End Trafficking in Government Contracting Act of 2012

Bill: 112-s-2234
Sponsor: Sen. Blumenthal, Richard [D-CT]
Introduced: 2012-03-26 in the Senate
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics
Subjects: Congressional oversight
Crime victims
Employee hiring
Employment discrimination and employee rights
Fraud offenses and financial crimes
Government information and archives
Government studies and investigations
Human rights
Human trafficking
Military procurement, research, weapons development
Personnel records
Public contracts and procurement
Sex offenses

Summary:
action_date: 2012-03-26
text: 
End Trafficking in Government Contracting Act of 2012 - Amends the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 to expand the authority of a federal agency to terminate a grant, contract, or cooperative agreement involving grantees or contractors who engage in severe forms of trafficking in persons to include grantees or contractors who: (1) engage in acts that directly support or advance trafficking in persons, (2) destroy an employee's immigration documents or fail to repatriate such employee upon the end of employment, (3) solicit persons for employment under false pretenses, (4) charge recruited employees exorbitant placement fees, or (5) provide inhumane living conditions. Requires the Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking to monitor all known cases and activities involving trafficking in persons that are reported to certain officials of the Department of Defense (DOD).
 
Prohibits the head of an executive agency from entering into a grant, contract, or cooperative agreement valued at $1 million or more if performance will predominantly be conducted overseas unless a representative of the recipient of such grant, contract, or cooperative agreement certifies that the recipient has implemented a plan and procedures to prevent trafficking in persons.
 
Requires a contracting or grant officer of an executive agency who receives credible evidence that a recipient of a grant, contract, or cooperative agreement has engaged in trafficking in persons or other prohibited activities to request the agency's Inspector General to investigate allegations of trafficking and to take remedial actions, including the suspension of payments under the grant, contract, or cooperative agreement. 
 
Amends the federal criminal code to impose a fine and/or prison term of up to five years on any individual who knowingly and with intent to defraud recruits, solicits, or hires a person outside the United States, or attempts to do so, to work on on a government contract performed on government facilities outside the United States by means of materially false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises regarding such employment.

action_date: 2012-12-19
text: 
End Trafficking in Government Contracting Act of 2012 - (Sec. 3) Amends the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 to expand the authority of a federal agency to terminate a grant, contract, or cooperative agreement involving grantees or contractors who engage in severe forms of trafficking in persons, to include grantees or contractors who: (1) engage in acts that directly support or advance such trafficking, (2) destroy an employee's immigration documents or fail to repatriate such employee upon the end of employment, (3) solicit persons for employment under false pretenses, (4) charge recruited employees exorbitant placement fees, or (5) provide inhumane living conditions.
 
(Sec. 4) Prohibits the head of an executive agency from entering into a grant, contract, or cooperative agreement valued at $1 million or more if performance will substantially be conducted overseas, unless a representative of the recipient of such grant, contract, or cooperative agreement certifies that the recipient has implemented a plan and procedures to prevent trafficking in persons.
 
(Sec. 5) Requires a contracting or grant officer of an executive agency who receives credible evidence that a recipient of a grant, contract, or cooperative agreement has engaged in trafficking in persons or other prohibited activities to request the agency's Inspector General to investigate such allegations and to take remedial actions, including the suspension of payments under the grant, contract, or agreement.
 
(Sec. 6) Requires each such officer to require a recipient to immediately inform the appropriate Inspector General of credible evidence of the recipient's violation of anti-trafficking requirements and to fully cooperate in any subsequent audit, investigation, or corrective action.
 
(Sec. 7) Amends the federal criminal code to impose a fine and/or prison term of up to five years on any individual who knowingly, and with intent to defraud, recruits, solicits, or hires a person outside the United States to work on a government contract performed on government facilities outside the United States by means of materially false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises regarding such employment.
 
(Sec. 8) Requires an annual report from the Attorney General to Congress on the implementation of federal anti-trafficking requirements to include all trafficking in persons activities of contractors reported to the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics.
 
(Sec. 9) Declares that nothing in this Act shall be construed to supersede, enlarge, or diminish the common law or statutory liabilities of any grantee, subgrantee, contractor, subcontractor, or other party subject to the contracting requirements of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2012-12-19
text: Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 571.
action_date: 2012-12-19
text: Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Reported by Senator Lieberman with amendments. Without written report.
action_date: 2012-12-19
text: Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Reported by Senator Lieberman with amendments. Without written report.
action_date: 2012-06-29
text: Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Ordered to be reported with an amendment favorably.
action_date: 2012-03-26
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
action_date: 2012-03-26
text: Introduced in Senate