USCCB on Trafficking Bill
As reported by Catholic News Service January 12, 2006:
USCCB official calls bill against human trafficking good, but lacking
WASHINGTON (CNS) — A bill signed by President George W. Bush Jan. 10 to combat human trafficking was a step in the right direction, but not enough to help children, according to a representative of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
"In general, I think the revisions are solid and necessary and the allocation of money is good," said Sister Mary Ellen Dougherty of the bishops' Migration and Refugee Services. Sister Dougherty, a member of the School Sisters of Notre Dame and manager for outreach, education and technical assistance in MRS' human trafficking program, said the final version of the bill "didn't go far enough for us as far as children are concerned."
She said the legislation, called the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, fails to empower Department of Health and Human Services officials to make decisions about the eligibility of children (to receive refugee benefits) "without having to wait an unreasonable amount of time." She also wanted to see more steps taken to make sure that immediate guardians are appointed to children who have been trafficking victims.
Sister Dougherty praised the legislation for making human trafficking a "criminal offense under the uniform code of military justice" and for "increasing penalties for domestic trafficking." She also commended the legislation's inclusion of residential treatment facilities for juveniles who had been subjected to trafficking.
The bill renewed the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, the first comprehensive federal law for the prosecution of traffickers. Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., was the chief sponsor of both bills. According to estimates by the Congressional Budget Office, the new legislation will provide $361 million over the next two years to combat trafficking.
Smith said the new trafficking legislation "provides law enforcement with the necessary tools to continue the liberation of the unfortunate women and children who are forced into horrific, abusive conditions."
"Make no mistake, this law will protect women and young girls at home and abroad and is a victory for victims of this abhorrent crime," he added.
The legislation reauthorizes and expands appropriations for anti-trafficking programs in the United States and abroad and offers solutions to specific scenarios, such as peacekeeping missions, to combat trafficking problems. It authorizes programs geared toward reducing the demand for commercial sex in the United States and preventing human trafficking of U.S. citizens within the country. It also provides new funding for the FBI's investigation of domestic and international trafficking.
The legislation also:
- 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 to prevent the involvement of their personnel with trafficking.
- Terminates all government grants, contracts and cooperative agreements with contractors who engage in human trafficking or procure commercial sex acts during the period when the grant is in effect.
- Establishes a grants program through the Department of Health and Human Services to assist American citizens who are victims of human trafficking and directs the department to establish a program to create residential treatment facilities for juveniles subjected to trafficking.
- Establishes a grants program for states and local law enforcement totaling $50 million in 2006 and 2007 to investigate and prosecute those who traffick in people and criminals who purchase commercial sex acts within the United States.
Prior to signing the legislation in a ceremony attended by MRS officials Margaret MacDonnell, Nyssa Mestas and others, Bush described human trafficking as "an offense against human dignity, a crime in which human beings, many of them teenagers and young children, are bought and sold and often sexually abused by violent criminals."
"Our nation is determined to fight and end this modern form of slavery," he said.