MS. JARRETT: Thank you. Welcome. Good morning, everyone. We want to
welcome you to the White House for our annual President’s Task Force to
Combat and Monitor Trafficking of Persons. We’re delighted to have it
here hosted at the White House. It’s indicative of the President’s
commitment to this issue, and we want to thank all of the members of the
agencies who have joined us this morning for this meeting.
In 2008, the President spoke at Pastor Rick Warren’s Saddleback
Church, and he called human trafficking the modern-day enslavement of
men, women, and children for sex or labor, and he referred to it as a
debasement of our common humanity, which I think sums it up perfectly.
As chair of the White House Council on Women and Girls, this issue is of
particular importance to me as a leader but also to our council, which
is represented by all of the agencies in the federal government as well.
And it’s why we’re pleased to have you all here today.
We are confident with the Administration working together, with civil
society, with not-for-profits, with the private sector, we can actually
tackle this issue head on and conquer it. And we’re delighted to have
here Secretary Clinton, who has chaired this task force, and I’ll turn
it over to her in a second. But I wanted to, by way of introduction,
mention that yesterday we were at the State Department for a luncheon
with Prime Minister Cameron, and he said about Secretary Clinton that
she has been a strong advocate who is committed to the emancipation and
empowerment of women. And I thought that that was a perfect way to
describe one of her many roles and one that is particularly germane to
the topic of this morning.
So with that, again I want to welcome everyone here and tell you how
committed the President is to making sure that we are all collaborating
and sharing information together and intending to conquer this issue
head on. So with that, I’ll turn it over to Secretary Clinton. Thank
you.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you. Well, thank you very much
Valerie. And thank you for hosting us here at the White House. This
annual event is a good opportunity to hear about the progress that our
government is making to combat modern slavery and to talk about our
goals going forward. And so I very much appreciate the President’s
commitment to this work and the collaboration that has been accomplished
throughout the United States Government. So with that, I’m delighted to
call this meeting to order.
I want to thank Ambassador CdeBaca and his staff not only for the
work they put into staffing the task force, but for the zeal with which
they lead this fight around the world. Of course, if this issue doesn’t
demand zealous advocacy, it’s hard to figure out what does.
This September marks the 150
th anniversary of the
Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. And it’s a good time for us to
recommit ourselves, not only to the promise of freedom, but to the work
against ending modern slavery.
Around the world, as many as 27 million men, women, and children toil
in bondage. This crime undermines economies and the rule of law. It
shatters families and communities. It is an affront to our most
fundamental values.
This issue is very near and dear to my heart, since the time I was
first lady. And we began a full-hearted effort by our government – both
the executive branch and Congress – to address this issue. And I’ve had
the experience of meeting with survivors here at home and around the
world. I’ve seen firsthand what a horrible toll this takes, and so I’m
delighted that we have such a dedicated group of members.
This is a priority in the Obama Administration, starting with the
President, as Valerie said. And the first time we convened the task
force under this Administration, we laid out a set of commitments – a
call to action. And in answering that call, we’ve tried to elevate the
fight against trafficking to the highest levels of policymaking.
This goes hand in hand. This is not an individual, one-off effort.
This goes hand in hand with other work that we’ve been doing on behalf
of women and girls and other marginalized people. The White House
recently issued a National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security to
ensure that women are full partners and participants in our efforts to
reduce conflict and promote peace and prosperity around the world,
because after all, modern slavery disproportionately affects women and
girls. And as it does so, it disrupts family networks, and it undermines
the foundation of stable economies and societies. So the Action Plan on
Women, Peace, and Security contains specific steps to prevent human
trafficking of women and children as a result of conflict and to provide
assistance to victims.
The State Department has made the struggle against modern slavery an
important part of our diplomatic engagement. Our annual Trafficking in
Persons Report is the most comprehensive assessment of how well
governments are doing to address this crime. The TIP Office’s foreign
assistance grants are making a difference in 37 countries, supporting
programs that provide crucial assistance to survivors and help
governments build their capacity to fight this crime. And thanks to our
leadership, the international community is getting behind the effort.
Nearly 140 countries have enacted modern anti-trafficking laws, and
nearly 150 are party to the UN Trafficking in Persons Protocol.
And we’ve taken action here at home. For instance, we learned that
survivors were being made to pay taxes on restitution payments from
their abusers. And, well, some of the people in this room as well as
colleagues from the Treasury Department who are not with us today saw
the problem and said, “This isn’t right; we’re going to do something
about it.” So now the Treasury Department has made clear that victims
are not liable to pay taxes on the wages of slavery.
Another example: We thought it was unfair for diplomats who
victimized their own domestic workers were, because of diplomatic
immunity, virtually untouchable. So now, we’re making sure that
diplomats coming to this country understand their obligations and
responsibilities, and we’re taking action when we have evidence that
they are not.
We’re trying to ensure that resources and support are available to
victims wherever we find them, and one of those resources is the
Department of Health and Human Services National Human Trafficking
Resource Center. Its operations have been expanded. It now fields an
unprecedented number of calls. And it is really making a difference in
reaching out to survivors and helping us prosecute abusers.
Other agencies led by the Department of Homeland Security recently
held a public listening session to hear from stakeholders about new
ideas for victim services, federal government engagement with local
communities, outreach to at-risk groups, and NGO private sector
initiatives. Now, we’ve also tried to streamline how we approach cases.
And instead of a muddle of agencies claiming or rejecting different
responsibilities, thanks to the Departments of Justice, Labor, and
Homeland Security, we have in place in the Obama Administration
efficient, coordinated, anti-trafficking teams, and they’re making
investigations and prosecutions more effective and helping victims.
To help gauge our responses, I’ve included a tier ranking for the
United States in the annual Trafficking In Persons Report. I thought it
was important, if we were going to be judging other countries, we judged
ourselves. And so we hold ourselves to the same standards we apply to
others. It’s not only the fair thing to do; it’s turned out also to be
the smart thing as well, because including us in the report made it more
credible and effective as a diplomatic tool. It shows we’re all in this
fight together, that we have a problem, which we are continuing to
address, and it’s not just a document that names and shames, but instead
it serves as a guide to what practices are working, and more
importantly, what every government, including our own, needs to do
better, and I greatly appreciate everyone’s efforts on this. This latest
publication from the President’s Interagency Task Force Progress in
Combating Trafficking in Persons really summarizes a lot of the progress
we’ve made in the Obama Administration over the last three-plus years.
Finally, we know that the future of this struggle will depend on
innovative solutions, so we are partnering with thinkers whose bold
ideas are already helping to make a difference. We now have online tools
like the Slavery Footprint so that people can understand the ways in
which this crime affects them. It doesn’t just happen to somebody far
away, but it does have ripples of criminality that come across the
globe.
We have new ways of looking at supply chains and policies, so that
can help us cut off the demand that traffickers cruelly exploit. That’s
particularly important when you think about the buying power of the
federal government. So I think that we meet at a time when we have a lot
to be grateful for in terms of the enhanced efforts that we’ve made,
the results that we’re getting, but I think this task force is really
focused on the challenge and the way ahead.
So let me now turn to Ambassador CdeBaca, who will say a few words
about why we consider this such a high priority in our government.
AMBASSADOR CDEBACA: Thank you, Madam Secretary. It’s this
Administration’s priority to give voice to the survivors of modern
slavery whether in court or in our foreign policy, but those voices have
been calling for justice for more than 150 years. A letter from the
National Archives recently surfaced, a letter written in September of
1864 by Spotswood Rice to Katherine Diggs, his former master. He wrote
from the lines of the Union Army as he and his new comrades marched back
to Missouri, back towards the plantation where he had been held. Among
those still enslaved was his daughter, Mary. His strength and righteous
anger rings out through the years. And I quote:
“I want you to understand that mary is my Child and she is a God
given rite of my own. And you may hold on to hear as long as you can,
but I want you to remembor this one thing —
the longor you keep my Child from me, the longor you will have to burn…and the qwicer youll get their…
“I want you now to just hold on to hear if you want to iff your
conchosence tells thats the road go that road and what it will brig you
to kittey diggs I have no fears about geting mary out of your hands the
whole Government gives chear to me and you cannot help your self.”
We know from the oral histories that once freed, that little girl
lived a long and prosperous life. And in 1937, an aged Mary told a WPA
historian: “I love army men. My father, brother, husband, and son were
all army men. I love a man who fights for his rights and any person who
wants to be someone.”
Slavery and the ways that we fight it have changed so much since
Spotswood Rice and those other survivors marched with that terrible,
swift sword. But as you said last year, Madam Secretary, when we take up
this burden at home and abroad, we do it because fighting slavery is
part of our national identity. It’s who we are.
Together, we can and we must rise to meet Spotswood Rice’s challenge
to go back for everyone’s daughters and sons who remain in servitude.
Together, we can give cheer to those who answer the call and march with
today’s survivors on their road to freedom.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you so much, Lou. And one of the
things that Lou has done over his professional life of commitment to
this issue is to continually link it to larger struggles for human
freedom, including our own.
I want to turn now to the Attorney General, because the Attorney
General and the Justice Department have been great partners in our
efforts to combat this scourge. And I want to thank Attorney General
Holder.
ATTORNEY GENERAL HOLDER: Well, thank you, Secretary Clinton.
And also let me start by thanking President Obama for hosting us and for
his extraordinary leadership in this global fight against human
trafficking, and also thanks to my good friend Valerie Jarrett for
bringing us together today and for her attention to this issue.
It’s really an honor for me to join with my colleagues and partners
to discuss the progress that we have made over the past year, but also
to identify ways in which we can continue the momentum that we have
built up over the past year and make sure that all that we have pledged
to do in this Administration actually does occur.
One of the things I would point out is that one of the four
priorities that I’ve identified for the Justice Department is that we
protect the most vulnerable among us. And this fits right into one of
those four core priorities for the United States Department of Justice.
For Justice, our commitment to preventing human trafficking, bringing
traffickers to justice, and assisting victims has really never been
stronger, and our approach, I don’t think, has ever been more effective.
Our work has sent a clear and critical message that in this country and
under this Administration, human trafficking crimes will simply not be
tolerated.
I’m proud to report that in the past year we charged a record number
of people with human trafficking offenses, and over the last three years
we have achieved significant increases in human trafficking
prosecutions, including the rise of more than 30 percent in the number
of forced labor and adult sex trafficking prosecutions.
Now, this work is really more than statistics. It has saved lives. It
has ensured freedom. It has restored dignity to women, to men, to
children, in virtually every corner of this country. We have liberated
scores of victims. We have secured long prison sentences against
individual traffickers. But we’ve also dismantled really large
transnational organized crime enterprises. As many of you will recall,
last February the Justice Department launched a human trafficking
enhanced enforcement initiative in order to take our counter-trafficking
enforcement levels – efforts to a new level.
Now, as part of this commitment, I announced the Anti-Trafficking
Coordination Team, or ACT Team, initiative that’s an interagency
collaboration among the Departments of Justice, Homeland Security, and
Labor, aimed at streamlining federal criminal investigations and
prosecutions of human trafficking offenses. And following a very
rigorous and competitive interagency selection process, we launched six
Phase One Pilot ACT Teams around the country. And they are located in
Atlanta, El Paso, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Memphis, and Miami, and
today these teams are fully operational. And by bringing federal
investigative agencies and federal prosecutors together, they are
allowing us to develop and to advance high-impact human trafficking
prosecutions.
And let me just share some examples with you. Over the last year we
have dismantled a large transnational organized crime enterprise that
held Ukrainian victims in forced labor in Philadelphia. We have brought
freedom and dignity to undocumented Central American women and convicted
the traffickers who, with threats of violence and abuse, compelled them
into forced labor and prostitution in restaurants and bars on Long
Island in New York. We have restored freedom to undocumented Eastern
European women and convicted the traffickers who brutally exploited them
in massage parlors in Chicago and even branded them with tattoos to
claim them as their own property. We have secured a life sentence
against a gang member in the Eastern District of Virginia, just across
the river here, for sex trafficking of victims as young as 12 years old.
By providing grant funding to our state and local law enforcement
partners and to victims service organizations really across the country,
the Justice Department is also supporting proactive efforts to stop
traffickers and to help victims heal and to rebuild their lives.
And for the entire anti-trafficking community, we are continuing to
provide training and technical assistance as well. And over the last
year these efforts have included hosting three regional training forums
that have focused on improving collaboration as well as the development
of a training curriculum to help state prosecutors and state judges
better understand human trafficking crimes. This is something that has
to be done at the state and local level as well as at the federal level.
We’re also taking steps to forge and strengthen partnerships across
international borders, understanding that this is not simply an American
problem. And we have seen that this effort is really essential. Over
the last year, by working with our Mexican law enforcement partners, we
have dismantled sex trafficking networks that operate on both sides of
the U.S.-Mexico border and have brought freedom to victims and secured
really landmark convictions and substantial sentences against the
traffickers in these high-impact bilateral cases. We’ve had good
cooperation with our Mexican counterparts.
So I think we can all be encouraged by our recent achievements in the
fight against human trafficking, but I think we would all agree that we
have still more to do and that far too many people remain in desperate
need for the help that we can provide. And that’s why I think that our
joint efforts and our outstanding efforts really must continue. I am
committed to this. The Justice Department is committed to this. This
group that meets today is obviously committed to this. This
Administration has identified this as a priority.
So I look forward to our discussions as to where we will go from here
and how we can keep working in partnership to increase the impact of
these very critical efforts. Thank you.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you very much, Attorney General. Now
I’d like to invite Secretary Hilda Solis to share the Labor Department’s
update. And I want to thank Hilda for making this a high priority
within the Labor Department.
SECRETARY SOLIS: Thank you very much, Madam Secretary, and
also to our colleagues. I want to also congratulate President Obama and
Valerie Jarrett for having this meeting convened here. This is a topic
that obviously is very controversial and one that some of us in this
room we know take very seriously and, of course, feel that we need to do
as much as we can to make sure that every effort, especially at the
Department of Labor, is focused in on combating this terrible error that
occurs not just in our shores but also abroad.
I want to applaud President Obama. He’s been very clear in his vision
for an America built to last, one where everyone has a fair shot at
success and where everyone plays by the same rules. Our actions to end
the exploitation of workers are critical to achieving that vision.
That’s why the Department of Labor is here.
The Department of Labor’s efforts to combat human trafficking have
been broad and varied and can be broken down into two – three main
categories. The first is detection and law enforcement. Our
investigators are on the front lines of trafficking, identifying
potential cases and providing critical support such as translation
services during investigations.
We’ve revamped the integrity and enforcement actions of our guest
worker program to ensure a fair process for employers who use temporary
foreign workers and to enforce protections for all of our workers. We’ve
now announced new protocols to begin certifying new visas. That’s
allowed us to help immigrant victims of trafficking assist in
investigation of those crimes.
The second category involves transnational engagement and research.
We’ve signed currently declarations with Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua,
El Salvador, Costa Rica, and DR to ensure that foreign workers, often
the most vulnerable, are informed of their labor rights here in the U.S.
This is very important as well because, in many cases, folks come here
thinking that there are no serious protections available to them, there
is no one that’s going to listen to them, so it’s a course of trying to
reeducate people over and over again that there are different laws here,
and there is a responsibility and accountability process.
The funding that we have included in these programs includes
technical assistance projects and research that we’re doing across the
board on child and forced labor across the globe. And since 1995, the
Department of Labor has been funding projects to combat the worst forms
of child labor. And as a result, hundreds of thousands of children have
been prevented from being trafficked.
The third and final category in our efforts to combat trafficking
victims is services – services that must be provided, a full restitution
for the labor that they have performed. So we are very excited to be
working with our friends in Department of Justice and our other sister
agencies on these issues. Alongside our agency partners, we’ve been
proud to assist these victims by computing the back wages that they are
rightfully owed. So that’s a big message, I think, to the overall
community that it’s time to speak up and not be afraid to speak out.
Another critical part of helping trafficking victims is to make sure
that they have the support they need to get back on their feet, so we’re
proud to offer employment and training services to victims of severe
forms of trafficking through our network of one-stop career centers so
they can enter and get information and, hopefully, get on their feet
again. And of course, we’re aiming to support workers.
We’re also aiming to support employers in helping us combat
trafficking, so that’s another big part of our effort. Our enforcement
officers are working both to ensure a level playing field of law-abiding
businesses, because we don’t agree that unscrupulous businesses should
get away with this crime, and to protect the rights of workers to deter
unscrupulous employers that continue to exploit workers.
Looking ahead, we continue to remain committed to further these
efforts. Soon, we’ll be providing awareness training to our national
field staff so that even more prepared individuals will know about this
issue. We’ll also be announcing a new joint declaration with the
following – the Philippines, Ecuador, and Peru – to make sure that their
vulnerable workers here in our country know of their rights and
protections available.
Additionally, we’ll do more to engage with our stakeholders in this
critical issue by hosting listening sessions, roundtables, and making
sure that our fact sheets and reports are also equally translated in
those various languages that are much needed as well.
Finally, I look forward to partnering with all of you in fulfilling
the Promise campaign, which is critical to our collective action on the
issue.
I want to thank everyone. I’m incredibly proud of the work that all
of you and all of us have been able to accomplish under your leadership
in this Administration. Thank you.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you so much, Hilda, and let me now
turn to Secretary Sebelius. Obviously the Department of Health and Human
Services is an absolutely essential partner in everything we do.
Kathleen.
SECRETARY SEBELIUS: Well, thank you, Secretary, for your
leadership on this task force. And Valerie, I hope that you convey to
the President how important we all think it is that he has provided the
kind of vision and leadership that brings us all here today, because
this collaborative effort is incredibly important.
On this issue, the Department of Health and Human Services is
motivated by the collaboration across federal agencies to raise public
awareness and make the most of our resources. And we’re especially
motivated to continue the important role in reaching and helping human
trafficking victims every day. So over the past year, we have really
deployed a lot of assets to our regional offices, 10 of them around the
country, who have expanded their efforts to develop staff capacity
through multiple trainings and meetings to monitor and combat human
trafficking. We substantially expanded our outreach efforts through the
Rescue and Restore Victims of Human Trafficking campaign, which includes
now an online posting of the Look Beneath the Surface training video
that is both available in English and Spanish.
During the last fiscal year, we built on our anti-trafficking efforts
by providing services and resources on human trafficking through the
Runaway and Homeless Youth Training and Technical Assistance Center.
Going forward, the President’s Fiscal Year 2013 budget includes a new $5
million proposal to award competitive grants focused on reducing the
exploitation of children in the form of domestic sex trafficking. HHS
also, as Secretary Clinton has referred, funds the National Human
Trafficking Resource Center, which is a nationwide resource for
potential victims and the public who may encounter a trafficking
situation.
We maintain a national toll-free hotline that operates 24 hours a
day, seven days a week, every day of the year. And last year, the
hotline received over 16,000 calls, a 43 percent increase in the last
fiscal year, which I think is both an indication of the depth of the
problem, but also an indication that people now are aware that there’s
someplace to go for help. Of this total, we have close to 800 cases
resulting in direct report to law enforcement, which is a 51 percent
increase, so that connecting the hotline with actual action on the
ground, thanks to our partners in the Department of Justice, has been a
really important initiative.
Through a recently established interdepartmental working group, HHS
and other agencies are discussing better coordination of the federal
anti-trafficking efforts when dealing with victims and attendant
services training and technical assistance. And as a group, we’ve
identified the need for two types of call lines – a central hotline for
calls regarding victims and investigative tip lines. We’ve also agreed
to explore additional opportunities to appropriately highlight and
differentiate between the resource center and the investigation
hotlines.
So I feel confident that our efforts at HHS, hand in hand with our
federal partners here at the table, continue to move us closer to our
ultimate goal of freedom for all by bringing an end to this inexcusable
human rights abuse.
And again, thank you, Madam Secretary, for convening this critical
meeting, for the report that you’re doing, and we look forward to
continuing this critical work together.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you very much, Kathleen.
Now let me turn to the Department of Homeland Security’s update.
Certainly, DHS personnel are on the front lines not only here at home
but literally around the world, and we greatly appreciate Secretary
Napolitano’s leadership.
SECRETARY NAPOLITANO: And thank you, Secretary Clinton. I also
appreciate the leadership you’ve shown on this issue and the leadership
of the President. It’s a social issue, it’s an economic issue, it’s a
law enforcement issue, it’s a moral issue, and I think that joins us all
around the table. We have also been working through partnerships of
various types under an umbrella we call the Blue Campaign at DHS. It is
leading directly to more tips, more investigations, improved services
for victims, and I think will help us serve our ultimate goal of finally
getting some deterrence to this issue.
We have partnered with the Department of State to develop two online
trainings, one for the federal acquisition workforce. Our contractors
have a zero-tolerance clause built into every federal contract, so we’re
now training them and also training for the general public. CBP has
worked with the Department of Transportation to launch something called
the Blue Lightning Initiative, teaching airline employees the signs of
trafficking and how to notify law enforcement. We’re working with the
firefighter and EMS communities to create training for first responders
who may come into contact with victims, and we are in the process of
putting the finishing touches on a one-week interdisciplinary training
course at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, FLETC, which will
bring together teams representing victim services, investigations,
prosecutions, a first of its kind type of training in this area. And we
expect it to be available no later than this summer.
We’ve worked to increase public awareness of human trafficking
through targeted video messages and public service announcements,
including CBP’s No Te Enganes campaign, Don’t Be Fooled, and ICE’s
Hidden in Plain Sight campaign, which reached an estimated 5 million
people.
We’ve worked to address and recognize the needs and unique challenges
of trafficking victims. We have now put 39 specially trained human
trafficking experts in each of our ICE field offices, and we’ve doubled
the number of forensic interview specialists. CIS has developed a
one-pager for law enforcement on options for victims, including the T
and the U visa programs.
The efforts are succeeding. We are finding more investigations with a
nexus to human trafficking. Last year, we initiated 722, we obtained
271 convictions. Eric, working with your folks, seized assets worth well
over $2 million. We also have seen a steady increase in the number of
reports to the tip line, up 69 percent between FY2010 and 2011, and I
think looking at the ’12 numbers, there will be another record,
unfortunately, in a way.
This year, we plan to do even more. We are requiring all of our
contracting professionals to take training on combating trafficking in
persons, and we have already trained 600 acquisition personnel on how to
use that clause in the standard federal contract. We’re working to
assure that age-appropriate care and services are provided to
unaccompanied minor children encountered by us typically through the
immigration system. We had a roundtable discussion here at the White
House with retail, hotel, and airline industry leaders, and also with
state, local, tribal, and territorial law enforcement agencies and
associations discussing ways we could work together to raise awareness.
We are continuing to deploy ideas from those sessions.
And we are expanding the reach and scope of our free, interactive
computer-based training system for local law enforcement partners. We
work extensively with Justice, with Labor on the ACT teams that the
Attorney General referenced, because those teams, I think, hold great
promise in actually dealing with this problem. So we will continue to
listen, we will continue to work, and like everyone else around the
table, we intend to, if anything, increase our commitment. Thank you.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Great. Thank you very much, Janet. Now let
me turn to Cecilia Munoz, the assistant to the President and Domestic
Policy Council Director.
Cecilia.
MS. MUNOZ: Thank you very much, Madam Secretary. It’s a real
honor to be part of this gathering today. This is obviously incredibly
important work and it falls to me to talk a little bit about the work of
the Domestic Policy Council on the domestic side of this issue.
As everyone in this room knows, two years ago, the President
forcefully articulated his personal commitment to fighting modern
slavery and human trafficking, described it as a shared responsibility.
And as we’re hearing today, the – since the President made that
commitment two years ago, we’ve been making progress through
investigations and prosecutions, the victims assistance programs, we’ve
been hearing about technical assistance for states and localities. I
mean, it’s a good list and it’s a long list, but it doesn’t involve only
the work of government. The conscience of the country was really
awakened by the President’s remarks. And we have churches, we have
businesses and communities across the country heeding the President’s
call to action, finding ways to combat trafficking, and to serve those
who have been victimized by it.
The Domestic Policy Council has partnered with many of you in this
important work, and the President has really reiterated just this
morning in a statement his commitment to these issues. He’s instructed
his Cabinet, all of us, to find ways to strengthen the good work that
we’re already doing, and to expand our partnerships with civil society
and the private sector so that we can bring more resources to bear on
this terrible problem.
As the President announced in his statement, in the coming weeks, the
White House will build on this gathering on behalf of human dignity.
This is an issue that the President understands the way that your
agencies do – as a crime, as a violation of universal human rights – and
it’s a policy priority on both the domestic and international fronts.
We are committed to maximizing our efforts in every way possible, and
we’re confident that working together, we can – collectively, we can
strengthen the efforts of both the federal government and civil society
in ending the scourge of modern slavery.
So our direction is clear. We intend to continue to work in
partnership with all of you and your teams. The White House intends to
redouble its efforts and build on this already strong record of
accomplishment, and we’re going to reach out to our partners outside of
government in the hope that, together, we can really make an
unprecedented push to raise awareness and have further real and
sustained results. We don’t have any illusions about this task being
easy. If it – this were an easy issue with simple solutions, we wouldn’t
need to be here having this gathering today. But we are persuaded that
by working with each other effectively and working with our partners
around the country and around the world, we can really bring positive
change to this issue.
So we will be working with you to expand the resources, to leverage
our efforts and our coordinated – coordinating capacity. And so I look
forward to working with all of you to do that. I look forward to playing
a role in helping lift up the work that you’re already doing and
helping to coordinate it as strongly as possible. And we’re convinced
that with this partnership within government and partnerships outside of
government, we can make an enormous difference on this issue, and we’re
honored to be part of it.
Thank you, Madam Secretary.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you so much, Cecilia. Now I will turn
to someone I work with practically every day on a wide variety of
security issues around the world, and I’m delighted that he would be
here for this meeting.
So, Assistant to the President, Deputy National Security Advisor Denis McDonough.
MR. MCDONOUGH: Madam Secretary, thank you very much, and allow
me to join Cecilia in thanking all of your teams who we get to work
with every day on this matter. Let me just take a minute too to
highlight our team – Rob Berschinski, Quintan Wiktorowicz, and most
especially, Samantha Power, who, on behalf of the National Security
staff, have really made this a priority and have been working with your
teams to push this through.
Human trafficking is just one of those topics that doesn’t make it in
the paper every day. But I think what we see in this year’s report and
in each of the reports that are coming from the agencies now is that the
work that all the agencies are doing is actually having a very
profound, life-changing impact on Americans and non-Americans, men,
women, and children all around the world. So it’s something about which I
think we should feel quite good, recognizing, of course, as everybody
said, that there’s an awful lot of work to be done.
The fact is that the – when the United States Government, when our
people, are understood to be an international leader on this issue, it
speaks to something at the heart of the President’s National Security
Strategy, which he put out in 2010 – one, that we’re strengthened by the
power of our example, and that we’re strongest when we’re working to
advance the dignity of individuals all around the world. So for us at
the National Security staff, this is a national security issue.
It is – human trafficking is at the nexus of organized crimes, is a
source for funding for international terrorist groups, is a source for
funding for transnational criminal groups. It fundamentally endangers
international security. And so while we’re trying to create an
international economy in which everyone can choose and be paid for for
their work, it, by lifting this up, will strengthen our ability to be a
leader in the global marketplace as well.
Now I know Ash, Raj, and Maria have not had a chance to brief out
their results yet, so I’m not going to steal their thunder. But I do
want to highlight a couple of things that I see from my position in
terms of coordinating the interagency’s work on this effort.
First, as I said above, when we lead by example, we’re standing as a
model for other governments in how we train our people, hold them to the
highest ethical standards when it comes to trafficking, and makes it
able for us to walk the walk as well as talk the talk. As Raj will no
doubt highlight, USAID has been at the forefront of this effort through
the standards it’s applying to all its employees – contractors,
subcontractors, and grantees. We recognize that across the government,
there’s still an awful lot to do to improve on this in terms of
procurement of goods and labor, and the President is demanding that we
do more in exactly this area as the report pulls forward.
As Secretary Clinton said, being a model also means we’re willing to
place ourselves to the same level of scrutiny that we’re applying to
others, which is why he was so appreciative of the report including the
United States on the list of countries that are graded in this and
State’s annual Trafficking in Persons Report this year.
Second, let me emphasize that when it comes to trafficking, one thing
that we do know is that we don’t know enough. In addition to what
Cecilia has mentioned, in his statement today, the President spoke of
trafficking as a form of exploitation that hides both in the dark
corners of our world and in plain sight in our own towns and country –
towns and cities. We know in certain areas we don’t have great data on
the scope of the problem. And in terms of our programming, we may know
what works and what doesn’t, but we’re still learning precise causal
relationships. That’s why the President’s demanding that we keep the
focus on learning and improving on our interventions.
Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, we would urge that on topics
like our anti-trafficking work, we maintain laser-like focus on
mainstreaming what we’re doing in all our day-to-day operations. Whether
in your internal strategy development or in policy papers you bring to
the interagency coordination arena, if the majority of your staff are
diplomats, are development experts, are service members, see efforts to
counter trafficking as a silo, as a job of only people in the
Trafficking Office, rather than as a core component of their job then we
will not have lifted this up the way the President, Secretary, all of
you are demanding that we do.
So I’ll leave it at that. I’m looking forward to hearing more about
the tremendous work that all of your teams have – are underway. And
obviously, as each have highlighted, I think we’re here to be commended
here – on the work done heretofore. And just to echo Cecilia on the
President’s direction today, our team is looking forward to working with
each of you and your teams on the months to come to build on all the
good work that we already have in place.
So, Madam Secretary, thank you very much.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you very much, Denis. We really
appreciate that overview. Now let me turn to the director of National
Intelligence, Lieutenant General Jim Clapper.
LIEUTENANT GENERAL CLAPPER: Thank you, Madam Secretary. And
again, I join colleagues in praising you for – commending you for your
leadership, and it’s an honor to be here. I thought I’d discuss very
briefly the intelligence community’s role in combating transnational
organized crime, and in particular, the understanding and combating
trafficking in persons. My priority in this job is to integrate
collection analysis across the intelligence community in line with
policy-maker needs.
Now after last year’s meeting of this group, I rededicated some
internal assets to stand up our own transnational organized crime team
on my staff, and we never had -- in the history of the DNI, never had a
single office for that sort of focus. And in line with the theme of
leveraging across the government, we’ve become very engaged with the
State Department’s Trafficking in Persons Office, and are experiencing
Lou’s zeal. (Laughter.)
I’ve only been active for a short time, but we are seeing an
increase, however modest – and I anticipate this will gain momentum
through our channels, and I just – I think this is the beginning. We
expect bigger results in the future as we continue to strengthen
partnerships with key NI human trafficking advocates. And as others have
eluded on this issue, partnerships are absolutely crucial to success.
And just to underline a point that Denis just made -- certainly we in
the intelligence community recognize this --that trafficking in persons
is a national security issue in addition to be a social, economic, and
law enforcement issue. And so we’re committed to doing our part to
defeat it.
Our efforts across the intelligence community to integrate collection
analysis and work with state, local, and tribal law enforcement will
improve our ability to combat this appalling crime, and we can and must
do more.
In October, my team attended the Trafficking in Persons Reporting
Conference hosted by the State Department, Miami; made sure that
different agencies within the intelligence community attended. This was
the first time the IC has ever integrated with the State Department on
this mission of ensuring that trafficking in persons reporting is
accurate.
In November, our team hosted our own transnational organized crime
event at my headquarters via video teleconference, and it was a global
thing throughout the IC to many interested members of the intelligence
community. And this was, I think, part of my responsibility to ensure
awareness within the intelligence community. And a special presentation
by the State Department’s Trafficking in Persons team was the highlight –
had a huge impact, feedback I got.
We also coordinate extensively to have attendees who represent the
nations we refer to as our Five Eyes allies. Those are the commonwealth
countries with whom we have the closest, most intimate intelligence
relationships. So I refer specifically to the UK’s Serious Organized
Crime Agency, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Australian Federal
Police, and the New Zealand Customs agency. We’re starting – we’re
working towards the goal of a better understanding of the role that
trafficking plays in persons in national instability, corruption, and
crime around the globe. I think it’s our job to shine a light on those
dark corners.
So I’ll just say that we are committed to this and we do recognize
that it is a national security issue. Thank you, Madam Chairman.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Thanks so much, Jim. Now I’d like to invite Acting Director Zients to share OMB’s update. Jeff?
MR. ZIENTS: Thank you. Now given the fiscal situation –
everybody knows that budgets are very tight, difficult budget
environment; many agencies are experiencing actually lower budget. In
this environment, it’s OMB’s job to make sure every dollar’s well spent
and importantly, that the most important priorities of the
Administration, of the President, are well funded, and that we allocate
dollars accordingly. Preventing human trafficking is a clear priority
for the President and the Administration, so we are committed to working
with each agency to make sure that we have the appropriate resources to
fund these important efforts. I think we have good working
relationships with each agency and your teams, but we will make sure
that adequate resources are allocated to these efforts. We also stand
ready to help – in any way to help manage cross-agency processes to
ensure that we continue to make significant progress. Thank you.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you very much. We like hearing that. (Laughter.) I hope everybody really (inaudible.)
PARTICIPANT: It was the shortest --
SECRETARY CLINTON: Yeah. We should meet at the White House
more often. (Laughter.) Now let me turn to Deputy Secretary Ash Carter
to give the Department of Defense’s update.
DEPUTY SECRETARY CARTER: Thank you, Secretary Clinton. The
President’s determination to combat trafficking is reflected in each of
the three ways that we, the Department of Defense, touch this problem.
Namely, through our own people, uniformed and civilian and their
conduct. Second, through our contractors. And the third, in our foreign
military training programs. So let me just take each of those in turn.
First of all, for our own folks, both uniformed and civilian, they
are required to receive training. I’ve reviewed the curriculum. It’s
very good, it’s incisive. It basically has two parts: Don’t do it and
learn to recognize it. So let me take the don’t do it part first.
The don’t do it part – you may not know this, I was a little
surprised myself, but it has only been recently that patronizing a
prostitute became an offense under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
It is, and that’s something that we need to begin to and continue and
increase our enforcement of that provision. Because in the neighborhood
around bases here or abroad, obviously, there’s an opportunity for that.
So don’t do it.
And the second part of the training is recognize it. And that – for
that, it’s part of the annual training. We also have public service
announcements on Armed Forces Network and that kind of thing. If you’re
in a gym somewhere around the world or in Afghanistan, you’ll frequently
see them to increase awareness and to give the tell-tale signs of it to
our people. We do some specific things regionally in PACOM, USFK --
U.S. Forces Korea -- where we’ve had – historically had an issue there.
So wherever we detect it, we try to follow up. And there have been some
cases recently, which we have aggressively followed up in the law
enforcement sense.
Contractors. You know that for every soldier, sailor, airman, and
marine deployed, there’s at least one contractor that ends up in theater
at the same time. They’re all employed by us. Secretary Napolitano
already made it clear. It’s part of the Federal Acquisition Regulation
and it’s Defense Federal Acquisition Supplement that contracts are to
have a provision forbidding trafficking as in any connection with the
country. Now, it’s one thing to write it into the contract and you say,
“How do you make sure you get it done?” We’re going to make it training
for the contractors mandatory, even as it is for our own people,
civilian and military – number one.
Number two, contracting officer representatives, a COR. What is a
COR? COR is the person who makes sure that the contract is executed. So
there’s somebody who follows around the contractor and makes sure it
gets done. Those people are now trained, which they didn’t used to be,
in recognizing trafficking. So they can see if an association with one
of our contracting activities – this has gone on, very important. And we
have our inspector general now tracking to make sure that those
contract clauses are all there and the contracting officer
representatives are, in fact, monitoring compliance with those. Very
important, because contractors is a huge part of what we do.
Last piece is our foreign military training engagements. All of our
programs, be they 1206, be they IMET, JSET, our training of UN
peacekeepers and so forth, it is a required part of that curriculum. If
we offer it as a department to another military that it include training
for those foreign military members in trafficking, both don’t do it and
recognize it. So for example, just to give you one example, in the
Democratic Republic of Congo, AFRICOM, our African Command, works
through DIILS – the Defense Institute for International Legal Studies –
maybe some of you may be familiar with – to train justice professionals
in the prosecution of trafficking crimes and Congolese military
commanders in how to prevent their troops from engaging in this. It’s
very important in all of our training. So those are our training
activities.
So in those three arenas where we might touch this problem and do
touch this problem, we’re trying to make sure that we’re reflecting the
President’s fight.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Thanks very much, Ash. Now, Deputy Secretary Porcari, would you please report from the Department of Transportation?
DEPUTY SECRETARY PORCARI: Thank you, Secretary Clinton, and we
appreciate your leadership on this. And Valerie, we very much
appreciate the clear and consistent direction the President has given us
on this. It’s energized all of us.
We want to make sure, first and foremost, that the transportation
system is not inadvertently an enabler of human trafficking. We’re very
committed across land, sea, and air to making sure that’s not the case.
Marlise Streitmatter, our deputy chief of staff, has been our lead
person on this and will continue to be, but we’re using all of our
resources across borders and agencies to make sure that we can
positively impact this problem.
For example, working with Secretary Napolitano in Customs and Border
Protection, the Blue Lightning Initiative provides an in-flight
procedure to report human trafficking events, law enforcement, as well
as awareness for the flight crews. We’ve gotten very positive response
from our airlines on this; they’re very interested in moving forward on
this. Likewise, on the highways, we want to make sure they’re free of
human trafficking. If a commercial truck or bus driver commits a felony,
we can take them off the road – and obviously, human trafficking is a
felony. This gives us an opportunity to remove the bad actors.
We’re also pursuing opportunities with Amtrak and the motor coach
industry to develop a public awareness campaign and specialized training
for our inspectors that are out in the field all across the country to
recognize the warning signs of human trafficking. We’re also
collaborating with our Mexican and Canadian partners to increase
awareness, and we look forward to expanding on those partnerships.
There are also some less conventional partnerships that can be very
effective. Working, for example, with our local and state departments of
motor vehicles, as well as truck stops, to build public awareness, and
give people that are literally on the front lines of this fight the
tools to recognize and report suspicious activities.
And finally, this really starts at home, and we’re working internally
within our Department of Transportation, across all the transportation
modes, to make sure that we educate our team on identifying human
trafficking, and we’re building, essentially, on the DHS program that’s
out there.
So we’re dedicated to moving forward with this. This is an
unconscionable and unacceptable activity, and we are looking forward on
building the – on the progress to date. Thank you.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you very much. Now I’d like to invite
from the State Department, Under Secretary of State for Civilian
Security, Democracy, and Human Rights, Maria Otero, to go into a little
more detail about what we’re doing at the State Department.
UNDER SECRETARY OTERO: Thank you very much, Madam Secretary.
And I also want to express appreciation for the leadership that our
President is giving us on this issue, and Valerie, convening us here,
and of course, express the importance for us to be able to work with
every department across the board under the commitment and leadership of
Secretary Clinton, who has really enabled our Department to push
forward in this area.
Over the last year, the TIP Office, under the leadership of
Ambassador CdeBaca, but working in partnership with our regional bureaus
and with all of the other colleagues across the Department, we’ve made
advances in several areas that I think are important to highlight in
addressing the State Department’s response to modern slavery. And let me
just touch on a couple of them, as Secretary Clinton has also talked
about some of them.
First, the Department – as other departments have stated here – is in
the process of developing a training program that is going to be
applicable for all of our direct hires. And this is with the purpose of
helping all of our employees understand the nature of this crime better.
And not only be able to understand it but to be able to recognize it
when it happens and to be able to see the warning signs before it is
happening and also take action if that is necessary. So this is in the
process of being developed, and we anticipate through it that the degree
of understanding of this issue will increase by all of those that are
working at the Department.
Second, Secretary Clinton, last year at this task force, announced
the establishment of a new trafficking investigation unit that would be
set up by our Diplomatic Security Bureau. And I’m very pleased to say
that, indeed, that was not only set up, but that in fact it has been
operating this last year. And it is very exciting that it has already
carried out a number of investigations that have led to indictments. And
that for us is a real sign of being able to move this forward. The
unit’s Victims’ Resource Advocacy Program is also equipped to fully
support the victims themselves that are discovered in the course of any
of these investigations. So we are applauding our Diplomatic Security
Bureau for how quickly they’ve put together this team, and not only set
forth its parameters, but also how its work is already showing results.
Third, we’re working to protect the visa holders who come to the
United States as domestic servants of diplomats. Thanks to the works of
one of our working groups, which is headed by our chief of protocol, we
are working closely with the diplomatic community to raise their
awareness of this issue and to make sure the diplomats that bring
domestic workers to the United States now follow a set of requirements
that are in place that will prevent those workers from being abused.
Finally – and Secretary Clinton mentioned this briefly – the TIP
Office has partnered with an NGO to develop a tool that allows anybody
and everybody to go online, to take a survey, and then to see how many
victims of human trafficking it takes to sustain their lifestyle. This
is called the Slavery Footprint, and it is the kind of innovation that
is helping create change and also create awareness not only of the
existence of this crime but also of the challenges that we face in
addressing it, and it is bringing people to this issue.
We know that more than three million people from more than 200
countries have logged on to this site, and we’re confident that tools
such as this one are going to be some that are going to help make a
difference in engaging those around the world in addressing this issue
in the years ahead. Thank you.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you, Maria. Since we are being
broadcast here, perhaps, Lou, you could give the website for the Slavery
Footprint, because it’s had a remarkable impact, and we want to
encourage everybody everywhere to sign on.
AMBASSADOR CDEBACA: Certainly. Thank you, Madam Secretary.
It’s pretty intuitive. It’s the slaveryfootprint.org – not dot com –
slaveryfootprint.org.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Right. So we invite everyone to log on.
Now let me turn to Dr. Raj Shah, the USAID administrator, who is such
a great partner in this and so much of the work that we do.
ADMINISTRATOR SHAH: Thank you, Madam Secretary, for your focus
and direction on these issues, and to President Obama for elevating the
attention and the resources that we will hope to invest against results
in this space.
In the past year, our agency has made significant progress trying to
live up to commitments we’ve made around this table for each of the past
two years as part of this task force. We are implementing a more
results-oriented approach to counter-trafficking efforts around the
world, which starts, as Denis mentioned, with the adoption of a strict,
new code of conduct for ourselves, our partners abroad, our contractors,
and in particular, our security contractors that often operate in
high-risk conflict environments. The code of conduct, much as Ash Carter
described, will make sure that more people serve as eyes and ears in
the search for those at risk or those enslaved. And we have intensified
procurement actions and implementation of that code of conduct so that
those terms are written into our contracts and enforced through our
contracts’ officers and reviewers.
We’ve also launched a new counter-trafficking policy developed in
close partnership with many agencies represented around the table. This
policy requires every USAID mission in a high-risk country to conduct
baseline surveys on trafficking and develop clear metrics to assess
progress against prevention for our efforts and efforts of others in the
international community. It also directs us to create more
multi-country databases so victims can be tracked across countries and
supported in their efforts as they – as that is such a critical barrier,
having that data be accessible in a number of different environments.
And it prioritizes investments in technologies, like mapping platforms,
mobile applications, and other innovations.
We also believe that the – one of the challenges is getting the word
out and making sure that people who are in a difficult situation have
the capacity to seek help. In that effort, we have expanded a highly
successful partnership with MTV EXIT into Russia for the very first
time, but it is a global program that has had some real successes,
especially in Asia. Through the partnership with MTV EXIT, they have
created public service advertisements, music videos, and other efforts
to create awareness about trafficking and provide hotlines so that
people can access resources to fight back. We believe it has reached
more than 300 million households in Asia over the last seven years.
And just to share one story that we heard about just a few weeks ago,
that for more than three years a young Cambodian boy and his three
friends had been essentially enslaved on a Thai fishing boat. Just a few
weeks ago, their boat docked at a port in Thailand, and they happened
to see on television one of the MTV EXIT advertisements about
trafficking. The video flashed a free hotline number in both Thai and
Cambodian so the kids could read it and respond. They did. Immigration
authorities responded immediately, and they were freed. We seek many,
many more stories like this and believe our expanded efforts are helping
to get us there.
We also know, as the President mentioned in his statement today, that
we want to work more effectively with partners throughout our own
country in the private sector, on universities and campuses, and in
faith-based communities. I recently visited Bethel University, a
Christian college outside of Minneapolis, and I met with about 100
students the day after we had released our counter-trafficking policy,
actually, in this room. And sometimes it takes in the federal government
– as everyone here knows – some time for these policies to be read by
our teams and really inform changes and action and behavior. I know we
all address that. Every one of the 100 kids that I met with had already
read our policy online, and they had ideas, they had things they wanted
to contribute.
So today, we’re thrilled to announce that we will launch a college – a
campus challenge to combat trafficking, and we’ll seek to partner with
the most innovative, creative ideas in the realm of prevention and
protection. And we’ll match our campus challenge champions, the winners
of our awards, with our missions in the field, so students have access
to many of our partners who are on the frontlines of trying to help
victims or help communities that are in high risk. We look forward to
working with the next generation of American students to craft the next
generation of solutions to this critical challenge.
And thank you for the chance to be here.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you so much, Raj. That’s very
exciting news. Let me now ask Deputy Director Sean Joyce of the FBI to
share the FBI’s update.
MR. JOYCE: Thank you, Madam Secretary. And thank you to the
White House for hosting this event today. And I’d like to take this
opportunity to thank all the people on the street that work this issue
each and every day and many of the folks in this room in some of the
chairs behind us that work tirelessly every day on some of the policy
issues regarding this issue.
The FBI continues its commitment to fighting human trafficking and child
exploitation in coordination with our federal, state, and local
partners. Over the last year, we’ve increased our resources
approximately 66 percent dedicated to this issue, especially against
instances of coerced or forced adult labor, in addition to our agency
placing a tremendous significance on ensuring child victims are safe,
secure, and away from those who would prey on their innocence.
I can tell you I’ve been personally involved in rescuing some child
victims, and as a father and a special agent, it is both emotional and
rewarding, but devastating for the victims. The FBI recognizes these
investigations require specialized resources, and thus we commit 80
victim specialists from our Office of Victim Assistance to our human
trafficking efforts. To facilitate our fight against human trafficking
and child exploitation, we participate in 77 task forces in 47 working
groups across the country.
One highlight is our Innocent Lost National Initiative we started in
2003. This initiative addresses the tragic challenge of children
recruited into prostitution. It is supported by the Department of
Justice, Child Exploitation/Obscenity Section, and the National Center
for Missing and Exploited Children. To date, the initiative has resulted
in 1,961 children being rescued. There have been nearly 1,500
investigations initiated, resulting in 927 convictions, to include seven
life sentences and several ranging in length from 25 to 45 years.
Recognizing this is also an international problem. The FBI continues
to build capacity through a number of training efforts, and in
conjunction with our partners in the Department of State, we recently
administered a two-week human trafficking course for law enforcement
officials from El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Panama. The FBI
looks forward to the continued collaboration with our law enforcement
partners, both at home and abroad, to ensure that child exploitation
and/or forced or coerced adult labor is met with swift justice.
Thank you, Madam Secretary, for this opportunity.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you very much, Deputy Director and
Special Agent. That was a very stirring rendition of the great work
you’re doing, and I appreciate it.
Let me now turn to Assistant Secretary Russlynn Ali to share the Department of Education’s update.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY ALI: Thank you, Madam Secretary, Ms.
Jarrett, and to all of you for your commitment on this issue. Secretary
Duncan shares in that commitment and this sense of urgency.
Over the past year, we have set about using all of the tools within
our disposal to really launch an awareness through – prevention through
awareness efforts in our schools, through technical assistance and
supports and training for educators that need it so that they can spot
the warning signals. We know that these signals, whether they be
absenteeism or signs of abuse or behavioral problems, they prevent
children from learning. They not only affect the victim and those at
prey of traffickers but the entire school community. And schools have a
responsibility and need help and support.
So it is about identifying where those problem areas exist, working
with so many of you to target our solutions and our efforts, to answer
the calls of educators and school districts around the country that are
dealing with these problems in ways that they have never before, helping
them with language and talking to school-age children about very
difficult and grown-up issues. And how they do that with sincerity and
the education they need to help their children be safe is something that
is hugely important as well.
We are also doing the kind of technical assistance through web-based
tools on what services are available, what supports are available. We’ve
brought together, just last summer, over 2,000 educators to deal with
issues of climate and safety in their schools writ large and highlighted
and focused on issues of trafficking and ways to help. Finding those
places that are also doing great things to eradicate trafficking where
in exist – a school district in San Diego, for example, Grossmont Union
High School, we’ve worked with them to create a training video, which we
will disseminate to all school districts that need it as we find those
places that are eradicating this and work to take their lessons to
scale.
We’ve also worked closely with the Office of Violence Against Women,
our colleagues at the Department of Justice, and elsewhere to ensure
that we bring best practices to bear and outreach with as many groups as
possible and interested on this issue. In the future, we will continue
to work with our sister agencies in finding the places that need the
help most, understanding the data better, learning about those solutions
and bringing them to scale.
We look forward to sharing those tools, like the Slavery Footprint,
to working with Raj and others on things like the campus challenge while
we do climate checks and climate schools in our schools, making sure
that we hear from students themselves on both problems and solutions,
and working with our colleagues and our school resource officers and our
colleagues in the Department of Homeland Security on training for law
enforcement officers on how they, too, can help change the school
environment. We will use all of the tools in our disposal to help you
and help our schools deal with this tragic problem. Thank you.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you very much. And now let me invite
our final speaker, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Chair
Jacqueline Berrien.
MS. BERRIEN: Thank you so much to President Obama for his
leadership and commitment to end human trafficking, and thank you,
Secretary Clinton, for your leadership and the opportunity to
participate in this very important discussion.
On behalf of the United States Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission, I am privileged to report on the EEOC’s work to identify and
remedy the trafficking of workers. EEOC staff across the country work
diligently to protect one of the most fundamental human and civil rights
– the right to work without being harassed, intimidated, or mistreated
on account of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, or
disability. The EEOC plays an important role in helping to make victims
of trafficking whole. We seek and obtain civil remedies, such as back
pay and monetary relief, for the harm caused by employment
discrimination as well as punitive damages and equitable relief to deter
and prevent future discriminatory conduct.
Since the last meeting of this task force, EEOC has worked with
enforcement partners at the federal, state, and local levels to improve
outreach to vulnerable populations, including victims of trafficking.
For example, we trained representatives from state and local fair
employment practice agencies to identify and remedy trafficking. EEOC
also certified new visas last year to ensure that victims of sex
harassment and other discriminatory treatment at work could participate
fully in related law enforcement efforts without fear of deportation.
Building on the successful resolution of anti-trafficking cases
against J.J. Pickle and Trans Bay Steel, the EEOC is challenging
discriminatory working conditions and terms of employment in two
recently filed cases. In one case, the EEOC alleges that more than 200
Thai men were subjected to a pattern or practice of national origin and
race discrimination, harassment, abuse, and retaliation on farms in
Hawaii and Washington. The second case alleges that hundreds of Indian
employees were recruited to work as welders, pipe fitters, and ship
fitters in Mississippi and Texas, but after arriving in the United
States as guest workers, they were subjected to abuse based on their
national origin and race and encountered other forms of discriminatory
treatment, including segregated and substandard housing. Both of these
cases are pending now, and we’re seeking not only relief for the
affected workers, but also injunctive relief to prevent future
occurrences.
Last January, the commission conducted a public meeting on human
trafficking, and with the insights provided by Ambassador CdeBaca and
other witnesses, we have redoubled our efforts to identify and remedy
trafficking. In the past year, my colleague, Commissioner Stuart
Ishimaru, launched the EEOC’s immigrant worker team to improve the
commission’s outreach to immigrant workers, strengthen enforcement of
laws prohibiting national origin discrimination, and increased
collaboration with other agencies addressing human trafficking and
related issues affecting immigrant workers. The immigrant worker team of
the EEOC will continue to address these issues in 2012.
Once again, thank you for convening us, Madam Secretary. My EEOC
colleagues and I look forward to continuing to work with all of the
members of this task force towards the goal of ending the scourge of
human trafficking.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you so much. And again, thanks to
everyone, not just for being here today for this meeting, but for the
work that everyone has done since our last meeting. I think it does help
to focus our attention that we do have an annual meeting where we come
together and share the results of our efforts. I think it’s especially
meaningful to be meeting here in the White House, because, after all,
this is a national priority, it’s a priority of the President’s, and we
do have to do more to reach out to have partnerships with the private
sector, with NGOs, state governments, local governments, and the like.
So again, Valerie, thank you for hosting us, and we appreciate the emphasis that the White House has put on this program.
MS. JARRETT: Thank you. Thank you all for being here.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you.
