Title: LIFT Act
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
Leveraging Information on Foreign Traffickers Act or the LIFT Act
This bill requires the Department of State to ensure that the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons and the Bureau of Diplomatic Security receive timely and regular information regarding visa denials based on grounds related to human trafficking. The bill also extends (1) to June 30 the deadline for submission of the annual Trafficking in Persons Report, and (2) through FY2025 the survivor-led Advisory Council on Human Trafficking.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4478 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4478

   To amend the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 to ensure 
adequate time for the preparation of the annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report and to require the timely provision of information to the Office 
    to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons and the Bureau of 
Diplomatic Security of the Department of State regarding the number and 
location of visa denials based on grounds related to human trafficking.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             August 6, 2020

 Mr. Blumenthal (for himself and Mr. Hawley) introduced the following 
  bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign 
                               Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 to ensure 
adequate time for the preparation of the annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report and to require the timely provision of information to the Office 
    to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons and the Bureau of 
Diplomatic Security of the Department of State regarding the number and 
location of visa denials based on grounds related to human trafficking.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLES.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Leveraging Information on Foreign 
Traffickers Act'' or the ``LIFT Act''.

SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) the annual Trafficking In Persons Report prepared by 
        the Department of State pursuant to the Trafficking Victims 
        Protection Act of 2000 (the ``TIP Report'') remains one of the 
        most comprehensive, timely, and important sources of 
        information on human trafficking in the world, and currently 
        includes 187 individual country narratives;
            (2) in January 2019, the statute mandating the TIP Report 
        was amended to require that each report must cover efforts and 
        activities occurring within the period from April 1 of the 
        prior year through March 31 of the current year, which 
        necessarily requires the collection and transmission of 
        information after March 31;
            (3) ensuring that the Department of State has adequate time 
        to receive, analyze, and incorporate trafficking-related 
        information into its annual Trafficking In Persons Report is 
        important to the quality and comprehensiveness of that report;
            (4) information regarding prevalence and patterns of human 
        trafficking is important for understanding the scourge of 
        modern slavery and making effective decisions about where and 
        how to combat it; and
            (5) United States officials responsible for monitoring and 
        combating trafficking in persons around the world should 
        receive available information regarding where and how often 
        United States diplomatic and consular officials encounter 
        persons who are responsible for, or who knowingly benefit from, 
        severe forms of trafficking in persons.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Locations of united states visa denials.--The term 
        ``location of United States visa denials'' means--
                    (A) the United States diplomatic or consular post 
                at which a denied United States visa application was 
                adjudicated; and
                    (B) the city or locality of residence of the 
                applicant whose visa application was so denied.
            (2) Relevant congressional committees.--The term ``relevant 
        congressional committees'' means--
                    (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 
                Senate;
                    (B) the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate;
                    (C) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House 
                of Representatives; and
                    (D) the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of 
                Representatives.

SEC. 4. ANNUAL DEADLINE FOR TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT.

    Section 110(b)(1) of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 
(22 U.S.C. 7107(b)(1)) is amended by striking ``June 1'' and inserting 
``June 30''.

SEC. 5. UNITED STATES ADVISORY COUNCIL ON HUMAN TRAFFICKING.

    (a) Extension.--Section 115(h) of the Justice for Victims of 
Trafficking Act of 2015 (Public Law 114-22; 129 Stat. 243) is amended 
by striking ``September 30, 2021'' and inserting ``September 30, 
2025''.
    (b) Compensation.--Section 115(f) of such Act is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) in paragraph (2), by striking the period at the end and 
        inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(3) may each receive compensation for each day such 
        member is engaged in the actual performance of the duties of 
        the Council.''.
    (c) Compensation Report.--Not later than 120 days after the date of 
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall submit a plan 
to the relevant congressional committees for implementing compensation 
for members of the United States Advisory Council on Human Trafficking 
pursuant to section 115(f)(3) of the Justice for Victims of Trafficking 
Act of 2015, as added by subsection (b)(3).

SEC. 6. TIMELY PROVISION OF INFORMATION TO THE OFFICE TO MONITOR AND 
              COMBAT TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE.

    (a) In General.--Section 106 of the Trafficking Victims Protection 
Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7104) is amended by adding at the end the 
following:
    ``(l) Information Regarding Human Trafficking-Related Visa 
Denials.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary of State shall ensure that 
        the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons and the 
        Bureau of Diplomatic Security of the Department of State 
        receive timely and regular information regarding United States 
        visa denials based, in whole or in part, on grounds related to 
        human trafficking.
            ``(2) Decisions regarding allocation.--The Secretary of 
        State shall ensure that decisions regarding the allocation of 
        resources of the Department of State related to combating human 
        trafficking and to law enforcement presence at United States 
        diplomatic and consular posts appropriately take into account--
                    ``(A) the information described in paragraph (1); 
                and
                    ``(B) the information included in the most recent 
                report submitted in accordance with section 110(b).''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 103 of such Act (22 U.S.C. 7102) 
is amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(18) Grounds related to human trafficking.--The term 
        `grounds related to human trafficking' means grounds related to 
        the criteria for inadmissibility to the United States described 
        in section 212(a)(2)(H) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 
        (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(2)(H)).''.

SEC. 7. REPORTS TO CONGRESS.

    (a) Initial Report.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall submit a report to 
the relevant congressional committees that--
            (1) describes the actions that have been taken and that are 
        planned to implement section 106(l) of the Trafficking Victims 
        Protection Act of 2000, as added by section 6(a); and
            (2) identifies by country and by United States diplomatic 
        and consular post the number of visa applications denied during 
        the previous calendar year with respect to which the basis for 
        such denial, included grounds related to human trafficking (as 
        defined in section 103 of the Trafficking Victims Protection 
        Act of 2000, as amended by section 6(b)).
    (b) Annual Report.--Beginning with the first annual anti-
trafficking report required under section 110(b)(1) of the Trafficking 
Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7107(b)(1)) that is submitted 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, and concurrent with each 
such subsequent submission for the following 7 years, the Secretary of 
State shall submit a report to the relevant congressional committees 
that contains information relating to the number and the locations of 
United States visa denials based, in whole or in part, on grounds 
related to human trafficking (as defined in section 103 of the 
Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, as amended by section 6(b)) 
during the period covered by each such report.
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