On October 7, the House International Relations Committee approved, by voice vote, a bill (H.R. 972) to reauthorize the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (P.L. 106-386) through FY2007. The Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights, and International Operations approved the measure on March 10 (see The Source, 3/11/05).
Prior to final passage, the committee approved, by voice vote, a substitute amendment offered by Rep. Christopher Smith (R-NJ) that would make a number of modifications to the bill. Under the substitute, federal contractors and government employees, as well as their household dependents, could be prosecuted in the United States if they violate human trafficking or sexual exploitation laws while working abroad. Before any peacekeeping mission is deployed, the State Department would be required to report to Congress on the measures taken by international organizations to prevent the involvement of the organizations’ employees, contractor personnel, and peacekeeping forces in trafficking in persons or sexual exploitation of victims. Finally, the substitute would strike a provision in the bill establishing a director of anti-trafficking policies within the Department of Defense. The language may be included in the FY2006 defense authorization bill (H.R. 1815) during conference.
