[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 3 (Monday, January 6, 2020)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 633-635]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-00065]
[[Page 631]]
Vol. 85
Monday,
No. 3
January 6, 2020
Part IV
The President
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Proclamation 9975--National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention
Month, 2020
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 85 , No. 3 / Monday, January 6, 2020 /
Presidential Documents
___________________________________________________________________
Title 3--
The President
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Proclamation 9975 of December 31, 2019
National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention
Month, 2020
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
Human trafficking erodes personal dignity and destroys
the moral fabric of society. It is an affront to
humanity that tragically reaches all parts of the
world, including communities across our Nation. Each
day, in cities, suburbs, rural areas, and tribal lands,
people of every age, gender, race, religion, and
nationality are devastated by this grave offense.
During National Slavery and Human Trafficking
Prevention Month, we reaffirm our unwavering commitment
to eradicate this horrific injustice.
Trafficking crimes are perpetrated by transnational
criminal enterprises, gangs, and cruel individuals.
Through force, fraud, coercion, and sexual exploitation
of minors, traffickers rob countless individuals of
their dignity and freedom, splinter families, and
threaten the safety of our communities. In all its
forms, human trafficking is an intolerable blight on
any society dedicated to freedom, individual rights,
and the rule of law.
Human trafficking is often a hidden crime that knows no
boundaries. By some estimates, as many as 24.9 million
people--adults and children--are trapped in a form of
modern slavery around the world, including in the
United States. Human traffickers exploit others through
forced labor or commercial sex, and traffickers profit
from their victims' horrific suffering. The evil of
human trafficking must be defeated. We remain
relentless in our resolve to bring perpetrators to
justice, to protect survivors and help them heal, and
to prevent further victimization and destruction of
innocent lives.
This year marks nearly 20 years since our Nation took
decisive steps in the global fight against human
trafficking by enacting the Trafficking Victims
Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA) and nearly 15 years since
the United States ratified the United Nations' Palermo
Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking
in Persons, Especially Women and Children (Palermo
Protocol). Both the TVPA and the Palermo Protocol
established a comprehensive framework for combating
human trafficking by establishing prevention programs,
creating victim protections, and advancing prosecutions
under expanded criminal statutes to usher in the modern
anti-trafficking movement domestically and globally.
These two measures illustrate a global consensus on the
issue, and yet as a Nation we must continue to work
proactively to foster a culture of justice and
accountability for this horrific crime.
My Administration is committed to using every available
resource, strengthening strategic partnerships,
collaborating with State, local, and tribal entities,
and by introducing innovative anti-trafficking
strategies to bring the full force of the United States
Government to help end this barbaric practice once and
for all. In January 2019, I was proud to sign both the
Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and
Protection Reauthorization Act and the Trafficking
Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, reaffirming our
commitment to preventing trafficking in all forms.
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With my resolute support, executive departments and
agencies are steadfastly continuing the battle to
abolish this form of modern slavery. In October 2019,
the 19 members of my Interagency Task Force to Monitor
and Combat Trafficking in Persons convened to highlight
significant accomplishments in our sustained, whole-of-
Government fight against human trafficking. The Anti-
Trafficking Coordination Team (ACTeam) initiative, led
by the Department of Justice, more than doubled
convictions of human traffickers in ACTeam districts.
Additionally, the Department of Homeland Security
initiated more than 800 investigations related to human
trafficking and the Department of State launched its
Human Trafficking Expert Consultant Network, comprised
of survivors and other subject matter experts, to
inform its anti-trafficking policies and programs. The
Department of Health and Human Services continues to
provide funding for the National Human Trafficking
Hotline, and in Fiscal Year 2018 it funded victim
assistance programs that provided benefits and services
to more than 2,400 victims. For the first time, the
Department of Transportation committed $5.4 million in
grants to the prevention of human trafficking and other
crimes that may occur on buses, trains, and other forms
of public transportation. The Office of Management and
Budget also published new anti-trafficking guidance for
Government procurement officials to more effectively
combat human trafficking in Federal contracting.
The inherent dignity, freedom, and autonomy of every
person must be respected and protected. Despite the
progress we have made and the momentum we have built
toward ending human trafficking, there is still more to
be done. This month, we renew our resolve to redouble
our efforts to deliver justice to all who contribute to
the cruelty of human trafficking, and we will
tenaciously pursue the promise of freedom for all
victims of this terrible crime.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the
United States of America, by virtue of the authority
vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the
United States, do hereby proclaim January 2020 as
National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention
Month, culminating in the annual observation of
National Freedom Day on February 1, 2020. I call upon
industry associations, law enforcement, private
businesses, faith-based and other organizations of
civil society, schools, families, and all Americans to
recognize our vital roles in ending all forms of modern
slavery and to observe this month with appropriate
programs and activities aimed at ending and preventing
all forms of human trafficking.
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IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
thirty-first day of December, in the year of our Lord
two thousand nineteen, and of the Independence of the
United States of America the two hundred and forty-
fourth.
(Presidential Sig.)
[FR Doc. 2020-00065
Filed 1-3-20; 11:15 am]
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