The bill builds on previous anti-human trafficking compliance efforts for federal contractors. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
A New Law Aims to Stop Human Trafficking by Federal Contractors
“This policy change is a small, but important step,” said an expert.
President Biden signed a bill earlier this week aimed at further preventing federal contractors’ involvement with human trafficking.
This bill, which the Senate and House passed in July and September, respectively, builds on previous anti-human trafficking compliance efforts for federal contractors.
“The bill refers all potential instances of human trafficking to suspension and debarment officials, who ultimately terminates contracts found to be involved in human trafficking and importantly contractors known to have participated in trafficking and prevent them from trafficking people with U.S. taxpayer dollars ever again,” said a press release in September from Sen James Lankford, R-Okla., ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs’ government operations and border management panel. Lankford introduced the bill along with Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa. Suspension and debarment actions prevent the government from doing business with harmful entities or individuals.
The bill also requires the director of the Office of Management and Budget to submit a report to Congress on implementation of the provisions within 90 days of the bill’s enactment.
An August 2021 report from the Government Accountability Office as well as annual reports from the Defense Department Inspector General “show that human trafficking tragically still exists in overseas government contracts, so the End Human Trafficking in Government Contracts Act of 2021 is needed to provide oversight of remedial action and ensure enforcement of the law,” the press release continued. “A majority of contracting officers are aware of the need for contracts greater than $550,000 to have a compliance plan that ensures they are not participating in human trafficking, and a majority of contracts have that clause, though not all.”
Nate King, director of congressional affairs at the International Justice Mission, told Government Executive, that the enactment of this bill “underscores that anti-trafficking policies and procedures are not just suggestions for contractors to consider – they are legal requirements for operationalizing U.S. government’s zero-tolerance policy for human trafficking.”
He added, “this policy change is a small, but important, step to ensure that U.S. taxpayer dollars are not used to exploit vulnerable workers overseas - and that contractors who are complicit in labor trafficking are barred from doing business again with the U.S. government.”