Prepared Statement by Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa
Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee
Hearing: “One Year After Enactment: Implementation of the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015”
June 28, 2016

Good morning and welcome to today’s Judiciary Committee hearing.  Today we will examine whether the Justice Department is doing all that it can to meet the important milestones established by Congress under a new anti-trafficking statute. 

This statute, known as the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act, was introduced by Senator Cornyn.  I cosponsored it, and it was among the first pieces of legislation that our committee reported during my initial months as chairman.  Today’s hearing provides us with an opportunity to ask the Department about the Obama Administration’s efforts to implement the law since its enactment just over a year ago.  

At its core, human trafficking involves the exploitation of another human being, typically for the purpose of forced labor or commercial sex.  Its victims can include both men and women, adults and children, foreigners and U.S. citizens.

In most, if not all, cases, the trafficker exploits a victim’s vulnerabilities.  For example, sex traffickers typically use some combination of force, deceit, and flattery to exploit their victims.  They may ply the victim with drugs or alcohol to make them more compliant; and they often combine violence with manipulation to exert control. 

Horrific only begins to describe the effects of sex trafficking on its victims.  The mental and physical scars run deep.  In fact, they never heal for some survivors.

If that weren’t bad enough, this form of trafficking is a growing domestic threat.  For example, violent gangs find it highly profitable to sell young girls and women for sex in this country.  A human being, unlike illicit drugs, can be sold again and again.  

That’s why sex trafficking has spread to every state in the nation, with victims turning up in urban, rural and even suburban areas of the United States.   

Domestic labor trafficking, which primarily affects non-citizens in the United States, has received less media attention, but its victims also suffer terribly.  Much like sex traffickers, labor traffickers exploit a victim’s vulnerabilities, which might include limited English skills, isolation, or poverty. 

Some labor traffickers may induce their victims to travel here under false pretenses, and then confiscate their identification and travel documents.  Others may deceive a worker into believing they owe a massive debt that must be repaid.  Still others use a "bait and switch" technique, promising to hire someone for a specific job at one pay level, but then forcing that worker into another less desirable or more dangerous job at little or no pay.  It’s important that we ensure appropriate resources and support are in place to help these victims too.

For all of these reasons, the successful implementation of the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act is a top priority for this Committee.  In passing this law, we prioritized victim services, by creating a mechanism to ensure that money flows into a Domestic Trafficking Victims Fund.  We focused on curbing demand, by enabling federal prosecutors to pursue those who purchase sex from trafficking victims.  We encouraged collaboration, by calling for federal anti-trafficking task forces to work with state and local officials in investigating trafficking offenses.  We encouraged strategic planning, by calling for the adoption of a “National Strategy for Combating Human Trafficking.”

Multiple federal agencies are involved in fighting human trafficking within our borders.  Today, however, we’ll focus primarily on the Justice Department’s efforts to implement the requirements to which the Department is subject under the new Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act.  We’ve provided new tools and a new source of funding, and now we hope to hear how the Department has made use of them.   We welcome Ms. Jill Steinberg, who will testify about efforts undertaken by the Department over the last year as well as any challenges that remain to implementing the statute.

Finally, we’ll also hear from the Government Accountability Office, which today is releasing a new report on the federal response to human trafficking.  This report, as well as another released by GAO in May, responds to two separate reporting requirements that Senator Flake and I championed during congressional consideration of the new statute.  I want to welcome Dr. Gretta Goodwin of GAO, who is testifying before this committee for the first time.  

I look forward to hearing from both our witnesses on these and other key questions this morning.    

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