I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 3154
To combat trafficking of persons in the United States and countries around
the world through prevention, prosecution and enforcement against traf-
fickers, and protection and assistance to victims of trafficking.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
OCTOBER 27, 1999
Mr. GEJDENSON (for himself, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. BERMAN,
Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA, Mr. MARTINEZ, Mr. PAYNE, Mr.
MENENDEZ, Mr. BROWN of Ohio, Ms. MCKINNEY, Mr. HASTINGS of
Florida, Ms. DANNER, Mr. HILLIARD, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. WEXLER, Mr.
ROTHMAN, Mr. DAVIS of Florida, Mr. POMEROY, Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr.
MEEKS of New York, Ms. LEE, Mr. CROWLEY, Mr. HOEFFEL, Mr. KING,
Mr. HOUGHTON, Mr. MEEHAN, Ms. WATERS, Mr. COOKSEY, Ms. PELOSI,
Ms. DELAURO, Ms. NORTON, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Ms. ROYBAL-AL-
LARD, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, and Ms. KAPTUR) introduced
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on International
Relations, and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, and Bank-
ing and Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined
by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall
within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To combat trafficking of persons in the United States and
countries around the world through prevention, prosecu-
tion and enforcement against traffickers, and protection
and assistance to victims of trafficking.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION. 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the
‘‘Comprehensive Antitrafficking in Persons Act of 1999’’.
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for
this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Purposes and findings.
Sec. 3. Definitions.
Sec. 4. Interagency task force to monitor and combat trafficking.
Sec. 5. Prevention of trafficking.
Sec. 6. Protection and assistance for victims of trafficking.
Sec. 7. Humanitarian/material witness nonimmigrant visa.
Sec. 8. Sanctions against countries involved in trafficking.
Sec. 9. Strengthening prosecution and punishment of traffickers.
Sec. 10. Annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices.
Sec. 11. Authorization of appropriations.
SEC. 2. PURPOSES AND FINDINGS.
(a) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are to com-
bat 
both 
domestically 
and 
internationally 
the
transnational offense of trafficking in persons, a contem-
porary manifestation of slavery in which women and chil-
dren are predominant victims, through prevention, pros-
ecution and enforcement against traffickers, and protec-
tion and assistance to victims of this egregious violation
of human rights.
(b) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that:
(1) The worldwide trafficking of persons is a
growing transnational crime, migration, economics,
labor, public health, and human rights problem that
is significant on nearly every continent.
(2) It is estimated that more than 1,000,000
individuals, primarily women and children, are traf-
ficked within or across borders annually. Approxi-
mately 50,000 women and children are trafficked
into the United States each year.
(3) Traffickers primarily target women and
girls, who are disproportionately affected by poverty,
lack of access to education, chronic unemployment,
discrimination, and lack of viable economic opportu-
nities in countries of origin. Traffickers lure women
and girls into their networks through false promises
of good working conditions at relatively high pay as
nannies, maids, dancers, factory workers, restaurant
workers, sales clerks, or models. Traffickers also buy
girls from poor families and sell them into many
types of bonded labor.
(4) Traffickers often facilitate victims’ move-
ment from their home communities to unfamiliar
destinations, away from family and friends, religious
institutions, and other sources of protection and sup-
port, making the victims more vulnerable.
(5) Traffickers force victims to perform labor or
services such as prostitution and sexual servitude,
domestic servitude, bonded sweatshop labor, or other
work or services. Victims are forced to perform labor
or services through physical violence, including rape
and other forms of sexual abuse, torture, starvation,
and imprisonment, and threats of violence and other
forms of psychological abuse and coercion.
(6) Women and children trafficked into the sex
industry are exposed to deadly diseases, including
HIV and AIDS. Trafficking victims are sometimes
worked or physically brutalized to death.
(7) Trafficking is perpetrated increasingly by
organized and sophisticated criminal enterprises.
Worldwide, the industry is the fastest growing and
3d largest source of profits for organized criminal
enterprises, behind only drugs and firearms. Profits
from the trafficking industry contribute to the ex-
pansion of organized criminal activity in the United
States and around the world. Trafficking often is
aided by official corruption in countries of origin,
transit, and destination, thereby threatening the rule
of law.
(8) The United States and the international
community are in agreement that trafficking of per-
sons is a grave violation of human rights and a mat-
ter of pressing international concern. The Universal
Declaration of Human Rights; the Supplementary
Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave
Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to
Slavery; the International Covenant on Civil and Po-
litical Rights; the Convention on the Elimination of
All Forms of Discrimination Against Women; the
Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhu-
man or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and
other relevant instruments condemn slavery and in-
voluntary servitude, violence and discrimination
against women, and components of the trafficking
scheme.
(9) No comprehensive law exists in the United
States that penalizes the range of offenses involved
in the trafficking scheme. Existing United States
laws and infrastructure are not sufficient to deter
trafficking to and from the United States and pro-
tect domestic trafficking victims. At present, traf-
fickers are prosecuted in the United States for vio-
lating laws related to components of the trafficking
scheme, such as involuntary servitude, slave trade
offenses, peonage, transportation for coerced or ille-
gal sexual activities, and immigration laws.
(10) The seriousness of the crime of trafficking
in persons is not reflected in current sentencing
guidelines for component crimes of the trafficking
scheme, which results in weak penalties for convicted
traffickers. Adequate services and facilities do not
exist to meet the healthcare, housing, education, and
legal assistance needs for the safe reintegration of
domestic trafficking victims.
(11) Trafficking in persons substantially affects
interstate and foreign commerce and has an impact
on the nationwide employment network and labor
market. Trafficking victims may be subjected to
dangerous work and living environments, isolation
and restriction of movement, and denial of pay. The
United States must take action to eradicate the sub-
stantial burdens on commerce that result from traf-
ficking in persons and to prevent the channels of
commerce from being used for an immoral and inju-
rious purpose.
(12) Traffickers may make representations to a
victim that physical harm may occur to them or to
others should the victim escape or attempt to escape.
These representations may have an equally coercive
effect on the victim as specific threats of harm. It
is therefore the intent of Congress that proof of in-
voluntary servitude or peonage, as it is used in pros-
ecutions under sections 241, 1581, 1583, 1584, and
1589 of title 18, United States Code, not be limited
to labor or services compelled by the use, or threat-
ened use, of force or legal coercion. Rather, viola-
tions of these sections may also be established by
proof that the labor or service of a person was ob-
tained or maintained through representations of
harm to the victim or to others. Violations under
these sections may also be created by the use of
fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation toward any per-
son in an effort to wrongfully obtain or maintain the
labor or services of that person, where the person is
a minor, an immigrant, one who is mentally dis-
abled, or one who is otherwise particularly suscep-
tible to coercion.
(13) Trafficking in persons is a transnational
crime with national implications. In order to end
this egregious violation of human rights, the United
States must take measures to strengthen the local
and regional capacity of countries of origin, transit
and destination to prevent trafficking, enforce
antitrafficking laws, prosecute traffickers, and pro-
tect trafficking victims. The United States must
work bilaterally and multilaterally to abolish the
trafficking industry and take steps to promote and
facilitate cooperation among countries linked to-
gether by international trafficking routes. The
United States must urge the international commu-
nity to take strong action in multilateral fora to en-
gage recalcitrant countries in serious and sustained
efforts to eliminate trafficking and protect traf-
ficking victims.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
For the purposes of this Act (other than section 8):
(1) The term ‘‘trafficking’’ means recruiting or
abducting, facilitating, transferring, harboring or
transporting a person, by the threat or use of force,
coercion, fraud or deception, or by the purchase,
sale, trade, transfer or receipt of a person, for the
purpose of subjecting that person to involuntary ser-
vitude, peonage, slavery, slavery-like practices, or
forced or bonded labor or services.
(2) The term ‘‘victim of trafficking’’ generally
means any person subjected to the actions set forth
in paragraph (1).
SEC. 4. INTERAGENCY TASK FORCE TO MONITOR AND COM-
BAT TRAFFICKING.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The President shall establish
an Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Traf-
ficking (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Task Force’’).
(b) APPOINTMENT.—The President shall appoint the
members of the Task Force, which shall include the Sec-
retary of State, the Director of the Agency for Inter-
national Development, the Attorney General, the Sec-
retary of Labor, the Secretary of Health and Human Serv-
ices, the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, and
such other officials as may be designated by the President.
(c) CHAIRMAN.—The Task Force shall be chaired by
the Secretary of State.
(d) SUPPORT FOR THE TASK FORCE.—The Secretary
of State is authorized to establish within the Department
of State an Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking,
which shall provide assistance to the Task Force. Any
such Office shall be administered by a Director. The Di-
rector shall have the primary responsibility for assisting
the Secretary of State in carrying out the purposes of this
Act and may have additional responsibilities as determined
by the Secretary. The Director shall consult with domestic,
international nongovernmental and intergovernmental or-
ganizations, and with trafficking victims or other affected
persons. The Director shall have the authority to take evi-
dence in public hearings or by other means. The Office
is authorized to retain staff members from agencies rep-
resented on the Task Force.
(e) ACTIVITIES OF THE TASK FORCE.—In consulta-
tion with nongovernmental organizations, the Task Force
shall carry out the following activities:
(1) Coordinate the implementation of this Act.
(2) Measure and evaluate progress of the
United States and countries around the world in the
areas of trafficking prevention, protection and as-
sistance to victims of trafficking, and prosecution
and enforcement against traffickers, including the
role of public corruption in facilitating trafficking.
(3) Expand interagency procedures to collect
and organize data, including significant research and
resource information on domestic and international
trafficking in persons. Any data collection proce-
dures established under this subsection shall respect
the confidentiality of victims of trafficking.
(4) Engage in efforts to facilitate cooperation
among countries of origin, transit and destination.
Such efforts shall aim to strengthen local and re-
gional capacities to prevent trafficking, prosecute
traffickers and assist trafficking victims, and shall
include initiatives to enhance cooperative efforts be-
tween destination countries and countries of origin
and assist in the appropriate reintegration of state-
less victims of trafficking.
SEC. 5. PREVENTION OF TRAFFICKING.
(a) ECONOMIC ALTERNATIVES TO PREVENT
AND
DETER TRAFFICKING.—The President, acting through
the Administrator of the United States Agency for Inter-
national Development and the heads of other appropriate
agencies, shall establish and carry out initiatives to en-
hance economic opportunity for potential victims of traf-
ficking as a method to deter trafficking. Such initiatives
may include—
(1) microcredit lending programs, training in
business development, skills training, and job coun-
seling;
(2) programs to promote women’s participation
in economic decisionmaking;
(3) programs to keep children, especially girls,
in elementary and secondary schools;
(4) development of educational curricula re-
garding the dangers of trafficking; and
(5) grants to nongovernmental organizations to
accelerate the empowerment of women in local and
regional, political, economic, social, and educational
roles in their countries.
(b) PUBLIC AWARENESS AND INFORMATION.—The
President, acting through the Secretary of Labor, the Sec-
retary of Health and Human Services, the Attorney Gen-
eral, and the Secretary of State, shall establish and carry
out programs to increase public awareness, particularly
among potential victims of trafficking, of the dangers of
trafficking and the protections that are available for vic-
tims of trafficking.
(c) CONSULTATION REQUIREMENT.—The President
shall consult with appropriate nongovernmental organiza-
tions with respect to the establishment and conduct of ini-
tiatives described in subsection (a).
SEC. 6. PROTECTION AND ASSISTANCE FOR VICTIMS OF
TRAFFICKING.
(a) ASSISTANCE
FOR VICTIMS
IN OTHER COUN-
TRIES.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State and
the Administrator of the United States Agency for
International Development, in consultation with ap-
propriate nongovernmental organizations, shall es-
tablish and carry out programs and initiatives in for-
eign countries to assist in the safe reintegration of
victims of trafficking and their children. Such pro-
grams and initiatives shall be designed to meet the
mental and physical health, housing, legal, and other
assistance needs of such victims and their children,
as identified by the Inter-Agency Task Force to
Monitor and Combat Trafficking established under
section 4.
(2) ADDITIONAL
REQUIREMENT.—The Sec-
retary of State and the Administrator of the United
States Agency for International Development shall
take all appropriate steps to enhance cooperative ef-
forts among foreign countries, including countries of
origin of victims of trafficking, and to assist in the
appropriate reintegration of stateless victims of traf-
ficking with respect to the establishment and con-
duct of programs and initiatives described in para-
graph (1).
(b) VICTIMS IN THE UNITED STATES.—
(1) ASSISTANCE.—Subject to the availability of
appropriations and notwithstanding title IV of the
Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Rec-
onciliation Act of 1996, the Attorney General, the
Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Sec-
retary of Labor, and the Board of Directors of the
Legal Services Corporation shall expand existing
services to provide assistance to victims of traf-
ficking within the United States, without regard to
the immigration status of such victims.
(2) BENEFITS.—Subject to the availability of
appropriations and notwithstanding any other provi-
sion of law, victims of trafficking in the United
States shall be eligible, without regard to their immi-
gration status, for any benefits that are otherwise
available under the Crime Victims Fund, established
under the Victims of Crime Act of 1984, including
victims’ services, compensation, and assistance.
(3) GRANTS.—
(A) Subject to the availability of appro-
priations, the Attorney General may make
grants to States, territories, and possessions of
the United States (including the Common-
wealths of Puerto Rico and the Northern Mar-
iana Islands), Indian tribes, units of local gov-
ernment, and nonprofit, nongovernmental vic-
tims’ service organizations to develop, expand,
or strengthen victim service programs for vic-
tims of trafficking.
(B) To receive a grant under this para-
graph, an eligible unit of government or organi-
zation shall certify that its laws, policies, and
practices, as appropriate, do not punish or deny
services to victims of trafficking on account of
the nature of their employment or services per-
formed in connection with such trafficking.
(C) Of amounts made available for grants
under this paragraph, there shall be set aside 3
percent for research, evaluation and statistics; 2
percent for training and technical assistance;