Cut Profits to the Cuban Regime Act of 2020

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3977 To require the Department of State to publish a list of countries that contract with the Government of Cuba for their medical missions pro- gram and ensure that such contracts are considered as factors in consid- ering Trafficking in Persons report rankings, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 17, 2020 Mr. SCOTT of Florida (for himself, Mr. RUBIO, and Mr. CRUZ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations A BILL To require the Department of State to publish a list of countries that contract with the Government of Cuba for their medical missions program and ensure that such contracts are considered as factors in considering Traf- ficking in Persons report rankings, and for other pur- poses. 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 ‘‘Cut Profits to the 4 Cuban Regime Act of 2020’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:14 Jun 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3977.IS S3977 ctelli on DSK30NT082PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3977 IS SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 1 Congress makes the following findings: 2 (1) The Department of State declared in Sep- 3 tember 2019 that Cuba’s overseas medical missions 4 program, known as the ‘‘Cuban doctor’s program,’’ 5 employs up to 50,000 healthcare professionals in 6 more than 60 countries, and are a major source of 7 income for the Cuban regime. However, former par- 8 ticipants describe coercion, non-payment of wages, 9 withholding of their passports, and restrictions on 10 their movement. The Department of State has docu- 11 mented indicators of human trafficking in Cuba’s 12 overseas medical missions each year since the 2010 13 Trafficking in Persons Report (TIP Report), includ- 14 ing in the 2019 TIP Report and remain deeply con- 15 cerned about these abuses. The Department of State 16 urges host country governments and civil society to 17 examine the practices in Cuba’s medical missions in 18 their countries and ensure the rights of healthcare 19 professionals are protected. 20 (2) According to the Department of State, the 21 Government of Cuba collected $7,200,000,000 in a 22 single year from the export of professional services 23 through programs like the foreign medical missions 24 and, while those services were ongoing, refused to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:14 Jun 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3977.IS S3977 ctelli on DSK30NT082PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3977 IS provide even a living wage to those who were partici- 1 pating in it. 2 (3) The Department of State estimates that 3 globally there are 24,900,000 victims of human traf- 4 ficking, also commonly referred to as modern slav- 5 ery. 6 (4) In the United States, Congress has led ef- 7 forts to eliminate severe forms of trafficking in per- 8 sons domestically and internationally, particularly 9 with its enactment of the Victims of Trafficking and 10 Violence Protection Act of 2000 (Public Law 106– 11 386). Division A of that Act, the Trafficking Victims 12 Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA), established United 13 States antitrafficking policy to— 14 (A) prevent trafficking; 15 (B) protect trafficking victims; and 16 (C) prosecute and punish traffickers 17 (known as the three Ps). 18 (5) A key element of the TVPA’s foreign policy 19 objectives involved a new requirement for the Sec- 20 retary of State to produce an annual report on 21 human trafficking and to rank foreign governments 22 based on their antitrafficking efforts. In the ensuing 23 reports, which the Department of State titled as 24 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) reports, the Depart- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:14 Jun 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3977.IS S3977 ctelli on DSK30NT082PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3977 IS ment developed a ranking system in which the best- 1 ranked countries were identified as Tier 1 and the 2 worst-ranked as Tier 3. Moreover, the TVPA stipu- 3 lated that the worst performers (Tier 3 countries) in 4 the TIP Report could be subject to potential restric- 5 tions on certain types of United States foreign aid 6 and other United States and multilateral funds—a 7 policy that is intended to motivate countries to avoid 8 Tier 3 by prioritizing antitrafficking efforts. 9 SEC. 3. ACCOUNTABILITY FOR COUNTRIES THAT USE THE 10 CUBAN DOCTOR’S PROGRAM. 11 (a) REQUIREMENT REPORT ON COUNTRIES THAT 12 USE THE CUBAN DOCTOR’S PROGRAM.—The Secretary of 13 State shall include in the report required under section 14 110(b) of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 15 (22 U.S.C. 7107(b)) a list of countries that contract with 16 the Government of Cuba to use that country’s medical 17 missions program, known as the ‘‘Cuban doctor’s pro- 18 gram’’. 19 (b) CONSEQUENCES FOR ENABLING TRAFFICKING IN 20 PERSONS.—Section 110(b) of the Trafficking Victims 21 Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7107(b)) is amended 22 by adding at the end the following new paragraph: 23 ‘‘(5) CONSEQUENCES FOR ENABLING TRAF- 24 FICKING IN PERSONS.—In preparing the report 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:14 Jun 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3977.IS S3977 ctelli on DSK30NT082PROD with BILLS 5 •S 3977 IS under this subsection, including determining which 1 countries to include on the lists pursuant to para- 2 graph (1), the Secretary of State shall consider 3 whether the government of a country enables the 4 trafficking in persons in another country, including 5 by participating in programs with foreign govern- 6 ments and organizations that involve or enable traf- 7 ficking in persons.’’. 8 (c) RECOGNITION OF EFFORTS TO PREVENT FUND- 9 ING GOVERNMENT OF CUBA.—A country’s ranking for 10 purposes of section 110(b)(1) of the Trafficking Victims 11 Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7107(b)(1)) shall not 12 be adversely affected as a result of a country’s contracting 13 with a doctor’s program if the country using the pro- 14 gram— 15 (1) compensates medical professionals (or any 16 service professional) directly rather than through the 17 government of a country or an organization that is 18 sponsoring them and pays foreign medical profes- 19 sionals and personnel the same compensation as do- 20 mestic medical professionals and personnel are paid 21 for similar work; 22 (2) ensures such professionals retain control of 23 their passports and earnings; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:14 Jun 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3977.IS S3977 ctelli on DSK30NT082PROD with BILLS 6 •S 3977 IS (3) makes public the terms of the agreement 1 with the government or sponsoring organization; 2 (4) ensures medical professionals are allowed to 3 bring their family (particularly spouses and minor 4 children) with them; 5 (5) ensures medical professional’s (and their 6 family’s) travel are not restricted and that their ac- 7 tivities and speech are not monitored while in the 8 host country; 9 (6) ensures humane and safe working and living 10 conditions, in accordance with international law; and 11 (7) ensures that the country providing the pro- 12 gram is not receiving any additional compensation 13 from the host country or any organization for the 14 work of the medical professionals. 15 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:14 Jun 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S3977.IS S3977 ctelli on DSK30NT082PROD with BILLS