US
Us Congress House Bill HB1379

Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HB1379 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.
OldNewDifferences
11 I
22 119THCONGRESS
33 1
44 STSESSION H. R. 1379
55 To provide for the vacating of certain convictions and expungement of certain
66 arrests of victims of human trafficking.
77 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
88 FEBRUARY14, 2025
99 Mr. F
1010 RY(for himself, Mr. LIEU, Mrs. WAGNER, and Mr. GARCIAof Cali-
1111 fornia) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee
1212 on the Judiciary
1313 A BILL
1414 To provide for the vacating of certain convictions and
1515 expungement of certain arrests of victims of human traf-
1616 ficking.
1717 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
1818 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
1919 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
2020 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Trafficking Survivors 4
2121 Relief Act of 2025’’. 5
2222 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:01 Mar 11, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1379.IH H1379
2323 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2
2424 •HR 1379 IH
2525 SEC. 2. FEDERAL EXPUNGEMENT FOR VICTIMS OF TRAF-1
2626 FICKING. 2
2727 (a) I
2828 NGENERAL.—Chapter 237 of title 18, United 3
2929 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-4
3030 lowing: 5
3131 ‘‘§ 3771A. Motion to vacate; expungement; mitigating 6
3232 factors 7
3333 ‘‘(a) D
3434 EFINITIONS.—In this section— 8
3535 ‘‘(1) the term ‘child’ means an individual who 9
3636 has not attained 18 years of age; 10
3737 ‘‘(2) the term ‘covered prisoner’ means an indi-11
3838 vidual who— 12
3939 ‘‘(A) was convicted of a level A offense or 13
4040 level B offense; 14
4141 ‘‘(B) was sentenced to a term of imprison-15
4242 ment for the offense described in subparagraph 16
4343 (A); and 17
4444 ‘‘(C) is imprisoned under such term of im-18
4545 prisonment; 19
4646 ‘‘(3) the terms ‘employee’ and ‘officer’ have the 20
4747 meanings given the terms in section 2105 of title 5; 21
4848 ‘‘(4) the term ‘Federal offense’ means an of-22
4949 fense that is punishable under Federal law; 23
5050 ‘‘(5) the term ‘level A offense’ means a Federal 24
5151 offense that is not a violent crime; 25
5252 ‘‘(6) the term ‘level B offense’— 26
5353 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:01 Mar 11, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1379.IH H1379
5454 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3
5555 •HR 1379 IH
5656 ‘‘(A) means a Federal offense that is a vio-1
5757 lent crime; and 2
5858 ‘‘(B) does not include a Federal offense 3
5959 that is a violent crime of which a child was a 4
6060 victim; 5
6161 ‘‘(7) the term ‘level C offense’ means any Fed-6
6262 eral offense that is not a level A offense; 7
6363 ‘‘(8) the term ‘victim of trafficking’ has the 8
6464 meaning given that term in section 103 of the Traf-9
6565 ficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 10
6666 7102); and 11
6767 ‘‘(9) the term ‘violent crime’ has the meaning 12
6868 given that term in section 103 of the Juvenile Jus-13
6969 tice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 (34 14
7070 U.S.C. 11103). 15
7171 ‘‘(b) M
7272 OTIONSTOVACATECONVICTIONS OR EX-16
7373 PUNGEARRESTS.— 17
7474 ‘‘(1) I
7575 N GENERAL.— 18
7676 ‘‘(A) C
7777 ONVICTIONS OF LEVEL A OF -19
7878 FENSES.—A person convicted of any level A of-20
7979 fense (or an attorney representing such a per-21
8080 son) may move the court that imposed the sen-22
8181 tence for the level A offense to vacate the judg-23
8282 ment of conviction if the level A offense was 24
8383 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:01 Mar 11, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1379.IH H1379
8484 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 4
8585 •HR 1379 IH
8686 committed as a direct result of the person hav-1
8787 ing been a victim of trafficking. 2
8888 ‘‘(B) A
8989 RRESTS FOR LEVEL A OFFENSES .— 3
9090 A person arrested for any level A offense (or an 4
9191 attorney representing such a person) may move 5
9292 the district court of the United States for the 6
9393 district and division embracing the place where 7
9494 the person was arrested to expunge all records 8
9595 of the arrest if the conduct or alleged conduct 9
9696 of the person that resulted in the arrest was di-10
9797 rectly related to the person having been a vic-11
9898 tim of trafficking. 12
9999 ‘‘(C) A
100100 RRESTS FOR LEVEL C OFFENSES .— 13
101101 A person arrested for any level C offense (or an 14
102102 attorney representing such a person) may move 15
103103 the district court of the United States for the 16
104104 district and division embracing the place where 17
105105 the person was arrested to expunge all records 18
106106 of the arrest if— 19
107107 ‘‘(i) the conduct or alleged conduct of 20
108108 the movant that resulted in the arrest was 21
109109 directly related to the movant having been 22
110110 a victim of trafficking; and 23
111111 ‘‘(ii)(I) the movant was acquitted of 24
112112 the level C offense; 25
113113 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:01 Mar 11, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1379.IH H1379
114114 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 5
115115 •HR 1379 IH
116116 ‘‘(II) the Government did not pursue, 1
117117 or the Government moved to dismiss, 2
118118 criminal charges against the movant for 3
119119 the level C offense; or 4
120120 ‘‘(III)(aa) the charges against the 5
121121 movant for the level C offense were re-6
122122 duced to an offense that is a level A of-7
123123 fense; and 8
124124 ‘‘(bb) the movant was acquitted of the 9
125125 level A offense, the Government did not 10
126126 pursue, or the Government moved to dis-11
127127 miss, criminal charges against the movant 12
128128 for the level A offense, or any subsequent 13
129129 conviction of the level A offense was va-14
130130 cated. 15
131131 ‘‘(2) C
132132 ONTENTS OF MOTION .—A motion de-16
133133 scribed in paragraph (1) shall— 17
134134 ‘‘(A) be in writing; 18
135135 ‘‘(B) describe any supporting evidence; 19
136136 ‘‘(C) state the offense; and 20
137137 ‘‘(D) include copies of any documents 21
138138 showing that the movant is entitled to relief 22
139139 under this section. 23
140140 ‘‘(3) H
141141 EARING.— 24
142142 ‘‘(A) M
143143 ANDATORY HEARING .— 25
144144 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:01 Mar 11, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1379.IH H1379
145145 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 6
146146 •HR 1379 IH
147147 ‘‘(i) MOTION IN OPPOSITION .—Not 1
148148 later than 30 days after the date on which 2
149149 a motion is filed under paragraph (1), the 3
150150 Government may file a motion in opposi-4
151151 tion of the motion filed under paragraph 5
152152 (1). 6
153153 ‘‘(ii) M
154154 ANDATORY HEARING .—If the 7
155155 Government files a motion described in 8
156156 clause (i), not later than 15 days after the 9
157157 date on which the motion is filed, the court 10
158158 shall hold a hearing on the motion. 11
159159 ‘‘(B) D
160160 ISCRETIONARY HEARING .—If the 12
161161 Government does not file a motion described in 13
162162 subparagraph (A)(i), the court may hold a 14
163163 hearing on the motion not later than 45 days 15
164164 after the date on which a motion is filed under 16
165165 paragraph (1). 17
166166 ‘‘(4) F
167167 ACTORS.— 18
168168 ‘‘(A) V
169169 ACATING CONVICTIONS OF LEVEL A 19
170170 OFFENSES.—The court may grant a motion 20
171171 under paragraph (1)(A) if, after notice to the 21
172172 Government and an opportunity to be heard, 22
173173 the court finds, by a preponderance of the evi-23
174174 dence, that— 24
175175 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:01 Mar 11, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1379.IH H1379
176176 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 7
177177 •HR 1379 IH
178178 ‘‘(i) the movant was convicted of a 1
179179 level A offense; and 2
180180 ‘‘(ii) the participation in the level A 3
181181 offense by the movant was a direct result 4
182182 of the movant having been a victim of traf-5
183183 ficking. 6
184184 ‘‘(B) E
185185 XPUNGING ARRESTS FOR LEVEL A 7
186186 OFFENSES.—The court may grant a motion 8
187187 under paragraph (1)(B) if, after notice to the 9
188188 Government and an opportunity to be heard, 10
189189 the court finds, by a preponderance of the evi-11
190190 dence, that— 12
191191 ‘‘(i) the movant was arrested for a 13
192192 level A offense; and 14
193193 ‘‘(ii) the conduct or alleged conduct 15
194194 that resulted in the arrest was directly re-16
195195 lated to the movant having been a victim 17
196196 of trafficking. 18
197197 ‘‘(C) E
198198 XPUNGING ARRESTS FOR LEVEL C 19
199199 OFFENSES.—The court may grant a motion 20
200200 under paragraph (1)(C) if, after notice to the 21
201201 Government and an opportunity to be heard, 22
202202 the court finds, by a preponderance of the evi-23
203203 dence, that— 24
204204 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:01 Mar 11, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1379.IH H1379
205205 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 8
206206 •HR 1379 IH
207207 ‘‘(i) the movant was arrested for a 1
208208 level C offense and the conduct or alleged 2
209209 conduct that resulted in the arrest was di-3
210210 rectly related to the movant having been a 4
211211 victim of trafficking; and 5
212212 ‘‘(ii)(I) the movant was acquitted of 6
213213 the level C offense; 7
214214 ‘‘(II) the Government did not pursue, 8
215215 or the Government moved to dismiss, 9
216216 criminal charges against the movant for 10
217217 the level C offense; or 11
218218 ‘‘(III)(aa) the charges against the 12
219219 movant for the level C offense were re-13
220220 duced to a level A offense; and 14
221221 ‘‘(bb) the movant was acquitted of the 15
222222 level A offense, the Government did not 16
223223 pursue, or the Government moved to dis-17
224224 miss, criminal charges against the movant 18
225225 for the level A offense, or any subsequent 19
226226 conviction of that level A offense was va-20
227227 cated. 21
228228 ‘‘(5) S
229229 UPPORTING EVIDENCE .— 22
230230 ‘‘(A) I
231231 N GENERAL.—For purposes of this 23
232232 section, in determining whether the movant is a 24
233233 victim of trafficking, the court shall consider an 25
234234 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:01 Mar 11, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1379.IH H1379
235235 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 9
236236 •HR 1379 IH
237237 affidavit or sworn testimony of a licensed anti- 1
238238 human trafficking service provider or clinician. 2
239239 The court may consider any supporting evi-3
240240 dence the court determines is of sufficient credi-4
241241 bility and probative value, including sworn testi-5
242242 mony from a law enforcement officer detailing 6
243243 the role of the movant in coercing other victims 7
244244 into committing Federal offenses. 8
245245 ‘‘(B) A
246246 FFIDAVIT OR SWORN TESTIMONY 9
247247 SUFFICIENT EVIDENCE .—The affidavit or 10
248248 sworn testimony described in subparagraph (A) 11
249249 shall be sufficient evidence to vacate a convic-12
250250 tion or expunge an arrest under this section if 13
251251 the court determines that— 14
252252 ‘‘(i) the affidavit or sworn testimony 15
253253 is credible; and 16
254254 ‘‘(ii) no other evidence is readily avail-17
255255 able. 18
256256 ‘‘(6) C
257257 ONVICTION OR ARREST OF OTHER PER -19
258258 SONS NOT REQUIRED .—It shall not be necessary 20
259259 that any person other than the movant be convicted 21
260260 of or arrested for an offense before the movant may 22
261261 file a motion under paragraph (1). 23
262262 ‘‘(7) D
263263 ENIAL OF MOTION.— 24
264264 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:01 Mar 11, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1379.IH H1379
265265 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 10
266266 •HR 1379 IH
267267 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If the court denies a 1
268268 motion filed under paragraph (1), the denial 2
269269 shall be final, subject to the discovery of any 3
270270 new and compelling evidence or information. 4
271271 ‘‘(B) R
272272 EASONS FOR DENIAL.—If the court 5
273273 denies a motion filed under paragraph (1), the 6
274274 court shall state the reasons for the denial in 7
275275 writing. 8
276276 ‘‘(C) R
277277 EASONABLE TIME TO CURE DEFI -9
278278 CIENCIES IN MOTION.—If the motion was de-10
279279 nied due to a curable deficiency in the motion, 11
280280 the court shall allow the movant sufficient time 12
281281 to cure the deficiency. 13
282282 ‘‘(8) A
283283 PPEAL.—An order granting or denying a 14
284284 motion under this section may be appealed in ac-15
285285 cordance with section 1291 of title 28. 16
286286 ‘‘(c) V
287287 ACATUR OFCONVICTIONS.— 17
288288 ‘‘(1) I
289289 N GENERAL.—If the court grants a mo-18
290290 tion to vacate a conviction of a level A offense under 19
291291 subsection (b), the court shall immediately— 20
292292 ‘‘(A) vacate the conviction for cause; 21
293293 ‘‘(B) set aside the verdict and enter a 22
294294 judgment of acquittal; and 23
295295 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:01 Mar 11, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1379.IH H1379
296296 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 11
297297 •HR 1379 IH
298298 ‘‘(C) enter an expungement order that di-1
299299 rects that there be expunged from all official 2
300300 records all references to— 3
301301 ‘‘(i) the arrest of the movant for the 4
302302 level A offense; 5
303303 ‘‘(ii) the institution of criminal pro-6
304304 ceedings against the movant relating to the 7
305305 level A offense; and 8
306306 ‘‘(iii) the results of the proceedings. 9
307307 ‘‘(2) L
308308 IMITATION.—Nothing in this subsection 10
309309 requires a court to amend, impose, or remove any 11
310310 fine or restitution order in a criminal or civil pro-12
311311 ceeding. 13
312312 ‘‘(3) E
313313 FFECT.—If a conviction is vacated under 14
314314 an order entered under paragraph (1) the conviction 15
315315 shall not be regarded as a conviction under Federal 16
316316 law and the movant for whom the conviction was va-17
317317 cated shall be considered to have the status occupied 18
318318 by the movant before the arrest or the institution of 19
319319 the criminal proceedings related to such conviction. 20
320320 ‘‘(d) E
321321 XPUNGEMENT OF ARRESTS.— 21
322322 ‘‘(1) I
323323 N GENERAL.—If the court grants a mo-22
324324 tion to expunge all records of an arrest for an of-23
325325 fense under subsection (b), the court shall imme-24
326326 diately enter an expungement order that directs that 25
327327 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:01 Mar 11, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1379.IH H1379
328328 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 12
329329 •HR 1379 IH
330330 there be expunged from all official records all ref-1
331331 erences to— 2
332332 ‘‘(A) the arrest of the movant for the of-3
333333 fense; 4
334334 ‘‘(B) the institution of any criminal pro-5
335335 ceedings against the movant relating to the of-6
336336 fense; and 7
337337 ‘‘(C) the results of the proceedings, if any. 8
338338 ‘‘(2) E
339339 FFECT.—If an arrest is expunged under 9
340340 an order entered under paragraph (1) the arrest 10
341341 shall not be regarded as an arrest under Federal law 11
342342 and the movant for whom the arrest is expunged 12
343343 shall be considered to have the status occupied by 13
344344 the movant before the arrest or the institution of the 14
345345 criminal proceedings related to such arrest, if any. 15
346346 ‘‘(e) M
347347 ITIGATINGFACTORS.— 16
348348 ‘‘(1) I
349349 N GENERAL.—The court that imposed 17
350350 sentence for a level A offense or level B offense upon 18
351351 a covered prisoner may reduce the term of imprison-19
352352 ment for the offense— 20
353353 ‘‘(A) upon— 21
354354 ‘‘(i) motion by the covered prisoner or 22
355355 the Director of the Bureau of Prisons; or 23
356356 ‘‘(ii) the court’s own motion; 24
357357 ‘‘(B) after notice to the Government; 25
358358 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:01 Mar 11, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1379.IH H1379
359359 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 13
360360 •HR 1379 IH
361361 ‘‘(C) after considering— 1
362362 ‘‘(i) the factors set forth in section 2
363363 3553(a); 3
364364 ‘‘(ii) the nature and seriousness of the 4
365365 danger to any person, if applicable; and 5
366366 ‘‘(iii) the community, or any crime 6
367367 victims; and 7
368368 ‘‘(D) if the court finds, by a preponderance 8
369369 of the evidence, that the covered prisoner com-9
370370 mitted the offense as a direct result of the cov-10
371371 ered prisoner having been a victim of traf-11
372372 ficking. 12
373373 ‘‘(2) R
374374 EQUIREMENT.—Any proceeding under 13
375375 this subsection shall be subject to section 3771. 14
376376 ‘‘(3) P
377377 ARTICULARIZED INQUIRY .—For any mo-15
378378 tion under paragraph (1), the Government shall con-16
379379 duct a particularized inquiry of the facts and cir-17
380380 cumstances of the original sentencing of the covered 18
381381 prisoner in order to assess whether a reduction in 19
382382 sentence would be consistent with this section. 20
383383 ‘‘(f) A
384384 DDITIONALACTIONS BYCOURT.—The court 21
385385 shall, upon granting a motion under this section, take any 22
386386 additional action necessary to grant the movant full relief. 23
387387 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:01 Mar 11, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1379.IH H1379
388388 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 14
389389 •HR 1379 IH
390390 ‘‘(g) NOFEES.—A person may not be required to pay 1
391391 a filing fee, service charge, copay fee, processing fee, or 2
392392 any other charge for filing a motion under this section. 3
393393 ‘‘(h) C
394394 ONFIDENTIALITY OFMOVANT.— 4
395395 ‘‘(1) I
396396 N GENERAL.—A motion under this sec-5
397397 tion and any documents, pleadings, or orders relat-6
398398 ing to the motion shall be filed under seal. 7
399399 ‘‘(2) I
400400 NFORMATION NOT AVAILABLE FOR PUB -8
401401 LIC INSPECTION.—An officer or employee may not 9
402402 make available for public inspection any report, 10
403403 paper, picture, photograph, court file, or other docu-11
404404 ment, in the custody or possession of the officer or 12
405405 employee, that identifies the movant. 13
406406 ‘‘(i) A
407407 PPLICABILITY.—This section shall apply to any 14
408408 conviction or arrest occurring before, on, or after the date 15
409409 of enactment of this section.’’. 16
410410 (b) T
411411 ECHNICAL AND CONFORMINGAMENDMENT.— 17
412412 The table of sections of chapter 237 of title 18, United 18
413413 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-19
414414 lowing: 20
415415 ‘‘3771A. Motion to vacate; expungement; mitigating factors.’’.
416416 SEC. 3. REPORTS.
417417 21
418418 (a) U
419419 NITEDSTATESATTORNEYMOTIONS FOR 22
420420 V
421421 ACATUR OREXPUNGEMENT.—Not later than 1 year 23
422422 after the date of enactment of this Act, each United States 24
423423 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:01 Mar 11, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1379.IH H1379
424424 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 15
425425 •HR 1379 IH
426426 attorney shall submit to the Attorney General a report 1
427427 that details— 2
428428 (1) the number of motions for vacatur or 3
429429 expungement filed under section 3771A of title 18, 4
430430 United States Code, as added by section 2, in the 5
431431 district of the United States attorney; and 6
432432 (2) for each motion described in paragraph 7
433433 (1)— 8
434434 (A) the underlying offense; 9
435435 (B) the response of the United States at-10
436436 torney to the motion; and 11
437437 (C) the final determination of the court 12
438438 with respect to the motion. 13
439439 (b) U
440440 NITEDSTATESATTORNEYTRAINING ON 14
441441 H
442442 UMANTRAFFICKINGINDICATORS.—Not later than 1 15
443443 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney 16
444444 General shall submit to Congress a report that details all 17
445445 professional training received by United States attorneys 18
446446 on indicators of human trafficking during the preceding 19
447447 12-month period. 20
448448 (c) G
449449 OVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITYOFFICE.—Not 21
450450 later than 3 years after the date of enactment of this Act, 22
451451 the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit 23
452452 to Congress a report that— 24
453453 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:01 Mar 11, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1379.IH H1379
454454 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 16
455455 •HR 1379 IH
456456 (1) assesses the impact of the enactment of sec-1
457457 tion 3771A of title 18, United States Code, as added 2
458458 by section 2; and 3
459459 (2) includes— 4
460460 (A) the number of human trafficking sur-5
461461 vivors who have filed motions for vacatur or 6
462462 expungement under such section 3771A; 7
463463 (B) the final determination of each court 8
464464 that adjudicated a motion described in subpara-9
465465 graph (A); 10
466466 (C) recommendations to increase access to 11
467467 post-conviction relief for human trafficking sur-12
468468 vivors with Federal criminal records; and 13
469469 (D) recommendations for improving the 14
470470 implementation and tracking of professional 15
471471 training of United States attorneys on indica-16
472472 tors of human trafficking. 17
473473 SEC. 4. USE OF GRANTS FOR POST-CONVICTION RELIEF 18
474474 REPRESENTATION. 19
475475 The Office of Justice Programs or the Office on Vio-20
476476 lence Against Women, in awarding a grant that may be 21
477477 used for legal representation, may not prohibit a recipient 22
478478 from using the grant for legal representation for post-con-23
479479 viction relief. 24
480480 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:01 Mar 11, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1379.IH H1379
481481 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 17
482482 •HR 1379 IH
483483 SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 1
484484 It is the sense of Congress that— 2
485485 (1) this Act is a first step to address the chang-3
486486 ing tactics of human traffickers, who are using 4
487487 forced criminality as a form of force, fraud, and co-5
488488 ercion in their human trafficking enterprises; and 6
489489 (2) Congress is committed to continuing to find 7
490490 solutions as needed to thwart human traffickers and 8
491491 protect survivors of human trafficking. 9
492492 SEC. 6. HUMAN TRAFFICKING DEFENSE. 10
493493 (a) I
494494 NGENERAL.—Chapter 1 of title 18, United 11
495495 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-12
496496 lowing: 13
497497 ‘‘§ 28. Human trafficking defense 14
498498 ‘‘(a) D
499499 EFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘covered 15
500500 Federal offense’ means a level A offense or level B offense, 16
501501 as those terms are defined in section 3771A. 17
502502 ‘‘(b) P
503503 RESUMPTION OF DURESS.—In a prosecution 18
504504 for a covered Federal offense, a defendant who establishes 19
505505 by clear and convincing evidence that the defendant was 20
506506 a victim of trafficking at the time at which the defendant 21
507507 committed the offense shall create a rebuttable presump-22
508508 tion that the offense was induced by duress. 23
509509 ‘‘(c) R
510510 ECORD ORPROCEEDINGUNDERSEAL.—In 24
511511 any proceeding in which a defense under subsection (b) 25
512512 is raised, any record or part of the proceeding related to 26
513513 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:01 Mar 11, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00017 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1379.IH H1379
514514 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 18
515515 •HR 1379 IH
516516 the defense shall, on motion, be placed under seal until 1
517517 such time as a conviction is entered for the offense. 2
518518 ‘‘(d) P
519519 OST-CONVICTIONRELIEF.—A failure to assert, 3
520520 or failed assertion of, a defense under subsection (b) by 4
521521 an individual who is convicted of a covered Federal offense 5
522522 may not preclude the individual from asserting as a miti-6
523523 gating factor, at sentencing or in a proceeding for any 7
524524 post-conviction relief, that at the time of the commission 8
525525 of the offense, the defendant was a victim of trafficking 9
526526 and committed the offense under duress. 10
527527 ‘‘(e) F
528528 EDERALAID.—A failure to assert, or failed as-11
529529 sertion of, a defense under subsection (b) by an individual 12
530530 who is convicted of a covered Federal offense may not be 13
531531 used for the purpose of disqualifying the individual from 14
532532 participating in any federally funded program that aids 15
533533 victims of human trafficking.’’. 16
534534 (b) T
535535 ECHNICAL AND CONFORMINGAMENDMENT.— 17
536536 The table of sections for chapter 1 of title 18, United 18
537537 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-19
538538 lowing: 20
539539 ‘‘28. Human trafficking defense.’’.
540540 SEC. 7. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.
541541 21
542542 Nothing in this Act, or the amendments made by this 22
543543 Act, may be construed to conflict with any of the crime 23
544544 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:01 Mar 11, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00018 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1379.IH H1379
545545 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 19
546546 •HR 1379 IH
547547 victims’ rights described in section 3771 of title 18, United 1
548548 States Code. 2
549549 Æ
550550 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:01 Mar 11, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00019 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1379.IH H1379
551551 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB