IV 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 55 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding modern- 
day slavery. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 11, 2007 
Ms. LEE (for herself and Mr. LEWIS of Georgia) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
RESOLUTION 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives 
regarding modern-day slavery. 
Whereas modern-day slavery means the status or condition of 
a person over whom any power attaching to the right of 
ownership or control is exercised by means of exploitation 
through involuntary servitude; 
Whereas forms of modern-day slavery include chattel slavery, 
human trafficking, indentured or bonded labor, forced 
labor, forced marriage, and the worst forms of child labor 
or other similar means; 
Whereas the United Kingdom outlawed slavery in 1807, rec-
ognizing that ‘‘the African Slave Trade, and all manner 
of dealing and trading in the Purchase, Sale, Barter, or 
Transfer of Slaves, or of Persons intended to be sold, 
transferred, used, or dealt with as Slaves, practiced or 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
01:32 Jan 13, 2007
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HR55.IH
HR55
bajohnson on PROD1PC69 with BILLS
•HRES 55 IH 
carried on, in, at, to or from any Part of the Coast or 
Countries of Africa, shall be, and the same is hereby ut-
terly abolished, prohibited, and declared to be unlawful’’; 
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-
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 per-
son or group; or (ii) [t]he husband of a woman, his fam-
ily, 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 inherited by 
another person;’’; and 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
01:32 Jan 13, 2007
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HR55.IH
HR55
bajohnson on PROD1PC69 with BILLS
•HRES 55 IH 
(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 
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 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
01:32 Jan 13, 2007
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HR55.IH
HR55
bajohnson on PROD1PC69 with BILLS
•HRES 55 IH 
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; 
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; 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
01:32 Jan 13, 2007
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HR55.IH
HR55
bajohnson on PROD1PC69 with BILLS