Director, Office To Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. And a joint statement by all agencies (see below the Secretary's remarks) at the conclusion.
Remarks on President Obama's Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Jefferson Room
Washington, DC
February 3, 2010
SECRETARY CLINTON: Some of you already know Ambassador Luis CdeBaca, who is our Ambassador and in charge of our human trafficking efforts and the office that runs it. Maria Otero is our Under Secretary for Democracy, Global Affairs here in the Department of State, and that’s the place where the Office to Combat Trafficking resides.
This is a yearly meeting that we take turns hosting. It happens to be the State Department’s turn. I don’t know who it goes to next year, but we do it every year for the purpose of taking stock and seeing where we are in our fight against human trafficking, both trafficking for sex trade purposes and trafficking for forced labor.
And this comes out of the original legislation – which is now 10 years old – back in 2000, the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, so we’re celebrating the 10th anniversary. And it’s been a priority first of the Clinton Administration, then of the Bush Administration, and now of the Obama Administration. So I really appreciate and welcome all of you here for this meeting.
This meeting gives us the opportunity to identify where we are and how we can improve our strategy to hear from different parts of our government about what works and what doesn’t work, how better we can share intelligence and coordinate enforcement and tracking and training of our officials, and to make clear that this is a high priority of this Administration.
Now, I know several of you have some firsthand experience with this modern form of slavery, because that’s really what it is. And as we look at the cases that are handled by the Justice Department or the results of the investigations that HHS or Labor do, we see that very clearly. And certainly, I know that Secretary Solis has seen that firsthand with the kind of sweatshops and other forced labor in California, and others of you around the world may as well. I’ve been involved in this for a long time, going back many years, and I think it’s one of the most important human rights issues that we work on here in our Department and certainly that many of you are deeply involved with.
I think today, what we want to do is hear from everybody so that everyone can have a chance to express where we are in a kind of update. I know how busy everybody is and we’re going to try to keep this to an hour, because that’s what we promised.
Let me turn first to our Under Secretary Maria Otero.
Joint Statement of Commitment to Action by the President's Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons Presented to the President and Released by All Agencies, February 3, 2010
Office of the Spokesman
Washington, DC
February 3, 2010
Trafficking in persons violates the most basic of human rights. It degrades our common humanity and is intolerable in any society. Human trafficking is a modern form of slavery. To combat this heinous crime, we recognize and build on the progress of the past ten years since the passage of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act and the Palermo Protocol.
As members of the President’s Interagency Task Force, we commit to a balanced approach in the prevention of human trafficking, the protection of victims and the prosecution of their traffickers.
We pledge to uphold a system that provides for all victims, whether they have lost their freedom through sex trafficking or labor trafficking, and regardless of age, gender or immigration status.
We will continue vigorously to investigate and prosecute traffickers and work toward dismantling the criminal enterprises that perpetuate human trafficking.
We will work tirelessly to overcome the barriers to victim identification and assistance, continuing a victim-centered approach and focusing on vulnerable populations at greatest risk.
We will collaborate with international, federal, state, and local counterparts, the private sector, and nongovernmental organizations and advocates, recognizing that the key to ending this crime is rooted in strong and effective partnerships.
As the President’s Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, we will work with our partners across borders and oceans on behalf of the victims of trafficking to combat this violation of basic human rights.
For the President’s Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons:
THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE
THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET
OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE
UNITED STATES AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
U.S. EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION
