LIFT Act

IIB 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 5664 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES SEPTEMBER 23, 2020 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations AN ACT To amend the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 to ensure adequate time for the preparation of the an- nual Trafficking in Persons Report, require the timely provision of information to the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons and the Bureau of Diplo- matic Security of the Department of State regarding the number and location of visa denials based, in whole or in part, on grounds related to human trafficking, and for other purposes. VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:09 Sep 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H5664.RFS H5664 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 HR 5664 RFS 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 ‘‘Leveraging Informa- 4 tion on Foreign Traffickers Act’’ or the ‘‘LIFT Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 6 It is the sense of Congress that— 7 (1) the annual Trafficking In Persons Report 8 prepared by the Department of State pursuant to 9 the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (the 10 ‘‘TIP Report’’) remains one of the most comprehen- 11 sive, timely, and important sources of information on 12 human trafficking in the world, and currently in- 13 cludes 187 individual country narratives; 14 (2) in January 2019, the statute mandating the 15 TIP Report was amended to require that each report 16 must cover efforts and activities occurring within the 17 period from April 1 of the prior year through March 18 31 of the current year, which necessarily requires 19 the collection and transmission of information after 20 March 31; 21 (3) ensuring that the Department of State has 22 adequate time to receive, analyze, and incorporate 23 trafficking-related information into its annual Traf- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:09 Sep 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5664.RFS H5664 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 HR 5664 RFS ficking In Persons Report is important to the quality 1 and comprehensiveness of that report; 2 (4) information regarding prevalence and pat- 3 terns of human trafficking is important for under- 4 standing the scourge of modern slavery and making 5 effective decisions about where and how to combat 6 it; and 7 (5) United States officials responsible for moni- 8 toring and combating trafficking in persons around 9 the world should receive available information re- 10 garding where and how often United States diplo- 11 matic and consular officials encounter persons who 12 are responsible for, or who knowingly benefit from, 13 severe forms of trafficking in persons. 14 SEC. 3. ANNUAL DEADLINE FOR TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS 15 REPORT. 16 Section 110(b)(1) of the Trafficking Victims Protec- 17 tion Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7107(b)(1)) is amended by 18 striking ‘‘June 1’’ and inserting ‘‘June 30’’. 19 SEC. 4. UNITED STATES ADVISORY COUNCIL ON HUMAN 20 TRAFFICKING. 21 (a) EXTENSION.—Section 115(h) of the Justice for 22 Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015 (Public Law 114–22; 23 129 Stat. 243) is amended by striking ‘‘September 30, 24 2021’’ and inserting ‘‘September 30, 2025’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:09 Sep 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5664.RFS H5664 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 HR 5664 RFS (b) COMPENSATION.—Section 115(f) of the Justice 1 for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015 (Public Law 114– 2 22; 129 Stat. 243) is amended— 3 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘and’’ after 4 the semicolon at the end; 5 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking the period at 6 end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 7 (3) by adding at the end the following new 8 paragraph: 9 ‘‘(3) may each receive compensation for each 10 day such member is engaged in the actual perform- 11 ance of the duties of the Council.’’. 12 (c) COMPENSATION REPORT.—Not later than 120 13 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec- 14 retary of State shall provide to the relevant congressional 15 committees a plan to implement compensation for mem- 16 bers of the United States Advisory Council on Human 17 Trafficking pursuant to paragraph (3) of section 115(f) 18 of the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015 (Pub- 19 lic Law 114–22; 129 Stat. 243), as added by subsection 20 (b). 21 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:09 Sep 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5664.RFS H5664 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 HR 5664 RFS SEC. 5. TIMELY PROVISION OF INFORMATION TO THE OF- 1 FICE TO MONITOR AND COMBAT TRAF- 2 FICKING IN PERSONS OF THE DEPARTMENT 3 OF STATE. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 106 of the Trafficking 5 Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7104) is 6 amended by adding at the end the following new sub- 7 section: 8 ‘‘(l) INFORMATION REGARDING HUMAN TRAF- 9 FICKING-RELATED VISA DENIALS.— 10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State 11 shall ensure that the Office to Monitor and Combat 12 Trafficking in Persons and the Bureau of Diplo- 13 matic Security of the Department of State receive 14 timely and regular information regarding United 15 States visa denials based, in whole or in part, on 16 grounds related to human trafficking. 17 ‘‘(2) DECISIONS REGARDING ALLOCATION.— 18 The Secretary of State shall ensure that decisions 19 regarding the allocation of resources of the Depart- 20 ment of State related to combating human traf- 21 ficking and to law enforcement presence at United 22 States diplomatic and consular posts appropriately 23 take into account— 24 ‘‘(A) the information described in para- 25 graph (1); and 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:09 Sep 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5664.RFS H5664 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 HR 5664 RFS ‘‘(B) the information included in the most 1 recent report submitted in accordance with sec- 2 tion 110(b).’’. 3 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 103 of the 4 Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 5 7102) is amended by adding at the end the following new 6 paragraphs: 7 ‘‘(18) GROUNDS RELATED TO HUMAN TRAF- 8 FICKING.—The term ‘grounds related to human traf- 9 ficking’ means grounds related to the criteria for in- 10 admissibility to the United States described in sub- 11 section (a)(2)(H) of section 212 of the Immigration 12 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182).’’. 13 SEC. 6. REPORTS TO CONGRESS. 14 (a) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after 15 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 16 State shall provide to the relevant congressional commit- 17 tees a report that— 18 (1) describes the actions that have been taken 19 and that are planned to implement subsection (l) of 20 section 106 of the Trafficking Victims Protection 21 Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7104), as added by section 22 5 of this Act; and 23 (2) identifies by country and by United States 24 diplomatic and consular post the number of visa ap- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:09 Sep 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5664.RFS H5664 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 HR 5664 RFS plications denied during the previous calendar year 1 with respect to which the basis for such denial, in- 2 cluded grounds related to human trafficking (as 3 such term is defined in section 103 of the Traf- 4 ficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 5 7102) (as amended by section 5(b))). 6 (b) ANNUAL REPORT.—Beginning with the first an- 7 nual anti-trafficking report required under subsection 8 (b)(1) of section 110 of the Trafficking Victims Protection 9 Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7107; enacted as division A of 10 the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 11 2000) that is submitted after the date of the enactment 12 of this Act and concurrent with each such subsequent sub- 13 mission for the following seven years, the Secretary of 14 State shall submit to the relevant congressional commit- 15 tees a report that contains information relating to the 16 number and the locations of United States visa denials 17 based, in whole or in part, on grounds related to human 18 trafficking (as such term is defined in section 103 of the 19 Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 20 7102) (as amended by section 5(b))) during the period 21 covered by each such annual anti-trafficking report. 22 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 23 In this Act: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:09 Sep 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5664.RFS H5664 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 HR 5664 RFS (1) LOCATIONS OF UNITED STATES VISA DENI- 1 ALS.—The term ‘‘location of United States visa de- 2 nials’’ means— 3 (A) the United States diplomatic or con- 4 sular post at which a denied United States visa 5 application was adjudicated; and 6 (B) the city or locality of residence of the 7 applicant whose visa application was so denied. 8 (2) RELEVANT CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT- 9 TEES.—The term ‘‘relevant congressional commit- 10 tees’’ means— 11 (A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and 12 the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of 13 Representatives; and 14 (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations 15 and the Committee on the Judiciary of the Sen- 16 ate. 17 Passed the House of Representatives September 22, 2020. Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, Clerk. 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