording to some estimates, between 100,000 to 

12 300,000 children are victimized by unlawful sex traf13 ficking at any given time. According to the 

14 CyberTipline of the National Center for Missing and 

15 Exploited Children, reports of child sexual exploi16 tation, including child pornography, child prostitu17 tion, online enticement of children, and child sex 

18 tourism, have increased 750 percent over the past 5 

19 years. 

20 (8) Runaway children are especially vulnerable 

21 to unlawful sex traffickers, who lure these children 

22 into devastating lives as victims of commercial sex 

23 acts, with promises of food, clothing, and shelter. 
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1 (9) According to the Office of Juvenile Justice 

2 and Delinquency Prevention in the Department of 

3 Justice, in 2002—

4 (A) over 1,300,000 children were missing 

5 in the United States; 

6 (B) as many as 775,000 of these children 

7 are runaways; and 

8 (C) 76 percent of runaway children who 

9 call the National Runaway Switchboard are 

10 girls under the age of 18. 

11 (10) The United Nations estimates that unlaw12 ful sex trafficking, including sex tourism, generates 

13 approximately $5,000,000,000 a year in revenues. 

14 There are a number of United States-based compa15 nies that overtly and explicitly facilitate sex tours, 

16 often involving the sexual exploitation of children. 

According to some estimates, up to 1 17 ⁄4 of inter18 national sex tourists are American. 

19 (11) Under the Trafficking Victims Protection 

20 Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.), the United 

21 States is committed to ending the international traf22 ficking of persons for slavery, including sex slavery. 

23 The achievement of significant progress in reducing 

24 unlawful sex trafficking within our own borders will 

25 bolster United States efforts to eliminate inter-
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1 national trafficking of persons for slavery, including 

2 sex slavery, around the world. 

3 (12) Stronger enforcement of laws prohibiting 

4 commercial sex against traffickers, exploiters, and 

5 purchasers may dramatically improve enforcement 

6 and reduce the victimization of women and children 

7 used in unlawful sex trafficking.

8 (13) Additional research and statistics at the 

9 national, State, and local level will help us to under10 stand more fully the extent of unlawful commercial 

11 sex activities within the United States, and the most 

12 effective strategies for combating such unlawful ac13 tivities. 

14 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are—

15 (1) to support the development of more effective 

16 means of combating unlawful commercial sex activi17 ties by targeting demand; 

18 (2) to protect children from the predators and 

19 exploiters who use them in commercial sex activities; 

20 (3) to clarify that the operation of sex tours is 

21 prohibited under Federal law; and 

22 (4) to assist State and local governments in 

23 their enforcement of existing laws dealing with com24 mercial sex activities. 
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1 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act, the following definitions shall apply: 

3 (1) COMMERCIAL SEX ACT.—The term ‘‘com4 mercial sex act’’ means any sex act for which any5 thing of value is directly or indirectly given to, or re6 ceived by, traffickers, exploiters, or purchasers of sex 

7 acts.

8 (2) DOMESTIC TRAFFICKING.—The term ‘‘do9 mestic trafficking’’ means any unlawful commercial 

10 sex act performed in the United States. 

11 (3) EXPLOITER OF A COMMERCIAL SEX ACT.—

12 The term ‘‘exploiter of a commercial sex act’’ means 

13 any person who, for financial gain, procures, sells, or 

14 purveys a victim of a commercial sex act.

15 (4) PURCHASER OF A COMMERCIAL SEX ACT.—

16 The term ‘‘purchaser of a commercial sex act’’ 

17 means any person who solicits or purchases a com18 mercial sex act from an exploiter or victim of a com19 mercial sex act. 

20 (5) QUALIFIED NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANI21 ZATION.—The term ‘‘qualified non-governmental or22 ganization’’ means any organization that the Attor23 ney General, the Assistant Secretary of Children and 

24 Families of the Department of Health and Human 

25 Services, or the chief law enforcement officer of a 

26 State or political subdivision of a State determines 
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1 is engaged or plans to engage in efforts to protect 

2 and rehabilitate victims of commercial sex acts on a 

3 not for profit basis.

4 (6) TRAFFICKER OF A COMMERCIAL SEX ACT.—

5 The term ‘‘trafficker of a commercial sex act’’ 

6 means any person who, for financial gain, recruits, 

7 harbors, transports, provides, or obtains a person for 

8 the purpose of causing the person to become a vic9 tim of a commercial sex act.

10 (7) VICTIM OF A COMMERCIAL SEX ACT.—The 

11 term ‘‘victim of a commercial sex act’’ means any 

12 person offered for use in a commercial sex act. 

13 SEC. 4. PROSECUTION OF PURCHASERS, TRAFFICKERS, 

14 AND EXPLOITERS OF COMMERCIAL SEX 

15 ACTS. 

16 (a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—The Attorney General 

17 shall award grants to States and their political subdivi18 sions to establish model law enforcement programs that 

19 promote the effective prosecution of purchasers, exploiters, 

20 and traffickers of commercial sex acts. 

21 (b) USE OF GRANT FUNDS.—Funds received from a 

22 grant awarded under subsection (a) may be used by the 

23 grantee, either directly or through subgrants to qualified 

24 non-governmental organizations, for—
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1 (1) prosecutions against purchasers of unlawful 

2 commercial sex acts, through—

3 (A) educational programs instructing first4 time purchasers of unlawful commercial sex on 

5 the devastation caused by such offenses; 

6 (B) the publication of names and addresses 

7 of repeat purchasers; 

8 (C) the use of female decoys; 

9 (D) statutory rape and felony assault pros10 ecutions against purchasers; and 

11 (E) other programs designated by the At12 torney General to enhance the prosecution of 

13 purchasers and to reduce the demand for un14 lawful commercial sex activities; 

15 (2) prosecutions against traffickers and exploit16 ers of unlawful commercial sex acts, through—

17 (A) surveillance of places of business en18 gaged in unlawful commercial sex acts; 

19 (B) rape and sexual assault prosecutions 

20 against exploiters and traffickers; 

21 (C) tax evasion prosecutions against ex22 ploiters and traffickers; and 

23 (D) the use of restitution provisions to 

24 supplement public financing of shelters and so25 cial services for victims of unlawful commercial 
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1 sex acts and to compensate victims of unlawful 

2 commercial sex acts; and 

3 (3) social service programs operated by non4 governmental organizations with special expertise in 

5 assisting victims of unlawful commercial sex activi6 ties, whose programs offer protection, education, 

7 food, and shelter for victims of unlawful commercial 

8 sex acts, provided that special consideration shall be 

9 given to such programs that offer assistance to vic10 tims who assist in the prosecution of traffickers, ex11 ploiters, and purchaser-exploiters of unlawful com12 mercial sex activities. 

13 (c) REPORTS BY GRANTEE.—

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 

15 the end of the period for which a grant was made 

16 under this section, and at such times as may be nec17 essary to effectively facilitate the reporting and dis18 semination requirements under section 6(a), each 

19 grantee shall submit a report to the Attorney Gen20 eral. 

21 (2) CONTENTS.—The report submitted under 

22 paragraph (1) shall—

23 (A) identify and describe the activities car24 ried out with grant funds received under this 

25 section; and 
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1 (B) include an evaluation by the grantee of 

2 the effect of those activities. 

3 (3) DISSEMINATION.—The Attorney General 

4 shall ensure that the report submitted under para5 graph (1) is posted to the Department of Justice 

6 website. 

7 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

8 are authorized to be appropriated, for each of the fiscal 

9 years 2005 through 2007—

10 (1) $15,000,000 for grants to carry out the ac11 tivities described in subsection (b)(1); 

12 (2) $15,000,000 for grants to carry out the ac13 tivities described in subsection (b)(2); and 

14 (3) $15,000,000 for grants to carry out the ac15 tivities described in subsection (b)(3). 

16 SEC. 5. STRENGTHENING PROSECUTION AND PUNISHMENT 

17 OF TRAFFICKERS, PURCHASERS, AND EX18 PLOITERS OF COMMERCIAL SEX ACTS. 

19 Chapter 117 of title 18, United States Code, is 

20 amended—

21 (1) in the table of sections, by amending the 

22 item relating to section 2423 to read as follows:

‘‘2423. Protection of minor victims of commercial sex acts.’’.

23 (2) in section 2421, by inserting ‘‘, including a 

24 purchaser of unlawful commercial sex acts’’ after 

25 ‘‘any individual’’; 
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1 (3) in section 2422(a), by inserting ‘‘, including 

2 a purchaser of unlawful commercial sex acts’’ after 

3 ‘‘any individual’’; and 

4 (4) in section 2423—

5 (A) by amending the header to read as fol6 lows: 

7 ‘‘§ 2423. Protection of minor victims of commercial 

8 sex acts’’; 

9 (B) by redesignating subsection (f) as sub10 section (h); 

11 (C) by redesignating subsection (e) as sub12 section (f); 

13 (D) in subsection (f), as redesignated, by 

14 striking ‘‘or (d)’’ and inserting ‘‘(d), or (e)’’; 

15 and 

16 (E) by inserting after subsection (d) the 

17 following: 

18 ‘‘(e) EXPANDED FEDERAL JURISDICTION.—Any per19 son who, in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce—

20 ‘‘(1)(A) knowingly transports, recruits, or har21 bors a person who has not attained the age of 18 

22 years with the intent that the person engage in pros23 titution, or in any sexual activity for which any per24 son can be charged with a criminal offense; 
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1 ‘‘(B) travels for the purpose of engaging in any 

2 illicit sexual conduct with another person; 

3 ‘‘(C) engages in any illicit sexual conduct with 

4 another person; or 

5 ‘‘(D) arranges, induces, procures, or facilitates 

6 the travel of a person for the purpose of commercial 

7 advantage or private financial gain, knowing that 

8 the person is traveling for the purpose of engaging 

9 in illicit sexual conduct; and 

10 ‘‘(2) who knew that the person has crossed 

11 State or foreign territorial boundaries from the place 

12 of the permanent residence of such person within 1 

13 year of the date of the prohibited act,’’. 

14 shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 

15 30 years, or both. 

16 SEC. 6. SPECIAL OPERATING GROUP PARTICIPATION. 

17 The Department of Justice, the Department of 

18 Labor, the Department of Health and Human Services, 

19 and any other Federal agency involved in combating un20 lawful domestic sex trafficking and providing services to 

21 victims of unlawful domestic sex trafficking shall coordi22 nate their activities with the Senior Policy Operating 

23 Group to ensure that Federal programs directed at domes24 tic trafficking are consistent with Federal enforcement of 
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1 the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (Public 

2 Law 106–386). 

3 SEC. 7. REPORTS. 

4 (a) ANNUAL REPORT ON BEST PRACTICES TO RE5 DUCE DEMAND FOR COMMERCIAL SEX ACTS.—

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

7 the date of enactment of this Act, and annually 

8 thereafter, the Attorney General shall submit a full 

9 and detailed report of the implementation of this Act 

10 to the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and 

11 the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of 

12 Representatives. 

13 (2) CONTENTS.—The report submitted under 

14 paragraph (1) shall include—

15 (A) a detailed explanation of the standards 

16 by which the Attorney General has—

17 (i) awarded grants to States and their 

18 political subdivisions under section 4; and 

19 (ii) evaluated the success of grant 

20 awards in enhancing the prosecution and 

21 conviction of purchasers, traffickers, and 

22 exploiters of unlawful commercial sex acts, 

23 and in reducing demand for unlawful com24 mercial sex activity; and 
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1 (B) a full and detailed report of the imple2 mentation of the amendments under para3 graphs (2) and (3) of section 5, including num4 bers of arrests, prosecutions, and convictions; 

5 and 

6 (C) a full and detailed report of the imple7 mentation of the amendment under section 

8 5(4)(E), including numbers of arrests, prosecu9 tions, and convictions. 

10 (3) ANNUAL CONFERENCES.—

11 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General, 

12 at each annual conference conducted by the De13 partment of Justice, shall—

14 (i) announce and evaluate the findings 

15 contained in the report submitted under 

16 paragraph (1); and 

17 (ii) disseminate best methods and 

18 practices for training State and local law 

19 enforcement personnel involved in enforc20 ing laws prohibiting commercial sex acts. 

21 (B) PARTICIPATION.—Each annual con22 ference under this paragraph shall involve the 

23 full participation of leading experts in the field, 

24 including—
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1 (i) local police and prosecutorial offi2 cials; 

3 (ii) appropriate State officials; 

4 (iii) academic experts on unlawful 

5 commercial sex activity; 

6 (iv) appropriate medical personnel; 

7 and 

8 (v) qualified representatives of non9 governmental organizations. 

10 (b) COMPREHENSIVE STATISTICAL REVIEW ON UN11 LAWFUL COMMERCIAL SEX ACTS.—

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall 

13 carry out a biennial comprehensive statistical review 

14 and analysis of unlawful commercial sex acts. 

15 (2) CONTENTS.—The statistical review and 

16 analysis under this subsection shall include—

17 (A) the number of persons used in unlaw18 ful commercial sex acts; 

19 (B) the number of traffickers, exploiters, 

20 and purchasers of unlawful commercial sex 

21 acts; 

22 (C) the ethnicity, age, and sex of victims of 

23 unlawful commercial sex acts; 
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1 (D) the ethnicity and sex of traffickers, 

2 purchasers, and exploiters of unlawful commer3 cial sex acts; 

4 (E) the number of investigations, arrests, 

5 prosecutions, and incarcerations of victims of 

6 unlawful commercial sex acts by States and 

7 their political subdivisions; 

8 (F) the number of investigations, arrests, 

9 prosecutions, and incarcerations of traffickers, 

10 exploiters, or purchasers of unlawful commer11 cial sex acts; and 

12 (G) the differences in the enforcement of 

13 laws relating to unlawful commercial sex acts 

14 by similarly situated jurisdictions. 

15 (3) SOLICITATION OF VIEWS.—In conducting 

16 the statistical review and analysis under this sub17 section, the Attorney General shall solicit views 

18 from—

19 (A) Federal and State prosecutorial offi20 cials; 

21 (B) Federal, State, county, and municipal 

22 law enforcement officials; 

23 (C) persons used in unlawful commercial 

24 sex acts; 

25 (D) researchers; and 
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1 (E) other experts in the area of commer2 cial sex acts. 

3 (4) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the 

4 date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General 

5 shall submit a report containing the results of the 

6 statistical review and analysis under this section to 

7 the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and 

8 the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of 

9 Representatives.

10 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

11 are authorized to be appropriated—

12 (1) $1,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2005 

13 through 2007 to carry out subsection (a); and

14 (2) $1,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2005 

15 and 2007 to carry out subsection (b).

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