lcalvobartolome/proxann_data huggingface dataset:
Topic: International Affairs — Human Rights
Subject: International affairs
Date: 2013-10-28 00:00:00

Fraudulent Overseas Recruitment and Trafficking Elimination Act of 2013 - Amends the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 to require the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Department of State to incorporate anti-trafficking and anti-slavery priorities into other aspects of foreign assistance to ensure that assistance programs do not contribute to vulnerability to, or the prevalence of, human trafficking and slavery.

Requires a foreign labor contractor to disclose in writing in English and in the primary language of the worker being recruited specified information, including the identity of the employer and the recruiter, worker protections, and a signed copy of the work contract. Prohibits a foreign labor contractor from providing related false or misleading information.

 Prohibits certain recruitment fees.

 Requires a foreign labor contractor to obtain from the Secretary of Labor a certificate of registration which shall be valid for two years. Provides for a registration fee.

Exempts from such certificate requirement an employer who engages in foreign labor contracting solely to find workers for the employer's own use without the participation of any other foreign labor contractor.

Directs the Secretary of Labor to: (1) maintain a list of all registered foreign labor contractors and a list of all such ontractors whose registration has been revoked; and (2) establish a process for receipt, investigation, and disposition of complaints.

Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to require a consular officer, before issuing specified work visas, to: (1) provide the alien with certain trafficking information, and (2) review and include in the alien's visa file the foreign labor recruiter's disclosures.

Directs the Secretary of State to ensure that: (1) each U.S. diplomatic mission has a person responsible for receiving information from any worker who has been subject to violations of this Act, and (2) consulates maintain and make public any information regarding the identities of foreign labor contractors and the employers to whom those contractors supply workers.

Sets forth administrative and civil action enforcement requirements.
Topic: International Affairs — Human Rights
Subject: International affairs
Date: 2013-11-21 00:00:00

International Violence Against Women Act of 2013 - Directs the Secretary of State to establish an Office of Global Women's Issues which shall be headed by an Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues.

Directs the Ambassador-at-Large to coordinate U.S. government efforts regarding gender integration and advancing the status of women and girls in U.S. foreign policy.

 Establishes in the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) a Senior Coordinator for Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment who shall direct USAID activities, policies, programs, and funding relating to gender equality and women's empowerment.

Directs the Ambassador-at-Large to develop or update annually for six years a U.S. global strategy to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls.

Authorizes the Secretary and the Administrator of USAID to provide assistance to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls internationally.
Topic: International Affairs — Human Rights
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Date: 2013-11-21 00:00:00

(This measure has not been amended since it was reported to the House on May 13, 2014. The summary of that version is repeated here.) 

Stop Exploitation Through Trafficking Act of 2014 - (Sec. 2) Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to authorize the Attorney General to give preferential consideration in awarding Community Oriented Police Services (COPS) grants to an application from an applicant in a state that has in effect a law that: (1) treats a minor who has engaged in, or has attempted to engage in, a commercial sex act as a victim of a severe form of trafficking in persons; (2) discourages the charging or prosecution of such individual for a prostitution or sex trafficking offense based on such conduct; or (3) encourages the diversion of such an individual to appropriate service providers, including child welfare services, victim treatment programs, child advocacy centers, rape crisis centers, or other social services.

 (Sec. 3) Amends the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 (VTVPA) to require the Attorney General's annual report on federal agencies that are implementing provisions relating to the Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking to include information on the activities of such agencies in cooperation with state, tribal, and local law enforcement officials to identify, investigate, and prosecute the following offenses: (1) sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion or with a minor; (2) sexual exploitation of children; (3) the selling and buying of children; (4) transportation with intent that the victim engage in illegal sexual activity; (5) coercion or enticement to travel for illegal sexual activity; and (6) transportation of minors for illegal sexual activity. Requires such information to include: (1) the number of individuals required by a court order to pay restitution in connection with a violation of each offense and the amount of such restitution; and (2) the age, gender, race, country of origin, country of citizenship, and description of the role of individuals convicted under each offense.

 (Sec. 4) Amends the VTVPA to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), annually beginning in FY2017, to make grants for a national communication system to assist victims of severe forms of trafficking in persons in communicating with service providers.

(Sec. 5) Amends the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 to include victims of a severe form of trafficking in persons among those eligible for the Job Corps without being required to demonstrate low-income eligibility.

(Sec. 6) Authorizes the United States Marshals Service to assist state, local, and other federal law enforcement agencies, upon request, in locating and recovering missing children.
Topic: International Affairs — Human Rights
Subject: International affairs
Date: 2014-02-10 00:00:00

(This measure has not been amended since it was passed by the House on May 28, 2014. The summary of that version is repeated here.) 

Amends the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 to include the desecration of cemeteries among the forms of violations of the right to religious freedom in many countries around the world.
Topic: International Affairs — Human Rights
Subject: International affairs
Date: 2014-02-21 00:00:00

War Crimes Accountability Act of 2014 - Directs the President to submit a report to Congress for each of FY2015-FY2019 that identifies each country that is failing to: (1) cooperate with relevant jurisdictions in extraditing or deporting war crimes suspects or Nazi war criminals to the appropriate jurisdiction; (2) enforce arrest warrants issued by an international tribunal against war crimes suspects; (3) accept Nazi war criminals deported from the United States; or (4) effectively prosecute war crimes suspects or Nazi war criminals within such country's jurisdiction, including Nazi war criminals who resided in the United States and were deported from or extradited by the United States or left the United States voluntarily.

Prohibits the President from issuing a letter of offer to sell defense articles under the Arms Export Control Act for $7 million or more to a country so identified.

Authorizes the President to waive such prohibition if in the U.S. national security interest.
Topic: International Affairs — Human Rights
Subject: International affairs
Date: 2014-03-13 00:00:00

Venezuelan Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act - Directs the Secretary of State to require the U.S. Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States (OAS) to use U.S. influence at the OAS to protect the Inter-American Democratic Charter, and strengthen the independent Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to protect human rights throughout the Western Hemisphere, especially in Venezuela.

Directs the President to transmit to Congress a list of Venezuelan government officials or persons acting on behalf of that government who are responsible for or complicit in serious human rights abuses against citizens of Venezuela or their family members.

Directs the President to transmit to Congress a list of persons who: (1) transfer or facilitate the transfer of goods or technologies that are likely to be used to commit serious rights abuses to Venezuela, to any entity organized under the laws of Venezuela, or to any national of Venezuela, for use in Venezuela; or (2) provide services with respect to such goods or technologies after their transfer to Venezuela.

Directs the President to transmit to Congress a list of persons who have engaged in censorship or other activities with respect to Venezuela that: (1) prohibit, limit, or penalize the exercise of freedom of expression or assembly; or (2) limit access to print or broadcast media, including facilitation of intentional frequency manipulation.

Imposes property, financial, and visa sanctions against a person listed pursuant to this Act.

States that it should be U.S. policy to reduce petroleum imports from Venezuela to prevent its leader Nicolas Maduro from using petroleum profits to fund his regime's oppression and human rights violations.

Directs the Secretary of State to submit comprehensive strategies to Congress to: (1) promote internet and information access freedom in Venezuela, and (2) ensure that the government of Venezuela will uphold democratic principles and is moving toward market-oriented economic systems.

States that it shall be U.S. policy to: (1) support efforts to identify prisoners of conscience and cases of human rights abuses in Venezuela, and (2) offer refugee status or political asylum in the United States to political dissidents in Venezuela or assist in their relocation to other countries.

Obligates specified amounts for assistance to civil society in Venezuela.
Topic: International Affairs — Human Rights
Subject: International affairs
Date: 2014-03-14 00:00:00

Vietnam Human Rights Sanctions Act - Directs the President to: (1) impose financial and immigration/entry sanctions on listed nationals of Vietnam who are complicit in human rights abuses committed against nationals of Vietnam or their family members, regardless of whether such abuses occurred in Vietnam; and (2) submit to Congress a publicly available list of individuals determined to be complicit in such human rights abuses.

Authorizes the President to waive sanctions to comply with international agreements.

Terminates sanctions if the President certifies to Congress that the government of Vietnam has: (1) released all political prisoners; (2) ceased its practices of violence, detention, and abuse of citizens of Vietnam engaging in peaceful political activity; and (3) conducted a transparent investigation into the killings, arrest, and abuse of such political activists and prosecuted those responsible.
Topic: International Affairs — Human Rights
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Date: 2014-04-08 00:00:00

Coordinated Assistance To Catch Human Traffickers Act of 2014 or the CATCH Traffickers Act of 2014 - Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) to establish and maintain a database to serve as a central location for information from law enforcement agency investigations relating to human trafficking.

Requires: (1) the head of a law enforcement agency conducting such an investigation to ensure that information the Secretary determines to be appropriate is entered into the database; and (2) the Attorney General to reduce by 20% the amount of a grant under Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program received by a state or local government the law enforcement agency of which does not substantially comply with such requirement.

Permits law enforcement agencies to access the database only in connection with an investigation related to human trafficking.
Topic: International Affairs — Human Rights
Subject: International affairs
Date: 2014-04-10 00:00:00

(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Human Trafficking Prevention Act - Amends the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 to require training for federal government personnel related to trafficking in persons to include at a minimum: (1) a distance learning course on trafficking-in-persons issues and the Department of State's obligations under the Act, targeted for embassy reporting officers, regional bureaus' trafficking-in-persons coordinators, and their superiors; (2) specific trafficking-in-persons briefings for all ambassadors and deputy chiefs of mission before they depart for their posts; and (3) at least annual reminders to all such personnel and other federal personnel at each diplomatic or consular post of the Department of State located outside the United States of key problems, threats, methods, and warning signs of trafficking in persons specific to the country or jurisdiction in which each such post is located, and appropriate procedures to report information acquired about possible trafficking cases.
Topic: International Affairs — Human Rights
Subject: International affairs
Date: 2014-05-07 00:00:00

Fraudulent Overseas Recruitment and Trafficking Elimination Act of 2014 - Requires a foreign labor contractor (including a third-party foreign labor recruiter) who files a petition, certification, or application for a work-authorized nonimmigrant visa to provide a prospective worker with a copy of the petition and a copy of the approval notification.

Prohibits a foreign labor contractor (including a third-party foreign labor recruiter) from knowingly providing false or misleading information to any worker or prospective worker concerning any required document.

 Requires a third-party foreign labor recruiter to disclose in writing in English and in the prospective worker's primary language specified information about fees, contracts, worker protections, and a copy of the work visa petition.

Requires a third-party foreign labor recruiter to obtain from the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) a certificate of registration which shall be valid for two years. Establishes a registration fee.

Prohibits a third-party foreign labor recruiter, or agent or employee of the recruiter, from assessing any recruitment, placement, legal, or processing fee on a worker or prospective worker.

States that, unless required by the Immigration and Nationality Act, no foreign labor contractor (including a third-party foreign labor recruiter) shall be required to pay for the visa or passport fees or transportation costs to and from the United States of a prospective worker or worker.

Directs the Secretary of Labor to: (1) maintain a publicly available list of all registered third-party foreign labor recruiters that identifies the countries from which the contractors recruit, the visa categories and occupations for which the contractors recruit, and the states where recruited workers are employed; (2) maintain a publicly available list of all third-party foreign labor recruiters whose certificate of registration has been revoked; and (3) provide such lists to the Secretary of State, who shall make them available in written form at, and on the websites of, each U.S. diplomatic mission.

Sets forth worker complaint and related civil and administrative enforcement requirements.

Amends the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 to require the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Department of State to incorporate anti-trafficking and anti-slavery priorities into other aspects of foreign assistance to ensure that assistance programs do not contribute to human trafficking and slavery.

Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to require a consular officer, before issuing specified work visas, to: (1) provide the alien with certain trafficking information, and (2) review and include in the alien's visa file the foreign labor recruiter's disclosures.
Topic: International Affairs — Human Rights
Subject: Social welfare
Date: 2014-05-09 00:00:00

Strengthening the Child Welfare Response to Trafficking Act of 2014 - Amends the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act to require that the state plan under the Act certifies that the state has in effect and is enforcing a state law, or is operating a statewide program, relating to child abuse and neglect that includes provisions and procedures requiring: (1) identification and assessment of reports involving child trafficking, and (2) training child protective services workers about identifying and providing services for such children.
Topic: International Affairs — Human Rights
Subject: International affairs
Date: 2014-05-09 00:00:00

European Union Religious Freedom Act - Amends the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 to include among Congress's finding with respect to the forms of government-sponsored or government-tolerated violations of religious freedom prohibitions against: (1) homeschooling, (2) religious methods of meat production, (3) circumcision, and (4) wearing religious garb.
Topic: International Affairs — Human Rights
Subject: International affairs
Date: 2014-05-09 00:00:00

United States Commission on International Religious Freedom Reauthorization Act of 2014 - Amends the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 to reauthorize the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) as an independent federal government advisory body through FY2019.

(Sec. 2) Requires USCIRF as a whole to have expertise on the variety of faiths practiced around the world.

Requires appointments to USCIRF to be made within 90 days of a vacancy. Removes authority under which a USCIRF member may serve after the expiration of that member's term until a successor has taken office.

(Sec. 3) Amends the Foreign Service Act of 1980 to require the Secretary of State to receive assistance from USCIRF when establishing training for Foreign Service officers in the field of internationally recognized human rights, including instruction regarding the relationship between religious freedom and security, as well as the role of religious freedom in U.S. foreign policy.

(Sec. 4) Encourages the Department of State to allow classified information to be accessed by USCIRF Commissioners and staff with the appropriate security clearance.

Requires discrimination on the basis of religion to be treated as a category of employment discrimination for purposes of the employment protections for USCIRF employees.

(Sec. 5) Revises restrictions on USCIRF's acceptance of gifts and donations to permit sponsoring private parties to provide compensation and benefits to interns, fellows, and volunteers. Requires the number, duration, and funding source of any such internship, fellowship, or volunteer programs to be described in USCIRF's annual financial report.

(Sec. 6) Terminates USCIRF on September 30, 2019.
Topic: International Affairs — Human Rights
Subject: International affairs
Date: 2014-05-21 00:00:00

Amends the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 to declare that, in determining whether a government has made serious and sustained efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts and participation in international sex tourism by its nationals, pursuant to the minimum standards for the elimination of sex trafficking, if such government has the authority to prohibit the purchase of commercial sex acts but fails to do so, it shall be deemed a failure to make serious and sustained efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts, notwithstanding other efforts the government has made to do so.
Topic: International Affairs — Human Rights
Subject: Taxation
Date: 2014-05-21 00:00:00

Human Trafficking Fraud Enforcement Act of 2014 - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to establish within the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) an office to investigate and prosecute violations of internal revenue laws by persons that appear to be engaged in violations of specified federal laws prohibiting forced labor, trafficking of individuals, and transportation of minors or aliens for immoral purposes and of state or territorial laws prohibiting the promotion of prostitution or of any commercial sex act. Directs such office to cooperate with the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Innocence Lost National Initiative of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Allow victims of human trafficking crimes to claim awards allowed for whistleblowing.

Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase civil and criminal penalties for tax evasion attributable to income derived from human trafficking and commercial sex acts. Makes it a felony to fail to file a tax return including income derived from human trafficking or commercial sex acts. Appropriates to the Crime Victims Fund additional funds equal to the increase in receipts from increased civil and criminal penalties provided by this Act.
Topic: International Affairs — Human Rights
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Date: 2014-06-11 00:00:00

Business Supply Chain Transparency on Trafficking and Slavery Act of 2014 - Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) legislation is necessary to provide consumers information on products that are free of child labor, forced labor, slavery, and human trafficking; and (2) businesses and consumers, by means of publicly available disclosures, can avoid inadvertently promoting or sanctioning these crimes through production and purchase of goods and products that have been tainted in the supply chains.

Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to direct the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), within one year after enactment of the Global Supply Chain Transparency for Trafficking, Forced Labor, and Child Labor Eradication Act, to promulgate regulations requiring that mandatory annual reports include a disclosure whether the covered issuer has taken any measures during the year to identify and address conditions of forced labor, slavery, human trafficking, and the worst forms of child labor within the issuer's supply chains.

Requires any business entity filing such disclosures to make them available on its Internet website.

Directs the Secretary of Labor to develop and publish annually on the Internet website of the Department of Labor a list of top 100 companies adhering to supply chain labor standards, as established under federal and international guidelines.
Topic: International Affairs — Human Rights
Subject: International affairs
Date: 2014-06-12 00:00:00

Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act of 2014 - Directs the Secretary of State to submit an annual, publicly-available report to Congress containing: (1) an assessment of the level of access Chinese authorities granted U.S. diplomats, journalists, and tourists to Tibetan areas in China; (2) a list of the persons in senior leadership positions in Tibet Autonomous Region and other specified provinces, prefectures, and autonomous entities; and (3) a list of the persons in senior leadership positions at the national and regional levels as defined by this Act.

Makes certain listed persons ineligible for U.S entry under specified circumstances.

Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) reciprocity forms the basis of diplomatic law and the practice of mutual exchanges between countries; (2) consular access should be given on a reciprocal basis; and (3) the Secretary, when granting Chinese diplomats access to parts of the United States, should take into account the extent to which China grants U.S. diplomats access to parts of China, including the level of access to Tibetan areas.