“To reauthorize the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, and for other purposes.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section extends the Program to End Modern Slavery—under which the Secretary of State may award grants for projects achieving substantial reductions in modern slavery prevalence in partner countries—through 2029 (from 2020), revises reporting deadlines to not later than September 30, 2025, and September 30, 2029 (from September 30, 2018, and September 30, 2020), and requires all such grants to be awarded on a competitive basis subject to congressional notification procedures.
This section revises the Tier 2 watch list (previously known as the special watch list) under section 110(b)(2) of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA). (As background, the TVPA requires the Secretary of State to rank countries on their governmental efforts to combat human trafficking in persons, placing Tier 2 watch list countries—those not fully compliant with minimum standards but making significant efforts—under special scrutiny due to very significant or significantly increasing numbers of victims.) Specifically, the section (1) amends the criteria for inclusion on the Tier 2 watch list to countries where the estimated number of severe trafficking victims is very significant or significantly increasing without proportional concrete actions, or where there is a failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts from the previous year (including increased investigations, prosecutions, and convictions of trafficking crimes; increased assistance to victims; and decreasing evidence of government official complicity); (2) revises the special rule to require automatic downgrade to Tier 3 for countries on the Tier 2 watch list for more than two consecutive years (absent a waiver); and (3) makes conforming amendments throughout the TVPA, the Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act of 2018, and the Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015 (19 U.S.C. 4205) to replace references to the "special watch list" with "Tier 2 watch list" and to update statutory cross-references to TVPA section 110(b)(2)(A).
This section amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (1) to add effective counter-trafficking in persons policies and programs as an objective of U.S. development cooperation and assistance under INA §102(b)(4) (22 U.S.C. 2151-1(b)(4)); and (2) to revise the flexibility policy for international disaster assistance authorizations under INA §492(d)(1) (22 U.S.C. 2292a(d)(1)) to direct the President, to the greatest extent possible, to ensure assistance does not increase trafficking in persons vulnerable due to natural and man-made disasters and to incorporate appropriate protections into planning and execution. (Thus, disaster assistance—which provides flexible presidential authority for emergency relief, rehabilitation, and reconstruction abroad—must prioritize anti-trafficking safeguards.)
This section amends the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA) to (1) clarify that assistance withholding for governments not meeting minimum standards for eliminating human trafficking applies to nonhumanitarian, nontrade-related foreign assistance to the central government of such country and funding to facilitate participation by its officials or employees in educational and cultural exchange programs; and (2) define "nonhumanitarian, nontrade-related foreign assistance" to exclude, among other categories, International Disaster Assistance under 22 U.S.C. 2292(b) and (c) (i.e., authority for disaster relief, rehabilitation, preparedness, and the Emergency Food Security Program); Food for Peace Act assistance; specified refugee and migration assistance; aid provided through nongovernmental organizations, international organizations, or private sector partners for purposes such as emergency response, humanitarian assistance, food security, global health security, basic human needs, or trade promotion; specified health, narcotics control, law enforcement, and antiterrorism programs; and other assistance the President determines necessary for U.S. security, economic, humanitarian, or global health interests. (Thus, such excluded assistance continues notwithstanding TVPA sanctions.)
This section amends the annual Trafficking in Persons Report, required under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, to direct the Secretary of State to include information about trafficking in persons for the purpose of organ removal, including cases and steps governments are undertaking to prevent, identify, and eliminate such trafficking.
This section eliminates a duplicative reporting requirement in the procedures for implementing trade agreements by—(1) striking subparagraph (C) of 19 U.S.C. 4205(b)(6); and (2) redesignating subparagraphs (D) and (E) as subparagraphs (C) and (D), respectively.
This section requires the President's Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons to ensure that a printed hard copy format of the annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report—submitted under section 110(b) of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7107(b)) and assessing foreign governments' compliance with minimum anti-trafficking standards (which affect U.S. nonhumanitarian assistance)—is made available to the public.
This section requires the Director of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons to report to the Secretary of State.
This section amends authorization of appropriations under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7110) by (1) extending funding to the Department of State for the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons—which supports a task force on human trafficking, watchlist preparation, and interagency coordination—to $23,092,000 for each of FY2025 through 2029 (from $13,822,000 for FY2018 through 2021); and (2) extending and increasing funding for international anti-trafficking assistance—including victim support, country aid to meet minimum anti-trafficking standards, and training for foreign law enforcement—to $111 million for each of FY2025 through 2029 (from $65 million for FY2018 through 2021), of which not more than $37.5 million may be used for programs to end modern slavery.
This section establishes the effective date for section 4(b), section 7, and the amendments made by those sections as the first day—April 1—of the first full reporting period (i.e., April 1 through March 31) for the annual Trafficking in Persons report required under 22 U.S.C. 7107(b)(1), as amended, after the date of enactment. (The report, due by June 30 each year, assesses foreign governments' compliance with minimum standards for eliminating trafficking in persons and tiers countries accordingly.)