I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 3244
To combat trafficking of persons, especially into the sex trade, slavery, and
slavery-like conditions, in the United States and countries around the
world through prevention, through prosecution and enforcement against
traffickers, and through protection and assistance to victims of traf-
ficking.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
NOVEMBER 8, 1999
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. GEJDENSON, Ms. KAPTUR, Ms.
SLAUGHTER, Mr. LANTOS, Ms. MCKINNEY, Mr. KING, Mr. WOLF, and
Mr. COOKSEY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on International Relations, and in addition to the Committees
on the Judiciary, and Banking and Financial Services, for a period to
be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider-
ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee
concerned
A BILL
To combat trafficking of persons, especially into the sex
trade, slavery, and slavery-like conditions, in the United
States and countries around the world through preven-
tion, through prosecution and enforcement against traf-
fickers, and through 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,
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the
‘‘Trafficking Victims Protection 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. Annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices.
Sec. 5. Interagency task force to monitor and combat trafficking.
Sec. 6. Prevention of trafficking.
Sec. 7. Protection and assistance for victims of trafficking.
Sec. 8. Minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking.
Sec. 9. Assistance to foreign countries to meet minimum standards.
Sec. 10. Actions against governments failing to meet minimum standards.
Sec. 11. Actions against significant traffickers.
Sec. 12. Strengthening protection and punishment of traffickers.
Sec. 13. Authorization of Appropriations.
SEC. 2. PURPOSES AND FINDINGS.
(a) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are to com-
bat trafficking in persons, a contemporary manifestation
of slavery whose victims are predominantly women and
children, to ensure just and effective punishment of traf-
fickers, and to protect their victims.
(b) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that:
(1) Millions of people every year, primarily
women or children, are trafficked within or across
international borders. Approximately 50,000 women
and children are trafficked into the United States
each year.
(2) Many of these persons, of whom the over-
whelming majority are women and children, are traf-
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ficked into the international sex trade, often by
means of force, fraud, or coercion. The sex industry
has rapidly expanded over the past several decades.
It involves sexual exploitation of persons, predomi-
nantly women and girls, within activities related to
prostitution, pornography, sex tourism, and other
commercial sexual services. The rapid expansion of
the sex industry and the low status of women in
many parts of the world have contributed to a bur-
geoning of the trafficking industry, of which sex
trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion is a major
component.
(3) Trafficking in persons is not limited to sex
trafficking, but often involves forced labor and other
violations 
of 
internationally 
recognized 
human
rights. 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.
(4) 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
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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 prostitu-
tion or into various types of forced or bonded labor.
(5) 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.
(6) Victims are often forced to engage in sex
acts or to perform labor or other services through
physical violence, including rape and other forms of
sexual abuse, torture, starvation, and imprisonment,
through threats of violence, and through other forms
of psychological abuse and coercion.
(7) Trafficking is perpetrated increasingly by
organized and sophisticated criminal enterprises.
Trafficking in persons is the fastest growing source
of profits for organized criminal enterprises world-
wide. Profits from the trafficking industry con-
tribute to the expansion of organized criminal activ-
ity in the United States and around the world. Traf-
ficking often is aided by official corruption in coun-
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(8) ‘‘Minimum standards for the elimination of
trafficking’’ means the standards set forth in section
8.
(9) ‘‘Appropriate congressional committees’’
means the Committee on Foreign Relations of the
United States Senate and the Committee on Inter-
national Relations of the United States House of
Representatives.
(10) ‘‘Nonhumanitarian foreign assistance’’
means—
(A) any assistance under the Foreign As-
sistance Act of 1961 (including programs under
title IV of chapter 2 of part I of that Act, relat-
ing to the Overseas Private Investment Cor-
poration), other than—
(i) assistance under chapter 8 of part
I of that Act;
(ii) any other narcotics-related assist-
ance under part I of that Act or under
chapter 4 or 5 of part II of that Act, but
any such assistance provided under this
clause shall be subject to the prior notifica-
tion 
procedures 
applicable 
to
reprogrammings pursuant to section 634A
of that Act;
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(iii) disaster relief assistance, includ-
ing any assistance under chapter 9 of part
I of that Act;
(iv) antiterrorism assistance under
chapter 8 of part II of that Act;
(v) assistance which involves the pro-
vision of food (including monetization of
food) or medicine;
(vi) assistance for refugees; and
(vii) humanitarian and other develop-
ment assistance in support of programs of
nongovernmental 
organizations 
under
chapters 1 and 10 of that Act;
(B) sales, or financing on any terms, under
the Arms Export Control Act, other than sales
or financing provided for narcotics-related pur-
poses following notification in accordance with
the prior notification procedures applicable to
reprogrammings pursuant to section 634A of
the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961; and
(C) financing under the Export-Import
Bank Act of 1945.
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SEC. 4. ANNUAL COUNTRY REPORTS ON HUMAN RIGHTS
PRACTICES.
The Secretary of State, with the assistance of the As-
sistant Secretary of Democracy, Human Rights and
Labor, shall, as part of the annual Country Reports on
Human Rights Practices, include information to address
the status of trafficking in persons, including—
(1) a list of foreign countries that are countries
of origin, transit, or destination for a significant
number of victims of severe forms of trafficking;
(2) a description of the nature and extent of se-
vere forms of trafficking in persons in each country;
(3) an assessment of the efforts by the govern-
ments described in paragraph (1) to combat severe
forms of trafficking. Such an assessment shall
address—
(A) whether any governmental authorities
tolerate or are involved in such trafficking;
(B) which governmental authorities are in-
volved in activities to combat such trafficking;
(C) what steps the government has taken
against its officials who participate in, facili-
tate, or condone such trafficking;
(D) what steps the government has taken
to investigate and prosecute officials who par-
ticipate in or facilitate such trafficking;
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(E) what steps the government has taken
to prohibit other individuals from participating
in such trafficking, including the investigation,
prosecution, and conviction of individuals in-
volved in severe forms of trafficking in persons,
the criminal and civil penalties for such traf-
ficking, and the efficacy of those penalties in
eliminating or reducing such trafficking;
(F) what steps the government has taken
to assist victims of such trafficking, including
efforts to prevent victims from being further
victimized by traffickers, government officials,
or others, grants of stays of deportation, and
provision of humanitarian relief, including pro-
vision of mental and physical health care and
shelter;
(G) whether the government—
(i) is cooperating with governments of
other countries to extradite traffickers
when requested;
(ii) is assisting in international inves-
tigations of transnational trafficking net-
works and in other co-operative efforts to
combat trafficking;
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(iii) refrains from prosecuting victims
of severe forms of trafficking and from
other discriminatory treatment of such vic-
tims due to such victims having been traf-
ficked, or due to their having left or en-
tered the country illegally; and
(iv) recognizes the rights of victims
and ensures their access to justice.
(4) Information described in paragraph (2) and,
where appropriate, in paragraph (3) shall be in-
cluded in the annual Country Reports on Human
Rights Practices on a country-by-country basis.
(5) In addition to the information described in
this section, the Annual Country Reports on Human
Rights Practices may contain such other information
relating to trafficking in persons as the Secretary
determines to be appropriate.
SEC. 5. 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-