#aadth ,,congress  #b;d ,session  ,h4   
,r4 #djj  ,,an ,,act  ,to require the   
,secretary of ,state and the            
,administrator of the ,united ,states   
,agency for ,international ,development 
to submit reports on definitions of     
placement and recruitment fees for      
purposes of enabling compliance with the
 ,trafficking ,victims ,protection ,act 
of #bjjj1 and for other purposes4  #a4  
,short title ,this bill may be referred 
to as the ,trafficking ,prevention in   
,foreign ,affairs ,contracting ,act4    
#b4 ,findings ,congress finds the       
following3  7#a7 ,the ,department of    
,state and the ,united ,states ,agency  
for ,international ,development         
7,,usaid7 rely on contractors to provide
 various services in foreign countries  
such as construction1 security1 and     
facilities maintenance4  7#b7 ,in       
certain cases1 such as where the        
employment of local labor is impractical
 or poses security risks1 ,department of
 ,state and ,,usaid contractors         

sometimes employ foreign workers who are
 citizens neither of the ,united ,states
 nor of the host country and are        
recruited from developing countries     
where low wages and recruitment methods 
often make them vulnerable to a variety 
of trafficking-related abuses4  7#c7 ,a 
,january #bjaa report of the ,office of 
the ,inspector ,general for the         
,department of ,state1 while it found no
 evidence of direct coercion by         
contractors1 found that a significant   
majority of their foreign workers in    
certain ,middle ,east countries reported
 paying substantial fees to recruiters  
that1 according to the ,inspector       
,general1 effectively resulted in debt  
bondage at their destinations4          
,approximately one-half of the workers  
were charged recruitment fees equaling  
more than six months' salary4 ,more than
 a quarter of the workers reported fees 
greater than one year's salary and1 in  
some of those cases1 fees that could not
 be paid off in two years1 the standard 

length of a contract4  7#d7 ,a ,november
 #bjad report of the ,united ,states    
,government ,accountability ,office     
7,,gao-#ae-ajb7 found that the          
,department of ,state1 ,,usaid1 and the 
,defense ,department need to strengthen 
their oversight of contractors' use of  
foreign workers in high-risk            
environments in order to better protect 
against trafficking in persons4  7#e7   
,the ,,gao report recommended that those
 agencies should develop more precise   
definitions of recruitment fees1 and    
that they should better ensure that     
contracting officials include prevention
 of trafficking in persons in contract  
monitoring plans and processes1         
especially in areas where the risk of   
trafficking in persons is high4  7#f7   
,of the #c agencies addressed in the    
,,gao report1 only the ,department of   
,defense expressly concurred with       
,,gao's definitional recommendation and 
committed to defining recruitment fees  
and to incorporating that definition in 

its acquisition regulations as          
necessary4  7#g7 ,in formal comments to 
,,gao1 the ,department of ,state stated 
that it forbids the charging of any     
recruitment fees by contractors1 and    
both the ,department of ,state and      
,,usaid noted a proposed ,federal       
,acquisition ,regulation 7,,far7 rule   
that prohibits charging any recruitment 
fees to employees4  7#h7 ,however1      
according to ,,gao1 neither the         
,department of ,state nor ,,usaid       
specifically defines what constitutes a 
prohibited recruitment fee3 ,contracting
 officers and agency officials with     
monitoring responsibilities currently   
rely on policy and guidance regarding   
recruitment fees that are ambiguous4    
,without an explicit definition of the  
components of recruitment fees1         
prohibited fees may be renamed and      
passed on to foreign workers1 increasing
 the risk of debt bondage and other     
conditions that contribute to           
trafficking44  7#i7 ,,gao found that1   

although ,department of ,state and      
,,usaid guidance requires their         
respective contracting officials to     
monitor compliance with trafficking in  
persons requirements1 they did not      
consistently have specific processes in 
place to do so in all of the contracts  
that ,,gao sampled4  #c4 ,reports on    
definition of placement and recruitment 
fees and enhancement of contract        
monitoring to prevent trafficking in    
persons  7a7 ,department of ,state      
report ,not later than #ahj days after  
the date of the enactment of this ,act1 
the ,secretary of ,state shall submit to
 the appropriate committees of ,congress
 a report that includes the matters     
described in subsection 7c7 with respect
 to the ,department of ,state4  7b7     
,,usaid report ,not later than #ahj days
 after the date of the enactment of this
 ,act1 the ,administrator of the ,united
 ,states ,agency for ,international     
,development 7,,usaid7 shall submit to  
the appropriate committees of ,congress 

a report that includes the matters      
described in subsection 7c7 with respect
 to ,,usaid4  7c7 ,matters ,to be       
included ,the matters described in this 
subsection are the following3  7#a7 ,a  
proposed definition of placement and    
recruitment fees for purposes of        
complying with section                  
#ajf7;g77iv77,,iv7 of the ,trafficking  
,victims ,protection ,act of #bjjj 7#bb 
,u4,s4,c4 #gajd7;g77iv77,,iv771         
including a description of what fee     
components and amounts are prohibited or
 are permissible for contractors or     
their agents to charge workers under    
such section4  7#b7 ,an explanation of  
how the definition described in         
paragraph 7#a7 will be incorporated into
 grants1 contracts1 cooperative         
agreements1 and contracting practices1  
so as to apply to the actions of        
grantees1 subgrantees1 contractors1     
subcontractors1 labor recruiters1       
brokers1 or other agents1 as specified  
in section #ajf7;g7 of the ,trafficking 

,victims ,protection ,act of #bjjj 7#bb 
,u4,s4,c4 #gajd7;g774  7#c7 ,a          
description of actions taken during the 
#ahj-;day period preceding the date of  
submission of the report and planned to 
be taken during the #a-year period      
following the date of submission of the 
report to better ensure that officials  
responsible for grants1 contracts1 and  
cooperative agreements and contracting  
practices include the prevention of     
trafficking in persons in plans and     
processes to monitor such grants1       
contracts1 and cooperative agreements   
and contracting practices4  7d7         
,appropriate committees of ,congress ,in
 this section1 the term appropriate     
committees of ,congress means the       
,committee on ,foreign ,affairs of the  
,house of ,representatives and the      
,committee on ,foreign ,relations of the
 ,senate4  #d4 ,definition ,in this     
,act1 the term trafficking in persons   
has the meaning given the term in       
section #ajc7i7 of the ,trafficking     

,victims ,protection ,act of #bjjj 7#bb 
,u4,s4,c4 #gajb7i774  ,passed the ,house
 of ,representatives ,february #a1      
#bjaf4;,clerk4