§ 7103. Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking

(a) Establishment

The President shall establish an Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking.

(b) Appointment

The President shall appoint the members of the Task Force, which shall include the Secretary of State, the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, the Attorney General, the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Director of National Intelligence, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Secretary of Education, and such other officials as may be designated by the President.

The Task Force shall be chaired by the Secretary of State.

(d) Activities of the Task Force

The Task Force shall carry out the following activities:

(1) Coordinate the implementation of this chapter.

(2) Measure and evaluate progress of the United States and other countries in the areas of trafficking prevention, protection, and assistance to victims of trafficking, and prosecution and enforcement against traffickers, including the role of public corruption in facilitating trafficking. The Task Force shall have primary responsibility for assisting the Secretary of State in the preparation of the reports described in section 7107 of this title.

(3) Expand interagency procedures to collect and organize data, including significant research and resource information on domestic and international trafficking. Any data collection procedures established under this subsection shall respect the confidentiality of victims of trafficking.

(4) Engage in efforts to facilitate cooperation among countries of origin, transit, and destination. Such efforts shall aim to strengthen local and regional capacities to prevent trafficking, prosecute traffickers and assist trafficking victims, and shall include initiatives to enhance cooperative efforts between destination countries and countries of origin and assist in the appropriate reintegration of stateless victims of trafficking.

(5) Examine the role of the international “sex tourism” industry in the trafficking of persons and in the sexual exploitation of women and children around the world.

(6) Engage in consultation and advocacy with governmental and nongovernmental organizations, among other entities, to advance the purposes of this chapter.

(7) Not later than May 1, 2004, and annually thereafter, the Attorney General shall submit to the Committee on Ways and Means, the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance, the Committee on Foreign Relations, and the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate, a report on Federal agencies that are implementing any provision of this chapter, or any amendment made by this chapter, which shall include, at a minimum, information on—

(A) the number of persons who received benefits or other services under subsections (b) and (f) ^[1] of section 7105 of this title in connection with programs or activities funded or administered by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Secretary of Labor, the Attorney General, the Board of Directors of the Legal Services Corporation, and other appropriate Federal agencies during the preceding fiscal year;

(B) the number of persons who have been granted continued presence in the United States under section 7105 (c)(3) of this title during the preceding fiscal year;

(C) the number of persons who have applied for, been granted, or been denied a visa or otherwise provided status under section 1101 (a)(15)(T)(i) of title 8 during the preceding fiscal year;

(D) the number of persons who have been charged or convicted under one or more of sections 1581, 1583, 1584, 1589, 1590, 1591, 1592, or 1594 of title 18 during the preceding fiscal year and the sentences imposed against each such person;

(E) the amount, recipient, and purpose of each grant issued by any Federal agency to carry out the purposes of sections 7104 and 7105 of this title, or section 2152d of this title, during the preceding fiscal year;

(F) the nature of training conducted pursuant to section 7105 (c)(4) of this title during the preceding fiscal year;

(G) the amount, recipient, and purpose of each grant under sections 14044a and 14044c of title 42; ^[1]

(H) activities by the Department of Defense to combat trafficking in persons, including—

(i) educational efforts for, and disciplinary actions taken against, members of the United States Armed Forces;

(ii) the development of materials used to train the armed forces of foreign countries; and

(iii) efforts to ensure that United States Government contractors and their employees or United States Government subcontractors and their employees do not engage in trafficking in persons;

(I) activities or actions by Federal departments and agencies to enforce—

(i) section 7104 (g) of this title and any similar law, regulation, or policy relating to United States Government contractors and their employees or United States Government subcontractors and their employees that engage in severe forms of trafficking in persons, the procurement of commercial sex acts, or the use of forced labor, including debt bondage;

(ii) section 1307 of title 19 (relating to prohibition on importation of convict-made goods), including any determinations by the Secretary of Homeland Security to waive the restrictions of such section; and

(iii) prohibitions on the procurement by the United States Government of items or services produced by slave labor, consistent with Executive Order 13107 (December 10, 1998); and

(J) the activities undertaken by the Senior Policy Operating Group to carry out its responsibilities under subsection (f) of this section.

(e) Office To Monitor and Combat Trafficking

(1) In general

The Secretary of State shall establish within the Department of State an Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking, which shall provide assistance to the Task Force. Any such Office shall be headed by a Director, who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, with the rank of Ambassador-at-Large. The Director shall have the primary responsibility for assisting the Secretary of State in carrying out the purposes of this chapter and may have additional responsibilities as determined by the Secretary. The Director shall consult with nongovernmental organizations and multilateral organizations, and with trafficking victims or other affected persons. The Director shall have the authority to take evidence in public hearings or by other means. The agencies represented on the Task Force are authorized to provide staff to the Office on a nonreimbursable basis.

(2) Coordination of certain activities

(A) Partnerships

The Director, in coordination and cooperation with other officials at the Department of State involved in corporate responsibility, the Deputy Under Secretary for International Affairs of the Department of Labor, and other relevant officials of the United States Government, shall promote, build, and sustain partnerships between the United States Government and private entities (including foundations, universities, corporations, community-based organizations, and other nongovernmental organizations) to ensure that—

(i) United States citizens do not use any item, product, or material produced or extracted with the use of labor from victims of severe forms of trafficking; and

(ii) such entities do not contribute to trafficking in persons involving sexual exploitation.

(B) United States assistance

The Director shall be responsible for—

(i) all policy, funding, and programming decisions regarding funds made available for trafficking in persons programs that are centrally controlled by the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking; and

(ii) coordinating any trafficking in persons programs of the Department of State or the United States Agency for International Development that are not centrally controlled by the Director.

(f) Senior Policy Operating Group

(1) Establishment

There shall be established within the executive branch a Senior Policy Operating Group.

(2) Membership; related matters

(A) In general

The Operating Group shall consist of the senior officials designated as representatives of the appointed members of the Task Force (pursuant to Executive Order No. 13257 of February 13, 2002).

(B) Chairperson

The Operating Group shall be chaired by the Director of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking of the Department of State.

The Operating Group shall meet on a regular basis at the call of the Chairperson.

(3) Duties

The Operating Group shall coordinate activities of Federal departments and agencies regarding policies (including grants and grant policies) involving the international trafficking in persons and the implementation of this chapter.

(4) Availability of information

Each Federal department or agency represented on the Operating Group shall fully share all information with such Group regarding the department or agency’s plans, before and after final agency decisions are made, on all matters relating to grants, grant policies, and other significant actions regarding the international trafficking in persons and the implementation of this chapter.

(5) Regulations

Not later than 90 days after December 19, 2003, the President shall promulgate regulations to implement this section, including regulations to carry out paragraph (4).

[1] See References in Text note below.

U.S. Code

§ 7103. Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking