I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2737 
To provide United States assistance for the purpose of eradicating trafficking 
in children in eligible countries through the implementation of Child 
Protection Compacts, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 4, 2009 
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself, Mrs. MALONEY, Mr. BURTON of Indi-
ana, Mr. LATOURETTE, Mrs. MYRICK, Mr. PAULSEN, Mr. PERRIELLO, 
Mr. PLATTS, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. UPTON, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. 
MCDERMOTT, and Mr. KIRK) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
A BILL 
To provide United States assistance for the purpose of eradi-
cating trafficking in children in eligible countries through 
the implementation of Child Protection Compacts, and 
for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as ‘‘Child Protection Compact 
Act of 2009’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
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(1) According to the United Nations Children’s 
Fund (UNICEF), an estimated 158,000,000 chil-
dren aged 5–14 are engaged in child labor. 
(2) The International Labor Organizations’ 
(ILO) Convention Concerning the Prohibition and 
Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst 
Forms of Child Labor, which the United States rati-
fied in February 1999, defines ‘‘worst forms of child 
labour’’ as— 
(A) all forms of slavery or practices similar 
to slavery, such as the sale and trafficking of 
children, debt bondage and serfdom and forced 
or compulsory labour, including forced or com-
pulsory recruitment of children for use in 
armed conflict; 
(B) the use, procuring or offering of a 
child for prostitution, for the production of por-
nography or for pornographic performances; 
(C) the use, procuring or offering of a 
child for illicit activities, in particular for the 
production and trafficking of drugs as defined 
in the relevant international treaties; and 
(D) work which, by its nature or the cir-
cumstances in which it is carried out, is likely 
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to harm the health, safety or morals of chil-
dren. 
(3) The sexual exploitation of minors is a global 
phenomenon. The International Labour Organiza-
tion estimates that 1,800,000 children worldwide are 
exploited each year through prostitution and pornog-
raphy. 
(4) Many countries with a high prevalence of 
trafficking in children lack financial resources, legal 
expertise, technical capacity, and other resources to 
appropriately protect and rescue these children, de-
spite a demonstrated political will to do so. 
(5) Article 8 of the ILO Convention Concerning 
the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimi-
nation of the Worst Forms of Child Labor calls on 
Members to ‘‘take appropriate steps to assist one 
another in giving effect to the provisions of this Con-
vention through enhanced international cooperation 
and/or assistance . . . .’’. 
(6) As a States Party to the Optional Protocol 
to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the 
Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Por-
nography, the United States is obligated pursuant to 
Article 10 to, among other things, take all necessary 
steps to strengthen international cooperation by mul-
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tilateral, regional, and bilateral arrangements for the 
prevention and detection of those responsible for 
acts involving the sale of children, child prostitution, 
child pornography and child sex tourism. The United 
States also is required to promote international co-
operation and coordination authorities of other 
States Parties to the Convention, national and inter-
national nongovernmental organizations and inter-
national organizations to achieve these objectives. 
(7) Article 10 of the Optional Protocol to the 
Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale 
of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornog-
raphy further mandates that the United States and 
other States Parties in a position to do so to provide 
financial, technical, or other assistance through ex-
isting multilateral, regional, bilateral or other pro-
grams. 
(b) DECLARATION OF PURPOSE.—The purpose of 
this Act is to protect and rescue children from trafficking 
by the establishment of Child Protection Compacts be-
tween the United States and select, eligible countries with 
a significant prevalence of trafficking in children, in order 
to— 
(1) address institutional weaknesses within the 
government that result in the failure to protect vul-
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nerable children and to rescue and properly rehabili-
tate victims; 
(2) address other legal, political, and societal 
vulnerabilities for children within the country; and 
(3) ensure transparency and accountability in 
achieving the goals stipulated in the Compact over 
the course of its three-year implementation. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) APPROPRIATE
CONGRESSIONAL
COMMIT-
TEES.—Except as otherwise provided, the term ‘‘ap-
propriate congressional committees’’ means the 
Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Rep-
resentatives and the Committee on Foreign Rela-
tions of the Senate. 
(2) COMPACT.—The term ‘‘Child Protection 
Compact’’ or ‘‘Compact’’ means a Child Protection 
Compact described in section 6. 
(3) AMBASSADOR.—The term ‘‘Ambassador’’ 
means the Ambassador-at-Large of the Department 
of State’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking 
in Persons. 
(4) MINOR.—The term ‘‘minor’’ means an indi-
vidual who has not attained the age of 18 years. 
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(5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of State. 
SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF ASSISTANCE. 
(a) ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary, acting through the 
Ambassador, is authorized to provide assistance under this 
section for each country that enters into a Compact with 
the United States pursuant to section 6 to support policies 
and programs that assist the country to eradicate the traf-
ficking of children and are in furtherance of the purposes 
of this Act. 
(b) FORM OF ASSISTANCE.—Assistance under this 
section may be provided in the form of grants, cooperative 
agreements, or contracts to or with eligible entities de-
scribed in subsection (c). Assistance under this section 
may not be provided in the form of loans. 
(c) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—An eligible entity referred 
to in subsection (b) is— 
(1) the national government of the eligible 
country; 
(2) regional or local governmental units of the 
country; or 
(3) a nongovernmental organization or a private 
entity with expertise in the protection of vulnerable 
children, the investigation and prosecution of those 
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who engage in or benefit from child trafficking, or 
rescue of child victims of trafficking. 
(d) NUMBER AND AMOUNT OF COMPACTS.—Subject 
to the availability of appropriations, the Secretary shall 
determine the number of Compacts based on the estab-
lished need of the countries determined to be most eligible 
based on the criteria described in section 5. The amount 
of any single Compact shall not exceed a total of 
$15,000,000. 
(e) ANNUAL DISBURSEMENTS.—Disbursements shall 
be made to the eligible entities on an annual basis pursu-
ant to the terms of the respective Compacts. 
SEC. 5. ELIGIBLE COUNTRIES. 
(a) DETERMINATION BY THE SECRETARY.—The Sec-
retary shall select a country for purposes of entering into 
a Compact based on whether the country meets the initial 
criteria listed in subsection (b) and the selection criteria 
listed in subsection (c). The determination pursuant to 
subsection (c) shall be based, to the maximum extent pos-
sible, upon objective, documented, and quantifiable indica-
tors. 
(b) INITIAL CRITERIA.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—A country may be consid-
ered for a Compact if— 
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(A) the country is eligible for assistance 
from the International Development Associa-
tion, and the per capita income of the country 
is equal to or less than the historical ceiling of 
the International Development Association, as 
defined by the International Bank for Recon-
struction and Development; and 
(B) subject to paragraph (2), the country 
is not ineligible to receive United States eco-
nomic assistance under part I of the Foreign 
Assistance Act of 1961 by reason of the appli-
cation of any provision of the Foreign Assist-
ance Act of 1961 or any other provision of law. 
(2) RULE
OF
CONSTRUCTION.—For the pur-
poses of determining whether a country is eligible 
for receiving assistance under paragraph (1), the ex-
ercise by the President, the Secretary of State, or 
any other officer or employee of the United States 
of any waiver or suspension of any provision of law 
referred to in such paragraph, and notification to 
the appropriate congressional committees in accord-
ance with such provision of law, shall be construed 
as satisfying the requirement of such paragraph. 
(c) SELECTION CRITERIA.—A country should be se-
lected on the basis of— 
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