IIB 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 514 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
JANUARY 27, 2015 
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 
AN ACT 
To prioritize the fight against human trafficking within the 
Department of State according to congressional intent 
in the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 with-
out increasing the size of the Federal Government, and 
for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Human Trafficking 
Prioritization Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) The International Labor Organization esti-
mates that nearly 21 million people are subjected to 
modern slavery around the world at any given time 
and that the majority of the enslaved are women 
and girls. 
(2) Congress authorized the creation of a De-
partment of State Office to Monitor and Combat 
Trafficking in Persons in the Trafficking Victims 
Protection Act of 2000 (Division A of Public Law 
106–386) in order to directly assist the Secretary of 
State in his or her effort to coordinate a United 
States Government interagency response to domestic 
and international trafficking in persons. 
(3) The Office to Monitor and Combat Traf-
ficking in Persons monitors trafficking worldwide 
and produces the online and printed versions of the 
annual Trafficking in Persons Report, which is Con-
gress’ primary resource for human trafficking re-
porting, analysis, and recommendations on the 
United States and 186 countries around the world. 
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(4) The annual Trafficking in Persons Report 
contains tier rankings of each country on which it 
reports, and these tier rankings have become an es-
sential diplomatic tool for promoting protection for 
victims, prevention of trafficking, and prosecution of 
perpetrators. 
(5) Some countries have openly stated, and 
many others have confided, that dramatic improve-
ments in the country’s human trafficking record 
were directly related to avoidance of a low tier rank-
ing in the annual Trafficking in Persons Report. 
(6) Ambassador Mark Lagon, former Ambas-
sador-at-Large to Monitor and Combat Trafficking 
in Persons (2007–2009), testified before the Sub-
committee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human 
Rights, and International Organizations of the Com-
mittee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Rep-
resentatives on April 18, 2013, that ‘‘[T]he State 
Department does a tremendous job in producing a 
report which tells it like it is, offering objective 
rankings. Yet at times it pulls punches, typically due 
to the urging of regional specialists rather than the 
TIP Office’s dedicated experts on trafficking.’’. 
(7) Ambassador John Miller, former Ambas-
sador-at-Large to Monitor and Combat Trafficking 
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in Persons (2002–2006), recently stated that, ‘‘Up-
grading the status of the Office to a Bureau will not 
create additional bureaucracy—it will simply give 
JTIP and the Ambassador-at-large who heads it 
equal standing with regional and functional bureaus 
at the State Department. That standing is abso-
lutely essential for the issue to remain a priority, es-
pecially when multiple U.S. interests are engaged.’’. 
(8) The tier ranking process authorized by Con-
gress in the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 
2000 has been in some instances compromised by 
the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking subor-
dinate stature within the Department of State. 
(9) It is essential for Congress and the Sec-
retary of State to be accurately informed regarding 
United States and foreign country successes and 
failures in the fight against human trafficking. 
(10) The diplomatic power and credibility of the 
Trafficking in Persons Report is based on rigorous 
scholarship and scrupulous application of the min-
imum standards for the elimination of human traf-
ficking and is undermined by political, rather than 
factual, tier rankings. 
(11) Strong and effective anti-slavery policy re-
quires that officials from the Office to Monitor and 
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Combat Trafficking have equal hierarchical standing 
with State Department regional bureaus and direct 
access to the Secretary of State. 
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
It is the sense of Congress that— 
(1) the Office to Monitor and Combat Traf-
ficking of the Department of State will be more ef-
fective in carrying out duties mandated by Congress 
in the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 if 
the Office status is changed to that of a Bureau 
within the Department hierarchy; 
(2) the change in status from Office to Monitor 
and Combat Trafficking to a Bureau can be accom-
plished without increasing the number of personnel 
or the budget of the current Office; 
(3) a Bureau to Monitor and Combat Traf-
ficking would be more effective in carrying out du-
ties mandated by Congress in the Trafficking Vic-
tims Protection Act of 2000 if the Bureau were 
headed by an Assistant Secretary with direct access 
to the Secretary of State, rather than an Ambas-
sador-at-Large; and 
(4) the Secretary of State should review the 
current use of the 24 Assistant Secretary positions 
authorized by section 1(c)(1) of the State Depart-
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ment Basic Authorities Act of 1956 (22 U.S.C. 
2651a(c)(1)) and make appropriate revisions, con-
solidations, and eliminations, to ensure that those 
positions reflect the highest Departmental needs and 
foreign policy priorities of the United States, includ-
ing efforts to combat trafficking in persons. 
SEC. 4. BUREAU TO COMBAT TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 105(e) of the Trafficking 
Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7103(e)) is 
amended— 
(1) in the heading, by striking ‘‘OFFICE
TO 
MONITOR AND COMBAT TRAFFICKING’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘BUREAU TO COMBAT TRAFFICKING IN PER-
SONS’’; 
(2) in paragraph (1)— 
(A) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘Of-
fice to Monitor and Combat Trafficking’’ and 
inserting ‘‘Bureau to Combat Trafficking in 
Persons’’; 
(B) in the second sentence, by striking 
‘‘Office’’ and inserting ‘‘Bureau’’; and 
(C) in the sixth sentence, by striking ‘‘Of-
fice’’ and inserting ‘‘Bureau’’; and 
(3) in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (2), by 
striking ‘‘Office to Monitor and Combat Traf-
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ficking’’ and inserting ‘‘Bureau to Combat Traf-
ficking in Persons’’. 
(b) REFERENCE.—Any reference in the Trafficking 
Victims Protection Act of 2000 or in any other Act to the 
Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking shall be deemed 
to be a reference to the Bureau to Combat Trafficking 
in Persons. 
SEC. 5. REPORT REGARDING DESIGNATION OF ASSISTANT 
SECRETARY OF STATE TO COMBAT TRAF-
FICKING IN PERSONS. 
Not later than 90 days after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall submit to 
the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Rep-
resentatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of 
the Senate a report detailing— 
(1) for each current Assistant Secretary of 
State position— 
(A) the title of that Assistant Secretary of 
State; 
(B) how long that particular Assistant Sec-
retary designation has been in existence; and 
(C) whether that particular Assistant Sec-
retary designation was legislatively mandated or 
authorized and, if so, the relevant statutory ci-
tation for such mandate or authorization; and 
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(2) whether the Secretary intends to designate 
one of the Assistant Secretary of State positions au-
thorized by section 1(c)(1) of the State Department 
Basic 
Authorities 
Act 
of 
1956 
(22 
U.S.C. 
2651a(c)(1)) as the Assistant Secretary of State to 
Combat Trafficking in Persons, and the reasons for 
that decision. 
SEC. 6. COUNTRIES ON SPECIAL WATCH LIST FOR 4 CON-
SECUTIVE YEARS THAT ARE DOWNGRADED 
AND REINSTATED ON SPECIAL WATCH LIST. 
Section 110(b)(2) of the Trafficking Victims Protec-
tion Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7107(b)(2)) is amended by 
adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(F) COUNTRIES ON SPECIAL WATCH LIST 
FOR 4 CONSECUTIVE YEARS THAT ARE DOWN-
GRADED AND REINSTATED ON SPECIAL WATCH 
LIST.—Notwithstanding subparagraphs (D) and 
(E), a country that— 
‘‘(i) was included on the special watch 
list described in subparagraph (A) for 4 
consecutive years after the date of the en-
actment of the William Wilberforce Traf-
ficking Victims Protection Reauthorization 
Act of 2008; and 
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‘‘(ii) was subsequently included on the 
list of countries described in paragraph 
(1)(C), 
may not thereafter be included on the special 
watch list described in subparagraph (A) for 
more than 1 consecutive year.’’. 
SEC. 7. COST LIMITATION. 
No additional funds are authorized to be appro-
priated for ‘‘Diplomatic and Consular Programs’’ to carry 
out the provisions of this Act. 
Passed the House of Representatives January 26, 
2015. 
Attest: 
KAREN L. HAAS, 
Clerk. 
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