SPEAKERS CONTENTS INSERTS
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30–141PDF
2006
ENHANCING THE GLOBAL FIGHT TO END HUMAN TRAFFICKING
BRIEFING AND HEARING
BEFORE THE
COMMITTEE ON
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED NINTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
SEPTEMBER 26, 2006
Serial No. 109–232
Printed for the use of the Committee on International Relations
Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.internationalrelations.house.gov/
COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
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HENRY J. HYDE, Illinois, Chairman
JAMES A. LEACH, Iowa
CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey,
Vice Chairman
DAN BURTON, Indiana
ELTON GALLEGLY, California
ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida
DANA ROHRABACHER, California
EDWARD R. ROYCE, California
PETER T. KING, New York
STEVE CHABOT, Ohio
THOMAS G. TANCREDO, Colorado
RON PAUL, Texas
DARRELL ISSA, California
JEFF FLAKE, Arizona
JO ANN DAVIS, Virginia
MARK GREEN, Wisconsin
JERRY WELLER, Illinois
MIKE PENCE, Indiana
THADDEUS G. McCOTTER, Michigan
KATHERINE HARRIS, Florida
JOE WILSON, South Carolina
JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas
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J. GRESHAM BARRETT, South Carolina
CONNIE MACK, Florida
JEFF FORTENBERRY, Nebraska
MICHAEL McCAUL, Texas
TED POE, Texas
TOM LANTOS, California
HOWARD L. BERMAN, California
GARY L. ACKERMAN, New York
ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American Samoa
DONALD M. PAYNE, New Jersey
SHERROD BROWN, Ohio
BRAD SHERMAN, California
ROBERT WEXLER, Florida
ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York
WILLIAM D. DELAHUNT, Massachusetts
GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York
BARBARA LEE, California
JOSEPH CROWLEY, New York
EARL BLUMENAUER, Oregon
SHELLEY BERKLEY, Nevada
GRACE F. NAPOLITANO, California
ADAM B. SCHIFF, California
DIANE E. WATSON, California
ADAM SMITH, Washington
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BETTY McCOLLUM, Minnesota
BEN CHANDLER, Kentucky
DENNIS A. CARDOZA, California
RUSS CARNAHAN, Missouri
THOMAS E. MOONEY, SR., Staff Director/General Counsel
ROBERT R. KING, Democratic Staff Director
LINDSEY M. PLUMLEY, Staff Associate
C O N T E N T S
BRIEFER
Mr. Ricky Martin, Goodwill Ambassador, UNICEF, and President, The Ricky Martin Foundation
WITNESSES
The Honorable John Miller, Director, The Office to Combat Trafficking in Persons, U.S. Department of State
Wade F. Horn, Ph.D., Assistant Secretary for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
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LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC., SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING
Mr. Ricky Martin: Prepared statement
The Honorable John Miller: Prepared statement
Wade F. Horn, Ph.D.: Prepared statement
ENHANCING THE GLOBAL FIGHT TO END HUMAN TRAFFICKING
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2006
House of Representatives,
Committee on International Relations,
Washington, DC.
The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:30 a.m., in room 2172, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Christopher H. Smith (Vice Chairman of the Committee) presiding.
Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY [presiding]. The hearing will come to order and good morning everybody. I am pleased to convene this briefing and hearing of the Full Committee of the House International Relations Committee to examine means to enhance the global fight to end human trafficking.
When I held the first hearing on human trafficking as Chairman of the Subcommittee on International Operations and Human Rights back in 1999, only a handful of countries had laws explicitly prohibiting the practice of human trafficking. Individuals who engaged in this exploitation did so without fear of legal repercussions. Victims of trafficking were treated as criminals and illegal immigrants and had no access to assistance to escape the slavery-like conditions in which they were trapped. Few seemed to be even aware that this modern form of slavery was taking place and even some of those who did failed to recognize it as a violation of fundamental human rights.
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However, the situation has changed markedly over the past 6 years. Significant credit for improvements must be attributed to the enactment of the Bipartisan Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, together with the two reauthorizations of that act in 2003 and 2005, all of which I sponsored. These three laws created a comprehensive framework for combating trafficking in persons abroad as well as the trafficking of American girls and young women within the United States. These three laws are superb examples of what we can accomplish when we work in a bipartisan way. So I again, I want to thank Tom Lantos for his extraordinary partnership in crafting these pieces of legislation as well as that of Chairman Hyde. This is the result of a great deal of collaboration and bipartisanship. As a result of these three laws, our Government has been a leader in addressing this serious human rights violation and encouraging other governments to do the same.
Just this past weekend I experienced the impact of our collective leadership during a trip to Iraq. Millions of people who lack job opportunities are misled by ads for well paying jobs and leave their countries for what is presented to them to be the chance of a lifetime. Last year, the Chicago Tribune did a series of articles detailing the practice by employment brokers and subcontractors to bring laborers into Iraq through fraud or coercion. The seizure of the workers' passports and recruitment fees made it difficult for them to escape employment in a war zone. After the State Department trafficking report confirmed this practice, our Subcommittee held a hearing in which Colonel Robert Boyles testified that the military had issued an order that all contracts include a clause allowing the worker to quit his or his job without penalty, prohibits the use of unlicensed employment brokers, and ends the practice of confiscating workers' passports.
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With the compliance inspections set to begin this month, one of the major objectives of my visit to Iraq was to ensure that the order on labor trafficking would be enforced. Major General Bruce Moore, Chief of Staff of our military in Iraq, assured me that compliance was being checked on this. As of the time of our Subcommittee hearing, 90 percent of the contracts had been modified, and the military is ensuring that the other 10 percent would be modified and that implementation of the order will be complete.
Also, on my trip this weekend I spoke with State Department officials about trafficking in Kuwait and Germany. According to reports earlier this year, more than 40 Indian youth have been stranded in Kuwait where their passports had been confiscated by unscrupulous job brokers and had been penalized by Kuwaiti police. State Department officials told me that they have launched an aggressive program entitled FALCON for Fostering Awareness of Labor Conditions to let foreign workers know their rights. In Germany, State Department officials described efforts to discourage patronage of brothels during the World Cup in which women and girls were coerced into prosecution. Efforts were especially concentrated on ensuring that the U.S. military did not patronize such establishments. Since the end of the World Cup, the United States has continued to work with the German Government to ensure that coerced prostitution is ended to the extent possible and facilities are established to help prostitutes who want to escape that degrading lifestyle.
One of the key components of the 2000 act is the requirement that the Secretary of State provide Congress with a list of those countries whose governments are not fully complying with minimum standards to eliminate trafficking and are not making significant efforts to do so. These countries, designated as ''Tier 3,'' may be subject to certain sanctions, including the withholding of non-humanitarian, non-trade-related assistance. These sanctions could be waived if the government makes significant efforts to comply with the minimum standards or pursuant to a determination by the President that the provision of assistance would promote the purposes of the law or is otherwise in the national interest of the U.S. The President is to submit a notification to Congress no later than 90 days from the submission of the annual report as to the determination made for each tier 3 country. I have received numerous reports from our Government representatives and nongovernmental organizations as to how the implementation of this tier ranking and the consequent threat or imposition of sanctions has dramatically impacted the trafficking practices in relevant countries.
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The determinations for 2006 were due on September 1st, and it was the intention of this Committee to examine those determinations at this hearing. It is therefore deeply disappointing that the determinations still have not been provided by the President 3 weeks later. This raises grave concerns that will need to be examined later in the hearing, including whether the Administration is giving due priority to its stated commitment to combat human trafficking. This delay past the legislative mandate sends the wrong message to these tier 3 countries as to the urgency with which this serious human rights violation needs to be addressed.
We will, however, have the opportunity to inquire about the implementation of the Department of Health and Human Services Assistance Program as mandated by the 2000 act. The purpose of such programs is to expand benefits and services to trafficking victims in the United States without regard to the victim's immigration status. Unfortunately, evidence of the need of such assistance within our own country is growing. Just this month it was reported that a woman from my own State of New Jersey pled guilty to being part of a smuggling ring that brought in more than 20 young women and teenagers from Honduras to work in a bar. These women were virtually imprisoned in apartments and are alleged to have been beaten, raped, and subjected to forced abortions.
Such horrific stories make us all too aware that this modern form of slavery has silently infiltrated and poisoned the fabric not only of the United States but of virtually every society around the word. It is extremely important that this awareness be amplified, so that public outrage will further motivate those of us in government, shame those who are creating demand for trafficking victims, and ultimately stop those responsible for perpetrating these gross human rights violations.
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We are privileged to have with us today a prominent public figure who is using his extraordinary position on the world stage to publicize the reality and prevalence of human trafficking. Not only has Ricky Martin given his time and talents to promote the cause as a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Children's Fund, but he has also established a foundation that is engaged in numerous activities on behalf of trafficking victims and especially children. As just one indication of his personal commitment to the most vulnerable among us, he visited the affected areas in Thailand following the 2004 tsunami. In 2005, he entered into a partnership with Habitat for Humanity to construct over 220 homes for shelter and safety, particularly for those children orphaned by the disaster.
It is a very high privilege to have him here but before going to him, I would like to yield to our good friend and colleague, Mr. Lantos, who is a passionate defender of human rights, especially when it comes to human trafficking.
Mr. LANTOS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to add my warm welcome to Ricky to yours. We are truly delighted to have you, and your presence I hope will inspire other celebrities to engage in a group cause. Not too long ago we had Bono, who has done such incredible work on behalf of fighting AIDS, particularly in Africa, and we have had a whole series of celebrities, and every time we welcome them because we need them to achieve our work. But we have someone among our own Members who deserves extraordinary recognition. That is my friend Chris Smith. While many of us have been working in the field of trafficking, fighting this monstrous practice, no one has had the passion and the commitment and the determination that my friend Chris Smith has had, and I am delighted publicly to pay tribute to you, Chris.
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There is one other comment I would like to make, Ambassador Martin, if I may, before we turn to you. Nothing is more popular these days than bashing the United States, and the anti-Americanism has reached an all time high globally, and when one examines all of the issues one finds an almost epidemic quality to this hate or dislike or disparagement of the United States.
Now clearly we have made many mistakes as the one remaining superpower on the face of this planet which has to be engaged on all issues. It is self-evident. We make mistakes. And for every mistake our opponents can cite you, I can cite two because I look at things from the inside and I see the mistakes we have made. But let me say with all of the emphasis at my command that whether it is human trafficking, fighting hunger, combating the AIDS epidemic, dealing with natural disasters like the tsunami, the United States is invariably in the forefront of fighting these problems which inflict humanity. And it is in this context that I want to welcome you to our Committee.
The subject of trafficking, particularly as it relates to young people, to children, to young women, to girls, is a nightmare for all of us and your willingness to put your celebrity achievements, resources on behalf of the movement to fight this is truly moving. So may I, on behalf of the Democratic side of the International Relations Committee, welcome you to our hearing. We are anxious and eager to listen to you and you will find that we are committed affiliates in this cause which you have undertaken.
Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. Thank you, Mr. Lantos. Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen.
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Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman. I am proud to join Congressman Lantos in the positive statements that he has made about your leadership efforts throughout the years, Mr. Smith, on human trafficking. Thank you so much.
And Congressman, Puerto Rico may claim Ricky Martin as their hometown boy. I would like to say that south Florida also has an equal claim and he is a constituent of my congressional district. Bienvenido, Ricky, tu my casa.
The element of human trafficking is one of significant importance, and it is imperative that our country affirm its unfaltering stance on this heinous subject. Human trafficking is an immoral business of oppression and a sickening practice. The abuse of the world's most defenseless and vulnerable citizens for revenue and personnelpersonal benefits is unconscionable.
We are currently seeing examples of human trafficking in dozens of countries, with Iran, Syria and Uzbekistan by our State Department listed as among the worst examples. In Iran, women and young girls are trafficked for purposes of sexual exploitation and involuntary servitude.
Boys from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan are used through Iran and other states where they are ultimately forced to work as camel jockeys, beggars or laborers.
Syria is a destination country for women in Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, Africa and Iraq for sexual exploitation and domestic slavery. Women from Indonesia, Sri Lanka and other countries are recruited for work in Syria as domestic servants, but some face horrendous conditions and involuntary enslavement, including unreasonably long hours, nonpayment of wages, withholding of passports and other restrictions.
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Uzbekistan is a source country and to a lesser extent a transit country for children who are trafficked through the United Arab Emirates, Israel, India and others for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Women from other central Asian countries in China are trafficked through Uzbekistan. Men are trafficked for the purposes of forced labor in the countries' agricultural industry.
In our own hemisphere Venezuela, for example, is a source of transit and destination country for women and children who are used for the purpose of sexual mistreatment and forced labors. Venezuela is also a transit country for illegal immigrants from other countries in the region, particularly Peru and Columbia. My home country of Cuba has sadly been promoted as a destination spot for sexual tourism exploiting underage girls.
Some nations, such as Bahrain and Oman are on the State Department tier 2 watch list. In the aftermath of the trade agreements with these two nations it is imperative that we leverage our expanding relationship to secure commitments from these governments to strengthen their efforts to fight trafficking and to enhance their capacity to protect the victims, hold the perpetrator accountable and enact laws that will deter and prevent this abhorrent practice.
The stories coming from regions throughout the world are horrifying. These crimes against humanity must be taken seriously. We must work both bilaterally and through international forums to bring more attention to this sickening practice and commit to its eradication, and that is why I congratulate Ambassador Martin for his leadership efforts in this terrible practice.
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Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. Thank you.
Mr. Poe.
Mr. POE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to thank you for holding this vital hearing on the methods to combat human trafficking. Innocent women and children are being kidnapped, coerced, lured or sold into sexual slavery and forced labor throughout the world. This has become the world's dirty little secret.
As Co-Chair of the Congressional Victims Right Caucus and a former criminal court judge in Texas, I am aware of the issue of these young women being violently and brutally victimized through the evils of human trafficking. These victims are taken into countries where they don't speak the language. They have no family. They don't know the customs and have no idea where they can turn to for help and many times they can't turn anywhere for help. They are physically and mentally threatened and beaten or raped to intimidate into performing their services and their refusals will result in their death or physical harm.
There are many countries that have made tremendous efforts in combating human trafficking around the world and these countries are to be commended and encouraged to continue these efforts. However, there are some countries which refuse to acknowledge the problem of human trafficking and fail to seek efforts to combat it and continue to encourage those who seek profit for the sale of people, women and children.
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These indecencies and vulgarities of human trafficking and the effects on innocent victims demand that people throughout the world, especially in the United States, continue to tirelessly work toward ending this dirty little secret.
I look forward to hearing from the witnesses about this issue. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. Mr. Poe, thank you very much. I would like to now introduce Luis Fortuno, who is the elected Representative from Puerto Rico. He is now serving 2 years of his 4-year term. I would note he is the first Republican to represent Puerto Rico. He is the former Secretary of Development for Puerto Rico, a good friend and a very distinguished colleague for the purpose of introducing our friend, Mr. Martin.
Mr. FORTUNO. Thank you. Let me begin by thanking you, Chairman Smith and Ranking Member Tom Lantos, for granting me the honor and opportunity to participate in this very important hearing and, more importantly, for your steadfast leadership in promoting the eradication of human trafficking. I am honored by the invitation. I look forward to working with you and your colleagues in the Committee as we continue to examine ways in which both the government and the private sectors can work together to bring an end to these terrible crimes.
It also gives me great pride to welcome a person who is without a doubt one of my most distinguished, accomplished and certainly famous constituents, Mr. Ricky Martin. Given Mr. Martin's commitment to this and other causes, he is not only our Ambassador, he is a constituent of the world. Mr. Martin needs no introduction. A Grammy Award winning recording artist and President of the Ricky Martin Foundation, his fame precedes him not only in the entertainment business but also in the international community as a whole. His tireless work both at home and abroad on behalf of our most vulnerable population has been acknowledged and praised by numerous world leaders.
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Last year, he received the International Humanitarian Award from the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children in recognition for his efforts in assisting the youngest victims of exploitation.
I want to take this opportunity to thank Mr. Martin, or Ricky, as we all call him, for his dedication and tireless effort in making our Nation and our world a better place for all of our fellow men and women. Once again, welcome to the People's House. I look forward to your testimony as well as that of the other distinguished witnesses. And again, I thank you, Mr. Chairman and Mr. Lantos, who allowing me to partake in today's hearing and allow me to join you all in the dais. Thank you very much.
Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. Ambassador Martin.
STATEMENT OF MR. RICKY MARTIN, GOODWILL AMBASSADOR, UNICEF, AND PRESIDENT, THE RICKY MARTIN FOUNDATION
Ambassador MARTIN. Oh. Sound check.
Thank you very much, Chairman Smith, and Members of this Committee. I am here today, as we know, to raise awareness on an urgent problem and confront the market of human trafficking. Our enemy is rich. Human trafficking generates anywhere from $12 billion to $32 billion around the world every year, and is surpassed only by the trafficking of drugs and arms.
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Ladies and gentlemen, unfortunately we are still without a global commitment to end this atrocity. My name is Ricky Martin, Goodwill Ambassador to UNICEF and President of the Ricky Martin Foundation, and I appreciate the opportunity to testify today on an issue that is very, very important to me.
My commitment and passion for this issue was born from a very humbling experience. In the year 2002 when I traveled to Calcutta, India, I met three little girls that were living on the streets, maybe days away from being sold into prostitution, trembling beneath plastic bags. I knew then I had to do something. Ladies and gentlemen, something has to be done.
At a time when children should be learning to read and write, they are forced into the world of trafficking. Public safety mechanisms designed to protect are paid to look the other way or, even worse, to cooperate in this criminal activity.
Child trafficking is a global nightmare. It is a modern day form of slavery and, unfortunately, few people understand its magnitude. The facts, however, speak for themselves. Each year 2 million people are victims of human trafficking. Of those, 1 million children are forced into the sex trade each year. Every country on this planet is entangled in the child trafficking web as a source, a destination, or a transit point.
Traffickers have many different faces. They are members of sophisticated networks of organized crime, but I mean organized crime. They are family members, they are friends of the victims, and very often they are former victims of trafficking themselves.
The effects of trafficking can be found on every continent. Let me be specific. For example, in Mexico City more than 5,000 children are involved in prostitution, pornography and sex tourism. In Thailand, there are about 200,000 children involved in the sex trade and 86 percent of the patrons are local. In Africa, 200,000 boys and girls are trafficked and forced to work on plantations, mines, fishing boats and brothels each year.
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In Brazil, 500,000 children are prostitutes. And in the United States of America, 350,000 children are engaged in the sex trade, according to the University of Pennsylvania. As a public figure, I understand that if used strategically my foundation can influence the discussion. I am here today not only to explain what I have witnessed, but also to encourage the Congress of the United States of America to take action.
The stories that I would like to share with you today are stories of children that are facing real exploitation. For example, I had the opportunity to spend the last several days here in Washington, DC, with people that are doing an outstanding job, doing beautiful work at a grass roots level and I heard amazing stories. I mean, not amazing, excuse me, horrible stories about this issue. Like the story of a 12-year-old boy from El Salvador who was sold to traffickers and smuggled into Arizona. He was kept with other children in a small room for weeks and sexually exploited. He and other children were used as drug mules.
During his time in this country he witnessed the decapitation of one friend when she resisted being raped by the traffickers and the death of another child when he was trying to escape.
This story, however, has a better ending than most. This child is a survivor. He is still alive. He lives Florida. He lives in a mental hospital. He is only 14 years old.
When we listen to the story, I mean if we have a soul, we have to feel the pain but sometimes we also feel the hopelessness. But in face of hopelessness action can bring hope.
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There are steps to take to work on this commitment. First of all, we must prevent exploitation by educating children and families about the dangers of human trafficking. Step two, we must protect the victims by providing resources to reintegrate and rehabilitate. And number three, we must prosecute and punish those who make a living out of this illegal activity from traffickers to consumers.
I commend Congressman Smith and Congressman Lantos and the Members of this Committee for their outstanding efforts through the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 and its reauthorization in 2002 and 2005, and I commend the State Department for publishing the Trafficking in Persons Report for the last 6 years. That is fantastic. It really is. It really helps us.
But still I believe there is a lot that needs to be done. At a global level, I believe we must call for standards on birth certificates. Without documentation these children are invisible. Ladies and gentlemen, unfortunately half of the children that are born today, they are not going to be registered. That is the best thing that could happen to a trafficker. A child without documentation doesn't exist, is invisible. This has to change.
There are countries in this world where a child becomes an adult at the age of 12. That doesn't make sense to me. I think it is very important to create a standard, a universal standard where a child becomes an adult at the age of 18 minimum. And number three, I believe it is very important that the United States join forces with the rest of the world to ratify the convention of rights of the child in cases like this. Like in many others, the United States should be first, not last.
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At a Federal level, I beg the Congress to take action on establishing a Division on Child Trafficking. Number two, expanding Federal funding initiatives to prevent child exploitation on the Internet. The Internet is really good because we can educate, but at the same time pedophiles go in there and they enter your house without permission. And number three, increasing the funding for anti-trafficking assistance to foreign governments and nongovernmental organizations.
You have my foundation and my commitment to continue to work with the United Nations and the State Department to call for the eradication of trafficking. My foundation will continue to work with the Inter-American Development Bank and International Organization for Migration to distribute to some Call and Live! PSA campaign to increase awareness on this issue. And we will continue to strengthen the lines with UNICEF, EPCAT, End Child Prostitution in Asian Tourism, and Save the Children due to the excellent work they are doing. They really are doing a fantastic job. Until we as a world community acknowledge this is a real problem, we will never effectively eliminate it. Let us begin to fight—let us begin to fight this battle with real policy change and action. Let us work together to create a world in which the basic rights of all individuals are respected and our own children can live in a safe environment.
Ladies and gentlemen, are the children our future? No, they are not. They are our present. Human trafficking has no place in our world today. It is time to react, ladies and gentlemen.
Thank you very much.
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[The prepared statement of Mr. Martin follows:]
PREPARED STATEMENT OF MR. RICKY MARTIN, GOODWILL AMBASSADOR, UNICEF, AND PRESIDENT, THE RICKY MARTIN FOUNDATION
Thank you, Chairman Smith, and members of the Committee.
I am here today to raise awareness on an urgent problem and confront the market of human trafficking. Our enemy is rich—human trafficking generates anywhere from $12 to $32 billion annually, surpassed only by the trafficking of arms and drugs. Yet we are without a global commitment to fight and end this scourge. I hope today is the beginning of a new offensive on this blight.
My name is Ricky Martin, Goodwill Ambassador to UNICEF, and President of the Ricky Martin Foundation. I appreciate the opportunity to testify today on ''Enhancing the Global Fight to End Human Trafficking,'' an issue that is very important to me.
My commitment and passion for this issue was born from a humbling moment. In 2002, when traveling in Calcutta, I met three little girls. They were living on the street, maybe days away from being sold into prostitution, trembling beneath plastic bags. I knew then that I had to do something about it. I could not turn away.
That was four years ago. It has been a long journey from Calcutta to Washington, from meeting three victims of child trafficking to testifying in front of the United States Congress. The common theme is we must raise awareness and take action to end human trafficking.
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My interest and commitment on this issue didn't start yesterday. It began three years ago when we launched People for Children—the flagship program of the Ricky Martin Foundation, a non-profit organization whose mission is to advocate for children's rights and provide well-being in three crucial areas: social justice, education and health. The Ricky Martin Foundation, established in Puerto Rico in 2000, was created to be a vehicle to enforce children's rights in partnership with other organizations, socially responsible corporations and committed citizens. I needed to tell the story of those who cannot tell their own.
Child trafficking is a global nightmare. It is the modern day form of slavery. Despite the nature of child trafficking, few people understand the scope of the tragedy. The facts, however, speak for themselves:
Each year 2 million people are victims of human trafficking.
Of those, UNICEF estimates 1.2 million children are trafficked each year.
Every country on this planet is entangled in the child trafficking web, either as a source, a destination, or a transit point.
At a time when children should be learning to read and write, they are forced to enter the world of trafficking. Public safety mechanisms, designed to protect, are paid to look the other way or, worse, to cooperate in this criminal activity.
Traffickers have many different faces. They are members of highly sophisticated networks of organized crime; they are family members; they are friends of the victims; and often, they are former victims of trafficking themselves.
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But despite the serious and widespread nature of child trafficking, few people understand the magnitude of the tragedy. The effects of trafficking can be found on every continent:
In Mexico, an estimated 5,000 children are involved in prostitution, pornography and sex tourism.
In Thailand, there are about 200,000 children involved in its sex trade, and 86% of the patrons are local.
In Africa, 200,000 boys and girls are trafficked and forced to work on plantations, mines, fishing boats, and brothels each year.
In Brazil, about half a million children work as prostitutes. Many of them are trafficked to the gold mines of the Amazon.
And in the United States 50,000 women and children are trafficked from no fewer than 49 countries every year.
We must also recognize that human trafficking does not happen in isolation, but rather that its roots lie in poverty and hopelessness. Supporting the children and families at risk of being exploited by traffickers will help them avoid exploitation.
I commend Congressman Smith, Congressman Lantos, members of this Committee, and the United States government for their efforts to combat child trafficking through the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 and its reauthorization in 2002 and 2005. This landmark anti-trafficking law addresses the prevention of trafficking, the protection and assistance of victims of trafficking, and the prosecution and punishment of traffickers. Over 100 countries have also passed anti-trafficking laws.
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I commend the U.S. State Department-issued Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report, which provides information about trafficking and puts countries with doubtful commitment to ending human trafficking on notice. And I thank the US government for the $375 million in anti-trafficking assistance to foreign governments and nongovernmental organizations you have provided since 2001 to help abolish human trafficking.
As a public figure, I understand that—if used correctly and strategically—I could use my position and my foundation to influence the discussion at this time. The opportunity to testify before this committee today is a privilege but, more importantly, I hope it will trigger action to end this human suffering.
I am committed to continue to work with the United Nations and the State Department to call for strong, strong commitments to eradicate trafficking. I will continue to work with the Inter-American Development Bank and International Organization for Migration to develop and distribute the Call and Live! PSA's to increase awareness of this issue. I will continue to encourage organizations such as ECPAT (End Child Prostitution in Asian Tourism), Save the Children and UNICEF to keep up the excellent work they do at assisting victims and providing services to them.
I am here today not only to explain what I have witnessed, but to motivate this Congress to action. The stories I share with you are stories of real children facing real exploitation.
When I met the little girls in India, they had no idea what their life could have become. Today they live in a beautiful shelter in Calcutta with another 167 girls that have been rescued from the streets. They are studying, going to school, learning music—being children. There is hope that if we act, children will not be lost into the world of modern day slavery. In the face of hopelessness, action can bring hope. I come before you today to urge action.
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Our action steps must start with basic commitments.
1. We must enforce the laws against human trafficking by providing children and their families with the opportunity to live safely and peacefully.
2. We must educate children and families about the dangers of trafficking.
3. We must provide resources and services to reintegrate and rehabilitate victims of these practices.
4. We must prosecute and punish the traffickers.
The common slogan, ''Think Globally—Act Locally,'' is an appropriate starting point for outlining effective action against human trafficking and the exploitation of children.
Thinking globally, we must call for international standards on birth certificates. This simple act of registering every child is vital for the protection of their safety and rights. According to UNICEF, 50 million children are not registered at birth. Without documentation of their existence these children are invisible, and all other mechanisms of support, safety, and human rights cannot be successful.
An international standard to universally define a child as 18 years of age or younger is a necessary and important component of uniting international law and developing more effective international interventions.
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To act locally, I would recommend that Congress take action to:
Expand federally funded initiatives for Internet crimes against children
Establish a division on child trafficking in the TIP report
Increase the funding for anti-trafficking assistance to foreign governments and nongovernmental organizations.
Lastly, the people of the United States can demonstrate a commitment on this issue by calling for the US government to ratify the Charter of the Convention of Rights of the Child. This is a cornerstone of human rights. The United States is one of only two countries (Somalia being the other) yet to ratify this charter. On matters such as this, the United States should be the first, not the last.
Until we as a world community acknowledge this is a real problem, we will never effectively eliminate it. Let us begin to fight this battle with real policy change and real action. Let us work together to create a world in which the basic rights of all individuals are respected, and our children can be safe and live without fear.
Human trafficking has no place in our world today.
React. It's time.
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Thank you.
Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. Ambassador Martin, thank you very much for that passionate and eloquent statement and, more importantly, for the extraordinary work you do on behalf of children around the world.
Just a few questions and then I will yield to my colleagues for any questions that they might have.
Could you tell us which programs the Ricky Martin Foundation find to be most effective? Your ''Call and Live!'' program—could you elaborate on that if you would? Your Web site describes a partnership with Microsoft to protect children from exploitation through the Internet, which you referenced a bit in your testimony, maybe perhaps you could elaborate on that as well. Finally, you were quoted as telling Ambassadors to the United States that governments need to declare war on tourists who sexually exploit children around the world. I am wondering what the reaction was when you made those statements and whether or not the United Nations has responded to its own Goodwill Ambassador the way they ought to?
Ambassador MARTIN. First of all, Mr. Smith, I believe that we need to join forces. We can't do it alone. So of course I believe in alliances like, for example, Microsoft, with the help of Microsoft in the region of Latin America. Well, we have to start somewhere. That is where I am from, and with Microsoft we have been able to educate children, teachers and parents about the good things about the Internet and the bad things about the Internet. For example, going into another alliance that we created, with the Inter-American Development Bank we created PSA's Call and Live. Well, it says it all. You call and you live. We created a 1–800 number all through the region 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. People will call when they are being trafficked, when they believe they are being trafficked or when they witness a case, and that moment you will be safe. With this campaign that was launched in March, we have been able to save already 10 lives. So it is very effective.
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Repetition. Education. Without education is like being blind. So that is pretty much what the Ricky Martin Foundation and its project, People for Children, has done since it was launched and I think it has been really effective. I went to the United Nations, like you say, and it is very difficult. Sometimes very frustrating, but I am not here to subtract. I am here to add. And I believe that the way, for example, the people of the media they come to me, they want to be informed, they want to know what is really going on. And when I have a fantastic platform to send this message like the United Nations, I really have nothing bad to say about that opportunity. So it was very important for me to be there, and I will do it again.
Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. Do you sense that MTV and VH1 and the other channels, BET, has shown any interest in carrying PSAs of the sort that you are doing in Latin America?
Ambassador MARTIN. Yes, they are. They are, but more needs to be done. Music helps us to reach the children, to reach young people, and I believe that if MTV says I am here ready to fight this battle, that would be a big stand-up occasion. We need action. We need action. Let us not talk. Let us do what we need to do.
Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. Thank you.
Mr. Lantos.
Mr. LANTOS. Well, first, Ricky, let me commend you on an outstanding statement.
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Ambassador MARTIN. Thank you.
Mr. LANTOS. We found lots of substance in what you said and we appreciate your fight. I would like you to comment on what I view as good news and bad news in this field. The good news is that you are not alone. There are some remarkable people, either in the field of entertainment or business, who have seenscene the incredible importance of being engaged in causes much bigger than ourselves. Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, have now decided to donate the untold billions that they have to fighting disease and I tip my hat to them.
Yet there are hate-filled diatribes emanating from others on the international scene mainly in the political arena. Those of us who listened to the statements of Ahmadinejad or Chavez at the United Nations General Assembly were appalled that so-called leaders of significant countries like Venezuela and Iran in the year 2006 could stoop to the levels that these two men have stooped to in spreading their message of hate.
I wonder if you could comment on the reason why so few people who have attained your celebrity and status have chosen to become engaged in good causes. And what can be done by people like you or Bono or others to involve the scores of people who have attained in this media driven globe an opportunity to become engaged in your case, in the issue of trafficking, in the case of Bono in fighting AIDS, and in all of these other many good causes. What happens when you talk to your colleagues of similar positions and celebrity and you urge them to pick a cause, any cause and become engaged?
Ambassador MARTIN. Well, Congressman Lantos, I can only speak for myself. Life has presented me with some scenarios. I must say that I am lucky being able to be in front of some pictures that life has presented me that are full of pain. I realize that with the work that I have done with my foundation, music is only an excuse. Music is only a tool of what my mission in life is. You know, sometimes you wake up in the morning and you ask yourself what is this all about. Why am I here. Why me, Ricky Martin. Why me, this fame. And when I met these three little girls in India and I rescued them and I brought them to the shelter. I just got back from India a week ago and I had the opportunity to see them and see that they are becoming girls—they are learning—they are learning music. That is when I realize that music was only an excuse and that music was a fantastic platform for me to talk on their behalf. I believe there are people that are doing an amazing job, like you said, Bono. I believe Shakira is doing an outstanding job as well. But it doesn't matter how hard I try to convince my colleagues that we need to use music to talk about things that we all should be concerned about. If you don't live that pain, if you don't look in the eyes of the victim, it is almost impossible because it is like not knowing.
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I am here today because I believe in this. It is a fantastic platform, not to promote my music. I am here because I want to talk about child trafficking and be the voice of the victims that I have been able to meet. I am here to be a voice of the people that are my mentors. People that probably, some of them are here today, that are doing a fantastic job at a grass roots level. And that is all I can do. I can't force anybody to do something they don't feel. I just I hope I can be an example. That is it.
Mr. LANTOS. Well, let me first commend you on a very eloquent statement, and let me remind all of us that one of the great statesman of this Nation, Hubert Humphrey, said that you measure the quality of a society by how we treat its members, who are the dawn of life, children, and the twilight of life, the elderly, and in the shadows of life, the poor, the sick, and the disadvantaged.
And you are living out this dream of Hubert Humphrey because you are trying to deal with the children who are in danger of not growing up as healthy human beings. But you have also avoided answering my question. So I will take you back. Because while everybody is impressed by your celebrity status, to us you are just a witness.
So my question, Ricky, is why is it that only such a small percentage of your fellow celebrities who have the capability of transforming so many ugly aspects of this globe into positive realities, why don't they respond and how could you and Bono and others who have made this your life's work assist them in moving in a direction that they too will find incredibly rewarding and enriching?
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Ambassador MARTIN. I believe they have no idea the power they have in their hands, and they just don't know how to use it.
When you enter the world of music it tends to be really intense; the amount of work that you have to do to become someone noticeable around the world. And you get caught up in the long days of promotion, long hours locked in a studio creating music, finding that vulnerability and finding something that is accepted by the masses of people. Mr. Lantos, I started when I was 12 years old. I am 34 years old, and I started only 5 years ago, 6 years ago. I guess the time for me was 6 years ago, was not before. Actually 6 years ago I took the time, I stepped out of the limelight. I needed to decompress. Everything that I have lived through music was so intense that I can be honest. I was exhausted. And in that moment of silence, that is when information of things that I really need to be concerned about came to me; that is when everything came into my being and that is when I started. I hope my answer is the one you were waiting for.
Mr. LANTOS. It is much better.
Ambassador MARTIN. Thank you very much.
Mr. LANTOS. And let me just say that while my wife of 56 years considers you devastatingly handsome, I think your true beauty lies inside. Thank you very much.
Ambassador MARTIN. Thank you very much.
Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. Ms. Ros-Lehtinen.
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Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and thinking of beauty for many years, our Committee has heard from Ambassador Miller on this terrible subject of human trafficking and he has told us every time he has testified before our Committee that he is more than just a pretty face, and I think that today is definitely proving that there are other pretty faces who are doing the Lord's work on Earth and, Ricky, using your fame to advance this cause is a noble venture, and I agree with Congressman Lantos that we wish that more celebrities would use their name and obviously you have attracted great media attention and that is to highlight and to shed light on this terrible problem of sexual trafficking.
You were quoted, as in your testimony, as telling Ambassadors and activists at the United Nations and other international forums and governments that they need to declare war on tourists, not just the governments who are doing all of this work of sexual exploitation, but the tourists who are sexually exploiting the children. What can we do when we work with governments and work with different agencies, U.S. and abroad, to highlight the terrible crime that tourists would be committing were they to go to certain countries? I have seen in my travels panels that they have in airports telling people that sexual exploitation is a crime, and I think that we have them for so many things like protecting natural resources in Florida. We talk about protecting coral reefs for the tourists who come to Miami International Airport, but I have never seenscene one on sexual trafficking, and Miami would be a great area and other countries to highlight them.
What can you do—were you a legislator, how would you be declaring war on the tourists who exploit these young children?
Ambassador MARTIN. I must mention that Costa Rica is doing a fantastic job on this and maybe we can learn from them. Travel agencies, I believe it is very important to get them involved because they have no idea that this goes on. We have to bring them into this journey and really educate them about the things that need to be done to abolish this way of slavery.
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Schools. We need to go to the schools of each country and we have to let them know that child trafficking exists, that child exploitation, child prostitution exists, that we should not jump into the paws of this horrible crime. I guess airports, we have to put in every airport, at every gate, ''We are watching you, what you are doing in this country. Come and join us in this, in a beautiful journey of tourism but don't touch our children.''
I hope you understand. My English sometimes is really bad, but the government has to come in and say enough is enough.
This is not about poverty. This is a problem about values, about human issues, human rights and dignity. So if we cannot say that this only goes on in the poor countries. This is happening here in America. This happens in the United Kingdom. This happens in Japan. Once again we come back to the United Nations to really tell the governments to educate the world. I go back to repetition. It goes back to the importance of letting the world know that slavery exists today. We have to make it noticeable. We have to—the media, we need you. Every time this happens the story should be part of the front page of every newspaper around the world.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Sadly some of those travel agencies are complicit and they do charter whole airplanes full of sexual tourists.
Ambassador MARTIN. That is right.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Right in our backyard. Thank you so much and get back to Miami.
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Ambassador MARTIN. I will be there this afternoon. Gracias.
Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. Thank you.
Ms. Napolitano.
Ms. NAPOLITANO. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Bienvenido.
Ambassador MARTIN. Gracias.
Ms. NAPOLITANO. Reading your testimony and listening to your speech, I admire your fervor and your participation and including yourself finding a niche that you know will really make a difference in this world. It did for those three young ladies that you were able to put into the shelter. They now have a life, right?
Ambassador MARTIN. They do.
Ms. NAPOLITANO. There are a lot of questions that I am listening to you talk, the cooperation in the South American countries toward admitting that there is an issue about child trafficking. We know about it, we hear about it, we read about it. What do you feel we need to start in our own backyard here in the United States because we do have it here either as a—not as a destination but people go from here to other countries and you are right about the travel agencies.
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Have you approached maybe the Gates Foundation, Hewlett Packard to address the issue of the Internet and then possibly with the cable companies and the television companies to be able to put a message out as a public service announcement because they will do that free, because it is an issue that you are right, unless we educate, unless we continue to remind people it is not going to happen on its own and you are only one person. So it isn't just you but the rest of us that have to come into sync with the work that you are doing and I think you are doing a—I can't get over how much you have done.
You talk about values. What have we lost in values. And those are things that I am listening and I am hearing, I want to add. The United States gives millions upon millions of dollars to foreign countries, yet we do not abrogate that this is given to that country if you do all of these other things. But we haven't added human trafficking or at least in some areas we turned a blind eye. What do we need to do? What have you seenscene? What have you heard? How can you help us maybe to channel some of that into areas where it will do the most good and be able to bring the rest of the entertainment industry, the rest of business because this is business that we are talking about?
Ambassador MARTIN. I believe repetition once again, we have to step out of denial. Unfortunately, we believe that this is not affecting us because this doesn't happen here in America. We need to talk to our children. We need to sit down and have dinner with our children. I am not a father, but I remember that that is what I lived and I believe that doesn't happen any more in this country. Now it is a lot of the TV, now it is all about the Internet. Children spending long hours in front of a computer without socializing with anyone but a stranger. Let us talk to our children. We need to inform them about life. We have to be honest. Children have to be proud of us. If a child has a question, please answer it with the truth. If you will, if he was able to generate that question, it was because he was willing to receive the real information. It is not because he is testing you. Let us talk to them with honesty.
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Microsoft is doing an outstanding job. We have an amazing alliance with them, and we started in Latin America because we have to start somewhere. I am here today ready to do whatever it takes to bring our Nation in the forefront of this issue. The regionwide foundation has created many PSAs. We are waiting for all of the networks in the country to present them. CNN has became part of our mission. It was amazing to be sitting in front of the hotel and hey, I am on CNN, which is my PSA, which was really good. But there is more that needs to be done.
This is organized crime. It is so organized that everything is under the radar. We don't know it exists. That is why I am here today to once again talk about this cruel reality. It is happening. I didn't know this existed 5 years ago. They would tell me about human trafficking and I would think it was all about illegal immigration. But no, that is a little part of it. It goes beyond illegal immigration, like I have said. It is about the soul of a child that is being stolen.
All I can say is I am doing my best little by little.
Ms. NAPOLITANO. What is the level of cooperation that you have seen from the Hispanic-Latino communities? Are they still ignoring it?
Ambassador MARTIN. There is a lot of denial. I need more help.
Ms. NAPOLITANO. How?
Ambassador MARTIN. The network Univision, for example. I want a PSA to run in every block of commercials. Telemundo, please join us in this effort. Every Spanish newspaper I am willing to give interviews. Please read my Web sites. All of the information is there. That is let us do what we need to do.
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Ms. NAPOLITANO. You sound frustrated.
Ambassador MARTIN. A little bit, yes. But it is okay. It is about adding, not subtracting. Let us move forward.
Ms. NAPOLITANO. You have been working both sex trafficking and in labor slavery, but which one has the greater emphasis, that must have the greater emphasis? The child——
Ambassador MARTIN. This is—can you repeat the question?
Ms. NAPOLITANO. You have been working both sex trafficking and labor. What do you think is the more important focus?
Ambassador MARTIN. They are as both as important. I am here to condemn exploitation in any way, shape or form, labor exploitation, sexual exploitation. Debt bondage. It is really all painful. And they are both just as important. You know, the sex exploitation. It is our morals. It is a little bit more delicate, but it is all the same for me.
Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. The time has expired. Mr. Poe.
Mr. POE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Martin, thank you for being here. I think we can call it what we want, but human trafficking is just slavery. And it has all of the trappings and chains of slavery that have been in the world for centuries and like the slave trade before it. It is all about money. It is all about greed. I agree that education and awareness is important, and I commend you for that. But I think consequences for being involved in the slave trade are needed as well. So I am asking you do you have any suggestions on what we can do as a legislative body to go after the slave traders and make them pay for what they do?
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Ambassador MARTIN. It is very delicate. But there is no one like the government to really attack this issue.
You know little by little we have to create universal laws. Universal law, first of all, where a child becomes an adult at the age of 18. There are countries in this planet where a child at the age of 18—I am sorry. There are countries in this planet where a child becomes an adult at the age of 12 and that doesn't make sense to me. It is ridiculous.
We need birth registration. I need to go to this. Half of the children that are being born today are not being registered and this is the best thing that could happen to a trafficker. A child is invisible without the documentation. A child has no rights. We have to. Okay, I am, Mr. Poe, I am going to go straight to your answer.
Mr. POE. If you would cut to the chase, I appreciate.
Ambassador MARTIN. That is what I am working on. We need the FBI to go in. We need the CIA. We need to establish a department, an office that will focus on this and we need to do undercover work aggressively. My idea for the next year is to do a documentary where I would like to invite a journalist to do an undercover job to really know what is going on. And yeah. That is—I think that is the way I would do it.
Mr. POE. So that we see what we can do about that here.
Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. Thank you, Mr. Poe. Chair recognizes gentlelady from California, Ms. Watson.
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Ms. WATSON. Thank you very much. Mr. Martin, I want to commend you for the efforts of your foundation, your achievements. I think this is all a result of living La Vida Loca, what, living the good life. I admire the work you are doing and as you have expressed, you cannot do it alone. Do you feel the Latin American governments are serious about this crime? Are they taking it seriously and in the countries you have been through, have they assisted you in your private efforts?
Ambassador MARTIN. Thanks to Ambassador Miller, I have the opportunity to meet with a lot of Ambassadors in the United Nations and they have a lot of issues. Unfortunately human trafficking is not a priority. In the meantime I am going the keep advocating on behalf of the children. That is all I can do right now. I will make a fuss. I will make some noise. And that is why I am sorry but I need to go back to education and repetition.
Ms. WATSON. Don't be sorry.
Ambassador MARTIN. The world needs to know this goes on. Once we know about this, we can send letters to our Members of Congress, to our Senators in each country, and then our leaders will take more action on this. So that is why I believe it is very important.
Ms. WATSON. This Committee has to be commended because it has given considerable focus to this problem locally and we have rated the various countries in terms of their progress or lack thereof, and I think that this hearing is a manifestation of our efforts. I think that we at this level have to do more with the governments and place a priority on this again. As you say, repetition. I am a former teacher so I identify with that. You have to repeat it over again and be relevant to the times, visually relevant all the time.
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Ambassador MARTIN. All the time.
Ms. WATSON. So I am sure this hearing will result in a further move to provide various governments and, with the Ambassador coming up on the next panel, will raise the questions as to how we can move our agenda in a more progressive fashion.
I want to thank you for your efforts from the private sector. You are doing a wonderful job. People will listen to you when they just kind of cast us aside.
Ambassador MARTIN. Thank you. I don't have the solutions. I don't have all the solutions. I am here because I need to serve as a voice. If I don't do this, then all the work that I have put into this will have no value. I wish I had all the solutions; then I would be here and tell you, this is what needs to be done, and then we would have a perfect world.
Ms. WATSON. We understand our role as policymakers; you are the briefer. You brief us on your experiences around the world, and that gives us further indication of the kinds of policies we need to adopt here and share them with other nations.
Ambassador MARTIN. Thank you very much.
Ms. WATSON. So thank you for what you have added and what you are doing.
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Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. The gentleman from South Carolina, Mr. Wilson.
Mr. WILSON. Thank you, Ambassador Martin, for being here.
I want to thank Congressman Luis Fortuno, who we appreciate as a new young leader in our Congress, and he has done a great job serving the people of Puerto Rico, serving the people of the United States.
I want to thank you for your efforts. Your international status helps raise this issue, which is international human trafficking, and so I am very grateful for what you are doing. And I want you to realize that I think you are making a difference, and I appreciate your reference to this as organized crime. That is what it is. I appreciate Congressman Poe recognizing it as the new slave traffic. That is what—that is what we are facing.
I particularly appreciate—and I think you are making a difference in terms—you say you don't have all the solutions, but you have got wonderful commonsense proposals. The signage at the airports, that needs to be done. People need to see the signs, maybe observe what is going on. I appreciate the PSAs that you have provided. I hope those, indeed, are shown to the people of the United States, around the world. I appreciate your availability for interviews. Again, that can be so helpful. Your suggestion for birth certificates for children worldwide. These are issues that need to be addressed. And they are common sense. They can be done and can make a difference.
I was introduced to this issue by State Representative Catherine Ceips of Beaufort, South Carolina, and she has worked on State legislation. And this is an issue that can be addressed by the States, by the Commonwealth, by Federal Government, and this is a horror that has to be addressed.
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Additionally, I appreciate your efforts in India. I am the former co-chair of the Indian caucus. I was succeeded by somebody much better, Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, what a great lady, so we work very closely with people of India. We are so proud of the success of that nation. But can you describe the intervention, and what was necessary to rescue the three girls in Calcutta that were potential human trafficking victims?
Ambassador MARTIN. Today they live in a shelter with 167 other girls. For the 7 or 8 years that this shelter exists, 60, 75 percent of the girls that are in it either were already forced into prostitution or were born in the arms of prostitution because of their mom being a prostitute.
And so that is—there were children, boys that were telling us, those girls in the streets that were helping us, those girls are having problems because men are talking—men are talking about those three little girls. So that is why we approached them as fast as we could.
Mr. WILSON. And did you receive cooperation from the Government of India, from nongovernmental organizations?
Ambassador MARTIN. This is an NGO, nongovernmental organization, that is working on the rescue of girls. It survives because of the donations of civilians.
Mr. WILSON. And you also identify Costa Rica as a country which has a positive example. Are there other countries that you would like to point out that have made a difference? And what are some of the programs that they have adopted?
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Ambassador MARTIN. Well, for example, India, there is always space for improvement. There is always space for perfection, but my case with India is—is gratifying, but I believe—I believe Ambassador Miller can give you details about what is going on in specific countries in his testimony; right, Mr. Miller?
Mr. MILLER. Sure.
Mr. WILSON. In conclusion, I am grateful that you are here. I join with Ambassador Watson; I appreciate the Committee raising this issue. We appreciate your efforts. Best wishes to you.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield the balance of my time.
Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. Thank you.
Ms. Lee?
Ms. LEE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Let me thank you and Mr. Lantos for holding this very important hearing, and thank you, Ambassador Martin, for being here.
I want to thank you for your leadership, for your passion and your brilliance, really, in really forcing the world to address the issue of human trafficking. And we all know that slavery is the sale of two human beings. And so this is a modern day slavery. And if anyone should understand that, the African-American community should, because for hundreds of years, African-Americans were sold into slavery. And it was those voices and those individuals who took the risks and who said, ''this is wrong,'' that ultimately helped free my people. And so I think we have to remember this as we move forward and rev up this effort that you are engaged in because there is no way that we should stand by and allow any type of slave trade to exist in 2006. I just want to thank you very much for being there at this moment, at this time.
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You know, I think it is so important to focus our efforts on addressing the victims of sex trafficking and prosecuting those who are the offenders directly. But also we need to look at some of the fundamental reasons why women and girls are vulnerable to being trafficked and are—I mean, those reasons are often ignored. So I think, in many ways, sometimes we piecemeal approaches and strategies and ignore the broader human development issues, like poverty and the unequal status of women. And I, too, visited India. I went into the red light district of Mumbai and talked to many girls and women who had been sold into prostitution, and they all indicated that they wanted economic opportunities and educational opportunities, and if they could address the issues of poverty and raise their children, they wouldn't be where they were. And so I think what I wanted to ask you is, how do we address this in a comprehensive way and get our Government to do that also? Because the transmission of HIV and AIDS, of sexually transmitted infections, all of the public health—all of the secondary issues that result are just killing women and children throughout the world. And so I guess I want to ask you in terms of how do you view a comprehensive approach that includes, in addition to the prosecution and the making sure we—you know, do what we need to do on the criminal justice front because these are crimes—they are crimes against humanity—how do we require our country and the world to develop a comprehensive strategy to address economic and educational opportunities for women and girls?
And finally, let me just say, I think it is obscene, it is immoral and it is wrong that our country has not ratified the charter of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. And I am so glad you are raising that here in your testimony, and hopefully, the word will go out that that needs to happen, and it needs to happen now because this is again another piece of the strategy to combat the slave trade. Thank you very much.
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Ambassador MARTIN. You are welcome.
I would like to introduce a person of my foundation, Angel Saltos. He is one of my teachers. Can you repeat the question for him, please?
Ms. LEE. Sure. I just wanted to make sure, in terms of development of a comprehensive strategy, we have to address prosecution and going after those that engage in the sale of human beings into prostitution and human trafficking; how do we address this and also it is the second piece of it, and that is the broader issues of poverty, providing economic opportunities and educational opportunities for girls and women so that they have that kind of empowerment, that they feel empowered to be able to fight this often?
Mr. SALTOS. Thank you very much. I would like to address that from a couple of points of view. First of all, one of the underlying problems for this is poverty, as we all know. So our feeling as a foundation and as a working group behind all these issues is that we would like to urge the United States, the financial institutions worldwide to invest in human capital. Therefore, that investment that can go to create a productive model that will incentivize people to get busy, productive. Therefore, they have an option. They have choices. Once they have choices, at least there is a hope of light over there. So they can enter into a more productive economy and they can be productive for themselves and for their countries. We would like our message to go across this room, that funding is needed to—for the creation of those choices overseas as well as here. There are examples of that. There are micro enterprise institutions in some countries that are right now being—serve as the platform for women to start creating their own micro enterprise businesses.
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Ambassador MARTIN. Stick around.
Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. Mr. Payne.
Mr. PAYNE. Thank you very much. And I, too, would like to echo what the gentlelady said. I admire you, too. I think that you have really done an outstanding job, and to have the position of UNICEF Ambassador, it certainly is a fine tribute to you as a youngster.
Remembering the end of the World War II, Danny Kaye was the first new UNICEF Ambassador, Goodwill Ambassador, long, long ago. Some of the gray-haired people might remember that. And I really think it is a great tribute to you and the work that you have done.
I think the Ambassador said it all, that you can bring light to issues that we attempt to do, but because of your status, people will then pay attention to it. We are always talking about issues, and so they say, oh, there they go again; it is just another issue. But when a person like you stands out and takes on something as serious as this, I think it draws a lot of attention. So your work is really appreciated.
And I do think that, as your spokesperson said, that abject poverty is really the problem. The millennium goal is to halve poverty by 2015. Abject poverty as a U.N. goal I think is something that we all must work towards, and it has to be done by governments. It can't be done by individuals. Although, I think that individuals have certainly stepped up to the plate: Lately, Warren Buffett with $29 billion to help with HIV and AIDS. Just the other day, President Clinton was able to persuade Brunson I think from Virgin Air to give $3 billion to try to come up with alternatives to global warming. And the Gates, Bill and Melinda Gates just turning over billions and billions of dollars to work on HIV and AIDS, malaria and TB. So I think that perhaps the world is understanding that the root cause is abject poverty, and if we could all work together to try to help eliminate at least abject poverty, that is the less-than-$1-a-day people, you know, that is what we are talking about trying to change. But I do believe that we have to—and I would like to sort of commend the Chairman for his attention that he has given to this whole question of sex trafficking and so forth. As a matter of fact, in our city, Newark, my City of Newark, New Jersey, my district, we have one of the first shelters and services run by Archbishop Myers from the Catholic diocese in Newark where we have gotten actually $300,000 or $400,000 grant to work as a safe house and for counseling, for these are adults who have come over seeking regular employment, primarily from Central Europe, Russia and some of the former Soviet countries, and come in and are then put into brothels and are in prison right in New Jersey and New York; a tremendous number of people are victims.
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And so your work with children—I just might quickly ask you, you have been working both with slave trafficking and labor slavery. And I wonder what areas do you feel need greatest emphasis, the whole—or do you think they are both equally important and involved together?
Ambassador MARTIN. Human trafficking has many faces. You have bondage, child exploitation, child sexual exploitation. It is like a pyramid. They all go against the soul of a person, of a child. They all deserve the same attention I believe. And I wouldn't say this one is my favorite because it is really not about that. It is about human trafficking. It is about the value of a person; that is it.
Mr. PAYNE. Thank you.
Thank you very much Mr. Chairman.
Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. Mr. Fortuno.
Mr. FORTUNO. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. First of all, thank you for allowing me to join you all, even though I am not a Member of the Committee.
I would also like to thank Mr. Lantos and my other colleagues. As a father of three 14-year-olds, I want to thank you, Mr. Martin, for what you are doing, for your passion and for your commitment. As a Member of this body, I commend you for taking a concern to action. I believe that is your message today, that we need more action in this case. You have raised a number of issues, as is our job to really try and see, how can we implement this? As I see it, and I want you to comment on this and make sure we are getting the correct message. As I see it, on the government side, what you feel is that enforcement, you know, you mentioned certain things about FBI intervention, Department of State listing of child trafficking as a separate list and so on and so forth, you mention in the airports the signage and all that. And funding, as I understand it, that is what the government can do. I understand it as well and I just want you to comment and correct me if I am wrong, that there are NGOs, not-for-profits or what have you, can actually take that and implement it. But certainly we need to have both sides working together, and I just want to make sure that we got your message correctly before you leave and that indeed that was your message.
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Ambassador MARTIN. Yes. That is why I believe it is so important to educate ourselves because once we have this information, the instinct is going to kick in, and then we are also going to find new things to do. And then we are going to start finding the people who would like to be allied with and do their job, but without the information, nothing can be done. Thank you for the question. Thank you.
Mr. FORTUNO. Thank you. If I may have another question. I would like to understand, in terms of the Ricky Martin Foundation, based on what you have experienced, what you have found, what you have put to work, is there an area, a program that you feel that we should know about, something very important—we know about your PSAs, and I have also watched them at a hotel, but is there something we should know, you have experienced or you have seen in different countries that we should certainly not leave this room today without knowing?
Mr. SALTOS. Mr. Fortuno, thank you.
On behalf of the foundation, a working group, I will tell you that all of the programs are important. I don't want to prioritize them because our mission is protection of children. But to give you which ones we are very much pushing them, we would love to see some funding going to create a model for childhood registration. That is something that is in our plans, and we will do anything to work toward that.
As the founder of the foundation, Ricky mentioned education. We make ourselves available, the foundation is available to create a model of awareness. Let us bring our message to other NGOs. We are open to working partnerships and alliances with everybody who would like to join this crusade. Thank you.
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Mr. FORTUNO. Thank you, again, Ambassador Martin. It was an honor to have you here.
And I yield back the balance of my time. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. Thank you very much. Just to conclude, first, let me again thank Ambassador Martin for again spending time here today but more importantly for bringing the message out into the world as a UNICEF Ambassador. I would just make two observations to conclude. We will be hearing momentarily from Dr. Wade Horn, the Assistant Secretary for Children and Families, an old friend, a man who is absolutely dedicated to trying to help the victims. I think it is worth noting, and Mr. Payne mentioned, one of the meetings that was held in Newark which led to the creation of a shelter known as Rescue and Restore. These forums have been held throughout the country. I was at the one in Newark. I know the President participated in one in Tampa, Florida, and they are ongoing and ever-expanding. I note that at those meetings, prosecutors, NGOs and church, faith-based individuals all attend. Best practices are discussed, and everyone walks away much more enlightened and motivated to do something to stop this crime of human trafficking. But what I noticed in the one in Newark and really many of the others, there is often very little press coverage. Perhaps you might give some consideration to lending your prestige and celebrity to one or more of those Rescue and Restore efforts. As you are doing today, you bring focus like none of us can. So I would just make that request if you would consider that. And secondly, several of my colleagues mentioned the need to accelerate our efforts to fight these traffickers, these modern day slave traders as a criminal enterprise. I think it is worth noting, for example, that this is one of many programs the Bush Administration in 2003 created: The Innocence Lost Initiative, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Justice, Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section in partnership with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has developed task forces in 16 cities specific to child trafficking and prostitution issues. I would note that as of May 2006, the Innocence Lost Initiative has identified over 300 victims. It has made 547 arrests with 105 indictments and 80 convictions. That is the beginning. That is progress. Obviously much more needs to be done, but we need to attack it on the victims side as well as on the criminal side, which you have made very clear in your testimony. So I would like to give you the last word. Thank you again so much for your leadership. It is extraordinary.
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Ambassador MARTIN. Thank you very much.
Mr. Chairman, it is incredible, but my record company, they do an outstanding job promoting my music because I am not promoting my music anymore. Every time I do an interview, I don't talk about music. I talk about this issue. Thank you so much for the opportunity you have given me to once again talk on behalf of those who are not being heard. This, this is a great beginning. We are taking steps. Hopefully they are elephant steps. I want to thank, once again, the media and everyone in this Committee for your support, for listening, for helping me in this battle, and I hope you all join us in this crusade. Thank you very much.
Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. Ambassador Martin, thank you.
We will now invite to the witness table our first panel beginning with Ambassador John Miller. Ambassador Miller is director of the State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, and senior advisor to the Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on issues of human trafficking. From 1985 to 1993, Mr. Miller served as a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives for the State of Washington. While in Congress, John held a seat in the House Committee on International Relations—so this room is no stranger to him—and was a member of the congressional human rights caucus. Prior to being elected Congressman, he was active in state and municipal governments. And for his leadership on human rights, the Seattle Anti-Definition League gave Mr. Miller its torch of freedom award. I would say personally it has been a privilege to serve with him in partnership on issues related to global trafficking. He has been doing a wonderful job.
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Next we will hear from Dr. Wade Horn who was sworn in as the Assistant Secretary for Children and Families in the Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, in 2001. Prior to his appointment, Dr. Horn was president of the National Fatherhood Initiative. From 1989 to 1993, Dr. Horn was the Commissioner for Children, Youth and Families and the chief of the Children's Bureau in the Administration of the Children and Families. Dr. Horn is the author of numerous articles on children, including a weekly newspaper column entitled ''Fatherly Advice,'' and he is the co-author of several articles, including the Better Homes and Gardens' ''New Father Book.'
Thank you gentlemen for being here.
Ambassador Miller if you could begin.
STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE JOHN MILLER, DIRECTOR, THE OFFICE TO COMBAT TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Mr. MILLER. Sure. Mr. Chairman, Congressman Payne, Congresswoman Watson, thank you again for bringing us all together to focus on what has emerged as one of the premiere human rights issues of the 21st Century, also a great health and national security issue.
Mr. Chairman, you were one of the original sponsors of the Trafficking Victim Protection Act. Your work back years ago set the effort of the United States Government in motion, and you didn't only just sponsor the legislation, you have kept after it, year after year, reauthorization after reauthorization, and all I can say is that many of the survivors and victims in this world owe a great debt to you for your efforts. Your colleagues have also been involved in this issue for years, and I want to thank them as well.
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Congresswoman Watson, I think we have talked on this issue many times, Congressman Payne. I am privileged to be here with Dr. Horn and others that I serve with in the Executive Branch—Martha Newton—because this does take a coordinated effort. We have a senior policy operating group that I chair, and it is important we coordinate our efforts at home and abroad.
This challenge exists everywhere in the world including the United States of America. I travel all over the world, and maybe there is some island paradise that I haven't been to that doesn't have trafficking of persons, but I don't think so. I have never seen a nation and government that doesn't face this challenge. And it is a challenge that involves children. It involves adults. It is all kinds of slavery—sex slavery, forced labor slavery, including factory, farm slavery, domestic servitude slavery, child soldier slavery, and even child camel jockey slavery, as I think Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen commented at the beginning. There are all kinds.
Now, brief comments on where we are internationally, and then I will turn it over to Dr. Horn and your questions. Mr. Chairman, you began the hearing by offering some gentle criticism that while the report was put out in June by the Secretary on trafficking of persons around the world, the Presidential decision that was expected in early September on the sanctions, the sanction decisions in 2006, was not out yet. I have some good news and bad news. The good news is, as I was driving up here, I heard that the President had signed the decision. So it is out. The bad news is, I don't have a copy. I just got this phone message, but I haven't read the final copy that was signed. So this limits to some extent what I can say. I hope to get you that decision today or at the latest tomorrow morning. So that is where that is.
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Nonetheless, that won't keep me from commenting on the status of trafficking in the world, including a lot of the countries that are on the list. And as you well know, when we look around the world today, yes, there is some progress. I will get to that later, but also there is so much more to do as there is in this country.
There were 12 countries placed on tier 3 in the Secretary's report in June: Belize, Burma, Cuba, Iran, Laos, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Uzbekistan, Venezuela and Zimbabwe. We have engaged with all of those countries or most of those countries, I should say, the last several months, and the President's decision today will show which remain in tier 3 and, of those that remain in tier 3, which have been sanctioned.
Nonetheless, I can point out some things that have been going on. For example, in Belize, which was on tier 3, we do know that the government formed a team of police and immigration officers and social workers and stepped up raids on commercial sexual slavery operations. They did rescue some trafficking victims. They have made plans to open a shelter dedicated to the victims of trafficking, and they have launched a public awareness campaign.
In Laos, we found out that our information gathering is not perfect. We have, since the report, found out through reporting from the Government of Laos that 12 suspected traffickers were arrested early this year; 12 have since been prosecuted with an average sentence of 6.5 years. So those are good things.
Now, it is easy just to look at tier 3 because those are the countries at the bottom of the list. By the way, for the countries at the top of the list, being in tier 1 doesn't mean they don't have a problem, as you well know, Mr. Chairman. Some of them have big problems. All it means is that, in the view of the Secretary, those countries meet minimum standards relating to prosecution, protection and prevention.
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But there is this focus on tier 3, but then there is this tier 2 watch list that you all in your wisdom created a couple of years ago. And those are countries that, while they are not tier 3, we think tier 1 watch is pretty serious. They are in danger of dropping to tier 3, although we hope they will move to tier 2. And there were 32 governments on that list in the June report, and some of those governments were on tier 2 watch list for the third consecutive year. For example, Mexico, India, Russia—these are large, important governments, and if you want, we can get into this in the question and answers. For various reasons, in prosecution, protection and prevention, these governments did not do what we had hoped. There are some promises of action. That is one of the criteria for putting a country on tier 2 watch lists. So we hope that, in the assessment—the interim assessment on tier 2 watch list countries that comes out in January—we will see some improvements.
Now, let's look at the state of the world. Let's be realistic. We don't know exactly how many men, women and children are in slavery. There are estimates. And I think the estimates are legitimately in the millions, but there is no scientific census. There never will be. We are starting to make progress—starting to make progress in finding ways to combat this terrible scourge—but there is much more research that needs to be done in that area, nonetheless. Much more needs to be done. I think this Committee can take some pride in the accomplishments, in some of the indicators of what has happened that are positive.
Let me give you some examples. When you started your efforts, Mr. Chairman, there were several hundred traffickers around the world convicted. A year ago when this report came out, we could show 3,000 traffickers convicted around the world. This year, 4,700. Now, that doesn't mean the problem has been solved. But it does mean that a law enforcement message is starting to get out. Secondly, I don't have a count on this, but I go around the world; some of my staff does, too. Every month we see a new shelter for trafficking victims opening up in some country. And that is a positive sign. Another positive sign: Last year, 41 governments passed anti-trafficking in persons legislation. The year before, 39. Mr. Chairman. I don't know the exact count, but I suspect that when you all passed the United States anti-trafficking in persons legislation at the end of 2000, I would be surprised if more than three or four governments in the world that year passed anti-trafficking in persons legislation.
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So these are positive indicators, along with all the media interest and the efforts, the efforts by people such as Ricky Martin. And there are others in the entertainment industry—Julia Ormond, working for UNODC—that have also done good things.
I have to just close with one story about Ricky Martin. I think, Congresswoman Watson, was it you that asked whether the Latin American governments were making this a priority? Well, I don't know if it is a sufficient priority, but I will tell you this: At the United Nations, Ricky Martin was there, as I was, to kick off an effort on child sex tourism. And the Latin American U.N. Ambassadors lined up to see—I would like to say they were lining up to see Ricky and myself, but we know what the situation was. And of course, some of them came in, and they wanted to get a picture taken, but then we did get to discuss the trafficking situation. And they offered public service announcements, ''Oh, if you come down, we will have you meet with the First Lady and the President.'' And I said to Ricky Martin, ''I have never had this sort of response.'' I said, ''This is unbelievable.'' He said, ''Oh, don't worry, Ambassador, when I go down to meet with the President, I will take you along.'' So, I mean, that is the power that somebody like Ricky Martin, with his passion, has. And it is a good thing that people like that are enlisting in the cause. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Miller follows:]
PREPARED STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE JOHN MILLER, DIRECTOR, THE OFFICE TO COMBAT TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee: It is a pleasure to be here today and provide you with an overview of government and intergovernmental efforts to combat human trafficking. I would like to acknowledge this panel for its leadership in making human trafficking, or modern-day slavery, a high priority.
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As our sixth annual Trafficking in Persons Report demonstrates, this effort is achieving results from the work of a growing community of nations. This past year, we've seen a greater global effort to combat human trafficking by punishing traffickers, protecting victims and preventing future acts of slavery. Thanks to your pro-active efforts and advocacy for anti-trafficking measures, modern-day slavery is receiving the world-wide attention it deserves.
The goal of the TIP Report is to stimulate action and create partnerships around the world in the fight against modern-day slavery. Countries determined to have a significant number of trafficking victims are evaluated in the report and are assigned to one of three tiers. This year 158 nations from around the world were evaluated.
Countries assessed as meeting the ''minimum standards for the elimination of severe forms of trafficking'' set forth in the law are classified as ''Tier 1.''
Countries assessed as not fully complying with the minimum standards, but making significant efforts to meet those minimum standards, are classified as ''Tier 2.''
Countries assessed as neither complying with the minimum standards nor making significant efforts to do so are classified as ''Tier 3.''
Countries classified as ''Tier 2 Watch List'' are at risk of slipping to Tier 3 unless serious concerns are addressed.
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In June, the Secretary of state placed 12 countries in Tier 3, as those governments did not fully comply with the act's minimum standards and were not making significant efforts to do so. Those countries were: Belize, Burma, Cuba, Iran, Laos, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe.
The U.S. works closely with cooperative Tier 2 Watch List and Tier 3 governments that are not fully complying with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, helping them make significant efforts to do so. In the weeks following release of the TIP Report, we produce Action Plans that help governments provide approaches in prosecuting, drafting laws and victim rehabilitation, and funding anti-trafficking programs tailored to those approaches.
After receiving the plans, Tier 3 countries have 90 days to come into compliance in order to justify a reassessment by the Secretary of State to Tier 2 Watch List.
The Congressional mandate for the report, the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA), as amended, requires the President to make sanctions determinations regarding each country remaining in Tier 3, after the Secretary's reassessment.
In addition to my role as director of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons at the State Department, I serve as chairman of the Senior Policy Operating Group, which implements the policies set forth by the President's Interagency Task Force on Trafficking in Persons chaired by Secretary Rice. Each of the government agencies involved in anti-TIP efforts meets quarterly to guide actions to end modern-day slavery. This is good for government-wide policy and program coordination, and for maximizing our success against human trafficking here and abroad.
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This morning, I want to commend Ricky Martin's efforts against modern-day slavery. He has been a true friend to the abolition of slavery and of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, donating his time and money to keep the vulnerable in a number of countries from falling prey to the deceptive tricks of the slave traders.
I also commend Dr. Horn and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), certifying foreign trafficking victims so they may qualify for the same assistance available to refugees. HHS is also running a major public awareness campaign in the U.S.
There is no simple approach to combat trafficking. We need to combine efforts—across states, across countries, and across regions—to ensure that this inhuman activity is not allowed to exist in any part of the world. As Secretary Rice said earlier this month, ''protecting the non-negotiable demands of human dignity is the equal calling of every country . . . including the United States.''
Mr.SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. Ambassador Miller, thank you so very much.
Dr. Horn.
STATEMENT OF WADE F. HORN, PH.D., ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
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Mr. HORN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It is a pleasure to appear before you and Members of this Committee on this important topic. It is always an honor and privilege to be with Ambassador Miller who I consider to be, along with you, Mr. Chairman, two of the most important leading lights on this issue. I think history will remember you along with names like Wilberforce and others as we attack this extraordinary evil that we face in our times.
Under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, the Administration For Children and Families is responsible for doing three things: First, certifying internationally trafficked victims here in the United States; second, assisting victims with accessing benefits and services; and then, finally, in promoting public awareness of trafficking and the services that are available to trafficked victims. As Ricky Martin and Members of this Committee have pointed out, human trafficking exists here in the United States. We are not immune to this modern day evil. It is estimated that between 14,500 and 17,500 people are trafficked into the United States each year. Victims are drawn from countries throughout the world through the use of force, coercion and fraud. They often are physically and socially isolated in unfamiliar cultures. They often don't speak the language. They are often raped and beaten and terrified into submission and as a result, they are literally paralyzed with fear and find it is very difficult even when they do come in contact with law enforcement officers or health providers or others who might be in a position to help, to actually come forward and seek that help. Nevertheless, to date we have certified over 1,000 victims of trafficking here in the United States. The majority of them come from Latin America and Asia, but individuals come from such diverse countries as Bangladesh, Cameroon, India and Russia. Eight percent of the certified victims so far are children and 94 percent are female.
Under TVPA, ACF was given the authority to certify foreign adult victims of trafficking so they may receive benefits and services. We consult on a daily basis with the staff at the Department of Justice to investigate and prosecute trafficking cases, and appropriate cases are referred to ACF for certification. Before an adult can be certified, law enforcement must deem the individual a victim of a severe form of trafficking. The adult must receive appropriate documentation from the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security and must be willing to assist in the prosecution of traffickers.
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Once certified, adults can receive benefits from a wide range of programs, including assistance under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program or TANF and Medicaid, and if they don't qualify for TANF or Medicaid, they are eligible for an 8-month transitional program for single adults and childless couples providing cash and medical assistance.
We also work with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to assist with the issuance of employment authorization documentation, allowing victims to participate in work programs and become self-sufficient. While eligible for the same benefits as adults, international victims who are under 18 years of age don't need to be certified. Once established as victims, they are also issued a letter of eligibility by ACF, and then they can then enter the Unaccompanied Refugee Minor program where they can receive a variety of benefits and services. In addition to certification and assistance activities, we are also responsible for establishing programs to increase public awareness about trafficking in persons.
In this regard, Mr. Chairman, as you have noted, we have established the Rescue and Restore Victims of Human Trafficking public awareness campaign. The goal of the campaign is to help communities identify and serve more victims of trafficking so that every individual induced into exploitive work will have the courage and support to come forward and receive the full protection and benefits offered under the Trafficking Act. We have also established a 24/7 toll-free trafficking information referral hotline, and we work closely with groups who have experience in providing outreach efforts to vulnerable populations, such as homeless and at-risk youth.
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Finally, as part of our continuing efforts to improve our outreach efforts, we will this week be convening the first ever conference on Survivors of Sex Trafficking. The conference will allow survivors to share their physical, emotional, financial and legal needs and help us to learn what is most necessary to help them on the road to recovery.
Since the passage of TVPA, we have addressed trafficking at many levels. We are committed to building on our experiences and continuing to improve our efforts to identify, rescue and restore more victims of trafficking. It is a great pleasure to be here testifying before this Committee, a great honor to be with my colleague and mentor on this issue, Ambassador Miller, and I welcome any questions you may have.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Horn follows:]
PREPARED STATEMENT OF WADE F. HORN, PH.D., ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify about international trafficking victims and the role that the Department of Health and Human Services plays in providing assistance to these victims under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, as amended (TVPA). The trafficking of women, children, and men into the United States for use in the sex industry, sweatshop labor, domestic servitude, and migrant agricultural labor has been estimated to involve 14,500 to 17,500 persons annually. The TVPA initiated a comprehensive effort to combat this scourge by providing enhanced punishment of traffickers as well as support for the identification, protection and care of victims.
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Under TVPA, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), within the Department of Health and Human Services, plays a key role in the fight against human trafficking. We are responsible for certifying foreign persons as trafficking victims in the United States and assisting them in accessing the benefits and services needed to rebuild their lives. In addition, we have been charged with promoting the public's awareness of trafficking and the services available to trafficking victims. Before discussing each of these activities in more detail, I would like to share some background on what we know about victims from abroad trafficked into the United States.
Background
International trafficking victims are drawn from countries throughout the world often through the use of force, coercion or fraud. Traffickers may mislead skilled or educated adults facing chronic unemployment as they search for higher paying jobs or a better life; buy or coerce children from families facing poverty and economic desperation; or abduct their victims. Victims find themselves physically and socially isolated in an unfamiliar culture in which they may not speak or understand the language. Often victims do not have immigration documents and traffickers may threaten physical harm to the victim or to a loved one left behind in the country of origin. Many victims are raped or beaten into terrified submission. As a result, when international trafficking victims do come in contact with law enforcement officers, health providers or other people who would be in a position to help them, they are afraid to come forward.
To date, we have certified over 1,000 victims of trafficking in the United States. The majority of these international victims have come from Latin America, namely El Salvador and Mexico, and Asia, primarily Korea and China. Over 62% of the victims were from Central and South America, with 28% from El Salvador alone. Another 23% of the victims were from Asia. In addition, individuals have been trafficked from such diverse countries as Bangladesh, Cameroon, India and Russia. Eight percent of these victims were minors and nearly 94% were female.
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Human trafficking takes place throughout the United States and over the past year we have found victims in 20 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, and Saipan. The largest concentration of victims was found in Texas, where over 100 victims were certified this fiscal year.
I would like to turn now to describe our efforts to certify these trafficking victims and facilitate their access to benefits and services.
Certification and Victims Assistance
Prior to enactment of the TVPA, trafficking victims lacking legal status in the United States were not eligible for most types of public assistance or services. Under the TVPA, ACF is given the authority to certify foreign adult victims of trafficking so that they may receive the same benefits and services available to refugees, thereby giving these victims access to both state and federal assistance programs. We consult on a daily basis with staff at the U.S. Department of Justice, Criminal Section of the Civil Rights Division (CRT), which investigates and prosecutes trafficking cases and refers appropriate cases to ACF for certification. Before an adult can be certified, law enforcement must deem the individual a victim of a severe form of trafficking, the adult must receive appropriate documentation from the Department of Justice or the Department of Homeland Security, and must be willing to assist in the investigation and prosecution of the traffickers.
Once certified, the adult may receive benefits from a wide range of programs, including Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Medicaid, food stamps, and Supplemental Security Income (SSI). For those who do not quality for TANF and Medicaid, an eight-month transitional program for single adults and childless couples, providing cash and medical assistance, is available.
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In addition, we work with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) to assist in the issuance of Employment Authorization Documents. These documents are a critical component of our efforts because they allow victims to participate in work programs and become self sufficient. Employment improves a victim's self-esteem and increases confidence and stability.
While eligible for the same benefits as adults, international victims of severe forms of trafficking who are under 18 years of age do not need to be certified. Once established as victims of trafficking, children are issued a letter of eligibility by ACF and then can enter the Unaccompanied Refugee Minor program which has a long history of providing comprehensive services specially designed for youth. We coordinate placement of minors based on individual needs, taking into consideration their cultural, linguistic and religious background, as well as any special health, educational and emotional needs. Services include housing, food, clothing, medical and mental health services, intensive case management, and education are provided through this program.
In April of this year, in order to more efficiently provide services to international victims of human trafficking in any location within the United States, we awarded a single national ''Per Capita Victim Services'' contract to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Under this contract, a defined financial stipend is provided to each victim. This per-capita approach will ensure efficiency and improve access to the best possible services for victims. Improved access to comprehensive case management, shelter, food, transportation, legal assistance, job training and health care will better enable these individuals to establish lives free of violence and exploitation.
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A brief story of the types of victims served, will give a better understanding of the range of services needed by these victims. In just this past year, we identified over 100 women who were trafficked into the U.S. after being told of opportunities to work in restaurants and earn a good living in America. After they arrived in the United States, the women were informed they had incurred large debts and would need to work to pay back those who had brought them to America. Jobs were provided in bars and restaurants, but in too many cases these jobs went far beyond working as a waitress.
In some instances, these women were forced to drink large quantities of alcohol during their shift, worked over 12 hours a day, and lived in housing controlled by their traffickers. Worse yet, the victims were forced to participate in ''dates'' purchased by bar patrons. To keep their victims compliant, traffickers often beat and otherwise punished women who were late, did not show to work, or were seen not to perform up to the traffickers' standards. Moreover, women who were found to be pregnant were forced to have abortions.
When found and rescued from these abhorrent conditions, we learned that some of these women had been held in captivity for over four years. Many of these women will continue to suffer extreme health problems due to their enslavement, but as a result of the TVPA the victims have been provided medical care, counseling, English classes, and many other services.
We have seen other examples of the insidious nature of trafficking where women came to the United States and entered into ''good-faith'' marriages in which their husbands ended up being their trafficker. The men promised them the good life in America—a fresh start in the land of opportunity. Instead, these men said that the only way to make money was through prostitution. The men forced their wives to work as prostitutes and threatened to tell families back home if the women tried to leave. Some of the women, once identified, decided to return to their families, some decided they did not need any services, while others decided they want to pursue a better life in America. These individuals have received HHS certification, entered into programs to learn English, and are now working and surviving on their own
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Outreach Efforts
In addition to certification and assistance activities for international trafficking victims, the TVPA requires us, in coordination with other designated federal agencies, to establish and carry out programs to increase public awareness about trafficking in persons. We are hopeful that our efforts to increase public awareness will encourage many more victims to step forward and seek help, and will make those who encounter victims more aware of what they are seeing. Despite the passage of TVPA and increased attention to the problem of trafficking, many remain unaware of the plight of trafficking victims.
Therefore, we have taken several steps to expand public awareness. We established the Rescue and Restore Victims of Human Trafficking public awareness campaign, which promotes public awareness about trafficking and the protections available for trafficking victims. The goal of the campaign is to help communities identify and serve more victims of trafficking so that every individual forced, coerced, or fraudulently induced into exploitative work will have the courage and support to come forward and receive the full protection and benefits offered under the Trafficking Act.
The goal of the campaign is to educate those persons or entities who are most likely to come into contact with victims such as local law enforcement officials, social service providers, health care professionals, faith-based organizations, domestic violence groups, ethnic organizations, refugee assistance professionals, homeless assistance professionals, drug rehabilitation organizations, child protective services officials, juvenile court officials, educational organizations, and legal assistance organizations. The general message points of the Campaign are that victims of trafficking are numerous but often inconspicuous; victims are not criminals; the government is able to help victims; here's how to recognize a victim; and here's what to do if you are, or you know, of a victim.
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In addition to promoting public awareness about trafficking, the Rescue and Restore campaign also established coalitions in 16 cities, including Tampa, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Atlanta, St. Louis, and Portland, and the State of Illinois. The coalitions consist of dedicated law enforcement personnel, social service providers, local government officials, health care professionals and leaders of faith-based and ethnic organizations. The goal of the coalitions is to increase the number of trafficking victims who are identified, assisted in leaving the circumstances of their servitude, and certified so that they may receive benefits and services. Along with identifying and assisting victims, coalition members use the campaign messages to educate the general public about human trafficking.
Another component of the public awareness campaign is the 24/7 toll-free trafficking Information and Referral hotline. The purpose of the Hotline is first and foremost to provide service referrals to potential trafficking victims. In addition, the Hotline crisis workers educate callers about Rescue and Restore campaign materials, direct non-trafficking related questions to relevant Federal and local agencies, and take reports on possible trafficking cases. Tips and relevant information are sent to the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice.
For example, the Trafficking Hotline received a call from the National Domestic Violence Hotline concerning a young Mexican woman who only spoke Spanish. The woman, a 15-year old juvenile with two children, was calling from a phone booth. The victim said she was sold to a man for $25,000 by her mother in Mexico when she was 11 years old and the man brought her to the U.S. to live with him. She said that this man had been abusive to her, would drink and hit her, and had raped her and forced her to have sex with him in front of her two children. She reported that she had not been allowed to leave the home without him. She was afraid that this man would find her and was looking for help in getting away from this situation. The Hotline worker connected the call to a service provider who was able to arrange a taxi ride that transported the victim to safety.
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We work closely with groups who have experience in providing outreach efforts to vulnerable populations, such as homeless and at-risk youth. In FY 2005 we awarded 18 grants for street outreach to organizations to help them identify victims of trafficking among populations they already were assisting. This week, we will award 18 new street outreach grants. These grants support direct, person-to-person contact, information sharing, counseling and other communication with targeted populations.
As part of our continuing efforts to improve our outreach efforts, as well as better target services to restore self-sufficiency to victims of human trafficking so they may live productive, safe and healthy lives, we are convening a Conference on Survivors of Sex Trafficking, this Thursday. The purpose of this conference is to highlight the stories of survivors of sex trafficking, examine case management for victims of sex trafficking, and share lessons learned in identifying and caring for victims of sex trafficking. The conference will allow survivors to share their physical, emotional, financial and legal needs and what has helped them on their road to recovery. There will be presentations by case managers demonstrating effective strategies for addressing victim needs, and the conference will offer results and lessons learned from the trafficking program's street outreach grantees so that participants can understand the best interventions for identifying victims of sex trafficking.
Conclusion
Since the passage of the TVPA, we have addressed trafficking at many levels. We have partnered with other Federal agencies in order to set up processes for certification to enable identified victims to apply for benefits and services. We have provided funding to service providing agencies to address international trafficking victims' needs and assist them with accessing the mainstream public benefits. We provided outreach grants for service providers and community members to create more awareness about human trafficking and help identify victims. We also provided education and outreach across the country to raise the level of awareness with educational institutions, law enforcement agencies, and many types of service providers. We are committed to building on our experience and continuing to improve our efforts to identify, rescue, and restore more victims of traffic. We appreciate the opportunity provided by this Committee to highlight the tragedy of the lives surrounding these trafficking victims.
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I'd be pleased to address any questions you may have.
Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. Thank you very much Dr. Horn.
Mr. Miller, if I can just begin with you, and you did kind of reference it earlier, that some of our closest allies, including Mexico and Israel, are on tier 2 watch list. I am wondering what the reaction has been from their governments to that placement and whether or not they are making progress to get off of that list. As you know, dozens of countries are on the watch list and many of whom could just as well be on tier 3.
And my second question is, do you have any concerns that the tier 2 watch list, might be being used as a parking lot? Some countries like Russia and India have been on tier 2 watch now for 3 years. When do they demonstrate that they have not met those minimum standards which have been prescribed by the act and should be dropped down to tier 3 with the attendant consequences for not taking action to stop trafficking or to combat it?
Mr. MILLER. Okay. I will take the first question about progress that we have seen in the last few months, countries such as Mexico and Israel that were placed on the tier 2 watch list. With Mexico, let's just say that things seem to be moving but very slowly. There is anti-trafficking legislation that passed one house. It still has not passed the other. We have certainly made it clear that this would be a good indicator of progress. There is a lot of activity in terms of prosecutions. The trouble is that we have difficulty figuring out whether the prosecutions are related to trafficking and, when they are related to trafficking, whether it leads to convictions that lead to people actually going to jail. And this is an issue we are pushing them very hard on.
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But let me say, one positive, very positive development south of the border: The Ambassador from Mexico has been to my office on two occasions. And the Mexican Government under his lead is now going to undertake a major initiative involving their consulates in this country in terms of educating Mexican consular officials about trafficking—about giving information when they find somebody has been trafficked—what can be done. And not only are they going to take this initiative, they are planning on spending a million dollars of Mexican funds on this. So it is truly a Mexican initiative. It could be—it hasn't happened yet—but it could be significant. It could be useful as a model for other governments that have consulates in the United States on what they can do.
Every year we try at the State Department to bring together foreign Embassies and tell them, here are the resources that Dr. Horn and his department have available in the Department of Justice, et cetera. Here is what you can do if any of your citizens call your Embassy. But we can do better on this. And the Mexican Government program may help us do better.
Now, the second question that you asked related to whether tier 2 watch list is becoming a ''parking lot.'' and I take it from your question, Mr. Chairman, that when Congress a couple of years ago changed the tier 1, 2, 3 system and added tier 2 watch list, it was done not only to provide another tier along with tier 2 so there could be some more gradation, but it was done with the intent to give a warning and that the intent was not to—I gather from your question and you are nodding—it was not to leave countries permanently on tier 2 watch lists. So am I correct in stating that the intent was the governments that are on tier 2 watch lists should, if not after a year, after 2 or 3 years, move either up or down?
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Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. Yes.
Mr. MILLER. I feel like I am a Member of Congress here. For the record, let me show that the Chairman has said, yes, that was the intent. And I think, given the message, I will carry your message back to the department on this. That is what I will do. I think it is a good message. I suppose you have the option of making that message clear in the form of legislation, but what you are saying is what I have gathered from many Members, and so countries that have been on tier 2 watch lists certainly should be forewarned. Those that have been on particularly 3 years, that there will be certainly tremendous pressure to either move them down or move them up. I hope it is to move them up because the purpose here is not to put a country in tier 3. It is not to sanction. We all agree we want to get progress, throw the traffickers in jail and help the victims, and that is what President Bush wants, and that is what you want.
Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. Exactly. And the concern is that they will look at—if they stay on the tier 2 watch list, it is the equivalent of being on tier 2, which they don't belong—the evidence was such that they could have been tier 3. And you know, in order for this law to work and these policies to work, they have to be implemented just like there needs to be sanctions, and there needs to be a penalty phase for those that are on tier 3, like Saudi Arabia and others who have egregious practices of trafficking. So thank you for taking that back. I do appreciate that.
Let me ask you, I just returned yesterday from Iraq, and while I was there, I met with the Reconciliation Commission Chairman and met with several of our top military leaders. I also made a point of inquiring about a subject that you know I and others have been very concerned about: Labor trafficking, mostly of foreign nationals, 35,000 strong who often find their way to Iraq under false pretenses. Brokers lie, deceive, and coerce, and so that once these laborers get to their final destination, they are in an ironclad compact. They can't leave. Their passports are taken away.
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General Casey has issued guidance, regulations, and an order that was several pronged. One of them was that there needs to be a contract that clearly shows that the employment can be broken on the part of the employee if he or she wants to—they are not indentured servants, they are not slaves—and that the passports need to be given back to the individuals so that employers don't hold that over employees' heads. Other parts included a safe place to live, and adequate space; 50 square feet was what he prescribed. I asked a number of questions about that.
I got back some seemingly encouraging responses, but I am wondering if you—because you were at that hearing we had in June, Mr. Ambassador—could perhaps answer as to how you feel progress is going on that issue.
Mr. MILLER. Yes, well, Mr. Chairman, you obviously have more up-to-date information than I do, but I am encouraged, not because I think the problem has been solved. As you know, there is a tremendous incentive, not just in Iraq, but in the whole Near East, there is this tremendous incentive for people in South Asia to come to work, whether it is as domestic servants or construction workers, et cetera. The flow is incredible. There are a million Indonesians in Saudi Arabia now. There are a million Filipinos in Saudi Arabia and proportionately less numbers in countries all up and down the Near East. Okay, so there is this tremendous global migration going on.
So you have all these things to begin with, and then you have Iraq, and of course, there is such migration to take advantage of some of the work opportunities, despite the dangers, in Iraq. And as we know, as you know, Mr. Chairman, there was a terrible, terrible event that involved laborers from Nepal deceived by recruiting firms in Nepal, sent to Jordan. They thought they were going to hotel jobs. They were taken, apparently against their will, sent into Iraq. In this case, we can't say they worked as slaves in Iraq because they were intercepted and killed on the way in. So there is a serious problem.
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But I am very encouraged by what the Defense Department has done. They looked at this situation. They looked at it in depth. You referred to general Casey's memo where he not only said we are going to impose space requirements on living conditions, he said, no contractor, American or anybody else, is going to be able to take a passport away from somebody that is working. That is, as you know, one of the tools that the traffickers use. And as of my last conversation with the Defense Department, they were enforcing this; they were sending out the word. They were checking on this. And so I am hopeful we have taken some steps to arrest this terrible phenomena. And I am delighted that you heard good things on your visit there, because this is something we are going to have to watch continuously, not only in Iraq, but all throughout the Near East.
Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. Thank you very much.
Dr. Horn, if I could ask you, in regards to the Innocence Loss Initiative and other law enforcement initiatives—how does HHS work with law enforcement for the protection of children? Tomorrow I will be chairing a hearing entitled, ''Protecting Children: The Battle Against Child Pornography and Other Forms of Sexual Exploitation,'' under the auspices of the Helsinki Commission. We will be hearing from the area chief of the Cyber Crimes Center, James Plitt; Immigration and Customs Enforcement; James Finch with the FBI, also the Cyber division; and then four very notable individuals: Linda Smith, Karen Smolenski, Ernie Allen, Mohamed Mattar, Johns Hopkins Protection Project, ECPAT–USA, Shared Hope International and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. They will be discussing a report of which we have a draft that we just got today on the whole issue of the mid-term review on commercial sexual exploitation of children in America.
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First we will be talking about what they are doing obviously on cyber crimes. They made a couple points, and briefly give your reaction to them. Also your reaction to the most notable lack—and I know that we are trying to build shelters, so this isn't qualifying. Can we do more? They point out that the most notable lack is the lack of secure physical shelters and safe housing for victims of trafficking and the state tendency to house trafficking victims in juvenile detention centers. Your thoughts on that. Secondly, that gangs are increasingly involved in the trafficking of children, especially American children within the United States. This is a relatively new phenomena, but gangs are being focused on. They reiterate throughout the report this secure physical shelter issue as being a paramount one. Your thoughts on that.
Mr. HORN. Well, we work quite closely with the Department of Justice. We are in daily contact with the Department of Justice, and we rely upon them to help identify adults who are victims of a severe form of trafficking so that we can certify them as victims and we can provide benefits and services to them. And we also rely on the Department of Justice and also the Department of Homeland Security in working in coordination when it comes to minors as well so that we can, you know, once they are identified as victims of a severe form of trafficking, then we can also directly certify them and provide them with services.
We moved from direct granting to local organizations to provide services and benefits in specific geographic areas to a national contract in which we provide funds on a per capita basis to organizations who are working with either precertified or certified victims. We did that because, when you do direct granting to a specific organization, particularly with this small amount of money that we have available to provide services in this program, then that organization is obviously limited to their geographic catchment area in terms of their provision of services. And so, essentially, what we are doing is, with a direct grant approach, is funding a very small amount of the capacity that is available in NGOs across the country to work with precertified and certified victims. Going to a per capita reimbursement contract allows us essentially to use the entire capacity of NGOs throughout the country because wherever a victim is found, an NGO can provide services and then can get reimbursed for the case management work that they do with that victim as they help them access the health services. The shelter issue, I think that, given that this trafficking issue is not just found in one or two geographic areas but rather is found throughout the United States and given that it is not just found in urban areas but also suburban areas and rural areas, it would seem to me that at least at the moment there are other alternatives for us to do housing rather than to build specific shelters for this problem.
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I saw this issue in Greece. I was in Greece doing some consulting work on welfare-to-work issues, but also when I travel abroad, I do talk about the issue of international human trafficking. And one of the problems that they encountered was they built shelters, but then they didn't have anybody to put in those shelters, and there was a public backlash for these shelters that were open 24/7, fully staffed but with empty beds. There weren't any victims to put in them, and it eroded at least what I was told some public will for working against this problem.
Now, in the United States, what we have it seems to me what we want to do is utilize the existing capacity that we have to provide shelter, and we think by going to this national, you know, this national per capita reimbursement contract, we are able to do that. Now, I don't rule out the idea of building specific shelters in geographic areas where we have large concentrations of traffic victims, but given this small amount of money we have available to support this work, I am not sure this is the most efficient way to go right now.
Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. Should we be providing additional moneys? I mean, if you had it, could you use it wisely?
Mr. HORN. Well, I think the biggest problem we have right now is we are 5 years into this project, and let's assume there are 15,000 victims trafficked in the United States every year, and over the last 5 years, we have only been able to identify 1,000 victims, so the biggest problem right now is victim identification. And we are learning as we go along. The Rescue and Restore campaign is meant to help us identify more victims. We are seeing progress, but I am not satisfied frankly. A thousand victims identified over 5 years when there may be as many as, you know, 80,000 victims brought into the United States, the first order of business to seems to me is really victim identification.
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Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. Thank you, Mr. Payne.
Mr. PAYNE. Thank you very much. We see that the list of countries in the tier 1, 2, 2 on hold and 3, about how many countries are there on 3 approximately?
Mr. MILLER. Very few. At this point, there are 158 countries in the report, Congressman Payne. You will see some special cases in the back in which we didn't think there was an effective government to rate. Liberia, for example. It used to be 2 or 3 years ago, there were 30 or 40 governments that weren't rated because we didn't have the information. But we are now at the point where we are down to very, very few—98, 99 percent of the countries in the bold are either evaluated or there are special cases in the back of this book.
Mr. PAYNE. So in a nutshell, since we are kind of running out of time, do you think that the situation is worsening or is it improving or do you think that the fact that the system is relatively new, 4 or 5 years, that it is very hard to quantify whether situations are improving or not improving or at least governments are becoming more concerned by virtue of this process.
Mr. MILLER. Okay. This is—I mean, that is the key question and goes back to what I said before about the impossibility of doing a census of victims in this underground, illegal trade. What I am offering you is my opinion. You know, I will be right up front about it. This is an opinion. I hope it is an informed opinion, but I can't say it is scientifically founded: I believe we have started to turn the corner—this doesn't mean that we are not discovering more and more victims of trafficking—because there is more media attention. There is more public awareness. Governments are starting to do something about this now. So it is sort of like we were maybe 30 or 40 years ago in this country with rape or domestic violence. And suddenly there is this attention and people have said, ''Has rape or domestic violence increased?'' because there were more reports doubtful that it had increased. It was being discovered. I think that is what is happening here. It is being discovered.
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This is my opinion, the increases—of course slavery has been with us for centuries, but there were definitely increases after globalization in the 1970s. There have been increases in the kinds of slave trade today. There are some significant differences from the historic slave trade. So I believe from 1970 to 2000 or thereafter there were increases. But I think based on the conviction statistics, worldwide the number of shelters opening, the number of public awareness campaigns, the number of governments passing anti-trafficking legislation, I believe we have started to turn the corner. Started. I don't want to give anybody the impression that this problem is over. There is so much work to be done everywhere, including in the United States.
Mr. PAYNE. Thank you and that is—like I say, that is really difficult to get, to really get a grip on this. I think that probably we will see a positive turn in Liberia and we do have now that government and first woman President in Africa addressed the Joint Session, and I think we will at least be able to put them on a list.
I finally want to know about China, you know. They are languishing there on the watchlist and I wonder about their labor problems, to put it lightly. How do you—how do they just hang around without really getting into the final land of purgatory. China baffles me, you know. We have this love relation with China. They are becoming very wealthy by the United States buying everything from them and we turn around and Sudan, they are helping the government there. In Angola, they just lent the government money so they don't have to go through the IFM to have transparency in oil and diamonds and such. So they get away with murder. Yet and still we have this lovely—we put out the readred carpet when they come. Do you have any—I want you to say if your job—but the job may be a little bigger than your pay grade, but what is going on?
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Mr. MILLER. Well, Congressman, we tried, my office tries to not let our political relations with the country, good or bad, influence our judgment on trafficking. For example, in general, democracies have less trafficking than authoritarian governments. But there is plenty of slavery in democracies. There have been since ancient Athens. And so one cannot just say because a country is on our good side that they are good on this issue or vice versa.
Now to get to China, China is on tier 2 watch list, has avoided tier 3. I am simplifying here because there are several pages in here on this, because our Embassy reports large numbers of arrests, convictions, prosecutions, convictions and sentences of traffickers, even in the thousands. Now, the difficulty here is that is what is reported.
Of course, the politics of a country does influence you to this extent. We are trying to make more efforts to improve our information flow there.
I was in China, was it the end of last year? I met with law enforcement officials. In general, I got the impression they do things on law enforcement. When they come to helping victims it is not anywhere near as good.
There is—and I was not able to visit—there was somebody on my staff who was going to make a special trip to South China—not able to visit a shelter ostensibly run by NGOs and that shows the problem in gathering information.
One of the big problems from China which I brought up and I didn't get anywhere with is North Korean refugees that become trafficking victims in China. We don't know the number, but there are thousands of men, women and children, particularly women and girls, fleeing North Korea. Sometimes they are be trafficked out of North Korea. Sometimes they are just fleeing and then they are seized by gangs on the border and they are sold into prostitution, they are sold into marriage. There is a very serious problem. There is no question about it. It has been reported on by many international NGOs. And I was not able, I have to say, to get the Chinese Government officials to confront this problem at least while I was there. I did have more success with Chinese academics and with some of the government run NGOs. So we are looking to see what happens on this.
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Mr. PAYNE. Thank you very much. Just even in the—on a television show here in the United States they are going to, as you know, start a series again of sexual abusers of children. I mean, it is right on television. If that happens here, and the series is going on again, I don't watch television much, but I saw it once and I was shocked. And people that they have actually trapped on television thinking that a child is there and they come in, I don't know if anybody has—it is disgusting. It is unbelievable. So if it is happening here, right now television shows, I just can imagine what is happening around the world.
But I commend, you know, the Department and you all for what we are doing and hopefully we can continue to drive this question home around the world. Thank you.
Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. We have three votes occurring on the Floor. First one is almost finished. So I would like to submit a number of questions that we were unable to get to and ask if you can get them to us as quickly as possible. Let me say to Dr. Horn, I want to congratulate you on the work you are doing and your selection of staff. John Cusey has been—and I greatly admire and respect him. Our loss on the Hill was your gain. So I am just so glad to see John as well. And again, Ambassador Miller, great to see you.
Mr. HORN. Do we have to return?
Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. No. The hearing is adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 12:20 p.m., the Committee was adjourned.]
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