Title: To amend title 5, United States Code, to provide for priority for making payments for lodging expenses for Federal employees that are booked in places with policies to protect individuals from severe forms of human trafficking, and for other purposes.
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics

Summary:
This bill requires each federal agency, for the purposes of booking and making payments for traveling employees' lodging expenses, to give priority to preferred places of accommodation.
To be considered a preferred place of accommodation, a hotel, motel, or other place of public accommodation must have certain measures in place, including (1) a zero-tolerance policy regarding severe forms of trafficking in persons, (2) procedures for employees to identify and report such exploitation to appropriate law enforcement authorities and to hotel management, and (3) certain mandatory training for employees who are located at the place of accommodation and who are likely to interact with guests.
The General Services Administration shall (1) develop and make available a model zero-tolerance policy for places of accommodation, (2) develop and publish a list of training programs that address the identification of human trafficking and reporting to authorities, and (3) maintain a list of each preferred place of accommodation.
Compliance with these requirements shall be assessed and enforced separately for each individual place of accommodation, and a lack of compliance by one shall not impact the eligibility of an affiliated establishment.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1427 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1427

   To amend title 5, United States Code, to provide for priority for 
  making payments for lodging expenses for Federal employees that are 
booked in places with policies to protect individuals from severe forms 
             of human trafficking, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 28, 2019

Mr. Smith of New Jersey (for himself and Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney of New 
    York) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                   Committee on Oversight and Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend title 5, United States Code, to provide for priority for 
  making payments for lodging expenses for Federal employees that are 
booked in places with policies to protect individuals from severe forms 
             of human trafficking, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. PRIORITY FOR ACCOMMODATION IN PLACES WITH CERTAIN POLICIES 
              RELATING TO SEVERE FORMS OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING.

    (a) In General.--Subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 5712. Priority for accommodation in places with certain policies 
              relating to severe forms of human trafficking
    ``(a) In General.--For the purpose of making payments under this 
chapter for lodging expenses each agency shall ensure that, to the 
extent practicable, commercial-lodging room nights in the United States 
for employees of that agency are booked in a preferred place of 
accommodation.
    ``(b) Eligibility as a Preferred Place of Accommodation.--To be 
considered a preferred place of accommodation, a hotel, motel, or other 
place of public accommodation shall--
            ``(1) enforce a zero-tolerance policy regarding severe 
        forms of trafficking in persons (as defined in section 103(11) 
        of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 
        7102(11))) developed by the Administer of the General Services 
        Administration under subsection (c)(1), or a similar zero-
        tolerance policy developed by the place of accommodation, 
        demonstrated by--
                    ``(A) attesting through the website of the General 
                Services Administration to the use of a zero-tolerance 
                policy;
                    ``(B) posting such policy in a non-public space 
                within the place of accommodation that is accessible by 
                all employees; or
                    ``(C) including such policy in the employee 
                handbook;
            ``(2) have procedures in place for employees to identify 
        and report any such exploitation to the appropriate law 
        enforcement authorities and to hotel management;
            ``(3) post the informational materials developed under 
        subsection (c)(3) in an appropriate non-public space within the 
        place of accommodation that is accessible by all employees;
            ``(4) require each employee who is physically located at 
        the place of accommodation and who is likely to interact with 
        guests including security, front desk, housekeeping, room 
        service and bell staff to complete the training developed under 
        subsection (c)(2), or a training developed pursuant to 
        subsection (d), that shall--
                    ``(A) take place not later than 180 days after the 
                starting date of the employee, or in the case of an 
                employee starting employment before the effective date 
                of this section, not later than 180 days after the date 
                of enactment of this section; and
                    ``(B) include training on the identification of 
                possible cases of sexual exploitation of children and 
                procedures to report suspected abuse to the appropriate 
                authorities;
            ``(5) include a notice to all independent contractors in 
        any agreement negotiated or renewed on or after the date of 
        enactment of this section that states the following: `Federal 
        law prohibits the trafficking of humans under the Trafficking 
        Victims Protection Act (22 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.).';
            ``(6) ensure that the place of accommodation does not 
        retaliate against employees for reporting suspected cases of 
        such exploitation if reported according to protocol identified 
        in the employee training; and
            ``(7) keep records, to the extent permissible by law and on 
        an individual hotel property basis, of each suspected case of 
        such exploitation that is reported to accommodation management 
        or law enforcement, including the date, approximate time, and 
        the name of the accommodation manager or law enforcement agency 
        to which the report was made.
    ``(c) GSA Requirements.--The Administrator of General Services 
shall--
            ``(1) develop, and make available on the Internet website 
        of the General Services Administration, a zero-tolerance policy 
        for places of accommodation regarding severe forms of 
        trafficking in persons (as defined in section 103(11) of the 
        Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 
        7102(11))), including informational materials regarding such 
        policy to be posted in places of accommodation in non-public 
        spaces;
            ``(2) make available on its Internet website a list of 
        Federal Government and privately produced training programs 
        that address the identification of severe forms of human 
        trafficking and reporting to law enforcement authorities;
            ``(3) in coordination with the Secretary of Homeland 
        Security's Blue Campaign, develop training materials on 
        preventing severe forms of human trafficking and informational 
        materials to be posted in non-public spaces in places of 
        accommodation on spotting the signs of severe forms of human 
        trafficking and reporting possible incidences of such 
        exploitation; and
            ``(4) maintain a list of each preferred place of 
        accommodation that meets the requirements of subsection (b), 
        beginning by examining places of accommodation that are--
                    ``(A) enrolled in government travel programs such 
                as FedRooms;
                    ``(B) included on the FEMA Fire Safe List; or
                    ``(C) otherwise known to have received government 
                travel business in the 2 years prior to enactment of 
                this section.
    ``(d) Training Programs.--A place of accommodation or lodging 
company may use a training program developed or acquired by such place 
of accommodation or company to satisfy the requirements of subsection 
(b)(4) if such training program--
            ``(1) focuses on identifying and reporting suspected cases 
        of severe forms of human trafficking; and
            ``(2) was developed in consultation with a globally or 
        nationally recognized organization with expertise in anti-
        trafficking initiatives.
    ``(e) Previously Trained Employees.--
            ``(1) Training prior to effective date.--Any employee of a 
        place of accommodation who has been trained to identify and 
        report potential cases of severe forms of human trafficking 
        prior to the effective date of this section shall be considered 
        to have met the training requirement in subsection (b)(4) with 
        respect to any employment at that place of accommodation or at 
        any another place of accommodation managed by the same entity.
            ``(2) Training prior to a transfer of employment.--Any 
        employee of a place of accommodation who has met the training 
        requirements under subsection (b)(4) shall be considered to 
        have met such requirements with respect to any employment at a 
        place of accommodation managed by the same entity.
    ``(f) Property-by-Property Implementation.--Compliance with the 
requirements of this section shall be assessed and enforced separately 
for each individual place of accommodation. Lack of compliance by one 
place of accommodation shall not impact the eligibility of affiliated 
places of accommodation to receive funds from Federal employee travel. 
Lack of compliance by a franchisee shall not impact the eligibility of 
the respective franchisor for other places of accommodation affiliated 
with that franchisor.
    ``(g) Statutory Construction.--No provision in this Act that 
applies to an employee of a place of accommodation shall be construed 
to apply to an individual who is an independent contractor or otherwise 
not directly employed by a place of accommodation, unless the contract 
is for housekeeping services.
    ``(h) Regulations Required.--The Administrator of General Services 
shall issue such regulations as are necessary to carry out this 
section.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--Section 5712(a) of title 5, United States Code 
(as added by subsection (a)), shall take effect on the later of--
            (1) the date that is 1 year after the date of enactment of 
        this Act; and
            (2) 60 days after the completion of the requirements under 
        subsections (c) and (d) of such section.
    (c) Conforming Amendment.--The table of sections for subchapter I 
of chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding at 
the end the following new item:

``5712. Priority for accommodation in places with certain policies 
                            relating to severe forms of human 
                            trafficking.''.
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