Durbin/Coburn Human Trafficking Bill Moves Forward in Senate

September 20, 2007 -- [WASHINGTON, DC] – U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-OK) announced today that their bill, The Trafficking in Persons Accountability Act, was unanimously passed by Senate Judiciary Committee and will be sent to the floor for further action. This important bipartisan legislation will close a legal loophole that currently prevents the U.S. Justice Department from prosecuting people in the United States who have committed the crime of human trafficking in other countries.

“Today we’ve sent a message to those who traffic human beings, that the United States will no longer be a safe haven for them or their supporters,” said Durbin. “According to a recent government report, the number of countries who are not doing enough to combat human trafficking has increased for the third year in a row. We should show the world that we no longer tolerate this hideous practice in this country and we will make every effort to bring to justice those responsible for the commerce of human suffering abroad."

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Under current law, federal prosecutors can only pursue human trafficking crimes if they are committed within the United States or by a U.S. citizen abroad. In contrast, other violations of fundamental human rights – such as torture, terrorism, and hostage taking – may be prosecuted even when committed outside the United States by non-U.S. citizens. The Trafficking in Persons Accountability Act would close the current loophole by amending the Peonage, Slavery, and Trafficking in Persons chapter of the federal criminal code to allow prosecution of non-U.S. citizens for human trafficking offences committed outside the United States.

“This bill gives our country the option to prosecute those who engage in human trafficking when they are found on our soil. It is contrary to our system of justice to allow perpetrators of these reprehensible crimes to go free without fear of prosecution,” Dr. Coburn said.

On June 12, the U.S. State Department released its annual Trafficking in Persons Report. This year, there are 48 countries on Tier 3 and the Tier 2 Watch List- those who are not fully complying with the minimum anti-trafficking standards. Last year, there were 44 and the year before that there were 41.

Senator Durbin is the chairman of the Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law and Senator Coburn is its ranking member. The committee was officially established at the Senate Judiciary Committee’s first business meeting of the 110th Congress and has jurisdiction over all human rights laws and policies. In March, the subcommittee held a hearing entitled “Legal Options to Stop Human Trafficking,” to discuss new ways in which the U.S. government could continue the fight against human trafficking.

Source: Senator Dick Durbin