I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 63 
To direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to develop a database that 
shall serve as a central location for information from investigations 
relating to human trafficking for Federal, State, and local law enforce-
ment agencies. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 6, 2015 
Ms. JACKSON LEE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to develop 
a database that shall serve as a central location for 
information from investigations relating to human traf-
ficking for Federal, State, and local law enforcement 
agencies. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Coordinated Assistance 
To Catch Human Traffickers Act of 2015’’ or the 
‘‘CATCH Traffickers Act of 2015’’. 
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) The scourge of human trafficking persists 
and manifests itself in the modern era, whether 
termed modern-day slavery, forced labor, involuntary 
domestic servitude, sex trafficking, child sex traf-
ficking, bonded labor, forced child labor, or debt 
bondage among migrant laborers. 
(2) According to the 2013 Trafficking in Per-
sons (TIP) Report of the United States Department 
of State, each year an estimated 14,500 to 17,500 
foreign nationals are trafficked into the United 
States, with the largest number of people trafficked 
into the United States coming from East Asia and 
the Pacific, and the next highest numbers coming 
from Latin America, Europe, and Eurasia. 
(3) The majority of victims of modern-day slav-
ery are women and children because traffickers prey 
on those who suffer most from gender discrimina-
tion, family violence, and a lack of access to edu-
cation and economic opportunity. 
(4) Human trafficking is one of the fastest 
growing criminal enterprises in the 21st century, 
generating profits for traffickers in excess of 
$30,000,000,000, according to the International 
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Labor Organization, ranking with drug smuggling 
and arms dealing in organized crime activities. 
(5) There remains a stark disparity between the 
large global problem of trafficking in persons and 
the low numbers of prosecutions and convictions of 
forced labor trafficking crimes, which accounted for 
less than 3 percent of all convictions worldwide as 
recently as 2009. 
SEC. 3. NATIONAL DATABASE FOR HUMAN TRAFFICKING 
INVESTIGATIONS. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Homeland 
Security (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall 
establish and maintain a database that shall serve as a 
central location for information from investigations relat-
ing to human trafficking for Federal, State, and local law 
enforcement agencies. 
(b) CONTRIBUTION OF INFORMATION.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The head of a Federal, 
State, or local law enforcement agency conducting 
an investigation related to human trafficking shall 
ensure that such information relating to that inves-
tigation as the Secretary determines appropriate is 
entered into the database established pursuant to 
subsection (a). 
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(2) STATE AND LOCAL INCENTIVE.—In the case 
of a State or unit of local government that received 
a grant award under subpart 1 of part E of title I 
of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act 
of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3750 et seq.), the law enforce-
ment agency of which does not substantially comply 
with the requirement under paragraph (1), the At-
torney General shall reduce the amount that would 
otherwise be awarded to that State or unit of local 
government under such grant program by 20 per-
cent. 
(c) ACCESS TO DATABASE.—Federal, State, and local 
law enforcement agencies may only access the database 
established pursuant to subsection (a) in connection with 
an investigation related to human trafficking. 
(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 
authorized to be appropriated $20,000,000 for fiscal year 
2016 to carry out this Act. 
Æ 
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