The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“TARGETED REWARDS FOR THE GLOBAL ERADICATION OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the Senate section on pages S1291 on Feb. 28, 2018.
The State Department is responsibly for international relations with a budget of more than $50 billion. Tenure at the State Dept. is increasingly tenuous and it's seen as an extension of the President's will, ambitions and flaws.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
TARGETED REWARDS FOR THE GLOBAL ERADICATION OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING
Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 311, H.R. 1625.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
A bill (H.R. 1625) to amend the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 to include severe forms of trafficking in persons within the definition of transnational organized crime for purposes of the rewards program of the Department of State, and for other purposes.
There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill, which had been reported from the Committee on Foreign Relations, with an amendment to strike all after the enacting clause and insert in lieu thereof the following:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLES.
This Act may be cited as the ``Targeted Rewards for the Global Eradication of Human Trafficking'' or the ``TARGET Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) Trafficking in persons is a major transnational crime, as recognized by the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.; division A of Public Law 106-386).
(2) Trafficking in persons is increasingly perpetrated by organized, sophisticated criminal enterprises.
(3) Combating trafficking in persons requires a global approach to identifying and apprehending the world's worst human trafficking rings.
(b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that the Department of State's rewards program is a powerful tool in combating sophisticated international crime and that the Department of State and Federal law enforcement should work in concert to offer rewards that target human traffickers who prey on the most vulnerable people around the world.
SEC. 3. REWARDS FOR JUSTICE.
Section 36(k)(5) of the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 (22 U.S.C. 2708(k)(5)) is amended--
(1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by striking
``means'';
(2) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) and (B) as clauses
(i) and (ii), respectively, and moving such clauses, as redesignated, 2 ems to the right;
(3) by inserting before clause (i), as redesignated, the following:
``(A) means--'';
(4) in clause (ii), as redesignated, by striking the period at the end and inserting ``; and''; and
(5) by adding at the end following:
``(B) includes severe forms of trafficking in persons (as defined in section 103 of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7102)) involving at least 1 jurisdiction outside of the United States.''.
Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported amendment be agreed to, the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time and passed, and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The committee-reported amendment in the nature of a substitute was agreed to.
The amendment was ordered to be engrossed and the bill to be read a third time.
The bill was read the third time.
The bill (H.R. 1625), as amended, was passed.
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