IV 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 225 
Supporting the goals and ideals of observing the National Slavery and Traf-
ficking Prevention Month from January 1 through February 1 of each 
year to raise awareness of, and opposition to, modern slavery. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 16, 2009 
Mr. SCHIFF (for himself and Ms. GRANGER) submitted the following 
concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 
Supporting the goals and ideals of observing the National 
Slavery and Trafficking Prevention Month from January 
1 through February 1 of each year to raise awareness 
of, and opposition to, modern slavery. 
Whereas the United States has a tradition of advancing fun-
damental human rights, having abolished the Trans-
atlantic Slave Trade in 1808 and having abolished chattel 
slavery and prohibited involuntary servitude in 1865; 
Whereas because the people of the United States remain com-
mitted to protecting individual freedom, there is a na-
tional imperative to eliminate human trafficking, which is 
the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or 
obtaining of persons for labor or services through the use 
of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection 
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to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slav-
ery, and the inducement of a commercial sex act by force, 
fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to per-
form such act has not attained 18 years of age; 
Whereas to combat human trafficking in the United States 
and globally, the people of the United States, the Federal 
Government, and State and local governments must be 
aware of the realities of human trafficking and must be 
dedicated to stopping this contemporary manifestation of 
slavery; 
Whereas beyond all differences of race, creed, or political per-
suasion, the people of the United States face national 
threats together and refuse to let modern slavery exist in 
the United States and around the world; 
Whereas the United States should actively oppose all individ-
uals, groups, organizations, and nations who support, ad-
vance, or commit acts of human trafficking; 
Whereas the United States must also work to end slavery in 
all of its forms around the world through education; 
Whereas victims of modern slavery need support in order to 
escape and to recover from the physical, mental, emo-
tional, and spiritual trauma associated with their victim-
ization; 
Whereas human traffickers use many physical and psycho-
logical techniques to control their victims, including the 
use of violence or threats of violence against the victim 
or the victim’s family, isolation from the public, isolation 
from the victim’s family and religious or ethnic commu-
nities, language and cultural barriers, shame, control of 
the victim’s possessions, confiscation of passports and 
other identification documents, and threats of arrest, de-
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portation, or imprisonment if the victim attempts to 
reach out for assistance or to leave; 
Whereas although laws to prosecute perpetrators of modern 
slavery and to assist and protect victims of human traf-
ficking, such as the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 
2000 (division A of Public Law 106–386; 114 Stat. 
1466) and the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims 
Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 (Public Law 
110–457; 122 Stat. 5044), have been enacted in the 
United States, awareness of the issues surrounding slav-
ery and trafficking by those people most likely to come 
into contact with victims is essential for effective enforce-
ment because the techniques that traffickers use to keep 
their victims enslaved severely limit self-reporting; 
Whereas January 1 is the anniversary of the effective date 
of the Emancipation Proclamation; 
Whereas February 1 is the anniversary of the date that 
President Abraham Lincoln signed the joint resolution 
sending the 13th Amendment to the States for ratifica-
tion, to forever declare that ‘‘Neither slavery nor involun-
tary servitude . . . shall exist within the United States, 
or any place subject to their jurisdiction’’ and is a date 
which has long been celebrated as National Freedom 
Day, as described in section 124 of title 36, United 
States Code; 
Whereas, under its authority to enforce the 13th Amendment 
‘‘by appropriate legislation,’’ Congress in the Trafficking 
Victims Protection Act of 2000 updated the post-Civil 
War involuntary servitude and slavery statutes and 
adopted an approach known as the ‘‘3P’’ approach of vic-
tim protection, vigorous prosecution, and prevention of 
human trafficking; and 
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Whereas the effort by individuals, businesses, organizations, 
and governing bodies to commemorate January 11 as 
Human Trafficking Awareness Day represents one of the 
many positive examples of the commitment in the United 
States to raise awareness of and to actively oppose mod-
ern slavery: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
concurring), That Congress supports— 
(1) the goals and ideals of observing National 
Slavery and Trafficking Prevention Month to recog-
nize the vital role that the people of the United 
States have in ending modern slavery; 
(2) marking this observance with appropriate 
programs and activities culminating in the observ-
ance of National Freedom Day, as described in sec-
tion 124 of title 36, United States Code; and 
(3) all other efforts to raise awareness of and 
opposition to human trafficking. 
Æ 
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