President's Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons

Signaling the Administration's continued commitment to fighting trafficking in persons, President George W. Bush signed an Executive Order on February 13, 2002, establishing the President's Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. Secretary of State Colin L. Powell convened the first President's Interagency Task Force yesterday. The Task Force seeks to strengthen coordination among key agencies working to fight this terrible scourge and to identify opportunities to bolster our efforts to prosecute traffickers, protect victims, and prevent future trafficking. Task Force members include: the Secretary of State, the Attorney General, the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.

The Task Force was established by the President, as mandated by the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA), to ensure coordination among the various U.S. government agencies in anti-trafficking in persons initiatives. Over 700,000 persons, especially women and children, are trafficked every year throughout the world. Deprived of the most fundamental human rights and subjected to threats and violence, these modern-day slaves are made to toil under horrific conditions in brothels, sweatshops, homes, and fields. On behalf of President Bush and with strong bipartisan support from the United States Congress, the United States is taking action against trafficking in persons at home and abroad. The Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons will assist the Secretary of State and the Task Force in the implementation of the TVPA and Task Force initiatives.

The meeting was attended by Attorney General John Ashcroft, Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao, Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services Claude Allen, Deputy Director of Central Intelligence John McLaughlin, National Security Advisor Dr. Condoleezza Rice, and Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development Andrew Natsios. Sponsors of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000--Senator Sam Brownback and Congressman Christopher Smith--were also present at the opening of the meeting.

[For additional information, see the following fact sheet:
U.S. Activities to Combat Trafficking in Persons
Future U.S. Activities to Combat Trafficking in Persons]