Enhancing Detection of Human Trafficking Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3957 To direct the Secretary of Labor to train certain Department of Labor personnel how to effectively detect and assist law enforcement in pre- venting human trafficking during the course of their primary roles and responsibilities, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 16, 2021 Mr. WALBERG (for himself and Mr. SABLAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To direct the Secretary of Labor to train certain Department of Labor personnel how to effectively detect and assist law enforcement in preventing human trafficking during the course of their primary roles and responsibilities, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Enhancing Detection 4 of Human Trafficking Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:29 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3957.IH H3957 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3957 IH SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING. 1 In this Act the term ‘‘human trafficking’’ means any 2 act or practice described in paragraph (11) of section 103 3 of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 4 U.S.C. 7102). 5 SEC. 3. TRAINING FOR DEPARTMENT PERSONNEL TO IDEN- 6 TIFY HUMAN TRAFFICKING. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 8 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor shall 9 implement a program to— 10 (1) train and periodically retrain relevant per- 11 sonnel across the Department of Labor that the Sec- 12 retary considers appropriate, how to effectively de- 13 tect and assist law enforcement in preventing human 14 trafficking during the course of their primary roles 15 and responsibilities; and 16 (2) ensure that such personnel regularly receive 17 current information on matters related to the detec- 18 tion of human trafficking, including information that 19 becomes available outside of the Department’s initial 20 or periodic retraining schedule, to the extent rel- 21 evant to their official duties and consistent with ap- 22 plicable information and privacy laws. 23 (b) TRAINING DESCRIBED.—The training referred to 24 in subsection (a) may be conducted through in-class or 25 virtual learning capabilities, and shall include— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:29 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3957.IH H3957 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3957 IH (1) methods for identifying suspected victims of 1 human trafficking and, where appropriate, perpetra- 2 tors of human trafficking; 3 (2) training that is most appropriate for a par- 4 ticular location or environment in which the per- 5 sonnel receiving such training perform their official 6 duties; 7 (3) other topics determined by the Secretary to 8 be appropriate reflecting current trends and best 9 practices for personnel in their particular location or 10 professional environment; 11 (4) a clear course of action for referring poten- 12 tial cases of human trafficking to the Department of 13 Justice and other appropriate authorities; and 14 (5) a post-training evaluation for personnel re- 15 ceiving the training. 16 SEC. 4. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 17 Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment 18 of this Act, and each year thereafter, the Secretary of 19 Labor shall report to the appropriate congressional com- 20 mittees on the training provided to the personnel referred 21 to in section 3(a), including— 22 (1) an evaluation of such training and the over- 23 all effectiveness of the program required by this Act; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:29 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3957.IH H3957 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3957 IH (2) the number of cases referred by Department 1 of Labor personnel in which human trafficking was 2 suspected and the metrics used by the Department 3 to accurately measure and track its response to in- 4 stances of suspected human trafficking; and 5 (3) the number of Department of Labor em- 6 ployees who have completed such training as re- 7 quired by this Act. 8 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:29 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3957.IH H3957 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS