U.S. Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ) was a guest at the White House today to witness the reauthorization of his Trafficking Victims Protection Act, (TVPA) legislation the Congressman wrote in 2000. 

    “This is the fight the world must continue to wage against modern-day slavery, a dirty business that exploits women and children,” Smith said. “Those who deal in human trafficking make billions of dollars in profits each year. To those individuals who peddle in human suffering, U.S. policy is made clear. We will make every possible attempt to investigate you, bring changes against you, prosecute you and incarcerate you.” 

    At a White House ceremony, the President signed the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008. Under provisions of the bill, H.R. 7311, countries which turn a blind eye risk damaging their standing, and U.S. aid and assistance. 

    According to research sponsored by the U.S. Government, approximately 800,000 people are trafficked internationally and millions more are trafficked within their country. According to the same research, nearly 80 percent of transnational victims are women and girls, and almost half of the 800,000 victims are minors. These figures are low compared to other estimates. The International Labor Organization estimates 12.3 million people are subjected to forced labor, bonded labor, forced child labor, and sexual servitude. 

    Since the enactment of Smith’s bill in 2001, the TVPA, the traffickers in the U.S. and abroad are far more likely to face prosecution and conviction. The Justice Department has prosecuted 449 individuals and has opened 822 new investigations. Worldwide, nearly 5,700 traffickers were prosecuted last year alone, and more than 3,400 were convicted. 

    “Despite inroads, human trafficking remains a blight on the civilized world,” Smith said. “While I was in Russia three weeks ago meeting with Russian officials about how to improve efforts to fight human trafficking, back in my own state of New Jersey, the news media was reporting about a man with dual U.S-Russian citizenship allegedly traveling to St. Petersburg and hiring out 13- and 14-year old girls from an orphanage as prostitutes after he himself had sexually abused them. This case demonstrates that we all potentially have traffickers living in our communities. We must do more to protect our children and children everywhere in the world from these predators.” 

    Since Smith’s bill was enacted 8 years ago, Congress has reauthorized it in 2003 and 2005. The 2008 bill is named after William Wilberforce, who at the age of 21 was elected to the House of Commons in 1780. He and others led the fight against slavery. The bill reauthorizes TVPA until 2011. 

    One of the most prominent provisions of the original TVPA was the establishment of the tier-ranking system that indicates how a country is progressing to the minimum standards. If significant improvements fail to materialize, or the country fails to come up with a written plan to eliminate trafficking and devote sufficient resources to implement that plan, the country will face penalties. 

    The bill also calls for investigations by the Inspector Generals of the Department of Defense, State Department and the United States Agency for International Development, to scrutinize contracts that carry a risk of encouraging human trafficking. The reports must be submitted to Congress subsequent to the investigations, 

    “With so many lives hanging in the balance, failure simply is not an option. None of us alone can stop human trafficking,” Smith said. “Too much greed and evil is involved here, and the prospect of a $9 billion industry has attracted some of the most unsavory and cruelest individuals, including organized crime. Too much demand and crass indifference has turned people, especially women and children, into objects, only valued for their utility in the brothel or in the sweatshop. This cannot stand.”

Provisions for Prevention of International Trafficking In Persons

• Requires U.S. assistance programs for post-conflict and humanitarian emergencies to include anti-trafficking measures.
• Provides U.S. courts jurisdiction over federal government employees and contractors for trafficking offenses committed abroad.
• Expands the ability to prosecute traffickers for violations of money laundering, racketeering and civil and criminal forfeiture statutes.
• Requires that the State Department include in the annual Trafficking in Persons Report information on the steps taken by international organizations (UN, OSCE, NATO) to prevent involvement of personnel with trafficking.
• Requires U.S. assistance programs for post-conflict and humanitarian emergencies to include anti-trafficking measures.

Provisions for Prevention of Domestic Trafficking In Persons

• The William Wilberforce Act would clarify a provision in the original TVPA. The Secretary of Health and Human Services must make initial determinations of benefit eligibility for minors who are potential trafficking victims, without the involvement of either the Attorney General or Secretary of Homeland Security.
• Requires the Attorney General to study and report to Congress on the prevalence of severe forms of trafficking and sex trafficking in the United States and the approach to combating these crimes by law enforcement.
• Terminates all government grants, contracts and cooperative agreements with contractors that engage in trafficking in persons or procure commercial sex acts during the period during which in the grant is in effect.
• Establishes a grants program through the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to assist American citizens and nationals who are victims of human trafficking and directs HHS to establish a program to create residential treatment facilities for juveniles subjected to trafficking.
• The 2008 reauthorization would renew a grant program for states and local law enforcement established in the 2005 reauthorization, providing a total of $80 million from 2008 to 2011 to investigate and prosecute acts of trafficking in persons and criminals that purchase commercial sex acts within the United States.