IV 
109TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 1103 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding modern- 
day slavery. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 7, 2006 
Ms. LEE (for herself and Mr. LEWIS of Georgia) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations 
RESOLUTION 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives 
regarding modern-day slavery. 
Whereas modern-day slavery includes chattel slavery, human 
trafficking, indentured or bonded labor, forced labor, 
forced marriage, and the worst forms of child labor; 
Whereas the United States outlawed slavery and involuntary 
servitude in 1865, recognizing that those evil institutions 
must be abolished; 
Whereas Article 1 of the 1956 Supplementary Convention on 
the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade and Institutions 
and Practices Similar to Slavery states that ‘‘[e]ach of 
the States Parties to this Convention shall take all prac-
ticable and necessary legislative and other measures to 
bring about progressively and as soon as possible the 
complete abolition or abandonment of the following insti-
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•HRES 1103 IH 
tutions and practices, where they still exist and whether 
or not they are covered by the definition of slavery con-
tained in Article 1 of the Slavery Convention signed at 
Geneva on 25 September 1926’’; 
Whereas Article 1 of the 1956 Supplementary Convention on 
the Abolition of Slavery further states that such institu-
tions and practices of slavery include— 
(1) debt bondage; 
(2) serfdom; 
(3) ‘‘[a]ny institution or practice whereby: (i) 
[a]woman, without the right to refuse, is promised or 
given in marriage on payment of a consideration in 
money or in kind to her parents, guardian, family or any 
other person or group; or (ii) [t]he husband of a woman, 
his family, or his clan, has the right to transfer her to 
another person for value received or otherwise; or (iii) [a] 
woman on the death of her husband is liable to be inher-
ited by another person;’’; and 
(4) ‘‘[a]ny institution or practice whereby a child or 
young person under the age of 18 years, is delivered by 
either or both of his natural parents or by his guardian 
to another person, whether for reward or not, with a view 
to the exploitation of the child or young person or of his 
labour.’’; 
Whereas Article 6 of the 1956 Supplementary Convention on 
the Abolition of Slavery states that ‘‘[t]he act of enslav-
ing another person or of inducing another person to give 
himself or a person dependent upon him into slavery, or 
of attempting these acts, or being accessory thereto, or 
being a party to a conspiracy to accomplish any such 
acts, shall be a criminal offence under the laws of the 
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•HRES 1103 IH 
States Parties to this Convention and persons convicted 
thereof shall be liable to punishment’’; 
Whereas in the 21st century as many as 27 million people 
are suffering as slaves throughout the world and in the 
United States; 
Whereas modern-day slavery strips human beings of dignity, 
respect, and hope for their future; 
Whereas no country or people are immune from the effects 
of modern-day slavery; 
Whereas the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 
U.S.C. 7101 et seq.) states that the Declaration of Inde-
pendence recognizes the inherent dignity and worth of all 
people and states that all men are created equal and are 
endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, 
including the right to be free from slavery and involun-
tary servitude; 
Whereas trafficking in persons involves the following: ‘‘The 
use of force, fraud, or coercion to exploit a person for 
commercial sex or for the purpose of subjecting a victim 
to involuntary servitude, debt bondage, or forced labor. 
The use of force or coercion can be direct and violent, or 
psychological.’’; 
Whereas an estimated 800,000 persons are trafficked across 
international borders each year; 
Whereas approximately 80 percent of victims are female and 
an estimated 40 to 50 percent of victims are children; 
Whereas many of the victims are trafficked into the inter-
national sex trade, which includes sexual exploitation of 
persons involving activities including prostitution, pornog-
raphy, sex tourism, and other commercial sexual services; 
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Whereas an estimated 18,000 to 20,000 victims are traf-
ficked into the United States each year; 
Whereas global profits from trafficked forced labor totals an 
estimated $31.6 billion annually; 
Whereas the Department of Health and Human Services 
states that human trafficking is the second largest crimi-
nal industry worldwide; 
Whereas Article 1 of the 1956 Supplementary Convention on 
the Abolition of Slavery defines indentured or bonded 
labor as ‘‘the status or condition arising from a pledge 
by a debtor of his [or her] personal services or of those 
of a person under his [or her] control as security for a 
debt, if the value of those services as reasonably assessed 
is not applied towards the liquidation of the debt or the 
length and nature of those services are not respectively 
limited and defined’’; 
Whereas bonded labor can hardly be distinguished from tradi-
tional slavery because it prevents the victim from leaving 
his or her job until the debt is repaid; 
Whereas the borrower is usually in a situation where he or 
she is never able to repay the debt, and consequently the 
bonded laborer’s children inherit the debt in which people 
are enslaved from generation to generation; 
Whereas bonded labor affects at least 20 million people 
around the world; 
Whereas International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention 
No. 105 on the Abolition of Forced Labor ‘‘prohibits the 
use of any form of forced or compulsory labor as a means 
of political coercion or education, punishment for the ex-
pression of political or ideological views, workforce mobili-
zation for purposes of economic development, labor dis-
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•HRES 1103 IH 
cipline, punishment for participation in strikes, or racial, 
social, national or religious discrimination’’; 
Whereas at least 12.3 million people are victims of forced 
labor which includes at least 9,490,000 in Asia and the 
Pacific, at least 1,320,000 in Latin America and the Car-
ibbean, at least 360,000 in industrialized countries (i.e. 
England, France, and the United States), at least 
260,000 in the Middle East and North Africa, at least 
260,000 in transition countries, and at least 660,000 in 
sub-Saharan Africa; 
Whereas among such 12.3 million victims, at a minimum, 
there are at least 2.5 million people who are forced to 
work by the governments, military forces, or rebel mili-
tary groups; 
Whereas at least 9.8 million people are exploited by private 
agents and enterprises; 
Whereas the ILO estimates that there are at least 1.4 million 
victims of commercial sexual exploitation and at least 7.7 
million victims of economic exploitation; 
Whereas global profits from all forced labor total an esti-
mated $44.3 billion annually; 
Whereas Article 1 of the 1964 Convention on Consent to 
Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage and Registration 
of Marriages states that no marriage shall be legally en-
tered into without the full and free consent of both par-
ties; 
Whereas there is a clear distinction between an arranged 
marriage and a forced marriage, where in an arranged 
marriage the consent of both parties is sought and given 
but in a forced marriage, consent is not given and duress 
is invariably a factor; 
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