Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2005

TRAFFICKING VICTIMS PROTECTION REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2005

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Mr. BIDEN. Mr. President, in March of this year, I--along with Senator LUGAR--introduced S. 559, the Protection of Vulnerable Populations During Humanitarian Emergencies Act of 2005, a bill to make vulnerable people, especially women and children, a priority of our foreign assistance programs. The Committee on Foreign Relations approved the bill in March as part of its omnibus authorization bill, S. 600. Unfortunately, S. 600 was pulled from floor consideration in April, and remains stalled.

In the last few days, I have attempted to add the provisions of S. 559 as an amendment to H.R. 972, the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, which was approved by the other body just last week. I support the trafficking bill, which addresses a serious problem in many parts of the world, including this country. I have been told, however, by my friends on the other side of the aisle that my amendment is not acceptable at this time. Several reasons have been given, foremost among them that it will unduly delay enactment of the trafficking bill, because the other body has essentially closed up shop for the year.

But as my colleagues know we have another problem--victims of sexual exploitation and abuse who are not trafficked--such as those who are forced to seek sanctuary in refugee or internally displaced camps. The trafficking bill deals with people who are trafficked from those camps. But it does not address the need to protect those left behind.

Last May, I visited a refugee camp in Chad where nearly 30,000 refugees from Darfur had settled. I have seen and heard the problems they are facing first hand.

Over the last 2 years, civilians have been targeted by Khartoum in one of the most horrific genocides the world has ever seen. Villages have been bombed, government-sponsored militia have destroyed crops and have fouled the water supply. They have burned homes, leaving mothers no choice but to flee for their lives and their children's lives.

Civilians forced to flee during war find their way to camps, but instead of relative safety, what do they find? They find more suffering. The camps become virtual prisons. Women and girls are beaten and raped if they venture outside the camps for firewood.

Sudan is not the only part of the world where such travesties are occurring. A report by a United Nations investigatory team released earlier this year states that a number of U.N. peacekeepers--U.N. peacekeepers, mind you--deployed to protect civilians from ethnic violence in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo were sexually exploiting girls as young as 13 years old. The peacekeepers were asking these children for sex in exchange for small sums of money or food. And the report found that the abuse continued even while UN investigators were on the ground.

Reading that report and others reinforced my belief that we cannot stand by any longer. More must be done, and S. 559 provides an important framework to do so.

I firmly believe that the objective of my legislation is entirely consistent with the objectives of the trafficking bill--to protect vulnerable people, whether they are trafficked from one country to another, or left behind in a refugee camp.

It enhances the U.S. Government's ability to see that women and children are protected before, during, and after a complex humanitarian emergency. It directs the Secretary of State to designate a special coordinator for protection issues who will be charged with making sure our embassies are made aware of the warning signs that an emergency which may put the lives and safety of women and children at risk is imminent.

It directs the coordinator to compile a watch list of such countries and regions so that the Agency for International Development can plan to meet potential need for protection programs. It prohibits U.S. funding for relief agencies that do not sign a code of conduct that outlaws improper exploitative relationships between aid workers and recipients.

It calls upon the United States Executive Director of the International Bank of Reconstruction and Development to try to make sure World Bank demobilization, disarmament, and reintegration programs extend the same benefits provided to ex-combatants to the women and children who were associated with them.

As it now stands, women and children who were used as cooks and porters and so-called ``wives,'' a euphemism for women who were kidnaped to serve as sexual slaves, may well not be given benefits through these programs--nothing with which to rebuild their lives despite the fact that they were not there by choice. Yet the very people who forced them into such conditions receive assistance without conditions.

Finally, it amends the Foreign Assistance Act to authorize programs and activities specifically aimed at making vulnerable people--especially women and children--who are affected by humanitarian emergencies safer from further exploitation and abuse.

In recent days, some supporters of the trafficking bill have suggested my bill is about abortion. My response is this: my bill has nothing to do with abortion, but I am willing to make any changes that are necessary to make clear that abortion-related restrictions in foreign aid laws are not affected.

I sincerely hope that people who have a legitimate sense of moral outrage about victims of trafficking will support my objectives and work with me to pass my bill early next year. The Senator from Kansas, Senator BROWNBACK, who is one of the chief sponsors in the Senate of the trafficking bill, has pledged to work with me on approval of S. 559. I am grateful to him for that commitment.

In the meantime, I am pleased that today the Senate will approve the Trafficking in Persons legislation and it will proceed to the President. It is a very important bill and I commend the sponsors in both chambers for their good work.

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