IV
105TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. CON. RES. 239
Expressing the sense of Congress concerning the worldwide trafficking of
persons, that has a disproportionate impact on women and girls, and
is condemned by the international community as a violation of fundamen-
tal human rights.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 10, 1998
Ms. SLAUGHTER submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on International Relations, and in addition to
the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently deter-
mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions
as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of Congress concerning the worldwide
trafficking of persons, that has a disproportionate impact
on women and girls, and is condemned by the inter-
national community as a violation of fundamental human
rights.
Whereas one of the fastest growing international trafficking
businesses is the trade in women, whereby women and
girls seeking a better life, a good marriage, or a lucrative
job abroad, unexpectedly find themselves in situations of
forced prostitution, sweatshop labor, exploitative domestic
servitude, or battering and extreme cruelty.
•HCON 239 IH
Whereas trafficked women are often subjected to rape and
other forms of sexual abuse by their traffickers and often
held as virtual prisoners by their exploiters, made to work
in slavery-like conditions, in debt bondage without pay
and against their will;
Whereas the President, the First Lady, the Secretary of
State, and the President’s Interagency Council on
Women have all identified trafficking in women as a sig-
nificant problem and are working to mobilize a response;
Whereas the Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing
Conference) called on all governments to take measures,
including legislative measures, to provide better protec-
tion of the rights of women and girls in trafficking, to
address the root factors that put women at risk to traf-
fickers, and to take measures to dismantle the national,
regional, and international networks in trafficking;
Whereas the United Nations General Assembly, noting its
concern about the increasing number of women and girls
who are being victimized by traffickers, passed a resolu-
tion in 1996 calling upon all governments to criminalize
trafficking in women and girls in all its forms and penal-
ize all those offenders involved, while ensuring that the
victims of these practices are not penalized; and
Whereas numerous treaties to which the United States is a
party address government obligations to combat traffick-
ing and the abuses inherent in trafficking, including such
treaties as the 1956 Supplementary Convention on the
Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade and Institutions
and Practices Similar to Slavery, which calls for the com-
plete abolition of debt bondage and servile forms of mar-
riage, and the 1957 Abolition of Forced Labor Conven-
tion, which undertakes to suppress and not to make use
•HCON 239 IH
of any form of forced or compulsory labor: Now, there-
fore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that—
(1) trafficking consists of all acts involved in
the recruitment or transportation of persons within
or across borders involving deception, coercion or
force, abuse of authority, debt bondage or fraud, for
the purpose of placing persons in situations of abuse
or exploitation such as forced prostitution, sexual
slavery, battering and extreme cruelty, sweatshop
labor or exploitative domestic servitude;
(2) trafficking also involves one or more forms
of kidnapping, false imprisonment, rape, battering,
forced labor or slavery-like practices which violate
fundamental human rights;
(3) to address this problem, the Department of
Justice Office of Violence Against Women, with the
cooperation of Immigration and Naturalization Serv-
ice, should submit a report to Congress on—
(A) efforts to identify instances of traffick-
ing into the United States within the last 5
years;
(B) the successes or difficulties experi-
enced in promoting interagency cooperation, co-
operation between local, State, and Federal au-
•HCON 239 IH
thorities, and cooperation with nongovernmental
organizations;
(C) the treatment and services provided,
and the disposition of trafficking cases in the
criminal justice system; and
(D) legal and administrative barriers to
more effective governmental responses, includ-
ing current statutes on debt bondage and invol-
untary servitude;
(4) in order to ensure effective prosecution of
traffickers and the abuses related to trafficking, vic-
tims should be provided with support services and
incentives to testify, such as—
(A) stays of deportation with an oppor-
tunity to apply for permanent residency, wit-
ness protection, relocation assistance, and asset
forfeiture from trafficking networks with funds
set aside to provide compensation due to victims
of trafficking; and
(B) services such as legal assistance in
criminal, administrative, and civil proceedings
and confidential health care;
(5) the Secretary of State, in consultation with
the Department of Justice Office of Violence
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Against Women, and nongovernmental organizations
should—
(A) develop curricula and conduct training
for consular officers on the prevalence and risks
of trafficking and the rights of victims; and
(B) develop and disperse to visa seekers
written materials describing the potential risks
of trafficking, including—
(i) information as to the rights of vic-
tims in the United States, including legal
and civil rights in labor, marriage, and for
crime victims under the Violence Against
Women Act; and
(ii) the names of support and advo-
cacy organizations in the United States;
(6) the Department of State and the European
Union—
(A) are commended as to their joint initia-
tive to promote awareness of the problem of
trafficking throughout countries of origin in
Eastern Europe and the independent states of
the former Soviet Union; and
(B) should continue efforts to engage in
similar programs in other regions and to ensure
that the dignity and the human rights of traf-
•HCON 239 IH
ficking victims are protected in destination
countries;
(7) the State Department’s Bureau for Inter-
national Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, to-
gether with the Department of Justice and the De-
partment of the Treasury, should continue to pro-
vide and expand funding to support criminal justice
training programs, which include trafficking; and
(8) the President’s Interagency Council on
Women should submit a report to Congress, not
later than 6 months after the date of the adoption
of this resolution, with regard to the implementation
by the Secretary of State and the Attorney General
of the duties described in this resolution.
SEC. 2. The Clerk of the House of Representatives
shall transmit a copy of this resolution to the President,
the Secretary of State, and the Attorney General.
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